Climate Change and Public Health Policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Jason A; Vargo, Jason; Hoverter, Sara Pollock

2017-03-01

Climate change poses real and immediate impacts to the public health of populations around the globe. Adverse impacts are expected to continue throughout the century. Emphasizing co-benefits of climate action for health, combining adaptation and mitigation efforts, and increasing interagency coordination can effectively address both public health and climate change challenges.

Climate change and ecological public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Goodman, Benny

2015-02-17

Climate change has been identified as a serious threat to human health, associated with the sustainability of current practices and lifestyles. Nurses should expand their health promotion role to address current and emerging threats to health from climate change and to address ecological public health. This article briefly outlines climate change and the concept of ecological public health, and discusses a 2012 review of the role of the nurse in health promotion.

Climate Change and Public Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Ciesielski, Timothy

2017-05-01

It is clear that the public health community is concerned about the human health impacts of climate change, but are we inadvertently underestimating the scope of the problem and obfuscating potentially useful interventions by using a narrow intellectual frame in our discussions with policy makers? If we take a more holistic approach, we see that the public health impacts of climate change are only one subset of the enormous public health impacts of fossil fuel burning. This broader perspective can provide a more accurate and comprehensive assessment that is more useful for decision making in public policy settings.

Exploratory Study Investigating the Opinions of Russian-Speaking Parents on Maintaining their Children's Use of the Russian Language

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sue Kraftsoff

2009-01-01

Full Text Available This study explored why and how Russian speaking parents in an Irish context maintained the Russian language in their school-age children. Using a self-administered unstandardised questionnaire, the opinions of 16 Russian-speaking parents, reporting on 24 children, were surveyed. Of this sample, five parents were then interviewed using focus group methodology. The main findings revealed that Russian-speaking parents living in Ireland strongly supported Russian language maintenance in their families and wanted their children to be as fluent as possible in the Russian language. The reasons for the support of Russian language were: cultural preservation, general knowledge of languages in addition to English, and communication with the homeland. Methods employed to maintain the Russian language included conversing with children through Russian, reading and watching Russian TV/DVD. Although most parents spoke only Russian to their children, just three children were considered by their parents to have sufficient language skills to interact through Russian in Russian speaking countries. Interestingly, 15 children were thought to have adequate skills in Russian to speak with those outside their immediate family when in Ireland. Congruent with other studies of bilingualism, development of English, or the secondary, majority language, was also important to parents, as they lived in a dominant English-speaking society.

THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHING RUSSIAN LANGUAGE AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

OpenAIRE

Zulfiya SAHIN

2014-01-01

The purpose of this research is to explicate teaching of Russian as a foreign language throughout history: to identify the main achievements of the field, to determine methods and materials used in this area, to trace the developing process from the very begging till present days, when teaching Russian language as a foreign language became a separate specific discipline. To achieve the set purposes mentioned above the known nowadays studies on the field of teaching and learning Russian as a f...

Validation of a Russian Language Oswestry Disability Index Questionnaire.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Elizabeth M; Nosova, Emily V; Falkenstein, Yuri; Prasad, Priya; Leasure, Jeremi M; Kondrashov, Dimitriy G

2016-11-01

Study Design  Retrospective reliability and validity study. Objective  To validate a recently translated Russian language version of the Oswestry Disability Index (R-ODI) using standardized methods detailed from previous validations in other languages. Methods  We included all subjects who were seen in our spine surgery clinic, over the age of 18, and fluent in the Russian language. R-ODI was translated by six bilingual people and combined into a consensus version. R-ODI and visual analog scale (VAS) questionnaires for leg and back pain were distributed to subjects during both their initial and follow-up visits. Test validity, stability, and internal consistency were measured using standardized psychometric methods. Results Ninety-seven subjects participated in the study. No change in the meaning of the questions on R-ODI was noted with translation from English to Russian. There was a significant positive correlation between R-ODI and VAS scores for both the leg and back during both the initial and follow-up visits ( p  Russian-speaking population in the United States.

Health Implications of Climate Change: a Review of the Literature About the Perception of the Public and Health Professionals.

Science.gov (United States)

Hathaway, Julia; Maibach, Edward W

2018-03-01

Through a systematic search of English language peer-reviewed studies, we assess how health professionals and the public, worldwide, perceive the health implications of climate change. Among health professionals, perception that climate change is harming health appears to be high, although self-assessed knowledge is low, and perceived need to learn more is high. Among the public, few North Americans can list any health impacts of climate change, or who is at risk, but appear to view climate change as harmful to health. Among vulnerable publics in Asia and Africa, awareness of increasing health harms due to specific changing climatic conditions is high. Americans across the political and climate change opinion spectra appear receptive to information about the health aspects of climate change, although findings are mixed. Health professionals feel the need to learn more, and the public appears open to learning more, about the health consequences of climate change.

Invisibility and Ownership of Language: Problems of Representation in Russian Language Textbooks

Science.gov (United States)

Azimova, Nigora; Johnston, Bill

2012-01-01

Using the 2 theoretical lenses of representation (Barthes, 1977) and ownership of language (Higgins, 2003), this article offers a critical analysis of representations of Russian speakers in 9 widely used Russian language textbooks aimed at university-level learners. Particular attention is paid to representations of Russian speakers other than…

Climate Change Action Fund: public education and outreach. Change: think climate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-05-01

This illustrated booklet provides a glimpse of the many creative approaches being adopted by educators, community groups, industry associations and governments at all levels to inform Canadians about the causes and effects of climate change. It also provides suggestions about how each individual person can contribute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through residential energy efficiency, by participating in ride-share programs, by planting trees and a myriad of other community action projects and public awareness campaigns. The booklet describes educational resources and training available to teachers, science presentations, climate change workshops, public awareness initiatives, community action on climate change, and sector-specific actions underway in the field of transportation and in improving energy efficiency in residential and large buildings. Descriptive summaries of the activities of organizations involved in climate change advocacy and promotion, and a list of contacts for individual projects also form part of the volume

(In)Complete Acquisition of Aspect in Second Language and Heritage Russian

Science.gov (United States)

Mikhaylova, Anna

2012-01-01

This dissertation compares the knowledge of Russian Verbal Aspect in two types of learners enrolled in college level Russian courses: foreign language learners of Russian whose native language is English and heritage language speakers of Russian whose dominant language at the time of study is English. Russian Aspect is known to be problematic both…

RUSSIAN LANGUAGE COURSES

CERN Document Server

2000-01-01

Russian Language Courses will be given at CERN from mid-September. For details, please call the teacher, Mrs Mascha Mikhailova, tel. + 41 22 782 62 29. At CERN, please send an e-mail to esthel.laperriere@cern.ch.

Goal implementation perspectives of the Framework U N Convention on Climate Change in Russian Federation - Federal Objective Program on prevention of dangerous climate change and their negative consequences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bedritskij, A.I.; Berdin, V.Kh.; Karpov, A.V.

1997-01-01

Principal goals and tasks of Federal Target-oriented Program (FTP), system of program measures, its resources ensuring, mechanism for the FTP realization, supervision of execution and data on assessment of its effectiveness are expounded. Results of Russian Federation Inter-department commission activity on climate change issues are cited. Some aspects of negotiation process on Framework U N Convention o climate change are considered. (author)

Family Language Policies, Reported Language Use and Proficiency in Russian-Hebrew Bilingual Children in Israel

Science.gov (United States)

Altman, Carmit; Burstein Feldman, Zhanna; Yitzhaki, Dafna; Armon Lotem, Sharon; Walters, Joel

2014-01-01

The relationship between family language policy (FLP) and language choice, language use, proficiency in Russian and Hebrew, codeswitching (CS) and linguistic performance was studied in Russian-speaking immigrant parents and their Russian-Hebrew bilingual preschool children. By means of Glaser's Grounded Theory, the content of sociolinguistic…

The Russian Orthodox and Islamic Languages in the Russian Federation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bustanov, A.K.; Kemper, M.

2013-01-01

What happens to the Russian language if it is used by Muslims? Bustanov and Kemper (2012) analyzed the use of Islamic terminology in a variety of texts by contemporary Muslim authors from several regions of the Russian Federation. This led them to the hypothesis that one can speak of a new

RUSSIAN LANGUAGE IN NORTHERN NORWAY: HISTORICAL, ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL TIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Маргарита Ольнова

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This article addresses the topic “Commodification of the Russian language”. The author examines the process of commodification in the Norwegian city of Kirkenes and connects this phenomenon with the rise of the new economy and the current cooperation between Russia and Norway. The paper pre-sents an analysis of the linguistic landscape of Kirkenes, newspaper publications devoted to the “Russian Kirkenes” and interviews with Russian tourists and residents of the city. According to the author, the situation in Kirkenes illustrates the transition of the old economy into a new one: the former mining city turned into a tourist Mecca of the North, a center of cooperation of the Nordic countries. In such conditions, know-ledge of the Russian language becomes beneficial for the city's residents.

Public perceptions of climate change and extreme weather events

Science.gov (United States)

Bruine de Bruin, W.; Dessai, S.; Morgan, G.; Taylor, A.; Wong-Parodi, G.

2013-12-01

Climate experts face a serious communication challenge. Public debate about climate change continues, even though at the same time people seem to complain about extreme weather events becoming increasingly common. As compared to the abstract concept of ';climate change,' (changes in) extreme weather events are indeed easier to perceive, more vivid, and personally relevant. Public perception research in different countries has suggested that people commonly expect that climate change will lead to increases in temperature, and that unseasonably warm weather is likely to be interpreted as evidence of climate change. However, relatively little is known about whether public concerns about climate change may also be driven by changes in other types of extreme weather events, such as exceptional amounts of precipitation or flooding. We therefore examined how perceptions of and personal experiences with changes in these specific weather events are related to public concerns about climate change. In this presentation, we will discuss findings from two large public perception surveys conducted in flood-prone Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (US) and with a national sample in the UK, where extreme flooding has recently occurred across the country. Participants completed questions about their perceptions of and experiences with specific extreme weather events, and their beliefs about climate change. We then conducted linear regressions to predict individual differences in climate-change beliefs, using perceptions of and experiences with specific extreme weather events as predictors, while controlling for demographic characteristics. The US study found that people (a) perceive flood chances to be increasing over the decades, (b) believe climate change to play a role in increases in future flood chances, and (c) would interpret future increases in flooding as evidence for climate change. The UK study found that (a) UK residents are more likely to perceive increases in ';wet' events such

QUANTATIVE SET COMPARISONS WITH COMPONENT MONEY IN MODERN RUSSIAN LANGUAGE CONTRASTED WITH SLAVIC LANGUAGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zinovieva, E.I.

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The article provides a detailed analysis of semantics and functioning of Russian set comparisons according to dictionaries, literary context, periodicals and the Internet and studies stereotypical perception of what is considered small or large amounts of money and the way it is reflected in consciousness of native speakers and the Russian language on the basis of survey. Set comparisons in Russian language are contrasted with other Slavic languages to identify their universal and distinctive features.

Tracking Public Beliefs About Anthropogenic Climate Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamilton, Lawrence C; Hartter, Joel; Lemcke-Stampone, Mary; Moore, David W; Safford, Thomas G

2015-01-01

A simple question about climate change, with one choice designed to match consensus statements by scientists, was asked on 35 US nationwide, single-state or regional surveys from 2010 to 2015. Analysis of these data (over 28,000 interviews) yields robust and exceptionally well replicated findings on public beliefs about anthropogenic climate change, including regional variations, change over time, demographic bases, and the interacting effects of respondent education and political views. We find that more than half of the US public accepts the scientific consensus that climate change is happening now, caused mainly by human activities. A sizable, politically opposite minority (about 30 to 40%) concede the fact of climate change, but believe it has mainly natural causes. Few (about 10 to 15%) say they believe climate is not changing, or express no opinion. The overall proportions appear relatively stable nationwide, but exhibit place-to-place variations. Detailed analysis of 21 consecutive surveys within one fairly representative state (New Hampshire) finds a mild but statistically significant rise in agreement with the scientific consensus over 2010-2015. Effects from daily temperature are detectable but minor. Hurricane Sandy, which brushed New Hampshire but caused no disaster there, shows no lasting impact on that state's time series-suggesting that non-immediate weather disasters have limited effects. In all datasets political orientation dominates among individual-level predictors of climate beliefs, moderating the otherwise positive effects from education. Acceptance of anthropogenic climate change rises with education among Democrats and Independents, but not so among Republicans. The continuing series of surveys provides a baseline for tracking how future scientific, political, socioeconomic or climate developments impact public acceptance of the scientific consensus.

The Issue of Relationship in Lotman’s Writing and the Russian Language Today

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Verbitskaya L.A.,

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the memory of Y.M. Lotman, who attended lectures at the Faculty of Philology of the St. Petersburg (Leningrad University as schoolboy, was a student of philology during the so-called “Leningrad Affair” (1946-1950. The article highlights the link between communication, mutual understanding, and the Russian language nowadays. The author notes the changes that have occurred over the past two decades in the style and vocabulary of the Russian language and points to the deep connection between language, culture and understanding in society. The article gives an examples of improper borrowing and vulgarization of the modern Russian language and argued that a reasonable literary language policy is a struggle not only and not so much for its purity, but for the preservation of national cultural heritage and identity of the nation. Preservation of the language is definitely an issue of the country security.

Public Perception of Uncertainties Within Climate Change Science.

Science.gov (United States)

Visschers, Vivianne H M

2018-01-01

Climate change is a complex, multifaceted problem involving various interacting systems and actors. Therefore, the intensities, locations, and timeframes of the consequences of climate change are hard to predict and cause uncertainties. Relatively little is known about how the public perceives this scientific uncertainty and how this relates to their concern about climate change. In this article, an online survey among 306 Swiss people is reported that investigated whether people differentiate between different types of uncertainty in climate change research. Also examined was the way in which the perception of uncertainty is related to people's concern about climate change, their trust in science, their knowledge about climate change, and their political attitude. The results of a principal component analysis showed that respondents differentiated between perceived ambiguity in climate research, measurement uncertainty, and uncertainty about the future impact of climate change. Using structural equation modeling, it was found that only perceived ambiguity was directly related to concern about climate change, whereas measurement uncertainty and future uncertainty were not. Trust in climate science was strongly associated with each type of uncertainty perception and was indirectly associated with concern about climate change. Also, more knowledge about climate change was related to less strong perceptions of each type of climate science uncertainty. Hence, it is suggested that to increase public concern about climate change, it may be especially important to consider the perceived ambiguity about climate research. Efforts that foster trust in climate science also appear highly worthwhile. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

Language categories in Russian morphology

OpenAIRE

زهرایی زهرایی

2009-01-01

When studying Russian morphology, one can distinguish two categories. These categories are “grammatical” and “lexico-grammatical”. Grammatical categories can be specified through a series of grammatical features of words. Considering different criteria, Russian grammarians and linguists divide grammatical categories of their language into different types. In determining lexico-grammatical types, in addition to a series of grammatical features, they also consider a series of lexico-semantic fe...

TEACHING THE GRAMMAR OF RUSSIAN LANGUAGE AS FOREIGN IN RUSSIAN TEXTBOOKS FOR BEGINNERS (OPINION OF THE CHINESE TEACHER)

OpenAIRE

Zeng, T.

2017-01-01

Increased interest towards studying the Russian language in China evokes the interest of Chinese teachers of the Russian language to educational and methodological materials created by their Russian colleagues. First and foremost, Chinese philologists are interested in nationally oriented textbooks. In this article, we discuss the main features of grammar in Russian textbooks aimed at Chinese students who are just beginning to learn Russian. This paper compares nationally oriented textbooks “...

Communicative, Educational, Pedagogical Objectives and Planning in Russian Language Teaching

Science.gov (United States)

Evtyugina, Alla A.; Hasanova, Irina I.; Kotova, Svetlana S.; Sokolova, Anastasia N.; Svetkina, Irina A.

2016-01-01

The relevance of the problem stems from the necessity to distinctly plan educational process and set the goals for successful mastering of Russian language by foreign students in Russian higher educational institutions. The article is aimed at defining the foreign students' objectives for Russian language training, allowing them to get involved…

Does the weather influence public opinion about climate change?

Science.gov (United States)

Donner, S. D.; McDaniel, J.

2010-12-01

Public opinion in North America about the science of anthropogenic climate change and the motivation for policy action has been variable over the past twenty years. The trends in public opinion over time have been attributed the general lack of pressing public concern about climate change to a range of political, economic and psychological factors. One driving force behind the variability in polling data from year to year may be the weather itself. The difference between what we “expect” - the climate - and what we “get” - the weather - can be a major source of confusion and obfuscation in the public discourse about climate change. For example, reaction to moderate global temperatures in 2007 and 2008 may have helped prompt the spread of a “global cooling” meme in the public and the news media. At the same time, a decrease in the belief in the science of climate change and the need for action has been noted in opinion polls. This study analyzes the relationship between public opinion about climate change and the weather in the U.S. since the mid-1980s using historical polling data from several major organizations (e.g. Gallup, Pew, Harris Interactive, ABC News), historical monthly air temperature (NCDC) and a survey of opinion articles from major U.S. newspapers (Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Houston Chronicle, USA Today). Seasonal and annual monthly temperature anomalies for the northeastern U.S and the continental U.S are compared with available national opinion data for three general categories of questions: i) Is the climate warming?, ii) Is the observed warming due to human activity?, and iii) Are you concerned about climate change? The variability in temperature and public opinion over time is also compared with the variability in the fraction of opinion articles in the newspapers (n ~ 7000) which express general agreement or disagreement with IPCC Summary for Policymakers consensus statements on climate change (“most of

Climate change and Public health: vulnerability, impacts, and adaptation

Science.gov (United States)

Guzzone, F.; Setegn, S.

2013-12-01

Climate Change plays a significant role in public health. Changes in climate affect weather conditions that we are accustomed to. Increases in the frequency or severity of extreme weather events such as storms could increase the risk of dangerous flooding, high winds, and other direct threats to people and property. Changes in temperature, precipitation patterns, and extreme events could enhance the spread of some diseases. According to studies by EPA, the impacts of climate change on health will depend on many factors. These factors include the effectiveness of a community's public health and safety systems to address or prepare for the risk and the behavior, age, gender, and economic status of individuals affected. Impacts will likely vary by region, the sensitivity of populations, the extent and length of exposure to climate change impacts, and society's ability to adapt to change. Transmissions of infectious disease have been associated with social, economic, ecological, health care access, and climatic factors. Some vector-borne diseases typically exhibit seasonal patterns in which the role of temperature and rainfall is well documented. Some of the infectious diseases that have been documented by previous studies, include the correlation between rainfall and drought in the occurrence of malaria, the influence of the dry season on epidemic meningococcal disease in the sub-Saharan African, and the importance of warm ocean waters in driving cholera occurrence in the Ganges River delta in Asia The rise of climate change has been a major concern in the public health sector. Climate change mainly affects vulnerable populations especially in developing countries; therefore, it's important that public health advocates are involve in the decision-making process in order to provide resources and preventative measures for the challenges that are associated with climate change. The main objective of this study is to assess the vulnerability and impact of climate change

Challenges and Opportunities for Advancing Work on Climate Change and Public Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Gould, Solange; Rudolph, Linda

2015-12-09

Climate change poses a major threat to public health. Strategies that address climate change have considerable potential to benefit health and decrease health inequities, yet public health engagement at the intersection of public health, equity, and climate change has been limited. This research seeks to understand the barriers to and opportunities for advancing work at this nexus. We conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews (N = 113) with public health and climate change professionals and thematic analysis. Barriers to public health engagement in addressing climate change include individual perceptions that climate change is not urgent or solvable and insufficient understanding of climate change's health impacts and programmatic connections. Institutional barriers include a lack of public health capacity, authority, and leadership; a narrow framework for public health practice that limits work on the root causes of climate change and health; and compartmentalization within and across sectors. Opportunities include integrating climate change into current public health practice; providing inter-sectoral support for climate solutions with health co-benefits; and using a health frame to engage and mobilize communities. Efforts to increase public health sector engagement should focus on education and communications, building leadership and funding, and increasing work on the shared root causes of climate change and health inequities.

Evaluating climate variables, indexes and thresholds governing Arctic urban sustainability: case study of Russian permafrost regions

Science.gov (United States)

Anisimov, O. A.; Kokorev, V.

2013-12-01

Addressing Arctic urban sustainability today forces planners to deal with the complex interplay of multiple factors, including governance and economic development, demography and migration, environmental changes and land use, changes in the ecosystems and their services, and climate change. While the latter can be seen as a factor that exacerbates the existing vulnerabilities to other stressors, changes in temperature, precipitation, snow, river and lake ice, and the hydrological regime also have direct implications for the cities in the North. Climate change leads to reduced demand for heating energy, on one hand, and heightened concerns about the fate of the infrastructure built upon thawing permafrost, on the other. Changes in snowfall are particularly important and have direct implications for the urban economy, as together with heating costs, expenses for snow removal from streets, airport runways, roofs and ventilation corridors underneath buildings erected on pile foundations on permafrost constitute the bulk of the city's maintenance budget. Many cities are located in river valleys and are prone to flooding that leads to enormous economic losses and casualties, including human deaths. The severity of the northern climate has direct implications for demographic changes governed by regional migration and labor flows. Climate could thus be viewed as an inexhaustible public resource that creates opportunities for sustainable urban development. Long-term trends show that climate as a resource is becoming more readily available in the Russian North, notwithstanding the general perception that globally climate change is one of the challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. In this study we explore the sustainability of the Arctic urban environment under changing climatic conditions. We identify key governing variables and indexes and study the thresholds beyond which changes in the governing climatic parameters have significant impact on the economy

Challenges and Opportunities for Advancing Work on Climate Change and Public Health

Science.gov (United States)

Gould, Solange; Rudolph, Linda

2015-01-01

Climate change poses a major threat to public health. Strategies that address climate change have considerable potential to benefit health and decrease health inequities, yet public health engagement at the intersection of public health, equity, and climate change has been limited. This research seeks to understand the barriers to and opportunities for advancing work at this nexus. We conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews (N = 113) with public health and climate change professionals and thematic analysis. Barriers to public health engagement in addressing climate change include individual perceptions that climate change is not urgent or solvable and insufficient understanding of climate change’s health impacts and programmatic connections. Institutional barriers include a lack of public health capacity, authority, and leadership; a narrow framework for public health practice that limits work on the root causes of climate change and health; and compartmentalization within and across sectors. Opportunities include integrating climate change into current public health practice; providing inter-sectoral support for climate solutions with health co-benefits; and using a health frame to engage and mobilize communities. Efforts to increase public health sector engagement should focus on education and communications, building leadership and funding, and increasing work on the shared root causes of climate change and health inequities. PMID:26690194

Climate Change and Public Health Policy: Translating the Science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marieta Braks

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Public health authorities are required to prepare for future threats and need predictions of the likely impact of climate change on public health risks. They may get overwhelmed by the volume of heterogeneous information in scientific articles and risk relying purely on the public opinion articles which focus mainly on global warming trends, and leave out many other relevant factors. In the current paper, we discuss various scientific approaches investigating climate change and its possible impact on public health and discuss their different roles and functions in unraveling the complexity of the subject. It is not our objective to review the available literature or to make predictions for certain diseases or countries, but rather to evaluate the applicability of scientific research articles on climate change to evidence-based public health decisions. In the context of mosquito borne diseases, we identify common pitfalls to watch out for when assessing scientific research on the impact of climate change on human health. We aim to provide guidance through the plethora of scientific papers and views on the impact of climate change on human health to those new to the subject, as well as to remind public health experts of its multifactorial and multidisciplinary character.

Climate change and public health policy: translating the science.

Science.gov (United States)

Braks, Marieta; van Ginkel, Rijk; Wint, William; Sedda, Luigi; Sprong, Hein

2013-12-19

Public health authorities are required to prepare for future threats and need predictions of the likely impact of climate change on public health risks. They may get overwhelmed by the volume of heterogeneous information in scientific articles and risk relying purely on the public opinion articles which focus mainly on global warming trends, and leave out many other relevant factors. In the current paper, we discuss various scientific approaches investigating climate change and its possible impact on public health and discuss their different roles and functions in unraveling the complexity of the subject. It is not our objective to review the available literature or to make predictions for certain diseases or countries, but rather to evaluate the applicability of scientific research articles on climate change to evidence-based public health decisions. In the context of mosquito borne diseases, we identify common pitfalls to watch out for when assessing scientific research on the impact of climate change on human health. We aim to provide guidance through the plethora of scientific papers and views on the impact of climate change on human health to those new to the subject, as well as to remind public health experts of its multifactorial and multidisciplinary character.

Climate Change and Public Health Policy: Translating the Science

Science.gov (United States)

Braks, Marieta; van Ginkel, Rijk; Wint, William; Sedda, Luigi; Sprong, Hein

2013-01-01

Public health authorities are required to prepare for future threats and need predictions of the likely impact of climate change on public health risks. They may get overwhelmed by the volume of heterogeneous information in scientific articles and risk relying purely on the public opinion articles which focus mainly on global warming trends, and leave out many other relevant factors. In the current paper, we discuss various scientific approaches investigating climate change and its possible impact on public health and discuss their different roles and functions in unraveling the complexity of the subject. It is not our objective to review the available literature or to make predictions for certain diseases or countries, but rather to evaluate the applicability of scientific research articles on climate change to evidence-based public health decisions. In the context of mosquito borne diseases, we identify common pitfalls to watch out for when assessing scientific research on the impact of climate change on human health. We aim to provide guidance through the plethora of scientific papers and views on the impact of climate change on human health to those new to the subject, as well as to remind public health experts of its multifactorial and multidisciplinary character. PMID:24452252

Representing climate change on public service television: A case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Debrett, Mary

2017-05-01

Publicly funded broadcasters with a track record in science programming would appear ideally placed to represent climate change to the lay public. Free from the constraints of vested interests and the economic imperative, public service providers are better equipped to represent the scientific, social and economic aspects of climate change than commercial media, where ownership conglomeration, corporate lobbyists and online competition have driven increasingly tabloid coverage with an emphasis on controversy. This prime-time snapshot of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's main television channel explores how the structural/rhetorical conventions of three established public service genres - a science programme, a documentary and a live public affairs talk show - impact on the representation of anthropogenic climate change. The study findings note implications for public trust, and discuss possibilities for innovation in the interests of better public understanding of climate change.

Quantifiers in Russian Sign Language

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kimmelman, V.; Paperno, D.; Keenan, E.L.

2017-01-01

After presenting some basic genetic, historical and typological information about Russian Sign Language, this chapter outlines the quantification patterns it expresses. It illustrates various semantic types of quantifiers, such as generalized existential, generalized universal, proportional,

Climate equivalence scales and the effects of climate change on Russian welfare and well-being

OpenAIRE

Paul Frijters; Bernard M.S. van Praag

1998-01-01

This paper measures the concepts of welfare and well-being in Russia on the basis of two large Russian household surveys, carried out in 1993 and 1994. Welfare refers to satisfaction with income and well-being refers to satisfaction with life as a whole. This paper investigates how climate conditions in various parts of Russia affect the cost of living and well-being. Climate equivalence scales have been constructed for both welfare and well-being.

Predictors of public climate change awareness and risk perception around the world

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Tien Ming; Markowitz, Ezra M.; Howe, Peter D.; Ko, Chia-Ying; Leiserowitz, Anthony A.

2015-11-01

Climate change is a threat to human societies and natural ecosystems, yet public opinion research finds that public awareness and concern vary greatly. Here, using an unprecedented survey of 119 countries, we determine the relative influence of socio-demographic characteristics, geography, perceived well-being, and beliefs on public climate change awareness and risk perceptions at national scales. Worldwide, educational attainment is the single strongest predictor of climate change awareness. Understanding the anthropogenic cause of climate change is the strongest predictor of climate change risk perceptions, particularly in Latin America and Europe, whereas perception of local temperature change is the strongest predictor in many African and Asian countries. However, other key factors associated with public awareness and risk perceptions highlight the need to develop tailored climate communication strategies for individual nations. The results suggest that improving basic education, climate literacy, and public understanding of the local dimensions of climate change are vital to public engagement and support for climate action.

Agricultural terminology in Russian language on the Institute of field and vegetable crops example

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Savin Dragana

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Contemporary science demands that scientists are following domestic and foreign scientific and technical achievements through conference attendances and scientific and professional literature. Agricultural science is based on practical data, field experiments, but nevertheless it is essential to be up to date with the work of foreign researchers, scientific centers and institutions through their publications. The aim of this paper was to present a part of the agricultural lexicon (with the accent on the plant species names, as well as the general scientific and organizational terms with the equivalents in Russian - Serbian and Serbian - Russian, which is of the great importance in activities of Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, presented through perennial practices of translation. Those terms are recognized as important and frequent, without wishing to go into professional divisions in agriculture as science. This paper is dedicated to the scientists who posses basic linguistic knowledge of Russian language and are starting to use Russian scientific and professional literature in agriculture, as well as students of Russian language for the purpose of establishing and widening linguistic fund.

Public health adaptation to climate change in OECD countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Austin, Stephanie E.; Biesbroek, Robbert; Berrang-Ford, Lea; Ford, James D.; Parker, Stephen; Fleury, Manon D.

2016-01-01

Climate change is a major challenge facing public health. National governments play a key role in public health adaptation to climate change, but there are competing views on what responsibilities and obligations this will—or should—include in different nations. This study aims to: (1) examine

Information structure in Russian Sign Language and Sign Language of the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kimmelman, V.

2014-01-01

This dissertation explores Information Structure in two sign languages: Sign Language of the Netherlands and Russian Sign Language. Based on corpus data and elicitation tasks we show how topic and focus are expressed in these languages. In particular, we show that topics can be marked syntactically

Climate Change and TESOL: Language, Literacies, and the Creation of Eco-Ethical Consciousness

Science.gov (United States)

Goulah, Jason

2017-01-01

This article calls on the field of TESOL to respond to the planet's growing climatic and ecological crisis, conceptualizing climate change beyond just standards-based language and content curriculum. Climate change is also "cultural" and "religious," and thus warrants broader consideration in TESOL. Drawing on theories of value…

Russian language for Persian learners A research on the difficulties of learning motion verbs of

OpenAIRE

ایزانلو ایزانلو

2009-01-01

Since motion verbs of Russian language is one of those complex issues in Russian language syntax, Iranian students who are learning Russian language face problems when learning this grammatical category. These problems in learning appear in two stages. a)The stage of learning and understanding the meaning of these verbs in the Russian language itself; b) The stage of transition of these verbs from Russian language into Persian language when translating texts into Persian. It seems that the di...

The Distribution of Climate Change Public Opinion in Canada.

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Matto Mildenberger

Full Text Available While climate scientists have developed high resolution data sets on the distribution of climate risks, we still lack comparable data on the local distribution of public climate change opinions. This paper provides the first effort to estimate local climate and energy opinion variability outside the United States. Using a multi-level regression and post-stratification (MRP approach, we estimate opinion in federal electoral districts and provinces. We demonstrate that a majority of the Canadian public consistently believes that climate change is happening. Belief in climate change's causes varies geographically, with more people attributing it to human activity in urban as opposed to rural areas. Most prominently, we find majority support for carbon cap and trade policy in every province and district. By contrast, support for carbon taxation is more heterogeneous. Compared to the distribution of US climate opinions, Canadians believe climate change is happening at higher levels. This new opinion data set will support climate policy analysis and climate policy decision making at national, provincial and local levels.

The Distribution of Climate Change Public Opinion in Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Mildenberger, Matto; Howe, Peter; Lachapelle, Erick; Stokes, Leah; Marlon, Jennifer; Gravelle, Timothy

2016-01-01

While climate scientists have developed high resolution data sets on the distribution of climate risks, we still lack comparable data on the local distribution of public climate change opinions. This paper provides the first effort to estimate local climate and energy opinion variability outside the United States. Using a multi-level regression and post-stratification (MRP) approach, we estimate opinion in federal electoral districts and provinces. We demonstrate that a majority of the Canadian public consistently believes that climate change is happening. Belief in climate change's causes varies geographically, with more people attributing it to human activity in urban as opposed to rural areas. Most prominently, we find majority support for carbon cap and trade policy in every province and district. By contrast, support for carbon taxation is more heterogeneous. Compared to the distribution of US climate opinions, Canadians believe climate change is happening at higher levels. This new opinion data set will support climate policy analysis and climate policy decision making at national, provincial and local levels.

Public Understanding of Climate Change in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Weber, Elke U.; Stern, Paul C.

2011-01-01

This article considers scientific and public understandings of climate change and addresses the following question: Why is it that while scientific evidence has accumulated to document global climate change and scientific opinion has solidified about its existence and causes, U.S. public opinion has not and has instead become more polarized? Our…

Public Health Adaptation to Climate Change in OECD Countries

Science.gov (United States)

Austin, Stephanie E.; Biesbroek, Robbert; Berrang-Ford, Lea; Ford, James D.; Parker, Stephen; Fleury, Manon D.

2016-01-01

Climate change is a major challenge facing public health. National governments play a key role in public health adaptation to climate change, but there are competing views on what responsibilities and obligations this will—or should—include in different nations. This study aims to: (1) examine how national-level public health adaptation is occurring in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries; (2) examine the roles national governments are taking in public health adaptation; and (3) critically appraise three key governance dimensions of national-level health adaptation—cross-sectoral collaboration, vertical coordination and national health adaptation planning—and identify practical examples suited to different contexts. We systematically reviewed publicly available public health adaptation to climate change documents and webpages by national governments in ten OECD countries using systematic web searches, assessment of self-reporting, and content analysis. Our findings suggest national governments are primarily addressing infectious disease and heat-related risks posed by climate change, typically emphasizing capacity building or information-based groundwork initiatives. We find national governments are taking a variety of approaches to public health adaptation to climate change that do not follow expected convergence and divergence by governance structure. We discuss practical options for incorporating cross-sectoral collaboration, vertical coordination and national health adaptation planning into a variety of contexts and identify leaders national governments can look to to inform their public health adaptation planning. Following the adoption of the Paris Agreement and subsequent increased momentum for adaptation, research tracking adaptation is needed to define what health adaptation looks like in practice, reveal insights that can be taken up across states and sectors, and ensure policy orientated learning. PMID:27618074

Public Health Adaptation to Climate Change in OECD Countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Austin, Stephanie E; Biesbroek, Robbert; Berrang-Ford, Lea; Ford, James D; Parker, Stephen; Fleury, Manon D

2016-09-07

Climate change is a major challenge facing public health. National governments play a key role in public health adaptation to climate change, but there are competing views on what responsibilities and obligations this will-or should-include in different nations. This study aims to: (1) examine how national-level public health adaptation is occurring in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries; (2) examine the roles national governments are taking in public health adaptation; and (3) critically appraise three key governance dimensions of national-level health adaptation-cross-sectoral collaboration, vertical coordination and national health adaptation planning-and identify practical examples suited to different contexts. We systematically reviewed publicly available public health adaptation to climate change documents and webpages by national governments in ten OECD countries using systematic web searches, assessment of self-reporting, and content analysis. Our findings suggest national governments are primarily addressing infectious disease and heat-related risks posed by climate change, typically emphasizing capacity building or information-based groundwork initiatives. We find national governments are taking a variety of approaches to public health adaptation to climate change that do not follow expected convergence and divergence by governance structure. We discuss practical options for incorporating cross-sectoral collaboration, vertical coordination and national health adaptation planning into a variety of contexts and identify leaders national governments can look to to inform their public health adaptation planning. Following the adoption of the Paris Agreement and subsequent increased momentum for adaptation, research tracking adaptation is needed to define what health adaptation looks like in practice, reveal insights that can be taken up across states and sectors, and ensure policy orientated learning.

Psychological and linguistic features of the Russian language acquisition by international students

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I A Novikova

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the results of a full-scale interview with Russian language teachers that teach Russian as a foreign language at the preparatory departments at multinational universities. The research findings identified the basic psychological and linguistic features that are typical for the Russian language acquisition by the students from different regions of the world (Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Arab countries.

LEARNING AND TEACHING RUSSIAN LANGUAGE IN CHINA AND TAIWAN: PAST AND PRESENT

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Lidiya Z. Tenchurina

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The paper presents the main study results on the analysis of processes of establishing and development of Russian language studies and Russian language training practices in mainland China and Taiwan since the early XVIII century until now. Basing on the postulates of the social-and-cultural, systemic and historical, historiographical and axiological approaches, the authors attempt to describe the development of the theory and practice of teaching and studying Russian as a foreign language (RFL with a view to form a complete picture of the past and present of the Russian language in China and Taiwan, to evaluate the role and importance of the Russian language, primarily, in the socialand-cultural, as well as in the social-and-political and even economic aspects, not only from historic perspectives but also in terms of the future development – basing on evolving cooperation between Russia, on the one hand, and China and Taiwan – on the other. Methods. The main applied research methods are the comparative-historical and historical-and-logical analysis, historical reconstruction methods, systematization, theoretical generalizations and, partly, prediction. Scientific novelty. The novelty of the study lies in the fact that for the first time in the broader period (1700–2000 s it offers a generalized description of the establishment and development of Russian studies and practice of teaching the Russian language in China and Taiwan. Practical significance. The implementation of the research outcomes can be useful due to a possibility of carrying on its basis of new studies on the problems of Russian philology and teaching Russian as a foreign language, the history of pedagogy and education, and comparative pedagogy (comparative linguistics.

The influence of climate changes on carbon cycle in the russian forests. Data inventory and long-scale model prognoses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kokorin, A.O.; Nazarov, I.M.; Lelakin, A.L. [Inst. Global Climate and Ecology, Moscow (Russian Federation)

1995-12-31

The growing up climate changes arise the question about reaction of forests. Forests cover 770 Mha in Russia and are giant carbon reservoir. Climate changes cause disbalance in carbon budget that give additional CO{sub 2} exchange between forests and the atmosphere. The aim of the work is estimation of these fluxes. This problem is directly connected with an GHG inventory, vulnerability and mitigation assessment, which are necessary for future Russian Reports to UN FCCC. The work includes the following steps: (1) Collection of literature data as well as processing of the experimental data on influence of climate changes on forests, (2) Calculation of carbon budget as base for calculations of CO{sub 2} fluxes, (3) Developing of new version of CCBF (Carbon and Climate in Boreal Forests) model, (4) Model estimations of current and future CO{sub 2} fluxes caused by climate changes, forest cuttings, fires and reforestation

The influence of climate changes on carbon cycle in the russian forests. Data inventory and long-scale model prognoses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kokorin, A O; Nazarov, I M; Lelakin, A L [Inst. Global Climate and Ecology, Moscow (Russian Federation)

1996-12-31

The growing up climate changes arise the question about reaction of forests. Forests cover 770 Mha in Russia and are giant carbon reservoir. Climate changes cause disbalance in carbon budget that give additional CO{sub 2} exchange between forests and the atmosphere. The aim of the work is estimation of these fluxes. This problem is directly connected with an GHG inventory, vulnerability and mitigation assessment, which are necessary for future Russian Reports to UN FCCC. The work includes the following steps: (1) Collection of literature data as well as processing of the experimental data on influence of climate changes on forests, (2) Calculation of carbon budget as base for calculations of CO{sub 2} fluxes, (3) Developing of new version of CCBF (Carbon and Climate in Boreal Forests) model, (4) Model estimations of current and future CO{sub 2} fluxes caused by climate changes, forest cuttings, fires and reforestation

Shaping the Public Dialogue on Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Spitzer, W.; Anderson, J. C.

2012-12-01

In order to broaden the public dialogue about climate change, climate scientists need to leverage the potential of informal science education and recent advances in social and cognitive science. In the US, more than 1,500 informal science venues (science centers, museums, aquariums, zoos, nature centers, national parks, etc.) are visited annually by 61% of the population. Extensive research shows that these visitors are receptive to learning about climate change and trust these institutions as reliable sources. Given that we spend less than 5% of our lifetime in a classroom, and only a fraction of that is focused on science, informal science venues will continue to play a critical role in shaping public understanding of environmental issues in the years ahead. Public understanding of climate change continues to lag far behind the scientific consensus not merely because the public lacks information, but because there is in fact too much complex and contradictory information available. Fortunately, we can now (1) build on careful empirical cognitive and social science research to understand what people already value, believe, and understand; and then (2) design and test strategies for translating complex science so that people can examine evidence, make well-informed inferences, and embrace science-based solutions. The New England Aquarium is leading a national effort to enable informal science education institutions to effectively communicate the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification on marine ecosystems. This NSF-funded partnership, the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI), involves the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, FrameWorks Institute, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and National Aquarium, with evaluation conducted by the New Knowledge Organization, Pennsylvania State University, and Ohio State University. We believe that skilled interpreters can serve as "communication strategists" by

Theoretical Basics of the Transpositional Grammar of Russian Language

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Victor Vasilievich Shigurov

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The article presents the theoretical basics of the transpositional grammar of the Russian language (as the special areas of the functional grammar, which serves as a mechanism for describing the subject of the transposition of the linguistic units from one class (or interclass semantic-syntactic category to another (or others. The relation to the transposition of the grammar and vocabulary (word-formation was displayed; a typology of the transpositional processes in grammatical structure of the Russian language was submitted, and above all, in the parts of the speech and inter part-of-speech classes, grammatical categories and lexical-grammatical classes; general and specific objectives of the study types of transposition of the linguistic units were defined; the fragments of the description of the transition and syncretism of the language units were offered using the technique of opposition analysis and indexation. The results can be used in the development of the theory of the transpositional grammar of the Russian language.

Adaptation to climate change in the Ontario public health sector

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Paterson Jaclyn A

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Climate change is among the major challenges for health this century, and adaptation to manage adverse health outcomes will be unavoidable. The risks in Ontario – Canada’s most populous province – include increasing temperatures, more frequent and intense extreme weather events, and alterations to precipitation regimes. Socio-economic-demographic patterns could magnify the implications climate change has for Ontario, including the presence of rapidly growing vulnerable populations, exacerbation of warming trends by heat-islands in large urban areas, and connectedness to global transportation networks. This study examines climate change adaptation in the public health sector in Ontario using information from interviews with government officials. Methods Fifty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted, four with provincial and federal health officials and 49 with actors in public health and health relevant sectors at the municipal level. We identify adaptation efforts, barriers and opportunities for current and future intervention. Results Results indicate recognition that climate change will affect the health of Ontarians. Health officials are concerned about how a changing climate could exacerbate existing health issues or create new health burdens, specifically extreme heat (71%, severe weather (68% and poor air-quality (57%. Adaptation is currently taking the form of mainstreaming climate change into existing public health programs. While adaptive progress has relied on local leadership, federal support, political will, and inter-agency efforts, a lack of resources constrains the sustainability of long-term adaptation programs and the acquisition of data necessary to support effective policies. Conclusions This study provides a snapshot of climate change adaptation and needs in the public health sector in Ontario. Public health departments will need to capitalize on opportunities to integrate climate change into

Adaptation to climate change in the Ontario public health sector

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

Background Climate change is among the major challenges for health this century, and adaptation to manage adverse health outcomes will be unavoidable. The risks in Ontario – Canada’s most populous province – include increasing temperatures, more frequent and intense extreme weather events, and alterations to precipitation regimes. Socio-economic-demographic patterns could magnify the implications climate change has for Ontario, including the presence of rapidly growing vulnerable populations, exacerbation of warming trends by heat-islands in large urban areas, and connectedness to global transportation networks. This study examines climate change adaptation in the public health sector in Ontario using information from interviews with government officials. Methods Fifty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted, four with provincial and federal health officials and 49 with actors in public health and health relevant sectors at the municipal level. We identify adaptation efforts, barriers and opportunities for current and future intervention. Results Results indicate recognition that climate change will affect the health of Ontarians. Health officials are concerned about how a changing climate could exacerbate existing health issues or create new health burdens, specifically extreme heat (71%), severe weather (68%) and poor air-quality (57%). Adaptation is currently taking the form of mainstreaming climate change into existing public health programs. While adaptive progress has relied on local leadership, federal support, political will, and inter-agency efforts, a lack of resources constrains the sustainability of long-term adaptation programs and the acquisition of data necessary to support effective policies. Conclusions This study provides a snapshot of climate change adaptation and needs in the public health sector in Ontario. Public health departments will need to capitalize on opportunities to integrate climate change into policies and programs

Prospects of Russian Agriculture development under global climate and technological changes

Science.gov (United States)

Valentini, Riccardo; Vasenev, Ivan

2015-04-01

Despite the great progresses of the last century in the agricultural sector and food supply, still about 820 million of people in developing countries are facing food scarcity and malnutrition. More than 180 million children are underweight. Except in Africa, 80 percent of the production gains came from increased yields in major cereal crops. The area cultivated has actually begun to decline in some regions. From now on, however, even Africa, which has always relied on cultivation of new land for production increases, will have to count on yield gains or pay high financial and ecological costs for expansion into areas not yet cultivated. The global scenario is changing fast. The technological, climatic and human-induced factors are creating long-lasting effects on the lives of people and on economic activities around the globe. In particular, climate change and/or variability is exacerbating rural increasing heat stress to natural habitats and human settlements, increasing climatic extremes, including drought and impacting food production. Agriculture of any kind is strongly influenced by the availability of water. Climate change will modify rainfall, evaporation, runoff, and soil moisture storage. Changes in total seasonal precipitation or in its pattern of variability are both important. The occurrence of moisture stress during flowering, pollination, and grain-filling is harmful to most crops and particularly so to corn, soybeans, and wheat. Increased evaporation from the soil and accelerated transpiration in the plants themselves will cause moisture stress; as a result there will be a need to develop crop varieties with greater drought tolerance. These climate change effects are particularly harmful in tropical regions of South America, Africa and South East Asia where food production is feeding a large part of world countries and poses serious risks to global food security in the future. Despite global projected climate change will affect a general decline of

Intercultural Communication and Teaching Russian to International Students at Language Summer Courses

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Yuriy A. Romanov

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: the article considers the content and methods of teaching Russian as a foreign language at language summer courses with due account to (as a form of study-abroad training the motives of intercultural communication. The specifics of teaching Russian to international students in the cultural field of Ukraine is revealed. The timeliness of the study is determined by constantly increasing academic mobility of students and the need for the development of modern educational technologies. The main purpose of the article is to present an integrated approach to Russian as a foreign language teaching at language summer courses, when cultural needs of the trainees and the motives of intercultural communication are considered. Materials and Methods: teaching methodology draws on specific methods of teaching Russian as a foreign language and models of intercultural competence development. Educational materials for practical teaching of the Russian language are presented; qualitative and quantitative methods to research intercultural communication motives (written questionnaires and interviews on key topics are used. Results: through working with the learners of language courses – students of Austrian universities – the data on the learners’ motivation factors, the most relevant topics for intercultural dialogue, some important aspects of Russian grammar, and also the data on the most popular knowledge about Ukraine are obtained and carefully analysed. The analysis of the obtained data, carried out by the authors of the study, allowed to optimise the content of the educational process and to incre ase its effectiveness. Discussion and Conclusions: teaching Russian to foreigners, showing a keen interest in the cultural values of Ukraine, suggests a parallel formation of intercultural competence based on understanding the local cultural realities. The presented approach to RFL teaching within the framework of the language summer courses

Climate Change and Public Health Policy: Translating the Science

OpenAIRE

Braks, Marieta; van Ginkel, Rijk; Wint, William; Sedda, Luigi; Sprong, Hein

2013-01-01

Public health authorities are required to prepare for future threats and need predictions of the likely impact of climate change on public health risks. They may get overwhelmed by the volume of heterogeneous information in scientific articles and risk relying purely on the public opinion articles which focus mainly on global warming trends, and leave out many other relevant factors. In the current paper, we discuss various scientific approaches investigating climate change and its possible i...

Climate Change, Public Health, and Policy: A California Case Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Ganesh, Chandrakala; Smith, Jason A

2018-04-01

Anthropogenic activity will bring immediate changes and disruptions to the global climate with accompanying health implications. Although policymakers and public health advocates are beginning to acknowledge the health implications of climate change, current policy approaches are lagging behind. We proposed that 4 key policy principles are critical to successful policymaking in this arena: mainstreaming, linking mitigation and adaptation policy, applying population perspectives, and coordination. We explored California's progress in addressing the public health challenges of climate change in the San Joaquin Valley as an example. We discussed issues of mental health and climate change, and used the San Joaquin Valley of California as an example to explore policy approaches to health issues and climate change. The California experience is instructive for other jurisdictions.

Climate Change, Public Health, and Policy: A California Case Study

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Jason A.

2018-01-01

Anthropogenic activity will bring immediate changes and disruptions to the global climate with accompanying health implications. Although policymakers and public health advocates are beginning to acknowledge the health implications of climate change, current policy approaches are lagging behind. We proposed that 4 key policy principles are critical to successful policymaking in this arena: mainstreaming, linking mitigation and adaptation policy, applying population perspectives, and coordination. We explored California’s progress in addressing the public health challenges of climate change in the San Joaquin Valley as an example. We discussed issues of mental health and climate change, and used the San Joaquin Valley of California as an example to explore policy approaches to health issues and climate change. The California experience is instructive for other jurisdictions. PMID:29072936

LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE AND WHAT IT TELLS US ABOUT THE INTEGRATION OF THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE INTO ISRAELI ECONOMY

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Мария Еленевская

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This essay analyzes the use of Russian in the linguistic landscape of Israel. Despite continu-ing hegemony of Hebrew, Russian has penetrated all spheres of public life, although concessions to multi-lingualism in Israeli society are hesitant and unsystematic. Russian written texts marking urban areas are unevenly distributed and reveal ethnic and social stratification of Israeli cities. The concentration of Russian signs is highest in business and commercial areas, where they target both domestic and international cus-tomers. The article focuses on the use of Russian in language-intensive domains and traces its influence on the symbolic economy in which cultural symbols are used as a marketing strategy.

Review of Russian language studies on radionuclide behaviour in agricultural animals: part 2. Transfer to milk

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fesenko, S.; Howard, B.J.; Isamov, N.; Voigt, G.; Beresford, N.A.; Sanzharova, N.; Barnett, C.L.

2007-01-01

An overview of original information available from Russian language papers on radionuclide transfer to milk is provided. Most of the data presented have not been taken into account in international reviews. The transfer coefficient (F m ) values for radioactive isotopes of strontium, caesium and iodine are in good agreement with those previously published. The Russian language data, often based on experiments with many animals, constitute a considerable increase to the available data for many less well-studied radionuclides. In some instances, the Russian language data suggest changes in recommended values (e.g. Zr and Ru). The information presented here substantially increases the amount of available data on radionuclide transfer to milk and will be included in the current revision of the IAEA TRS Handbook of parameter values for radionuclide transfer

Review of Russian language studies on radionuclide behaviour in agricultural animals: part 2. Transfer to milk.

Science.gov (United States)

Fesenko, S; Howard, B J; Isamov, N; Voigt, G; Beresford, N A; Sanzharova, N; Barnett, C L

2007-01-01

An overview of original information available from Russian language papers on radionuclide transfer to milk is provided. Most of the data presented have not been taken into account in international reviews. The transfer coefficient (F(m)) values for radioactive isotopes of strontium, caesium and iodine are in good agreement with those previously published. The Russian language data, often based on experiments with many animals, constitute a considerable increase to the available data for many less well-studied radionuclides. In some instances, the Russian language data suggest changes in recommended values (e.g. Zr and Ru). The information presented here substantially increases the amount of available data on radionuclide transfer to milk and will be included in the current revision of the IAEA TRS Handbook of parameter values for radionuclide transfer.

Preparing for climate change: a perspective from local public health officers in California.

Science.gov (United States)

Bedsworth, Louise

2009-04-01

The most recent scientific findings show that even with significant emission reductions, some amount of climate change is likely inevitable. The magnitude of the climate changes will depend on future emissions and climate sensitivity. These changes will have local impacts, and a significant share of coping with these changes will fall on local governmental agencies. Public health is no exception, because local public health agencies are crucial providers of disease prevention, health care, and emergency preparedness services. This article presents the results of a survey of California's local pubic health officers conducted between August and October 2007. The survey gauged health officers' concerns about the public health impacts of climate change, programs in place that could help to mitigate these health effects, and information and resource needs for better coping with a changing climate. The results of this survey show that most public health officers feel that climate change poses a serious threat to public health but that they do not feel well equipped in terms of either resources or information to cope with that threat. Nonetheless, public health agencies currently implement a number of programs that will help these agencies handle some of the challenges posed by a changing climate. Overall, the results suggest that local public health agencies in California are likely in a better position than they perceive to address the threats associated with climate change but that there is a larger role for them to play in climate policy.

Using Web GIS "Climate" for Adaptation to Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Gordova, Yulia; Martynova, Yulia; Shulgina, Tamara

2015-04-01

A work is devoted to the application of an information-computational Web GIS "Climate" developed by joint team of the Institute of Monitoring of Climatic and Ecological Systems SB RAS and Tomsk State University to raise awareness about current and future climate change as a basis for further adaptation. Web-GIS "Climate» (http://climate.scert.ru/) based on modern concepts of Web 2.0 provides opportunities to study regional climate change and its consequences by providing access to climate and weather models, a large set of geophysical data and means of processing and visualization. Also, the system is used for the joint development of software applications by distributed research teams, research based on these applications and undergraduate and graduate students training. In addition, the system capabilities allow creating information resources to raise public awareness about climate change, its causes and consequences, which is a necessary step for the subsequent adaptation to these changes. Basic information course on climate change is placed in the public domain and is aimed at local population. Basic concepts and problems of modern climate change and its possible consequences are set out and illustrated in accessible language. Particular attention is paid to regional climate changes. In addition to the information part, the course also includes a selection of links to popular science network resources on current issues in Earth Sciences and a number of practical tasks to consolidate the material. These tasks are performed for a particular territory. Within the tasks users need to analyze the prepared within the "Climate" map layers and answer questions of direct interest to the public: "How did the minimum value of winter temperatures change in your area?", "What are the dynamics of maximum summer temperatures?", etc. Carrying out the analysis of the dynamics of climate change contributes to a better understanding of climate processes and further adaptation

Sociolinguistic Aspects of the First Translations of the Bible into the Russian Language

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Alexander G. Kravetsky

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The first translations of the New Testament into the Russian language, which were carried out at the beginning of the 19th century, are usually regarded as a missionary project. But the language of these translations may prove that they were addressed to a rather narrow audience. As is known, the Russian Bible Society established in 1812 began its activities not with translations into Russian but with the mass edition of the Church Slavonic text of the Bible. In other words, it was the Church Slavonic Bible that was initially taken as the “Russian” Bible. Such a perception correlated with the sociolinguistic situation of that period, when, among the literate country and town dwellers, people learned grammar according to practices dating back to Medieval Rus’, which meant learning by heart the Church Slavonic alphabet, the Book of Hours, and the Book of Psalms; these readers were in the majority, and they could understand the Church Slavonic Bible much better than they could a Russian-language version. That is why the main audience for the “Russian” Bible was the educated classes who read the Bible in European languages, not in Russian. The numbers of targeted readers for the Russian-language translation of the Bible were significantly lower than those for the Church Slavonic version. The ideas of the “language innovators” (who favored using Russian as a basis for a new national language thus appeared to be closer to the approach taken by the Bible translators than the ideas of “the upholders of the archaic tradition” (who favored using the vocabulary and forms of Church Slavonic as their basis. The language into which the New Testament was translated moved ahead of the literary standard of that period, and that was one of the reasons why the work on the translation of the Bible into the Russian language was halted.

THE PRINCIPLES OF PHONOLOGICAL WORD STRUCTURE COMPARISON OF RUSSIAN AND CHINESE LANGUAGES

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Alexey N. Aleksakhin

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the phonological structure of words of Russian and Chinese languages. With phonological point of view the word as a Central significant unit of language is a sequence of consonants and vowel phonemes. A comparative study shows that the phonological structure of the Russian words prevail consonant phonemes and the phonological structure of the Chinese words prevail vowel phonemes. The phonological system of the Russian language is characterized by consonant dominant, and the phonological system of the Chinese language Mandarin is characterized by vocal dominant. In the vowel system of the Russian language there are six vowel phonemes, in the vowel system of the Chinese language Mandarin there are thirty-one vowel phonemes. The typical sound pattern of words of the Chinese language consists of vowel combinations. The strong (vowels differ in different effective modes of vocal cords vowels are implemented in the even phonological position; the weak vowels are implemented in the left and right odd phonological positions of the syllabic matrix 0123. Consonant phonemes of the Chinese language are implemented only in the zero phonological position. The Sound variety of simple one-syllable words of the Chinese language is constructed by oppositions: twenty-five consonants in the zero position, thirty-one strong vowel phonemes in the even position, as well as three weak vowels in the left odd position and five weak vowels in the right odd position . The typical distribution of consonant and vowel phonemes is shown in the following examples of words: 0123 - guai «obedient», gudi «rotate», guài «strange». The opposition of weak vowels with a derivative phonological zero is also an effective method of making words: guai «obedient» - gai «must» - gua « blow» - ga «a dark corner». Both Russian and Chinese Synharmonia variety of sound words is supported by five derivative phonological zeros that are phonetically in

The Principles Of Phonological Word Structure Comparison Of Russian And Chinese Languages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexey N. Aleksakhin

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the phonological structure of words of Russian and Chinese languages. With phonological point of view the word as a Central significant unit of language is a sequence of consonants and vowel phonemes. A comparative study shows that the phonological structure of the Russian words prevail consonant phonemes and the phonological structure of the Chinese words prevail vowel phonemes. The phonological system of the Russian language is characterized by consonant dominant, and the phonological system of the Chinese language Mandarin is characterized by vocal dominant. In the vowel system of the Russian language there are six vowel phonemes, in the vowel system of the Chinese language Mandarin there are thirty-one vowel phonemes. The typical sound pattern of words of the Chinese language consists of vowel combinations. The strong (vowels differ in different effective modes of vocal cords vowels are implemented in the even phonological position; the weak vowels are implemented in the left and right odd phonological positions of the syllabic matrix 0123. Consonant phonemes of the Chinese language are implemented only in the zero phonological position. The Sound variety of simple one-syllable words of the Chinese language is constructed by oppositions: twenty-five consonants in the zero position, thirty-one strong vowel phonemes in the even position, as well as three weak vowels in the left odd position and five weak vowels in the right odd position . The typical distribution of consonant and vowel phonemes is shown in the following examples of words: 0123 - guai «obedient», gudi «rotate», guài «strange». The opposition of weak vowels with a derivative phonological zero is also an effective method of making words: guai «obedient» - gai «must» - gua « blow» - ga «a dark corner». Both Russian and Chinese Synharmonia variety of sound words is supported by five derivative phonological zeros that are phonetically in

FOREIGN LANGUAGE OFFERINGS AND ENROLLMENTS IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS, FALL 1965.

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RUTIMANN, HANS; TEAGUE, CAROLINE

THIS REPORT ON FOREIGN LANGUAGE ENROLLMENTS, THE EIGHTH IN A SERIES PUBLISHED ANNUALLY, SHOWS THE LANGUAGE ENROLLMENT DISTRIBUTION IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS (GRADES 7 TO 12) WHICH, IN 1965, WAS 85.8 PERCENT ENROLLED IN SPANISH, FRENCH, GERMAN, RUSSIAN, AND ITALIAN, 13.9 PERCENT ENROLLED IN LATIN, AND 0.3 PERCENT IN "OTHER" LANGUAGES. THREE BASIC…

Greening Australia's public health system: the role of public hospitals in responding to climate change.

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Primozic, Lauren

2010-05-01

Climate change is one of the most important social, economic, ecological and ethical issues of the 21st century. The effects of climate change on human health are now widely accepted as a genuine threat and the Australian Government has initiated policy and legislative responses. In addition, in the 2009-2010 budget the Australian Government has committed A$64 billion to public health and hospital reform. But will this Commonwealth funding support--and should it support--the government's high-profile climate change policy? Does Commonwealth funding translate to an obligation to support Commonwealth policies? This article explores the role of public hospitals as champions and role models of the Australian Government's climate change policy and how this might be done without detracting from the primary purpose of public hospital funding: improving patient care.

Climate Change and Public Health Surveillance: Toward a Comprehensive Strategy.

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Moulton, Anthony Drummond; Schramm, Paul John

Climate change poses a host of serious threats to human health that robust public health surveillance systems can help address. It is unknown, however, whether existing surveillance systems in the United States have adequate capacity to serve that role, nor what actions may be needed to develop adequate capacity. Our goals were to review efforts to assess and strengthen the capacity of public health surveillance systems to support health-related adaptation to climate change in the United States and to determine whether additional efforts are warranted. Building on frameworks issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we specified 4 core components of public health surveillance capacity relevant to climate change health threats. Using standard methods, we next identified and analyzed multiple assessments of the existing, relevant capacity of public health surveillance systems as well as attempts to improve that capacity. We also received information from selected national public health associations. Multiple federal, state, and local public health agencies, professional associations, and researchers have made valuable, initial efforts to assess and strengthen surveillance capacity. These efforts, however, have been made by entities working independently and without the benefit of a shared conceptual framework or strategy. Their principal focus has been on identifying suitable indicators and data sources largely to the exclusion of other core components of surveillance capacity. A more comprehensive and strategic approach is needed to build the public health surveillance capacity required to protect the health of Americans in a world of rapidly evolving climate change. Public health practitioners and policy makers at all levels can use the findings and issues reviewed in this article as they lead design and execution of a coordinated, multisector strategic plan to create and sustain that capacity.

Climate Change and Public Health Surveillance: Toward a Comprehensive Strategy

Science.gov (United States)

Moulton, Anthony Drummond; Schramm, Paul John

2017-01-01

Context Climate change poses a host of serious threats to human health that robust public health surveillance systems can help address. It is unknown, however, whether existing surveillance systems in the United States have adequate capacity to serve that role, nor what actions may be needed to develop adequate capacity. Objective Our goals were to review efforts to assess and strengthen the capacity of public health surveillance systems to support health-related adaptation to climate change in the United States and to determine whether additional efforts are warranted. Methods Building on frameworks issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we specified 4 core components of public health surveillance capacity relevant to climate change health threats. Using standard methods, we next identified and analyzed multiple assessments of the existing, relevant capacity of public health surveillance systems as well as attempts to improve that capacity. We also received information from selected national public health associations. Findings Multiple federal, state, and local public health agencies, professional associations, and researchers have made valuable, initial efforts to assess and strengthen surveillance capacity. These efforts, however, have been made by entities working independently and without the benefit of a shared conceptual framework or strategy. Their principal focus has been on identifying suitable indicators and data sources largely to the exclusion of other core components of surveillance capacity. Conclusions A more comprehensive and strategic approach is needed to build the public health surveillance capacity required to protect the health of Americans in a world of rapidly evolving climate change. Public health practitioners and policy makers at all levels can use the findings and issues reviewed in this article as they lead design and execution of a coordinated, multisector strategic

Public transportation's role in responding to climate change

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2010-01-01

This paper details the role public transportation has in responding to the challenge of climate change. It collects and analyzes data from across the country on public transportation fuel use, vehicles deployed, rides taken, and other key metrics, dr...

The public perception of climate change in Taiwan and its paradigm shift

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Chou, Kuei Tien

2013-01-01

This study attempts to explore the risk perceptions of climate change in Taiwan. It probes into the public's views toward governments' risk communication regarding climate change, citizens' participation in decision-making, and their trust in the capacity of governments toward risk governance, as well as their attitude towards corporate social responsibility. For analysis, we developed ten types of perceptions under three dimensions: namely the severity of climate change (Type 1), the development of sustainable society (Types 2, 3, 4 and 5), and the risk governance and communication (Types 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10) to discuss whether the Taiwanese public's perception of climate change was prepared for a socially reflective paradigm shift. Regarding the three dimensions in the questionnaire design, although this study individually measured the public's risk perception, there was a high correlation between the variance analysis results among the three dimensions. This could systematically explain the potential change of the governance paradigm in Taiwanese society concerning structural transformation. - Highlights: • The public had critical view on the policy decision-making of climate change. • There is low public trust in the government's capacity to resist climate change. • The public requested more risk communication, transparency and participation. • The pursuit of an alternative sustainable economic society is highly expected. • People supported renewable energy by higher prices for carbon reduction

An evidence-based public health approach to climate change adaptation.

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Hess, Jeremy J; Eidson, Millicent; Tlumak, Jennifer E; Raab, Kristin K; Luber, George

2014-11-01

Public health is committed to evidence-based practice, yet there has been minimal discussion of how to apply an evidence-based practice framework to climate change adaptation. Our goal was to review the literature on evidence-based public health (EBPH), to determine whether it can be applied to climate change adaptation, and to consider how emphasizing evidence-based practice may influence research and practice decisions related to public health adaptation to climate change. We conducted a substantive review of EBPH, identified a consensus EBPH framework, and modified it to support an EBPH approach to climate change adaptation. We applied the framework to an example and considered implications for stakeholders. A modified EBPH framework can accommodate the wide range of exposures, outcomes, and modes of inquiry associated with climate change adaptation and the variety of settings in which adaptation activities will be pursued. Several factors currently limit application of the framework, including a lack of higher-level evidence of intervention efficacy and a lack of guidelines for reporting climate change health impact projections. To enhance the evidence base, there must be increased attention to designing, evaluating, and reporting adaptation interventions; standardized health impact projection reporting; and increased attention to knowledge translation. This approach has implications for funders, researchers, journal editors, practitioners, and policy makers. The current approach to EBPH can, with modifications, support climate change adaptation activities, but there is little evidence regarding interventions and knowledge translation, and guidelines for projecting health impacts are lacking. Realizing the goal of an evidence-based approach will require systematic, coordinated efforts among various stakeholders.

Linguistic dictionaries of economics in the German, Russian and Tatar languages

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Zaripova A.N.

2016-12-01

Full Text Available as is known, the degree of one or another professional language research is characterized by the specialized monolingual and multilingual dictionaries. This article describes the existing dictionaries with recorded German, Russian and Tatar economic vocabulary. The Russian and German languages belong to the languages that have well systematized economic vocabulary and it is presented by the large number of the linguistic, encyclopedic and multilingual dictionaries regarding this field. The situation with the dictionaries of economics in the Tatar language looks different. Dictionaries on this subject have been published periodically and economic vocabulary of the modern Tatar language is recorded by the electronic dictionaries in recent times.

Adapting to climate change : the public policy response - public infrastructure

Science.gov (United States)

2009-06-01

This paper assesses the threats and needs that multidimensional climate change imposes for : public infrastructure, reviews the existing adaptive capacity that could be applied to respond : to these threats and needs, and presents options for enhanci...

Russian blues reveal effects of language on color discrimination.

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Winawer, Jonathan; Witthoft, Nathan; Frank, Michael C; Wu, Lisa; Wade, Alex R; Boroditsky, Lera

2007-05-08

English and Russian color terms divide the color spectrum differently. Unlike English, Russian makes an obligatory distinction between lighter blues ("goluboy") and darker blues ("siniy"). We investigated whether this linguistic difference leads to differences in color discrimination. We tested English and Russian speakers in a speeded color discrimination task using blue stimuli that spanned the siniy/goluboy border. We found that Russian speakers were faster to discriminate two colors when they fell into different linguistic categories in Russian (one siniy and the other goluboy) than when they were from the same linguistic category (both siniy or both goluboy). Moreover, this category advantage was eliminated by a verbal, but not a spatial, dual task. These effects were stronger for difficult discriminations (i.e., when the colors were perceptually close) than for easy discriminations (i.e., when the colors were further apart). English speakers tested on the identical stimuli did not show a category advantage in any of the conditions. These results demonstrate that (i) categories in language affect performance on simple perceptual color tasks and (ii) the effect of language is online (and can be disrupted by verbal interference).

Consonant Alternations in Changing Verb Forms in Modern Russian

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Olga Alekseevna Gracheva

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to consonant alternations in the verbal final basis that is associated with the processes of verbal form changes. It presents some results of the verbal form analysis that are being conjugated as types 4-8. The source of the material was "Grammatical dictionary of the Russian language" by A.A. Zaliznyak. It is proved that the alternation in verbal forms of modern Russian depends on the character of language levels coordination thus performing the following functions: grammar meaning intensification, lexical homonyms differentiation, and grammar form identification including. The novelty of the data presented in the article consists in defining the principle statement that there exists some variations in the balance between regularity and predictiveness of consonant alternations in verbal forms: the alternation is more predictable if the number of grammema clusters in a paradigm that they mark is lower (type 4 with inflection -ить; on the contrary, the less predictable the alternations are, the bigger grammema clusters in the paradigm are, (i.e. when used for intensifying type 6 (with inflection -ать. The comparison of verbal forms with and without alternations resulted in the following conclusion: an infinitive form of a verb will predict with greater certainly types of alternations in the final basis and point to a definite kind of morphological meaning. The regularities revealed might be used in a descriptive morphology of modern Russian and in practice of teaching Russian as a foreign language.

When Russians Learn English: How the Semantics of Causation May Change

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Wolff, Phillip; Ventura, Tatyana

2009-01-01

We examined how the semantics of causal expressions in Russian and English might differ and how these differences might lead to changes in the way second language learners understand causal expressions in their first language. According to the dynamics model of causation (Wolff, 2007), expressions of causation based on CAUSE verbs (make, force)…

Reframing climate change as a public health issue: an exploratory study of public reactions.

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Maibach, Edward W; Nisbet, Matthew; Baldwin, Paula; Akerlof, Karen; Diao, Guoqing

2010-06-01

Climate change is taking a toll on human health, and some leaders in the public health community have urged their colleagues to give voice to its health implications. Previous research has shown that Americans are only dimly aware of the health implications of climate change, yet the literature on issue framing suggests that providing a novel frame--such as human health--may be potentially useful in enhancing public engagement. We conducted an exploratory study in the United States of people's reactions to a public health-framed short essay on climate change. U.S. adult respondents (n = 70), stratified by six previously identified audience segments, read the essay and were asked to highlight in green or pink any portions of the essay they found "especially clear and helpful" or alternatively "especially confusing or unhelpful." Two dependent measures were created: a composite sentence-specific score based on reactions to all 18 sentences in the essay; and respondents' general reactions to the essay that were coded for valence (positive, neutral, or negative). We tested the hypothesis that five of the six audience segments would respond positively to the essay on both dependent measures. There was clear evidence that two of the five segments responded positively to the public health essay, and mixed evidence that two other responded positively. There was limited evidence that the fifth segment responded positively. Post-hoc analysis showed that five of the six segments responded more positively to information about the health benefits associated with mitigation-related policy actions than to information about the health risks of climate change. Presentations about climate change that encourage people to consider its human health relevance appear likely to provide many Americans with a useful and engaging new frame of reference. Information about the potential health benefits of specific mitigation-related policy actions appears to be particularly compelling. We

Language and Social Identity Construction: A Study of a Russian Heritage Language Orthodox Christian School

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Moore, Ekaterina Leonidovna

2012-01-01

Grounded in discourse analytic and language socialization paradigms, this dissertation examines issues of language and social identity construction in children attending a Russian Heritage Language Orthodox Christian Saturday School in California. By conducting micro-analysis of naturally-occurring talk-in-interaction combined with longitudinal…

English language teacher development in a Russian university: Context, problems and implications

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Tatiana Rasskazova

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The evaluation of teacher professional development efficiency has always been an issue that has attracted attention of professionals in education. This paper reports on the results of a two-year English language teacher professional development programme following a Needs Analysis study conducted by Cambridge ESOL in 2012. Longitudinal research shows that in Russia English language teaching has several problems which exist throughout decades. This article focuses on some of them: class interaction mode; the use of native (Russian language in class; error correction strategies employed by teachers. A new approach to evaluation was employed by asking students and teachers the same questions from different perspectives on areas identified during the needs analysis study. The results varied in significance, though some positive changes have been noticed in class interaction mode, little has changed in the error correction strategies, the use of Russian in the classroom seems to be quite reasonable and does not interfere with learning. Overall, the study may be useful for general audience, especially for the post-Soviet countries as it provides evidence of change management and their impact on ELT. The findings presented in this paper seek to contribute to the formulation or adjustment of policies related to educational reforms, such as curriculum reform and teacher professional development in non-English-speaking countries.

Public Health-Related Impacts of Climate Change inCalifornia

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Drechsler, D.M.; Motallebi, N.; Kleeman, M.; Cayan, D.; Hayhoe,K.; Kalkstein, L.S.; Miller, N.L.; Jin, J.; VanCuren, R.A.

2005-12-01

In June 2005 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued Executive Order S-3-05 that set greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for California, and directed the Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency to report to the governor and the State legislature by January 2006 and biannually thereafter on the impacts to California of global warming, including impacts to water supply, public health, agriculture, the coastline, and forestry, and to prepare and report on mitigation and adaptation plans to combat these impacts. This report is a part of the report to the governor and legislature, and focuses on public health impacts that have been associated with climate change. Considerable evidence suggests that average ambient temperature is increasing worldwide, that temperatures will continue to increase into the future, and that global warming will result in changes to many aspects of climate, including temperature, humidity, and precipitation (McMichael and Githeko, 2001). It is expected that California will experience changes in both temperature and precipitation under current trends. Many of the changes in climate projected for California could have ramifications for public health (McMichael and Githeko, 2001), and this document summarizes the impacts judged most likely to occur in California, based on a review of available peer-reviewed scientific literature and new modeling and statistical analyses. The impacts identified as most significant to public health in California include mortality and morbidity related to temperature, air pollution, vector and water-borne diseases, and wildfires. There is considerable complexity underlying the health of a population with many contributing factors including biological, ecological, social, political, and geographical. In addition, the relationship between climate change and changes in public health is difficult to predict for the most part, although more detailed information is available on temperature

Public Views on Climate Change. European and USA Perspectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lorenzoni, I.; Pidgeon, N.F.

2006-01-01

If uncontrolled, human influences on the climate system may generate changes that will endanger various aspects of life on Earth. The precise implications of the scientific claims about climate change, and the extent to which they pose dangers to various populations, are becoming intensely debated at many levels in relation to policy. How 'danger' is interpreted will ultimately affect which actions are taken. In this paper, we examine how climate change is conceptualised by publics in Europe and in the USA. Although there is widespread concern about climate change, it is of secondary importance in comparison to other issues in people's daily lives. Most individuals relate to climate change through personal experience, knowledge, the balance of benefits and costs, and trust in other societal actors. We analyse these factors through findings from various surveys and studies, which highlight both the distinctiveness and some shared perspectives at a generalised level. We reflect upon these in relation to trust and responsibility for climate change action, and risk communication, supporting the call for discourses about climate change to also be situated in people's locality, as a means of increasing its saliency

Language development in rural and urban Russian-speaking children with and without developmental language disorder.

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Kornilov, Sergey A; Lebedeva, Tatiana V; Zhukova, Marina A; Prikhoda, Natalia A; Korotaeva, Irina V; Koposov, Roman A; Hart, Lesley; Reich, Jodi; Grigorenko, Elena L

2016-02-01

Using a newly developed Assessment of the Development of Russian Language (ORRIA), we investigated differences in language development between rural vs. urban Russian-speaking children (n = 100 with a mean age of 6.75) subdivided into groups with and without developmental language disorders. Using classical test theory and item response theory approaches, we found that while ORRIA displayed overall satisfactory psychometric properties, several of its items showed differential item functioning favoring rural children, and several others favoring urban children. After the removal of these items, rural children significantly underperformed on ORRIA compared to urban children. The urbanization factor did not significantly interact with language group. We discuss the latter finding in the context of the multiple additive risk factors for language development and emphasize the need for future studies of the mechanisms that underlie these influences and the implications of these findings for our understanding of the etiological architecture of children's language development.

Language development in rural and urban Russian-speaking children with and without developmental language disorder

Science.gov (United States)

Kornilov, Sergey A.; Lebedeva, Tatiana V.; Zhukova, Marina A.; Prikhoda, Natalia A.; Korotaeva, Irina V.; Koposov, Roman A.; Hart, Lesley; Reich, Jodi; Grigorenko, Elena L.

2015-01-01

Using a newly developed Assessment of the Development of Russian Language (ORRIA), we investigated differences in language development between rural vs. urban Russian-speaking children (n = 100 with a mean age of 6.75) subdivided into groups with and without developmental language disorders. Using classical test theory and item response theory approaches, we found that while ORRIA displayed overall satisfactory psychometric properties, several of its items showed differential item functioning favoring rural children, and several others favoring urban children. After the removal of these items, rural children significantly underperformed on ORRIA compared to urban children. The urbanization factor did not significantly interact with language group. We discuss the latter finding in the context of the multiple additive risk factors for language development and emphasize the need for future studies of the mechanisms that underlie these influences and the implications of these findings for our understanding of the etiological architecture of children's language development. PMID:27346924

Teachers' Perceptions of Principals' Motivating Language and Public School Climates in Kuwait

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Alqahtani, Abdulmuhsen Ayedh

2015-01-01

Research has shown that the overall climate in a school can encourage or deter learning. One significant factor promoting a positive climate is the use of motivational language by school leaders. This article presents empirical evidence of teachers' perceptions of motivational language used by school principals and the effects of this language on…

Reframing climate change as a public health issue: an exploratory study of public reactions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baldwin Paula

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Climate change is taking a toll on human health, and some leaders in the public health community have urged their colleagues to give voice to its health implications. Previous research has shown that Americans are only dimly aware of the health implications of climate change, yet the literature on issue framing suggests that providing a novel frame - such as human health - may be potentially useful in enhancing public engagement. We conducted an exploratory study in the United States of people's reactions to a public health-framed short essay on climate change. Methods U.S. adult respondents (n = 70, stratified by six previously identified audience segments, read the essay and were asked to highlight in green or pink any portions of the essay they found "especially clear and helpful" or alternatively "especially confusing or unhelpful." Two dependent measures were created: a composite sentence-specific score based on reactions to all 18 sentences in the essay; and respondents' general reactions to the essay that were coded for valence (positive, neutral, or negative. We tested the hypothesis that five of the six audience segments would respond positively to the essay on both dependent measures. Results There was clear evidence that two of the five segments responded positively to the public health essay, and mixed evidence that two other responded positively. There was limited evidence that the fifth segment responded positively. Post-hoc analysis showed that five of the six segments responded more positively to information about the health benefits associated with mitigation-related policy actions than to information about the health risks of climate change. Conclusions Presentations about climate change that encourage people to consider its human health relevance appear likely to provide many Americans with a useful and engaging new frame of reference. Information about the potential health benefits of specific mitigation

Climate Change | Page 5 | IDRC - International Development ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Language English. IDRC's associate director for climate change recently addressed parliamentarians as the featured guest speaker at the popular Bacon and Eggheads breakfast lecture series. Speaking to a packed audience including MPs, senators, and senior public servants, Robert Hofstede shared results from some of ...

Public Communication Model for Practical Countermeasure on Climate Change Risk: On the Subject of Establishing Public Sphere

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, SeongKyung

2010-09-15

Risk problems occurred by climate change distinguishes itself from other problems in its nature and influence. It is reasonable for ordinary citizens are unable to realize the climate change problems, and great gap exists between potential disaster and perception of the public as a result. These problems must be solved via democratic procedures and processes. Raising probability concerning governance of climate change risks is possible by balance and harmony of political will, apposite policy, and public supports by participation. This research proposes for establishment of realistic public sphere which is a precondition for countermeasure.

The American Public Health Association's 2017 Year of Climate Change and Health: Time for Action.

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DeJarnett, Natasha; Robb, Katherine; Castellanos, Ivana; Dettman, Louise; Patel, Surili S

2017-10-26

Climate change is today's greatest public health threat. 1 As the nation's leading voice in public health, the American Public Health Association (APHA) has demonstrated an enduring commitment to climate change as a health issue. As far back as the mid-1920s, AJPH reported on the health impacts of climate change. 2-4 Shaping the development of future organizational efforts, APHA members created the organization's first policy statement on climate change in 1995 (updated in 2007 and 2015). APHA continued to bring attention to climate change and public health, making it the theme of National Public Health Week 2008. Since then, evidence of climate change's causes and effects has mounted, but politicization of the issue and low prioritization by the public has made progress toward mitigation and adaptation slow. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print October 26, 2017: e1-e2. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2017.304168).

Cultural and climatic changes shape the evolutionary history of the Uralic languages.

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Honkola, T; Vesakoski, O; Korhonen, K; Lehtinen, J; Syrjänen, K; Wahlberg, N

2013-06-01

Quantitative phylogenetic methods have been used to study the evolutionary relationships and divergence times of biological species, and recently, these have also been applied to linguistic data to elucidate the evolutionary history of language families. In biology, the factors driving macroevolutionary processes are assumed to be either mainly biotic (the Red Queen model) or mainly abiotic (the Court Jester model) or a combination of both. The applicability of these models is assumed to depend on the temporal and spatial scale observed as biotic factors act on species divergence faster and in smaller spatial scale than the abiotic factors. Here, we used the Uralic language family to investigate whether both 'biotic' interactions (i.e. cultural interactions) and abiotic changes (i.e. climatic fluctuations) are also connected to language diversification. We estimated the times of divergence using Bayesian phylogenetics with a relaxed-clock method and related our results to climatic, historical and archaeological information. Our timing results paralleled the previous linguistic studies but suggested a later divergence of Finno-Ugric, Finnic and Saami languages. Some of the divergences co-occurred with climatic fluctuation and some with cultural interaction and migrations of populations. Thus, we suggest that both 'biotic' and abiotic factors contribute either directly or indirectly to the diversification of languages and that both models can be applied when studying language evolution. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2013 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Word Order in Russian Sign Language

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Kimmelman, Vadim

2012-01-01

In this paper the results of an investigation of word order in Russian Sign Language (RSL) are presented. A small corpus of narratives based on comic strips by nine native signers was analyzed and a picture-description experiment (based on Volterra et al. 1984) was conducted with six native signers. The results are the following: the most frequent…

VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES FOR ADVANCE OF RUSSIAN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE IN MODERN CONDITIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mihailovna Olga Komornikova

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the mechanisms and activities for promotion of the Russian language and culture of the Urals. Special attention is paid to one of the most promising directions of this activity is to attract students from other countries to obtain education in Russian language. The authors analyze a number of factors that determine the attractiveness of Russian education for students from post-Soviet States, as well as difficulties arising in the process of integration into the social and cultural environment of the host community. Presents the experience of the educational organization’s involvement in the work with foreign students volunteers at the example of club of international friendship Shadrinsk state pedagogical University and volunteers of the school “Dobroslava”. The article concluded that direct contact of volunteers from different countries contribute to the production practices of intercultural interaction, creating a favorable atmosphere for the promotion of Russian language and culture abroad.

Communicative Competence Approach to Person-Oriented Teaching of the Russian Language and Culture of Speech

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Y. V. Orlova

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The paper is devoted to the communicative competence approach in professional training of physicians on the undergraduate level. The main emphasis is on developing linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic competences while teaching the Russian language and the culture of speech. The paper is aimed at analyzing the requirements of federal state educational standards of the 3rd generation concerning the competences in the humanities which should be developed by medical students in the course of the Russian language and the culture of speech; defining the contents of the «communicative competence» term based on consideration of general European competences in mastering the language and the analysis of lingua-didactic works of modern Russian scientists; identifying the component content of linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic competences of the Russian language and the culture of speech course for medical schools. The research results regarding the analysis and component content of linguistic, sociolinguistic and pragmatic competences of the Russian language and the culture of speech course have been applied while designing the Russian and the culture of speech curriculum, as well as electronic textbooks and manuals for medical students. 

Peculiarities of Teaching the Russian Language to Children of Immigrants

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Kamalova, Lera A.; Zakirova, Venera G.

2016-01-01

The relevance of this study is due to migration processes in Russia, the emergence in Russian schools of migrant children. School practice shows that the education of migrant children the Russian language has its own specifics related to the problems of bilingualism (bilingualism), ethnic identification, insufficient knowledge of the Russian…

Public Health Climate Change Adaptation Planning Using Stakeholder Feedback.

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Eidson, Millicent; Clancy, Kathleen A; Birkhead, Guthrie S

2016-01-01

Public health climate change adaptation planning is an urgent priority requiring stakeholder feedback. The 10 Essential Public Health Services can be applied to adaptation activities. To develop a state health department climate and health adaptation plan as informed by stakeholder feedback. With Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funding, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) implemented a 2010-2013 climate and health planning process, including 7 surveys on perceptions and adaptation priorities. New York State Department of Health program managers participated in initial (n = 41, denominator unknown) and follow-up (72.2%) needs assessments. Surveillance system information was collected from 98.1% of surveillance system managers. For adaptation prioritization surveys, participants included 75.4% of NYSDOH leaders; 60.3% of local health departments (LHDs); and 53.7% of other stakeholders representing environmental, governmental, health, community, policy, academic, and business organizations. Interviews were also completed with 38.9% of other stakeholders. In 2011 surveys, 34.1% of state health program directors believed that climate change would impact their program priorities. However, 84.6% of state health surveillance system managers provided ideas for using databases for climate and health monitoring/surveillance. In 2012 surveys, 46.5% of state health leaders agreed they had sufficient information about climate and health compared to 17.1% of LHDs (P = .0046) and 40.9% of other stakeholders (nonsignificant difference). Significantly fewer (P climate and health into planning compared to state health leaders (55.8%) and other stakeholders (68.2%). Stakeholder groups agreed on the 4 highest priority adaptation categories including core public health activities such as surveillance, coordination/collaboration, education, and policy development. Feedback from diverse stakeholders was utilized by NYSDOH to develop its Climate and Health

Public engagement in climate change - Disjunctions, tensions and blind spots in the UK

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoeppner, C

2009-01-01

There is much talk about engaging the public in climate change mitigation and adaptation in the UK and elsewhere. Governments rush to demand greater engagement of the public in tackling climate change and delivering sustainable futures. The importance that public engagement has gained as part of the UK climate agenda begs the questions of what is actually behind this call and what are the implications. This paper analyses the rationale for public engagement as enshrined in major policy documents. This rationale is clearly instrumental in that citizens are expected to engage by adopting the 'right attitude', by performing prescribed behaviours, and by consenting to proposed measures. Using recent cases of climate change mitigation and adaptation practice the paper discusses the implications of such an approach to public engagement. The paper concludes that until the manifold disjunctions between climate related policy agendas and their rationales for engagement are explicitly addressed citizen engagement will be serving incumbent interests rather than contributing to socially sustainable and democratic decision-making

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Language English. Read more about DFID-IDRC Global Adaptation Research Program. Language English. Read more about Synthesizing Learning on Adaptation to Climate Change. Language English. Read more about Strengthening Local Capacity for Adaptation to Climate Change in the Bolivian Altiplano. Language ...

RETOUR - AN INNOVATIVE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE TRAINING RESOURSE FOR TOURISM WORKERS IN THE EU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Антония Пенчева

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This article investigates the role of the Russian language in the tourism sector. In particular it discusses learning materials for the self-study of Russian for tourism workers initiated by the European Union. The author shows the advantages of the online course Retur, which combines traditional methods with modern interactive multimedia teaching aids: video, audio and written teaching materials. In the article methods of selection of lexical and grammatical material, choice of thematic blocks and thematic units are discussed. The author comes to the conclusion that the tourism sector in a number of European countries is interested in training tourism workers in Russian in tourist services. Here, Russian as a foreign language becomes a demanded “commodity” that provides added value, and the teaching of Russian should serve as the formation of a communicative competence in Russian for future and current employees in tourism.

Communication and marketing as climate change-intervention assets a public health perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Maibach, Edward W; Roser-Renouf, Connie; Leiserowitz, Anthony

2008-11-01

The understanding that global climate change represents a profound threat to the health and well-being of human and nonhuman species worldwide is growing. This article examines the potential of communication and marketing interventions to influence population behavior in ways consistent with climate change prevention and adaptation objectives. Specifically, using a framework based on an ecologic model of public health, the paper examines: (1) the potential of communication and marketing interventions to influence population behaviors of concern, including support for appropriate public policies; (2) potential target audiences for such programs; and (3) the attributes of effective climate change messages. Communication and marketing interventions appear to have considerable potential to promote important population behavior change objectives, but there is an urgent need for additional translational research to effectively harvest this potential to combat climate change.

When Language becomes Power: Russian-Speaking Teachers in the Bilingual General Education System in Estonia

Science.gov (United States)

Kiilo, Tatjana; Kutsar, Dagmar

2012-01-01

After the re-establishment of independent Estonian statehood in 1991, Russian lost its privileges as the dominant and official language in Estonia, and Estonian continued as the only official language. This paper attempts to map the position of a Russian-speaking teacher within the sociological categories of power and language, based on the…

Guidelines for Nonsexist Language in APA Journals: Publication Manual Change Sheet 2

Science.gov (United States)

American Psychologist, 1977

1977-01-01

This second change sheet for its publication manual states the American Psychologist Association's policy on sexist language in its journals offers some general principles for journal authors to consider, and suggests some ways to avoid sexist language. (Author)

Climate change damages to Alaska public infrastructure and the economics of proactive adaptation

Science.gov (United States)

Climate change in the circumpolar region is causing dramatic environmental change that increases the vulnerability of the built environment. We quantified the economic impacts of climate change on Alaska’s public infrastructure under relatively high and low climate forcing scenar...

Role of Comparative Analysis in Cognitive Oriented Teaching Methods of Russian as Foreign Language

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana M. Mironova

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This article discusses some basis for the comparative representation of the language material from the view point of cognitive approach in teaching Russian as a foreign language. There is an attempt to comprehend the conceptual significance of the native language consideration during the formation of metalinguistic knowledge of learners in the Russian language. On the example of interlingual lexical correspondences and prepositional-case constructions it is analysed mental structures and mechanisms that provide link between language and extralinguistic reality in the consciousness of the Spanish-speaking students.

How can a climate change perspective be integrated into public health surveillance?

Science.gov (United States)

Pascal, M; Viso, A C; Medina, S; Delmas, M C; Beaudeau, P

2012-08-01

Climate change may be considered as a key factor for environmental change, exposure to health risks and pathogens, consequently impairing the state of health among populations. Efficient health surveillance systems are required to support adaptation to climate change. However, despite a growing awareness, the public health surveillance sector has had very little involvement in the drafting of adaptation plans. This paper proposes a method to raise awareness about climate change in the public health community, to identify possible health risks and to assess the needs for reinforced health surveillance systems. A working group was set up comprising surveillance experts in the following fields: environmental health; chronic diseases and; infectious diseases. Their goal was to define common objectives, to propose a framework for risk analysis, and to apply it to relevant health risks in France. The framework created helped to organize available information on climate-sensitive health risks, making a distinction between three main determinants as follows: (1) environment; (2) individual and social behaviours; and (3) demography and health status. The process is illustrated using two examples: heatwaves and airborne allergens. Health surveillance systems can be used to trigger early warning systems, to create databases which improve scientific knowledge about the health impacts of climate change, to identify and prioritize needs for intervention and adaptation measures, and to evaluate these measures. Adaptation requires public health professionals to consider climate change as a concrete input parameter in their studies and to create partnerships with professionals from other disciplines. Copyright © 2012 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Public perceptions about climate change mitigation in British Columbia's forest sector

Science.gov (United States)

Hagerman, Shannon; Kozak, Robert; Hoberg, George

2018-01-01

The role of forest management in mitigating climate change is a central concern for the Canadian province of British Columbia. The successful implementation of forest management activities to achieve climate change mitigation in British Columbia will be strongly influenced by public support or opposition. While we now have increasingly clear ideas of the management opportunities associated with forest mitigation and some insight into public support for climate change mitigation in the context of sustainable forest management, very little is known with respect to the levels and basis of public support for potential forest management strategies to mitigate climate change. This paper, by describing the results of a web-based survey, documents levels of public support for the implementation of eight forest carbon mitigation strategies in British Columbia’s forest sector, and examines and quantifies the influence of the factors that shape this support. Overall, respondents ascribed a high level of importance to forest carbon mitigation and supported all of the eight proposed strategies, indicating that the British Columbia public is inclined to consider alternative practices in managing forests and wood products to mitigate climate change. That said, we found differences in levels of support for the mitigation strategies. In general, we found greater levels of support for a rehabilitation strategy (e.g. reforestation of unproductive forest land), and to a lesser extent for conservation strategies (e.g. old growth conservation, reduced harvest) over enhanced forest management strategies (e.g. improved harvesting and silvicultural techniques). We also highlighted multiple variables within the British Columbia population that appear to play a role in predicting levels of support for conservation and/or enhanced forest management strategies, including environmental values, risk perception, trust in groups of actors, prioritized objectives of forest management and socio

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Preventing disasters: public health vulnerability reduction as a sustainable adaptation to climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Keim, Mark E

2011-06-01

Global warming could increase the number and severity of extreme weather events. These events are often known to result in public health disasters, but we can lessen the effects of these disasters. By addressing the factors that cause changes in climate, we can mitigate the effects of climate change. By addressing the factors that make society vulnerable to the effects of climate, we can adapt to climate change. To adapt to climate change, a comprehensive approach to disaster risk reduction has been proposed. By reducing human vulnerability to disasters, we can lessen--and at times even prevent--their impact. Human vulnerability is a complex phenomenon that comprises social, economic, health, and cultural factors. Because public health is uniquely placed at the community level, it has the opportunity to lessen human vulnerability to climate-related disasters. At the national and international level, a supportive policy environment can enable local adaptation to disaster events. The purpose of this article is to introduce the basic concept of disaster risk reduction so that it can be applied to preventing and mitigating the negative effects of climate change and to examine the role of community-focused public health as a means for lessening human vulnerability and, as a result, the overall risk of climate-related disasters.

FAMILY THOUGHT IN THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE MODEL OF THE WORLD: HISTORY OF THE VALUABLE RELATION TO A FAMILY ACCORDING TO RUSSIAN

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. S. Samoylova

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The article consider the structure of a word meaning a family in diachronic aspect. The valuable attitude towards concept «family» is characteristic of the entire periods in the history of Russian, and transformation of semantics of the word concept is insignificant. The central idea in definition of a family in modern Russian is the idea of spiritual proximity of people, the close emotional relations. The word is actively used in figurative sense for expression of estimated meanings. In a different way there is a history of values of the terms of relationship entering a theme group «family». In modern Russian these words cease to express a positive emotional assessment at the use in relation to not relatives. According to authors, it demonstrates change of valuable reference points in a modern language picture of the world.

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Home · Agriculture and Environment. Climate Change. Language English. Read more about Strengthening Local Agricultural Innovation Systems in Tanzania and Malawi. Language English. Read more about African Climate Change Fellowship. Language English. Read more about Adaptation aux changements ...

Weather anomalies affect Climate Change microblogging intensity

Science.gov (United States)

Molodtsova, T.; Kirilenko, A.

2012-12-01

There is a huge gap between the scientific consensus and public understanding of climate change. Climate change has become a political issue and a "hot" topic in mass media that only adds the complexity to forming the public opinion. Scientists operate in scientific terms, not necessarily understandable by general public, while it is common for people to perceive the latest weather anomaly as an evidence of climate change. In 1998 Hansen et al. introduced a concept of an objectively measured subjective climate change indicator, which can relate public feeling that the climate is changing to the observed meteorological parameters. We tested this concept in a simple example of a temperature-based index, which we related to microblogging activity. Microblogging is a new form of communication in which the users describe their current status in short Internet messages. Twitter (http://twitter.com), is currently the most popular microblogging platform. There are multiple reasons, why this data is particularly valuable to the researches interested in social dynamics: microblogging is widely used to publicize one's opinion with the public; has broad, diverse audience, represented by users from many countries speaking different languages; finally, Twitter contains an enormous number of data, e.g., there were 1,284,579 messages related to climate change from 585,168 users in the January-May data collection. We collected the textual data entries, containing words "climate change" or "global warming" from the 1st of January, 2012. The data was retrieved from the Internet every 20 minutes using a specially developed Python code. Using geolocational information, blog entries originating from the New York urbanized area were selected. These entries, used as a source of public opinion on climate change, were related to the surface temperature, obtained from La Guardia airport meteorological station. We defined the "significant change" in the temperature index as deviation of the

Climate change and health: new challenges for epidemiology and public health

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pascal, Mathilde; Beaudeau, Pascal; Laaidi, Karine; Pirard, Philippe; Vautard, Robert

2015-01-01

Climate change contributes to a rapid and deep modification of the environment. In the same time, other factors such as population increase, ageing or urbanization increase the vulnerability to various environmental and health risks. Chains of complex interactions are impacting populations' health and well-being. Developing prevention measures is an asset to reduce the health impacts of present climate change (through adaptation measures) and to limit the intensity of future impacts (through mitigation measures). Mitigation will result in major changes in several sectors, for instance housing, transports or agriculture. Taking into account the potential health impacts is important to avoid choices impairing human health, and to maximize health co-benefits. In this paper we propose a reflection on how present and future climate change in France challenges epidemiology and public health in the next few years. While many questions remain unanswered, there is a consensus on the importance of the links between climate change and human health, that can be summarized into three points: 1) climate change already impacts human health, 2) adaptation and mitigation are needed to reduce those impacts, 3) adaptation and mitigation can rely on immediate measures that would be beneficial for health and for climate. An integrated and interdisciplinary approach is essential to tackle the complexity of the issue, of its implications for public health, for research, surveillance and intervention. (authors)

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Language English. Read more about Platform for Exchange between African Research Scientists and Policymakers on Climate Change Adaptation. Language English. Read more about Integrated Climate Change Modelling and Policy Linkages for Adaptive Planning. Language English. Read more about Valuing Water in ...

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Home · Agriculture and Environment. Climate Change. Language English. Read more about Climate change adaptation in informal settings: Understanding and reinforcing bottom-up initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean. Language English. Read more about Climate leadership program: Building Africa's resilience ...

Russian Climate Politics. Light at the end of the tunnel? Briefing Paper

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Korppoo, A.; Moe, A.

2007-04-01

Russian climate politics were certainly a talking point a few years ago due to the country's decisive role in the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol. The views of various potentially influential officials were reported by the world media almost on a daily basis. Since the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by Russia in 2004, and its entry into force, Russian climate politics have received less attention. In this paper we update our previous analyses of Russian climate politics and policies, and report the latest developments, including material from the discussions in the 'JI in Russia' workshop 26 March 2007 organised by Oxford Climate Policy in co-operation with Climate Strategies. The main tasks of this paper are to review: the readiness of Russia to implement the Kyoto mechanisms; the fulfilment of the compliance requirements of the Kyoto Protocol; the current political debate about climate policy by various key players; the emerging discussion on the post-2012 positions of Russia

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Home · Agriculture and Environment. Climate Change. Language English. Read more about Transfert de la responsabilité du Programme d'économie environnementale pour l'Asie du Sud-Est (EEPSEA). Language French. Read more about The African Climate Change Fellowship Program Phase III. Language English.

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Home · Agriculture and Environment. Climate Change. Language English. Read more about Mobilizing the Private Sector for Adaptation Finance. Language English. Read more about Welfare Evaluation and the Economic Impacts of Climate Change on Water Supply and Demand in Chile, Colombia, and Bolivia. Language ...

Finnish-Russian Relationships: the Interplay of Economics, History, Psychology and Language

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Арто Мустайоки

2015-12-01

Full Text Available On the territories adjacent to the core Russia, the Russian language has had for centuries an established position as a language of culture, trade, war, statehood, and education. The theoretical framework of the study reflects the field of cross-cultural communication, with special reference to Finnish-Russian intercultural encounters. There is a certain set of prejudices connected with Russia that date back centuries and are periodically revived. Recent events have reinforced some of them, and have enhanced the demand for experts on Russia and everything connected with it. The language is undoubtedly considered the key to understanding what is happening with Finland’s Eastern neighbour. The article aims to present the current discussions in the media, their meanings and functions.

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Home · Agriculture and Environment. Climate Change. Language English. Read more about Climate leadership program: Building Africa's resilience through research, policy and practice. Language English. Read more about Climate adaptive action plans to manage heat stress in Indian cities. Language English.

Toxicological information on chemicals published in the Russian language: Contribution to REACH and 3Rs.

Science.gov (United States)

Sihtmäe, Mariliis; Dubourguier, Henri-Charles; Kahru, Anne

2009-07-28

This review is reporting on the current situation of publicly available toxicological and ecotoxicological information on chemicals published in Russian language in various libraries, databases as well as in the Internet. This information can be beneficial for the new EU chemical policy REACH and for the development of intelligent testing strategies (involving also QSAR and QAAR) that enable a significant increase in the use of non-testing information for regulatory decision making, thus minimizing the need for animal testing according to the 3R's strategy. Currently, the access to this information is limited due to the language barrier and low level of digitalization of respective journals and books. Fortunately, on-line translation services are overcoming language barriers already now.

Public Health Adaptation to Climate Change in Canadian Jurisdictions

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Stephanie E. Austin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Climate change poses numerous risks to the health of Canadians. Extreme weather events, poor air quality, and food insecurity in northern regions are likely to increase along with the increasing incidence and range of infectious diseases. In this study we identify and characterize Canadian federal, provincial, territorial and municipal adaptation to these health risks based on publically available information. Federal health adaptation initiatives emphasize capacity building and gathering information to address general health, infectious disease and heat-related risks. Provincial and territorial adaptation is varied. Quebec is a leader in climate change adaptation, having a notably higher number of adaptation initiatives reported, addressing almost all risks posed by climate change in the province, and having implemented various adaptation types. Meanwhile, all other Canadian provinces and territories are in the early stages of health adaptation. Based on publically available information, reported adaptation also varies greatly by municipality. The six sampled Canadian regional health authorities (or equivalent are not reporting any adaptation initiatives. We also find little relationship between the number of initiatives reported in the six sampled municipalities and their provinces, suggesting that municipalities are adapting (or not adapting autonomously.

Public Health Adaptation to Climate Change in Canadian Jurisdictions

Science.gov (United States)

Austin, Stephanie E.; Ford, James D.; Berrang-Ford, Lea; Araos, Malcolm; Parker, Stephen; Fleury, Manon D.

2015-01-01

Climate change poses numerous risks to the health of Canadians. Extreme weather events, poor air quality, and food insecurity in northern regions are likely to increase along with the increasing incidence and range of infectious diseases. In this study we identify and characterize Canadian federal, provincial, territorial and municipal adaptation to these health risks based on publically available information. Federal health adaptation initiatives emphasize capacity building and gathering information to address general health, infectious disease and heat-related risks. Provincial and territorial adaptation is varied. Quebec is a leader in climate change adaptation, having a notably higher number of adaptation initiatives reported, addressing almost all risks posed by climate change in the province, and having implemented various adaptation types. Meanwhile, all other Canadian provinces and territories are in the early stages of health adaptation. Based on publically available information, reported adaptation also varies greatly by municipality. The six sampled Canadian regional health authorities (or equivalent) are not reporting any adaptation initiatives. We also find little relationship between the number of initiatives reported in the six sampled municipalities and their provinces, suggesting that municipalities are adapting (or not adapting) autonomously. PMID:25588156

Open Access Publishing - A Challenge for Russian Psychology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BORIS B. VELICHKOVSKY

2009-06-01

Full Text Available Publication practices in Russian psychology have changed a lot since the break-up of the Soviet Union, but still differ substantially from those in the Western countries. In the last decade, an exponen-tial growth of the number of scientific psychological journals was observed, but in general, scientific publishing is not a profitable business in Russia. There is a lot of variability in the accessibility and quality of the journals. In sum, psychological publishing in today’s Russia is not well developed. Open access (OA publishing technologies seem to bring clear benefits to Russian psychology, but there are some problems that prevent their ready acceptance. First, there is a linguistic problem – Russian read-ers and writers have bad command of foreign languages. Second, there is a problem of background – Russian readers and writers are not used to Western-style research papers. Third, there is an economic problem – it is unclear, whether Russian universities and funding agencies will ever be ready to support publications in OA-journals. Thus, self-archiving and no-fee OA seem to be the most obvious ways to introduce OA to Russian psychologists.

The Effect of Information Provision on Public Consensus about Climate Change.

Science.gov (United States)

Deryugina, Tatyana; Shurchkov, Olga

2016-01-01

Despite over 20 years of research and scientific consensus on the topic, climate change continues to be a politically polarizing issue. We conducted a survey experiment to test whether providing the public with information on the exact extent of scientific agreement about the occurrence and causes of climate change affects respondents' own beliefs and bridges the divide between conservatives and liberals. First, we show that the public significantly underestimated the extent of the scientific consensus. We then find that those given concrete information about scientists' views were more likely to report believing that climate change was already underway and that it was caused by humans. However, their beliefs about the necessity of making policy decisions and their willingness to donate money to combat climate change were not affected. Information provision affected liberals, moderates, and conservatives similarly, implying that the gap in beliefs between liberals and conservatives is not likely to be bridged by information treatments similar to the one we study. Finally, we conducted a 6-month follow-up with respondents to see if the treatment effect persisted; the results were statistically inconclusive.

From Commodification to Weaponization: The Russian Language as "Pride" and "Profit" in Russia's Transnational Discourses

Science.gov (United States)

Ryazanova-Clarke, Lara

2017-01-01

The article expands the debate about the interaction and conflict of linguistic commodification with other values attached to a language. It interrogates Russian dominant discourse produced between 2010 and 2015, focusing on how it attributes the values of "pride" and "profit" to the Russian language in three transnational…

Influence of climate and land use changes on recent trend of soil erosion within the Russian Plain

Science.gov (United States)

Golosov, Valentin; Yermolaev, Oleg; Rysin, Ivan; Litvin, Leonid; Kiryukhina, Zoya; Safina, Guzel

2016-04-01

flood levels decreased considerably - in particular, in small rivers. This is confirmed by a serious decrease of floodplain sedimentation rates since 1986 compared with the period from 1964 to 1986. As a result of both positive trend of extreme rainfall and negative trend of surface snow melting runoff, the proportion of sediments eroded from cultivated slopes and delivered by surface runoff to river channels decreased considerably during the last few decades in the southern part of the Russian Plain. Complex assessment of different erosion factors changes is undertaken for the different landscape zones of the Russian Plain. Given analysis allows evaluating of recent trend in erosion rates from cultivated lands. The other indicators of sediment redistribution dynamic (gully head retreat rate, floodplain sedimentation) are also used for assessment of soil erosion rate dynamic under land use and climate changes during last 25-30 years.

Policy Directions Addressing the Public Health Impact of Climate Change in South Korea: The Climate-change Health Adaptation and Mitigation Program.

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Yong Seung; Ha, Jongsik

2012-01-01

Climate change, caused by global warming, is increasingly recognized as a major threat to mankind's survival. Climate change concurrently has both direct and modifying influences on environmental, social, and public health systems undermining human health as a whole. Environmental health policy-makers need to make use of political and technological alternatives to address these ramifying effects. The objective of this paper is to review public health policy in Korea, as well as internationally, particularly as it relates to climate change health adaptation and mitigation programs (such as C-CHAMP of Korea), in order to assess and elicit directions for a robust environmental health policy that is adaptive to the health impacts of climate change. In Korea, comprehensive measures to prevent or mitigate overall health effects are limited, and the diffusion of responsibility among various government departments makes consistency in policy execution very difficult. This paper proposes integration, synergy, and utilization as the three core principles of policy direction for the assessment and adaptation to the health impacts of climate change. For specific action plans, we suggest policy making based on scientifically integrated health impact assessments and the prioritization of environmental factors in climate change; the development of practical and technological tools that support policy decisions by making their political implementation more efficient; and customized policy development that deals with the vulnerability of local communities.

Policy Directions Addressing the Public Health Impact of Climate Change in South Korea: The Climate-change Health Adaptation and Mitigation Program

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Yong Seung

2012-01-01

Climate change, caused by global warming, is increasingly recognized as a major threat to mankind's survival. Climate change concurrently has both direct and modifying influences on environmental, social, and public health systems undermining human health as a whole. Environmental health policy-makers need to make use of political and technological alternatives to address these ramifying effects. The objective of this paper is to review public health policy in Korea, as well as internationally, particularly as it relates to climate change health adaptation and mitigation programs (such as C-CHAMP of Korea), in order to assess and elicit directions for a robust environmental health policy that is adaptive to the health impacts of climate change. In Korea, comprehensive measures to prevent or mitigate overall health effects are limited, and the diffusion of responsibility among various government departments makes consistency in policy execution very difficult. This paper proposes integration, synergy, and utilization as the three core principles of policy direction for the assessment and adaptation to the health impacts of climate change. For specific action plans, we suggest policy making based on scientifically integrated health impact assessments and the prioritization of environmental factors in climate change; the development of practical and technological tools that support policy decisions by making their political implementation more efficient; and customized policy development that deals with the vulnerability of local communities. PMID:23256088

Dynamics of Semantic and Word-Formation Subsystems of the Russian Language: Historical Dynamics of the Word Family

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga Ivanovna Dmitrieva

2015-09-01

Full Text Available The article provides comprehensive justification of the principles and methods of the synchronic and diachronic research of word-formation subsystems of the Russian language. The authors also study the ways of analyzing historical dynamics of word family as the main macro-unit of word-formation system. In the field of analysis there is a family of words with the stem 'ход-' (the meaning of 'motion', word-formation of which is investigated in different periods of the Russian literary language. Significance of motion-verbs in the process of forming a language picture of the world determined the character and the structure of this word family as one of the biggest in the history of the Russian language. In the article a structural and semantic dynamics of the word family 'ход-' is depicted. The results of the study show that in the ancient period the prefixes of verbal derivatives were formed, which became the apex-branched derivational paradigms existing in modern Russian. The old Russian period of language development is characterized by the appearance of words with connotative meaning (with suffixes -ishk-, -ichn-, as well as the words with possessive semantics (with suffixes –ev-, -sk-. In this period the verbs with the postfix -cz also supplement the analyzed word family. The period of formation of the National Russian language was marked by the loss of a large number of abstract nouns and the appearance of neologisms from some old Russian abstract nouns. The studied family in the modern Russian language is characterized by the following processes: the appearance of terms, the active semantic derivation, the weakening of word-formation variability, the semantic differentiation of duplicate units, the development of subsystem of words with connotative meanings, and the preservation of derivatives in all functional styles.

Improving Public Engagement With Climate Change: Five "Best Practice" Insights From Psychological Science.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Linden, Sander; Maibach, Edward; Leiserowitz, Anthony

2015-11-01

Despite being one of the most important societal challenges of the 21st century, public engagement with climate change currently remains low in the United States. Mounting evidence from across the behavioral sciences has found that most people regard climate change as a nonurgent and psychologically distant risk-spatially, temporally, and socially-which has led to deferred public decision making about mitigation and adaptation responses. In this article, we advance five simple but important "best practice" insights from psychological science that can help governments improve public policymaking about climate change. Particularly, instead of a future, distant, global, nonpersonal, and analytical risk that is often framed as an overt loss for society, we argue that policymakers should (a) emphasize climate change as a present, local, and personal risk; (b) facilitate more affective and experiential engagement; (c) leverage relevant social group norms; (d) frame policy solutions in terms of what can be gained from immediate action; and (e) appeal to intrinsically valued long-term environmental goals and outcomes. With practical examples we illustrate how these key psychological principles can be applied to support societal engagement and climate change policymaking. © The Author(s) 2015.

INTEGRATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN TEACHING RUSSIAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES

OpenAIRE

Sergey S. Chromov; Nadezda A. Gulayeva; Irina S. Zelenetskaya

2015-01-01

The paper is untended to draw attention to information communication technologiesin teaching Russian as a foreign language for special purposes at level B 2. In thisregard the educational process of teaching Russian as a foreign language is examinedfor promoting quality improvement in the process of ELT.Technology-enhances language learning(TELL) is described through computer-assisted language learning(CALL)-presentations, webinars, videolectures. The authors share their experience obtained d...

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Home · Agriculture and Environment. Climate Change. Language English. Read more about Adaptation aux changements climatiques grâce à une gestion améliorée des bassins versants dans le bassin du Tensift, au Maroc. Language French. Read more about Climate Change and Water Adaptation Options. Language ...

Validation of a Russian-language version of the Foot Functional Index (FFI) questionnaire

OpenAIRE

E. V. Orlova; A. V. Surnov; D. E. Karateev; V. N. Amirdzhanova

2016-01-01

The Foot Functional Index (FFI) questionnaire most completely reflects the functional status of patients with joint diseases of the feet.Objective: to study the psychometric properties of a Russian-language version of the FFI questionnaire.Patients and methods. The reliability, sensitivity, and validity of the Russian-language version of the FFI questionnaire were assessed in 55 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The investigators checked the reliability by assessing the internal consis...

Climate Change Education on Public Health Consequences and Impacts to the Human System - An Interdisciplinary Approach to Promoting Climate Literacy

Science.gov (United States)

Matiella Novak, M.; Paxton, L. J.

2012-12-01

In this talk we will discuss our approach to translating an abstract, difficult to internalize idea ("climate change") into knowledge that speaks to people directly in terms of their own lives. Recent research suggests that communicating climate change in the context of public health impacts, and even national security risks, is a more effective method of reaching communities that are currently disengaged or nonresponsive to climate change science than the approaches currently being used. Understanding that these new perspectives might reach a broader audience, the Global Assimilation of Information for Action (GAIA) project has proposed implementing a suite of education activities that focus on the public health consequences that will arise and/or becoming exacerbated by climate change. Reaching the disparate communities that must be brought together to create a workable approach is challenging. GAIA has developed a novel framework for sharing information and developing communities of interest that cross boundaries in what is otherwise a highly disciplinary approach to climate change studies. Members of the GAIA community include climate change, environmental and public health experts, as well as relevant stakeholders, policy makers and decision makers. By leveraging the existing expertise within the GAIA community, an opportunity exists to present climate change education (CCE) in a way that emphasizes how climate change will affect public health, and utilizes an approach that has been shown to engage a broader and more diverse audience. Focusing CCE on public health effects is a new and potentially transformative method since it makes the results more tangible and less "random". When CCE is focused on what will happen to the Earth's climate and associated meteorological hazards one might be tempted to view this as something that can be coped with thus enabling the individualist entrepreneur point of view. Weather disasters always seem to happen to someone else

The state of climate change adaptation in the Arctic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ford, James D; McDowell, Graham; Jones, Julie

2014-01-01

The Arctic climate is rapidly changing, with wide ranging impacts on natural and social systems. A variety of adaptation policies, programs and practices have been adopted to this end, yet our understanding of if, how, and where adaptation is occurring is limited. In response, this paper develops a systematic approach to characterize the current state of adaptation in the Arctic. Using reported adaptations in the English language peer reviewed literature as our data source, we document 157 discrete adaptation initiatives between 2003 and 2013. Results indicate large variations in adaptation by region and sector, dominated by reporting from North America, particularly with regards to subsistence harvesting by Inuit communities. Few adaptations were documented in the European and Russian Arctic, or have a focus on the business and economy, or infrastructure sectors. Adaptations are being motivated primarily by the combination of climatic and non-climatic factors, have a strong emphasis on reducing current vulnerability involving incremental changes to existing risk management processes, and are primarily initiated and led at the individual/community level. There is limited evidence of trans-boundary adaptations or initiatives considering potential cross-scale/sector impacts. (letter)

Continuous Linguistic Rhetorical Education as a Means of Optimizing Language Policy in Russian Multinational Regions

Science.gov (United States)

Vorozhbitova, Alexandra A.; Konovalova, Galina M.; Ogneva, Tatiana N.; Chekulaeva, Natalia Y.

2017-01-01

Drawing on the function of Russian as a state language the paper proposes a concept of continuous linguistic rhetorical (LR) education perceived as a means of optimizing language policy in Russian multinational regions. LR education as an innovative pedagogical system shapes a learner's readiness for self-projection as a strong linguistic…

The effectiveness of public health interventions to reduce the health impact of climate change: a systematic review of systematic reviews.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maha Bouzid

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Climate change is likely to be one of the most important threats to public health in the coming years. Yet despite the large number of papers considering the health impact of climate change, few have considered what public health interventions may be of most value in reducing the disease burden. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of public health interventions to reduce the disease burden of high priority climate sensitive diseases. METHODS AND FINDINGS: For each disease, we performed a systematic search with no restriction on date or language of publication on Medline, Web of Knowledge, Cochrane CENTRAL and SCOPUS up to December 2010 to identify systematic reviews of public health interventions. We retrieved some 3176 records of which 85 full papers were assessed and 33 included in the review. The included papers investigated the effect of public health interventions on various outcome measures. All interventions were GRADE assessed to determine the strength of evidence. In addition we developed a systematic review quality score. The interventions included environmental interventions to control vectors, chemoprophylaxis, immunization, household and community water treatment, greening cities and community advice. For most reviews, GRADE showed low quality of evidence because of poor study design and high heterogeneity. Also for some key areas such as floods, droughts and other weather extremes, there are no adequate systematic reviews of potential public health interventions. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, we found the evidence base to be mostly weak for environmental interventions that could have the most value in a warmer world. Nevertheless, such interventions should not be dismissed. Future research on public health interventions for climate change adaptation needs to be concerned about quality in study design and should address the gap for floods, droughts and other extreme weather events that pose a risk to health.

The effectiveness of public health interventions to reduce the health impact of climate change: a systematic review of systematic reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Bouzid, Maha; Hooper, Lee; Hunter, Paul R

2013-01-01

Climate change is likely to be one of the most important threats to public health in the coming years. Yet despite the large number of papers considering the health impact of climate change, few have considered what public health interventions may be of most value in reducing the disease burden. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of public health interventions to reduce the disease burden of high priority climate sensitive diseases. For each disease, we performed a systematic search with no restriction on date or language of publication on Medline, Web of Knowledge, Cochrane CENTRAL and SCOPUS up to December 2010 to identify systematic reviews of public health interventions. We retrieved some 3176 records of which 85 full papers were assessed and 33 included in the review. The included papers investigated the effect of public health interventions on various outcome measures. All interventions were GRADE assessed to determine the strength of evidence. In addition we developed a systematic review quality score. The interventions included environmental interventions to control vectors, chemoprophylaxis, immunization, household and community water treatment, greening cities and community advice. For most reviews, GRADE showed low quality of evidence because of poor study design and high heterogeneity. Also for some key areas such as floods, droughts and other weather extremes, there are no adequate systematic reviews of potential public health interventions. In conclusion, we found the evidence base to be mostly weak for environmental interventions that could have the most value in a warmer world. Nevertheless, such interventions should not be dismissed. Future research on public health interventions for climate change adaptation needs to be concerned about quality in study design and should address the gap for floods, droughts and other extreme weather events that pose a risk to health.

Teaching Russian as a Heritage Language in Finland

Science.gov (United States)

Protassova, Ekaterina

2008-01-01

Originating from many different sources, Russian as a heritage language in Finland displays a spectrum of developmental tendencies: both attrition and maintenance can be observed in various degrees. The Finnish educational system allows for the organization of bilingual pre-schools and schools when there are sufficient numbers of potential pupils.…

"It's a question of prestige": Climate change as public policy in Turkey

OpenAIRE

Erdi Lelandais , Gülçin

2015-01-01

International audience; Climate change has been a preoccupation of public bodies in Turkey since the country signed the UNFCC in 2004. Before then, periodic environmental policies were enacted, but under the remit of each Cabinet ministry and without handing over central control of the Ministry of the Environment. Furthermore, no action-oriented policies on climate change were developed. The issue came to public prominence relatively recently in Turkey, but interest in the issues at state is ...

The Effect of Information Provision on Public Consensus about Climate Change.

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Tatyana Deryugina

Full Text Available Despite over 20 years of research and scientific consensus on the topic, climate change continues to be a politically polarizing issue. We conducted a survey experiment to test whether providing the public with information on the exact extent of scientific agreement about the occurrence and causes of climate change affects respondents' own beliefs and bridges the divide between conservatives and liberals. First, we show that the public significantly underestimated the extent of the scientific consensus. We then find that those given concrete information about scientists' views were more likely to report believing that climate change was already underway and that it was caused by humans. However, their beliefs about the necessity of making policy decisions and their willingness to donate money to combat climate change were not affected. Information provision affected liberals, moderates, and conservatives similarly, implying that the gap in beliefs between liberals and conservatives is not likely to be bridged by information treatments similar to the one we study. Finally, we conducted a 6-month follow-up with respondents to see if the treatment effect persisted; the results were statistically inconclusive.

Climate Change: Making the Best Use of Scientific Information

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva

2012-01-01

Climate science regularly makes headlines in the media, usually after an extreme weather event or a disaster, or in the wake of campaigns by think tanks about the science of climate change. In this presentation, I discuss four specific challenges that are posed to climate scientist when communicating with the public: (i) The widening gap between the scientific literacy of the public and the communication literacy of the scientists; (ii), the multiplicity of scientific information conduits; (iii), information of, and under, uncertainty; and (iv), the requirement to be precise without using technical language. It turns out that these challenges are quite generic to science communication. Climate scientists have learned from the regular international assessments they perform under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and have accumulated a collective experience of more than 20 years. In this presentation I discuss the most important lessons learned from this experience and their relevant...

Hand in hand: public endorsement of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

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Adrian Brügger

Full Text Available This research investigated how an individual's endorsements of mitigation and adaptation relate to each other, and how well each of these can be accounted for by relevant social psychological factors. Based on survey data from two European convenience samples (N = 616 / 309 we found that public endorsements of mitigation and adaptation are strongly associated: Someone who is willing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation is also willing to prepare for climate change impacts (adaptation. Moreover, people endorsed the two response strategies for similar reasons: People who believe that climate change is real and dangerous, who have positive attitudes about protecting the environment and the climate, and who perceive climate change as a risk, are willing to respond to climate change. Furthermore, distinguishing between (spatially proximal and distant risk perceptions suggested that the idea of portraying climate change as a proximal (i.e., local threat might indeed be effective in promoting personal actions. However, to gain endorsement of broader societal initiatives such as policy support, it seems advisable to turn to the distant risks of climate change. The notion that "localising" climate change might not be the panacea for engaging people in this domain is discussed in regard to previous theory and research.

Hand in hand: public endorsement of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Science.gov (United States)

Brügger, Adrian; Morton, Thomas A; Dessai, Suraje

2015-01-01

This research investigated how an individual's endorsements of mitigation and adaptation relate to each other, and how well each of these can be accounted for by relevant social psychological factors. Based on survey data from two European convenience samples (N = 616 / 309) we found that public endorsements of mitigation and adaptation are strongly associated: Someone who is willing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation) is also willing to prepare for climate change impacts (adaptation). Moreover, people endorsed the two response strategies for similar reasons: People who believe that climate change is real and dangerous, who have positive attitudes about protecting the environment and the climate, and who perceive climate change as a risk, are willing to respond to climate change. Furthermore, distinguishing between (spatially) proximal and distant risk perceptions suggested that the idea of portraying climate change as a proximal (i.e., local) threat might indeed be effective in promoting personal actions. However, to gain endorsement of broader societal initiatives such as policy support, it seems advisable to turn to the distant risks of climate change. The notion that "localising" climate change might not be the panacea for engaging people in this domain is discussed in regard to previous theory and research.

The Emergence of Public Relations in the Russian Federation.

Science.gov (United States)

Guth, David W.

2000-01-01

Describes the emergence of public relations in the Russian Federation over the past 7 years. Concludes that Russia is developing its own vision of public relations, similar in many aspects to that found in the West but also adapted to the harsh realities of Russian life. (NH)

[Evolution of the climate change concept and its impact in the public health of Peru].

Science.gov (United States)

Sánchez Zavaleta, Carlos A

2016-03-01

The term "climate change" is not a new concept but its impact on public health is under constant review. We know that climate has already changed and will continue to change for centuries with the rise in average global temperature, and the associated rise in sea level. This fact makes mitigation efforts relevant only in the very long term and for generations of humans whose parents have not yet been born. When we talk about public health in the context of climate change, we are talking about adaptation. In the present, countries that are currently the most affected by climate change are precisely countries like Peru, without a significant carbon footprint at the global level but that are highly sensitive to the effects of climate. Without reliable climate projections, the health impact of climate change can be uncertain and complicated. Nevertheless, at the local level, every district can identify its vulnerabilities and define priorities to protect the health of its population. There are, and it can also be developed, environmental health indicators that can help monitor how well we are adapting and how prepared we are for changes in the climate. Adaptation to climate change implies improving living conditions, enhancing epidemiological surveillance systems and extending access to healthcare. The fight against the effects of climate change in public health is a fight against poverty and inequality, and that is nothing new in Peru.

THE DYNAMICS OF THE CONCEPTUALI­ZATION AND CATEGORIZATION OF SPACE IN THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE

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Tatyana Romanova

2013-04-01

Full Text Available This article presents examples taken from the National corpus of Russian language dictionar­ies which illustrate the objectification of space in the linguistic picture of the world. The examined data, taken from linguistic dictionaries and en­cyclopaedic sources, allow the dynamics of the process of conceptualization and peculiarities of the categorization of space in the Russian-language mentality to be identified, and verify the formed hypotheses. The formats of the conceptualization of space (starting from an image and mental picture to the notion of frame and the language dynamics of the objectification of these formats are discussed. Examples from dictionaries of the National Russian Corpora illustrate the objectification of the language world map most vividly. The analysed data from the linguistic dictionaries and encyclopaedic sources prove the working hypothesis by defining the set of attributes which define the concept SPACE, the dynamics of the conceptualization process, and peculiarities of the categorizatition of space in the Russian language mind. The conclusion is drawn that the concept SPACE is an integrated, multiple-aspect, conceptional compound which is connected with the categorization of reality. The basis of the categorization of space is the prototypi­cal approach. In the Russian language world map, the prototype of SPACE is FIELD. Numerous new attributes of the word space show the broadening of the human idea about this universal phenomenon, which is already considered to be not only a form of substance existence, but also one of many forms of spiritual activities. The method of identifying the conceptional attributes is conceptually defini­tional analysis. Multidirectional tendencies to both widening and narrowing areas of space conceptu­alization were found, together with the tendency to integrate different formation-spaces.

Public Health Adaptation to Climate Change in Large Cities: A Global Baseline.

Science.gov (United States)

Araos, Malcolm; Austin, Stephanie E; Berrang-Ford, Lea; Ford, James D

2016-01-01

Climate change will have significant impacts on human health, and urban populations are expected to be highly sensitive. The health risks from climate change in cities are compounded by rapid urbanization, high population density, and climate-sensitive built environments. Local governments are positioned to protect populations from climate health risks, but it is unclear whether municipalities are producing climate-adaptive policies. In this article, we develop and apply systematic methods to assess the state of public health adaptation in 401 urban areas globally with more than 1 million people, creating the first global baseline for urban public health adaptation. We find that only 10% of the sampled urban areas report any public health adaptation initiatives. The initiatives identified most frequently address risks posed by extreme weather events and involve direct changes in management or behavior rather than capacity building, research, or long-term investments in infrastructure. Based on our characterization of the current urban health adaptation landscape, we identify several gaps: limited evidence of reporting of institutional adaptation at the municipal level in urban areas in the Global South; lack of information-based adaptation initiatives; limited focus on initiatives addressing infectious disease risks; and absence of monitoring, reporting, and evaluation. © The Author(s) 2015.

What's in a name? Commonalities and differences in public understanding of "climate change" and "global warming"

OpenAIRE

Whitmarsh, Lorraine E.

2009-01-01

This paper reports on findings from a survey of public understanding of climate change and global warming amongst residents in the south of England. Whereas much previous research has relied on survey checklists to measure public understanding of climate change, this study employed a more qualitative approach to reveal participants' unprompted conceptions of climate change and global warming. Overall, the findings show a tendency for the public to dissociate themselves from the causes, impact...

SNOW IN THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE PICTURE OF THE WORLD

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Jelena Kazimianec

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This article carries out a semantic and pragmatic description of the Russian word снег “snow,” considering its synonymic and word-formation relations, establishing a family of words, and defining the semantic oppositions in which the word “snow” and its separate word usages appear. The author pays particular attention to the pragmatic connotations of this word, placing them against a background of the different foreign language connotations of appropriating words. The article further investigates the group of the words designating the weather phenomena that typically accompany snowfall: метель “a snowstorm,” вьюга “a snowstorm, a blizzard,” буран “a severe snowstorm,” and пурга “a snowstorm, a blizzard,” defining their semantic range and features of how they function in speech. On the basis of an analysis of the facts provided in dictionaries and poetic discourses, the author comes to a conclusion about the existence of a separate semantic group of words with this meaning that proves the special importance of this weather phenomenon for Russians. The analysis also provides a way to determine that, unlike in other languages, the concept of “snow” in the Russian picture of the world is considered as an active figure: the word combination снег идет “it is snowing” is associated with positive concepts about happiness, the novelty of life, satisfaction with Russian aesthetic concepts about beauty, etc. The author proves that words and concepts united by the component “snow” possess a certain romantic nuance in which, it may be claimed, the unique character of Russian culture consists.

The public's belief in climate change and its human cause are increasing over time.

Science.gov (United States)

Milfont, Taciano L; Wilson, Marc S; Sibley, Chris G

2017-01-01

Polls examining public opinion on the subject of climate change are now commonplace, and one-off public opinion polls provide a snapshot of citizen's opinions that can inform policy and communication strategies. However, cross-sectional polls do not track opinions over time, thus making it impossible to ascertain whether key climate change beliefs held by the same group of individuals are changing or not. Here we examine the extent to which individual's level of agreement with two key beliefs ("climate change is real" and "climate change is caused by humans") remain stable or increase/decrease over a six-year period in New Zealand using latent growth curve modelling (n = 10,436). Data were drawn from the New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study, a probabilistic national panel study, and indicated that levels of agreement to both beliefs have steadily increased over the 2009-2015 period. Given that climate change beliefs and concerns are key predictors of climate change action, our findings suggest that a combination of targeted endeavors, as well as serendipitous events, may successfully convey the emergency of the issue.

Public private partnerships for climate change mitigation – An Indian case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tharun Dolla

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Cities are one of the major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change poses serious threat to urban infrastructure, quality of life, and entire urban systems. Cities need to adopt an integrated approach for improvement of city services in order to adapt to climate change and reduce their greenhouse emissions. However, the magnitude of investment required to bridge the widening infrastructure service provision demand-supply gap along with the additional investment to mitigate climate change demands the need to look for innovative financing solutions. Private investments through public private partnership (PPP route offer an innovative mechanism for meet both the goals of infrastructure development and climate change mitigation. Private parties in PPP, however, focuses on the project economics only though they have the potential to provide innovative technical, financial and managerial solutions. The paper aims to answer the question how to integrate climate change mitigation objective in procurement process of PPP projects. The study has focused only on PPP projects in Municipal Solid Waste Management sector. The integration of climate change mitigation objective has been through design of a modified procurement protocol which promote private sector to devise project structure that fulfil both the objectives of climate change mitigation and provision of quality infrastructure services.

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Climate Change. Changements climatiques. Language English. Socially equitable climate action is essential to strengthen the resilience of all people, without which we cannot achieve women's empowerment. Read more about Building resilience through socially equitable climate action. Language English. Read more ...

Climate change and the northern Russian treeline zone.

Science.gov (United States)

MacDonald, G M; Kremenetski, K V; Beilman, D W

2008-07-12

The Russian treeline is a dynamic ecotone typified by steep gradients in summer temperature and regionally variable gradients in albedo and heat flux. The location of the treeline is largely controlled by summer temperatures and growing season length. Temperatures have responded strongly to twentieth-century global warming and will display a magnified response to future warming. Dendroecological studies indicate enhanced conifer recruitment during the twentieth century. However, conifers have not yet recolonized many areas where trees were present during the Medieval Warm period (ca AD 800-1,300) or the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM; ca 10,000-3,000 years ago). Reconstruction of tree distributions during the HTM suggests that the future position of the treeline due to global warming may approximate its former Holocene maximum position. An increased dominance of evergreen tree species in the northern Siberian forests may be an important difference between past and future conditions. Based on the slow rates of treeline expansion observed during the twentieth century, the presence of steep climatic gradients associated with the current Arctic coastline and the prevalence of organic soils, it is possible that rates of treeline expansion will be regionally variable and transient forest communities with species abundances different from today's may develop.

Ethics and public perception of climate change: exploring the Christian voices in the US public debate

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wardekker, J.A.; Petersen, A.C.; van der Sluijs, J.P.

2009-01-01

Climate change raises many questions with strong moral and ethical dimensions that are important to address in climate-policy formation and international negotiations. Particularly in the United States, the public discussion of these dimensions is strongly influenced by religious groups and leaders.

The Neck Disability Index-Russian Language Version (NDI-RU): A Study of Validity and Reliability.

Science.gov (United States)

Bakhtadze, Maxim A; Vernon, Howard; Zakharova, Olga B; Kuzminov, Kirill O; Bolotov, Dmitry A

2015-07-15

Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric testing. To perform a validated Russian translation and then to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Russian language version of the Neck Disability Index (NDI-RU). Neck pain is highly prevalent and can greatly affect daily activity. The Neck Disability Index (NDI) is the most frequently used scale for self-rating of disability due to neck pain. Its translated versions are applied in many countries. However, the Russian language version of the NDI has not been developed yet. Cross-cultural adaptation of the NDI-RU was performed according to established guidelines. Then, the NDI-RU was evaluated for content validity, concurrent criterion validity, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, factor structure, and minimum detectable change. Two hundred thirty-two patients took part in the study in total: 109 in validity (39.5 ± 10 yr), 123 in reliability (38.4 ± 11 yr; 80 in the test-retest phase). A culturally valid translation was achieved. NDI-RU total scores were distributed normally. Floor/ceiling effects were absent. Good values of Cronbach α were obtained for each item (from 0.80 to 0.84) and for the total NDI-RU (0.83). A 2-factor solution was found for the NDI-RU. The average interitem correlation coefficient was 0.53. Intraclass correlation coefficients for test-retest reliability coefficients ranged from 0.65 to 0.92 for different items and 0.91 for the total NDI-RU. Moderate correlation (Spearman rs = 0.62; P Russian language version of the Neck Disability Index resulted in a valid, reliable instrument that can be used both in clinical practice and scientific investigations. 1.

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Read more about Reducing the Risk of Water Pollution in Vulnerable Coastal Communities of Cartagena, Colombia: Responding to Climate Change. Language English. Read more about Adaptation to Climate Change in two Rural Communities on the Plains and in the Mountains of Morocco. Language English. Read more ...

Flooded bus barns and buckled rails: public transportation and climate change adaptation.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-01

The objective of this project is to provide transit professionals with information and analysis relevant to adapting U.S. public transportation assets and services to climate change impacts. Climate impacts such as heat waves and flooding will hinder...

THE MIGHT OF RUSSIAN LANGUAGE ACCORDING TO SYNONYMIC DICTIONARY BY COMPUTER EVALUATION SYSTEM ASIS®

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vitaly N. Trishin

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The article describes electronic dictionary of synonyms in Russian language by ASIS® system (more than 500 000 words and collocations, 190 000 synonymic connections.The program can be used not just as a dictionary of synonyms and close meaning words, but also as spelling dictionary and definition dictionary of Russian language in order to check the orthography and define the meaning of unknown words. The dictionary is also designed to be an instrument of philological surveys and studies of the language trough the extensive query system on different characteristic of words (definition, composition, synonymy, etc.. Program’s lexical base includes words from dictionaries and guides in all subject areas - from astronomy to Japanese painting. Over compilation of dictionary developer used published dictionaries: spelling, synonymic, definition dictionaries, dictionary of collocations, dictionary of foreign words and etc. of 19-21 cc. Newspapers, magazines and web-resources were active used as well for appending the dictionary. This dictionary practically shows, that by the amount of words Russian language belongs with the most developed languages in the world, and by the scale and density of synonymic space, in the author’s opinion, it has no equal.

Typological constraints in foreign language acquisition: the expression of motion by advanced Russian learners of English

OpenAIRE

Iakovleva, Tatiana

2012-01-01

International audience; This study examines the impact of typological constraints on second language acquisition. It explores the hypothesis of a conceptual transfer from first to foreign language (L1 to L2). Based on Talmy’s (2000) distinction between Verb- and Satellite-framed languages, corpus-based analyses compare descriptions of voluntary motion events along three paths (up, down, across), elicited in a controlled situation from native speakers (Russian, English) and Russian learners at...

Exploring the Multifaceted Topic of Climate Change in Our Changing Climate and Living With Our Changing Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Brey, J. A.; Kauffman, C.; Geer, I. W.; Mills, E. W.; Nugnes, K. A.; Stimach, A. E.

2015-12-01

As the effects of climate change become more profound, climate literacy becomes increasingly important. The American Meteorological Society (AMS) responds to this need through the publication of Our Changing Climate and Living With Our Changing Climate. Both publications incorporate the latest scientific understandings of Earth's climate system from reports such as IPCC AR5 and the USGCRP's Third National Climate Assessment. Topic In Depth sections appear throughout each chapter and lead to more extensive, multidisciplinary information related to various topics. Additionally, each chapter closes with a For Further Exploration essay, which addresses specific topics that complement a chapter concept. Web Resources, which encourage additional exploration of chapter content, and Scientific Literature, from which chapter content was derived can also be found at the conclusion of each chapter. Our Changing Climate covers a breadth of topics, including the scientific principles that govern Earth's climate system and basic statistics and geospatial tools used to investigate the system. Released in fall 2015, Living With Our Changing Climate takes a more narrow approach and investigates human and ecosystem vulnerabilities to climate change, the role of energy choices in affecting climate, actions humans can take through adaption, mitigation, and policy to lessen vulnerabilities, and psychological and financial reasons behind climate change denial. While Living With Our Changing Climate is intended for programs looking to add a climate element into their curriculum, Our Changing Climate is part of the AMS Climate Studies course. In a 2015 survey of California University of Pennsylvania undergraduate students using Our Changing Climate, 82% found it comfortable to read and utilized its interactive components and resources. Both ebooks illuminate the multidisciplinary aspect of climate change, providing the opportunity for a more sustainable future.

Linearization of weak hand holds in Russian Sign Language

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kimmelman, V.

2017-01-01

Russian Sign Language (RSL) makes use of constructions involving manual simultaneity, in particular, weak hand holds, where one hand is being held in the location and configuration of a sign, while the other simultaneously produces one sign or a sequence of several signs. In this paper, I argue that

On Present State of Teaching Russian Language in Russia

Science.gov (United States)

Tekucheva, Irina V.; Gromova, Liliya Y.

2016-01-01

The article discusses the current state of teaching Russian language, discovers the nature of philological education, outlines the main problems of the implementation of the standard in school practice, analyzes the problems of formation of universal educational actions within the context of the implementation of cognitive-communicative approach,…

Potential Impacts of Future Climate Change on Regional Air Quality and Public Health over China

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, C.; Zhang, Q.; Zhang, Y.; He, K.

2017-12-01

Future climate change would affect public health through changing air quality. Climate extremes and poor weather conditions are likely to occur at a higher frequency in China under a changing climate, but the air pollution-related health impacts due to future climate change remain unclear. Here the potential impacts of future climate change on regional air quality and public health over China is projected using a coupling of climate, air quality and epidemiological models. We present the first assessment of China's future air quality in a changing climate under the Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 (RCP4.5) scenario using the dynamical downscaling technique. In RCP4.5 scenario, we estimate that climate change from 2006-2010 to 2046-2050 is likely to adversely affect air quality covering more than 86% of population and 55% of land area in China, causing an average increase of 3% in O3 and PM2.5 concentrations, which are found to be associated with the warmer climate and the more stable atmosphere. Our estimate of air pollution-related mortality due to climate change in 2050 is 26,000 people per year in China. Of which, the PM2.5-related mortality is 18,700 people per year, and the O3-related mortality is 7,300 people per year. The climate-induced air pollution and health impacts vary spatially. The climate impacts are even more pronounced on the urban areas where is densely populated and polluted. 90% of the health loss is concentrated in 20% of land areas in China. We use a simple statistical analysis method to quantify the contributions of climate extremes and find more intense climate extremes play an important role in climate-induced air pollution-related health impacts. Our results indicate that global climate change will likely alter the level of pollutant management required to meet future air quality targets as well as the efforts to protect public health in China.

America Learns Russian: A History of the Teaching of the Russian Language in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Parry, Albert

Chronologically presented is the slow development of Russian language instruction in America from the latter part of the 18th century at Kodiak, Alaska, to the establishment of large undergraduate departments at leading universities. The influence of Harvard University, the University of California, Columbia University, Pennsylvania State…

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Home · Agriculture and Environment. Climate Change. Language English. Read more about The Economics of Adaptation and Climate-Resilient Development. Language English. Read more about Solutions d'adaptation liées aux changements climatiques et à l'eau. Language French. Read more about Adaptation to ...

Assessing perceived health risks of climate change : Canadian public opinion 2008

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-03-01

This paper discussed a survey conducted to evaluate the awareness, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours of Canadians in relation to climatic change. A total of 1600 telephone surveys were conducted with a broad range of age groups. The study showed that climate change is considered by many Canadians to pose a significant threat at both local and global levels. Evidence of climate change has been noted in many communities. However, relatively few Canadians understand how climate change may impact human health. While many Canadians associated climatic change with air pollution hazards and ozone depletion, most Canadians were not aware of the potential negative health impacts related to changes in disease vectors, extreme weather events, and coastal flooding. The strongest awareness and concern about health impacts were expressed by Canadians concerned about global warming. Individuals with chronic health conditions were more likely to be attuned to the potential health impacts of climatic change. Seniors viewed climate change as a longer term problem. Only 10 per cent of Canadians viewed global warming as a major health risk. Sixty-nine per cent of Canadians believed that global warming was happening, while 63 per cent attributed climate change to human activity. Nearly half of all respondents believed that an extreme weather disaster would affect their community during the course of their lifetime. The report suggested that marketing or communications campaigns should build public awareness of the health risks associated with direct or proximal environmental risks. Information about health risks should be specific, and communications should be tailored to age cohorts. Television and print media should be used to build awareness of the health risks of climate change. Provincial concerns related to climatic change were also outlined. tabs., figs

Defense Language Institute Russian Basic Course. Volumes XXVIII, Lessons 131-140. Volume XXX, Lessons 151-159.

Science.gov (United States)

Defense Language Inst., Washington, DC.

The 19 lessons in these two volumes are intended for the advanced phase of a 159-lesson intensive audiolingual basic Russian course developed recently by the Defense Language Institute to train native speakers of English to a Level 3 second language proficiency. These third and fifth volumes contain such features as (1) texts on the Russian Civil…

Public information - Northwest region of Russian Federation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saiapina, A.

2001-01-01

Regional Center of Public Information in Northwest region of Russian Federation is a part of the State Regional Educational Center of Ministry of the Russian Federation for atomic energy in St.-Petersburg, Russia (http://graph.runnet.ru/). This Center of Public Information (CPI) provides a wide range of information dealing with the nuclear power. The objectives of the CPI are: to conduct informational and educational activities so as to form a positive attitude toward atomic energy and nuclear technologies; to provide the population with a means reliable information about objects of potential risk; to organize an active exchange of the information with enterprises using nuclear technologies in the region. The main topics of informational support are these: electricity production, the ground of nuclear power, new Russian nuclear reactors, nuclear safety, nuclear power and environment, radioactivity, Leningrad nuclear power plant, responsibilities in nuclear engineering. (author)

Wisconsin Partnerships to Educate and Engage Public Audiences on Climate Change Topics

Science.gov (United States)

Mooney, M. E.; Ackerman, S.; Rowley, P.; Crowley Conn, K.

2011-12-01

The complexity and scale of climate change-related challenges requires more than one strategy to share meaningful information with public audiences. This presentation will discuss a few initiatives to engage the public originating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. First, a local partnership between the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) and the Aldo Leopold Nature Center (ALNC), an informal learning center with a new climate change "classroom" which recently acquired a Science on a Sphere (SOS) exhibit. Second, an informal education project funded by the NOAA Office of Education coordinated by CIMSS in partnership with the national SOS Network with the goal of helping museum docents share meaningful interpretation of real-time weather and climate data. CIMSS staff has been conducting weather and climate discussions on a Magic Planet display for several years. This "mini-SOS" is powered by a solar panel on the roof, modeling the essential Sun-Earth connection and the first principle of climate literacy. However, the convenient proximity of CIMSS and ALNC provides a perfect opportunity to test "SOS-scale" talking points posted on a weekly docent blog to the benefit of the entire SOS Network. Two other Wisconsin projects of note include the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts, a partnership between the University and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and a pilot project between CIMSS and NOAA's National Weather Service to engage storm spotters in climate mitigation and stewardship. Ideally, the synergistic benefits and lessons learned from these collaborations can inform similar efforts in order to galvanize meaningful responses to climate change.

Fight Swack, Adapt to Climate Change or How to Use Humor to Engage the Public in Climate Issues

Science.gov (United States)

Ellis, R.; Elinich, K.; Johnson, R.; Fink, J.; Crawford, J.

2014-12-01

We are carefully considering how a humor-based campaign can help us communicate important climate change messages. Using pilot campaign strategies, we have engaged local residents in focus groups and interviews to understand how effective the approach can be. Growing educational research suggests learning about climate change can lead to feelings of depression, fear and inaction. Climate change seems too big of a task to take on. But with sweaty back (or "swack" as it's known in some circles), there's a public enemy that can be defeated. As only one piece of an innovative model for informal climate change education, the Climate and Urban Systems Partnership repositions the war on climate change by declaring a war on swack instead. This way, we can talk about climate change in a way it has never been talked about before that will certainly get people's attention. It also answers the common question of, "Yeah, but how does it affect me?" We're educating about responses to climate change because heat waves, floods, and excessive back sweat all kinda suck a lot.

How Truncating Are 'Truncating Languages'? Evidence from Russian and German.

Science.gov (United States)

Rathcke, Tamara V

Russian and German have pr eviously been described as 'truncating', or cutting off target frequencies of the phrase-final pitch trajectories when the time available for voicing is compromised. However, supporting evidence is rare and limited to only a few pitch categories. This paper reports a production study conducted to document pitch adjustments to linguistic materials, in which the amount of voicing available for the realization of a pitch pattern varies from relatively long to extremely short. Productions of nuclear H+L*, H* and L*+H pitch accents followed by a low boundary tone were investigated in the two languages. The results of the study show that speakers of both 'truncating languages' do not utilize truncation exclusively when accommodating to different segmental environments. On the contrary, they employ several strategies - among them is truncation but also compression and temporal re-alignment - to produce the target pitch categories under increasing time pressure. Given that speakers can systematically apply all three adjustment strategies to produce some pitch patterns (H* L% in German and Russian) while not using truncation in others (H+L* L% particularly in Russian), we question the effectiveness of the typological classification of these two languages as 'truncating'. Moreover, the phonetic detail of truncation varies considerably, both across and within the two languages, indicating that truncation cannot be easily modeled as a unified phenomenon. The results further suggest that the phrase-final pitch adjustments are sensitive to the phonological composition of the tonal string and the status of a particular tonal event (associated vs. boundary tone), and do not apply to falling vs. rising pitch contours across the board, as previously put forward for German. Implications for the intonational phonology and prosodic typology are addressed in the discussion. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Russian language instruction for two American ASTP astronauts

Science.gov (United States)

1974-01-01

Two astronauts associated with the joint U.S.-USSR Apollo Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) receive instruction in the Russian language during ASTP activity at JSC. They are Robert F. Overmyer, a member of the support team of the American ASTP crew, who is seated at left; and Vance D. Brand (in center), the command module pilot of the American ASTP prime crew. The instructor is Anatoli Forestanko.

Russian translations for Cochrane.

Science.gov (United States)

Yudina, E V; Ziganshina, L E

2015-01-01

Cochrane collaboration has made a huge contribution to the development of evidence-based medicine; Cochrane work is the international gold standard of independent, credible and reliable high-quality information in medicine. Over the past 20 years the Cochrane Collaboration helped transforming decision-making in health and reforming it significantly, saving lives and contributing to longevity [1]. Until recently, Cochrane evidence were available only in English, which represents a significant barrier to their wider use in non-English speaking countries. To provide access to evidence, obtained from Cochrane Reviews, for health professionals and general public (from non-English-speaking countries), bypassing language barriers, Cochrane collaboration in 2014 initiated an international project of translating Plain language summaries of Cochrane Reviews into other languages [2, 3]. Russian translations of Plain language summaries were started in May 2014 by the team from Kazan Federal University (Department of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology; 2014-2015 as an Affiliated Centre in Tatarstan of the Nordic Cochrane Centre, since August 2015 as Cochrane Russia, a Russian branch of Cochrane Nordic, Head - Liliya Eugenevna Ziganshina) on a voluntary basis. To assess the quality of Russian translations of Cochrane Plain Language Summaries (PLS) and their potential impact on the Russian speaking community through user feedback with the overarching aim of furthering the translations project. We conducted the continuous online survey via Google Docs. We invited respondents through the electronic Russian language discussion forum on Essential Medicines (E-lek), links to survey on the Russian Cochrane.org website, invitations to Cochrane contributors registered in Archie from potential Russian-speaking countries. We set up the survey in Russian and English. The respondents were asked to respond to the questionnaire regarding the relevance and potential impact of the Cochrane Russian

The Role of Attitudes in the Development of Russian as a Foreign Language: A Retrospective Study

Science.gov (United States)

Bátyi, Szilvia

2017-01-01

The article reports the findings of a retrospective study which looked at Hungarian learners' attitudes towards Russian people, the Russian language and teachers of Russian. Mixed-methods sequential explanatory design (Ivankova, Creswell, & Stick, 2006) was applied which combines the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data…

Developing public awareness for climate change: Support from international research programs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barnes, F.J.; Clements, W.E.

1998-12-31

Developing regional and local public awareness and interest in global climate change has been mandated as an important step for increasing the ability for setting policy and managing the response to climate change. Research programs frequently have resources that could help reach regional or national goals for increasing the capacity for responding to climate change. To obtain these resources and target recipients appropriately, research investigators need clear statements of national and regional strategies or priorities as a guide. One such program, the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program, has a requirement to develop local or regional education enrichment programs at their observational sites in the central US, the tropical western Pacific (TWP), and on the north slope of alaska. ARM's scientific goals will result in a flow of technical data and as well as technical expertise that can assist with regional needs to increase the technical resources needed to address climate change issues. Details of the ARM education program in the Pacific will be presented.

An investigation of the ways in which public health nutrition policy and practices can address climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Sulda, Heidi; Coveney, John; Bentley, Michael

2010-03-01

To develop a framework to guide action in the public health nutrition workforce to develop policies and practices addressing factors contributing to climate change. Action/consultative research. Interviews - South Australia, questionnaire - Australia. Interviews - key informants (n 6) were from various government, academic and non-government positions, invited through email. Questionnaire - participants were members of the public health nutrition workforce (n 186), recruited to the study through emails from public health nutrition contacts for each State in Australia (with the exception of South Australia). Support by participants for climate change as a valid role for dietitians and nutritionists was high (78 %). However, climate change was ranked low against other public health nutrition priorities. Support of participants to conduct programmes to address climate change from professional and work organisations was low. The final framework developed included elements of advocacy/lobbying, policy, professional recognition/support, organisational support, knowledge/skills, partnerships and programmes. This research demonstrates a need for public health nutrition to address climate change, which requires support by organisations, policy, improved knowledge and increased professional development opportunities.

Learning Word Subsumption Projections for the Russian Language

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ustalov Dmitry

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The semantic relations of hypernymy and hyponymy are widely used in various natural language processing tasks for modelling the subsumptions in common sense reasoning. Since the popularisation of the distributional semantics, a significant attention is paid to applying word embeddings for inducing the relations between words. In this paper, we show our preliminary results on adopting the projection learning technique for computing hypernyms from hyponyms using word embeddings. We also conduct a series of experiments on the Russian language and release the open source software for learning hyponym-hypernym projections using both CPUs and GPUs, implemented with the TensorFlow machine learning framework.

Russian Language Course

CERN Multimedia

2009-01-01

The Russian Cultural Circle is organising a new course of "Russian for Beginners", and is continuing a course for Advanced Students (3rd year). Interested persons are invited to contact: Mrs M. Mikhailova e-mail : mailto:mmmacha@hotmail.com Tel. 022 788 27 53

The Acculturation of Russian-Speaking Adolescents in Latvia: Language Issues Three Years after the 2004 Education Reform

Science.gov (United States)

Cara, Olga

2010-01-01

This article presents research findings on acculturation strategies (attitudes and behaviors) in the language domain of Russian-speaking adolescents in Latvia in the context of the education reform. Data comes from a longitudinal study of adolescents from schools with Russian as the language of instruction in Riga; the same schools were invited to…

Regional Climate Change and Development of Public Health Decision Aids

Science.gov (United States)

Hegedus, A. M.; Darmenova, K.; Grant, F.; Kiley, H.; Higgins, G. J.; Apling, D.

2011-12-01

According to the World Heath Organization (WHO) climate change is a significant and emerging threat to public health, and changes the way we must look at protecting vulnerable populations. Worldwide, the occurrence of some diseases and other threats to human health depend predominantly on local climate patterns. Rising average temperatures, in combination with changing rainfall patterns and humidity levels, alter the lifecycle and regional distribution of certain disease-carrying vectors, such as mosquitoes, ticks and rodents. In addition, higher surface temperatures will bring heat waves and heat stress to urban regions worldwide and will likely increase heat-related health risks. A growing body of scientific evidence also suggests an increase in extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and hurricanes that can be destructive to human health and well-being. Therefore, climate adaptation and health decision aids are urgently needed by city planners and health officials to determine high risk areas, evaluate vulnerable populations and develop public health infrastructure and surveillance systems. To address current deficiencies in local planning and decision making with respect to regional climate change and its effect on human health, our research is focused on performing a dynamical downscaling with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to develop decision aids that translate the regional climate data into actionable information for users. WRF model is initialized with the Max Planck Institute European Center/Hamburg Model version 5 (ECHAM5) General Circulation Model simulations forced with the Special Report on Emissions (SRES) A1B emissions scenario. Our methodology involves development of climatological indices of extreme weather, quantifying the risk of occurrence of water/rodent/vector-borne diseases as well as developing various heat stress related decision aids. Our results indicate that the downscale simulations provide the necessary

Translating textbooks: Russian, German, and the language of chemistry.

Science.gov (United States)

Gordin, Michael D

2012-03-01

Using the cases of three Russian chemistry textbooks from the 1860s--authored by Freidrich Beilstein, A. M. Butlerov, and D. I. Mendeleev--this essay analyzes their contemporary translation into German and the implications of their divergent histories for scholars' understanding of the processes of credit accrual and the choices of languages of science.

New renewable energy developments and the climate change issue: A case study of Norwegian politics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christiansen, Atle Christer

2000-01-01

The potential of the Barents Sea for petroleum production has attracted interest for many years. In the Russian sector of this ocean, enormous gas finds and substantial oil resources have now been proven, and the first real licensing for field development in the area has just begun. Despite the area's potential, there are strong conflicts of interest. The report examines the forces alternatively driving and hindering offshore hydrocarbon development in the Russian sector of the Barents Sea. It describes exploration activities beginning during the Soviet period and extending to the present. The status of the major development projects financed in part with foreign capital, and conflicting regional and central government interests involved in such development, is described and evaluated. Coverage includes a discussion of the various regional interests in petroleum activities, with a particular focus on the conversion of naval yards in the area and the emergence of Rosshelf, an oil/gas conglomerate formed to facilitate such conversion. It also reviews the planned licensing rounds and the results of the first round. Finally, it discusses supplies from the Barents Sea in the context of overall Russian energy supply and energy development strategies. It is widely agreed that the search for cleaner energy technologies is central to any long-term response to the threat of global climate change. Many countries are thus promoting the adoption of new renewable energy (NRE) sources and technologies within the context of energy and climate change policies. This report unfolds linkages between public policies and NRE developments using Norway as a case in point. The aims are firstly to assess the impacts of policy design and public priorities in terms of technology and industrial development dynamics, and secondly to discuss the role attributed to the climate change issue. The primary conclusion is that in spite of long-lasting public efforts, NRE sources represent only a

Bemonym (gentilic formation mechanisms in the Spanish and the Russian languages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Наталия Юрьевна Журавлева

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the basic mechanisms of demonym formation in the Spanish language, their character and correlations analysis; their equivalents in Russian and problems that arise in the process of translation.

Nuclear power, climate change and energy security: Exploring British public attitudes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Corner, Adam; Venables, Dan [School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Tower Building, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT (United Kingdom); Spence, Alexa [School of Psychology/Horizon Digital Economy Research, University of Nottingham (United Kingdom); Poortinga, Wouter [Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University (United Kingdom); School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Tower Building, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT (United Kingdom); Demski, Christina [School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Tower Building, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT (United Kingdom); Pidgeon, Nick, E-mail: pidgeonn@cardiff.ac.uk [School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Tower Building, Park Place, Cardiff CF10 3AT (United Kingdom)

2011-09-15

Public attitudes towards nuclear power in the UK have historically been deeply divided, but as concern about climate change and energy security has exerted an increasing influence on British energy policy, nuclear power has been reframed as a low-carbon technology. Previous research has suggested that a significant proportion of people may 'reluctantly accept' nuclear power as a means of addressing the greater threat of climate change. Drawing on the results of a national British survey (n=1822), the current study found that attitudes towards nuclear remain divided, with only a minority expressing unconditional acceptance. In general, people who expressed greater concern about climate change and energy security and possessed higher environmental values were less likely to favour nuclear power. However, when nuclear power was given an explicit 'reluctant acceptance' framing - allowing people to express their dislike for nuclear power alongside their conditional support - concerns about climate change and energy security became positive predictors of support for nuclear power. These findings suggest that concern about climate change and energy security will only increase acceptance of nuclear power under limited circumstances-specifically once other (preferred) options have been exhausted. - Highlights: > We report data from 2005 to 2010 of British attitudes towards nuclear power and climate change. > Changes in attitudes over the time period were relatively modest. > British population remained relatively divided on nuclear power in 2010. > Concern about climate change was negatively related to evaluations of nuclear power. > Different framings of the issue alter the balance of support for nuclear power.

Nuclear power, climate change and energy security: Exploring British public attitudes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Corner, Adam; Venables, Dan; Spence, Alexa; Poortinga, Wouter; Demski, Christina; Pidgeon, Nick

2011-01-01

Public attitudes towards nuclear power in the UK have historically been deeply divided, but as concern about climate change and energy security has exerted an increasing influence on British energy policy, nuclear power has been reframed as a low-carbon technology. Previous research has suggested that a significant proportion of people may 'reluctantly accept' nuclear power as a means of addressing the greater threat of climate change. Drawing on the results of a national British survey (n=1822), the current study found that attitudes towards nuclear remain divided, with only a minority expressing unconditional acceptance. In general, people who expressed greater concern about climate change and energy security and possessed higher environmental values were less likely to favour nuclear power. However, when nuclear power was given an explicit 'reluctant acceptance' framing - allowing people to express their dislike for nuclear power alongside their conditional support - concerns about climate change and energy security became positive predictors of support for nuclear power. These findings suggest that concern about climate change and energy security will only increase acceptance of nuclear power under limited circumstances-specifically once other (preferred) options have been exhausted. - Highlights: → We report data from 2005 to 2010 of British attitudes towards nuclear power and climate change. → Changes in attitudes over the time period were relatively modest. → British population remained relatively divided on nuclear power in 2010. → Concern about climate change was negatively related to evaluations of nuclear power. → Different framings of the issue alter the balance of support for nuclear power.

Public opinion and change in language. On the history of the atomic energy discourse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jung, M.

1994-01-01

The representation of the atomic energy controversy as a linguistic and social process of development reveals the discrepancy between linguistic consciousness and the actual change in language which proves to be the unintentional result of manifold influences and intentions. A vivid, exciting description is given of political language culture in the Federal Republic of Germany. The role of technical languages in the public controversy is discussed, and numerous errors committed by scientific language criticism are disclosed. (orig.) [de

Public Perception of Climate Change and Mitigation Technologies; Percepcion Publica del Cambio Climatico y las Tecnologias de Mitigacion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sola, R; Sala, R; Oltra, C

2007-09-27

Public perception and understanding of climate change and mitigation policies may have a significant influence on the development of political programs as well as on individual behavioral intentions to address climate change. The study of public attitudes and beliefs about climate change and energy policy may be useful in the design of suitable communication strategies and in the efficient implementation of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. Based on a survey to the Spanish population, we analyze different issues such as the level of concern towards climate change, the existing knowledge about the contribution of different energy technologies to global warming, the attitudes toward energy technologies and the beliefs about potential adaptation strategies. Comparisons with other countries based on similar public opinion surveys are established to obtain a broader view of policy preferences and attitudes regarding climate change. (Author) 5 refs.

Changing climate, changing frames

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vink, Martinus J.; Boezeman, Daan; Dewulf, Art; Termeer, Catrien J.A.M.

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► We show development of flood policy frames in context of climate change attention. ► Rising attention on climate change influences traditional flood policy framing. ► The new framing employs global-scale scientific climate change knowledge. ► With declining attention, framing disregards climate change, using local knowledge. ► We conclude that frames function as sensemaking devices selectively using knowledge. -- Abstract: Water management and particularly flood defence have a long history of collective action in low-lying countries like the Netherlands. The uncertain but potentially severe impacts of the recent climate change issue (e.g. sea level rise, extreme river discharges, salinisation) amplify the wicked and controversial character of flood safety policy issues. Policy proposals in this area generally involve drastic infrastructural works and long-term investments. They face the difficult challenge of framing problems and solutions in a publicly acceptable manner in ever changing circumstances. In this paper, we analyse and compare (1) how three key policy proposals publicly frame the flood safety issue, (2) the knowledge referred to in the framing and (3) how these frames are rhetorically connected or disconnected as statements in a long-term conversation. We find that (1) framings of policy proposals differ in the way they depict the importance of climate change, the relevant timeframe and the appropriate governance mode; (2) knowledge is selectively mobilised to underpin the different frames and (3) the frames about these proposals position themselves against the background of the previous proposals through rhetorical connections and disconnections. Finally, we discuss how this analysis hints at the importance of processes of powering and puzzling that lead to particular framings towards the public at different historical junctures

Climate Change: From Science to Practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Wheeler, Nicola; Watts, Nick

2018-03-01

Climate change poses a significant threat to human health. Understanding how climate science can be translated into public health practice is an essential first step in enabling robust adaptation and improving resiliency to climate change. Recent research highlights the importance of iterative approaches to public health adaptation to climate change, enabling uncertainties of health impacts and barriers to adaptation to be accounted for. There are still significant barriers to adaptation, which are context-specific and thus present unique challenges to public health practice. The implementation of flexible adaptation approaches, using frameworks targeted for public health, is key to ensuring robust adaptation to climate change in public health practice. The BRACE framework provides an excellent approach for health adaptation to climate change. Combining this with the insights provided and by the adaptation pathways approach allows for more deliberate accounting of long-term uncertainties. The mainstreaming of climate change adaptation into public health practice and planning is important in facilitating this approach and overcoming the significant barriers to effective adaptation. Yet, the immediate and future limits to adaptation provide clear justification for urgent and accelerated efforts to mitigate climate change.

Feframing Climate Change for Environmental Health.

Science.gov (United States)

Weems, Caitlin; Subramaniam, Prithwi Raj

2017-04-01

Repeated warnings by the scientific community on the dire consequences of climate change through global warming to the ecology and sustenance of our planet have not been give appropriate attention by the U.S. public. Research has shown that climate change is responsible for catastrophic weather occurrences--such as floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and heat waves--resulting in environmental and public health issues. The purpose of this report is to examine factors influencing public views on climate change. Theoretical and political perspectives are examined to unpack opinions held by the public in the U.S. on climate change. The Health Belief Model is used as an example to showcase the efficacy of an individual behavior change program in providing the synergy to understand climate change at the microlevel. The concept of reframing is discussed as a strategy to alter how the public views climate change.

Bioethics and Public Health Collaborate to Reveal Impacts of Climate Change on Caribbean Life

Science.gov (United States)

Macpherson, C.; Akpinar-Elci, M.

2011-12-01

Interdisciplinary dialog and collaboration aimed at protecting health against climate change is impeded by the small number of scientists and health professionals skilled in interdisciplinary work, and by the view held by many that "climate change won't affect me personally". These challenges may be surmounted by discussions about the lived experience of climate change and how this threatens things we value. Dialog between bioethics and public health generated an innovative collaboration using the focus group method. The main limitation of focus groups is the small number of participants however the data obtained is generalizable to wider groups and is used regularly in business to enhance marketing strategies. Caribbean academicians from varied disciplines discussed how climate change affects them and life in the Caribbean. Caribbean states are particularly vulnerable to climate change because their large coastal areas are directly exposed to rising sea levels and their development relies heavily on foreign aid. The Caribbean comprises about half of the 39 members of the Association of Small Island States (AOSIS), and small island states comprise about 5% of global population [1]. Participants described socioeconomic and environmental changes in the Caribbean that they attribute to climate change. These include extreme weather, unusual rain and drought, drying rivers, beach erosion, declining fish catches, and others. The session exposed impacts on individuals, businesses, agriculture, and disaster preparedness. This data helps to reframe climate change as a personal reality rather than a vague future concern. It is relevant to the design, implementation, and sustainability of climate policies in the Caribbean and perhaps other small island states. The method and interdisciplinary approach can be used in other settings to elicit dialog about experiences and values across sectors, and to inform policies. Those who have experienced extreme weather are more concerned

An Investigation into the Current State and Direction of the Development of the Russian Language as a Specialty in China’s Comprehensive Universities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guo Lijun

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Chinese comprehensive universities will face the stern tenet of the development of Russian as a specialty. Connecting this specialty with the advantage of the development of university disciplines and taking one’s own path of building the Russian language specialty using one’s own know-hows and accomplishments is an important issue instructors of Russians are going to have to tackle. This article analyzes the major tenet of the development of the Russian language specialty in comprehensive universities. The article provides the author’s speculations and proposes a countermeasure in respect of the development of the Russian language specialty in comprehensive universities, which, the author hopes, will help the cause of the development of the Russian language specialty in comprehensive universities.

Asking about climate change

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jonas Østergaard; D'haen, Sarah Ann Lise

2014-01-01

and the number and types of interviews conducted are, for example, not always clear. Information on crucial aspects of qualitative research like researcher positionality, social positions of key informants, the use of field assistants, language issues and post-fieldwork treatment of data is also lacking in many...... with climate change? On the basis of a literature review of all articles published in Global Environmental Change between 2000 and 2012 that deal with human dimensions of climate change using qualitative methods this paper provides some answers but also raises some concerns. The period and length of fieldwork......There is increasing evidence that climate change will strongly affect people across the globe. Likely impacts of and adaptations to climate change are drawing the attention of researchers from many disciplines. In adaptation research focus is often on perceptions of climate change...

International Conference on Climate Change Adaptation Assessments: Conference summary and statement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-08-01

The International Conference on Climate Change Adaptation Assessments was held in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, from May 22--25, 1995. Sponsored by the Russian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring, the US Country Studies Program, and the directorate General for International Cooperation of the Netherlands Government, it was the first international conference focusing exclusively on adaptation to climate change. More than 100 people from 29 countries on five continents participated. The conference primarily addressed measures to anticipate the potential effects of climate change to minimize negative effects and take advantage of any positive effects. The focus was on what governments, institutions, and individuals can do to prepare for climate change. The conference dealt with two major topics: What adaptation options are most effective and efficient in anticipating climate change and what methods should be used to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of adaptation options. Brief summaries are given from the following sessions on agriculture; Water resources; coastal resources; ecosystems and forests; fisheries; human settlements; water and agriculture; and the panel session on international adaptation in national communications and other development plans and needs for technical assistance.

Argumentation Key to Communicating Climate Change to the Public

Science.gov (United States)

Bleicher, R. E.; Lambert, J. L.

2012-12-01

Argumentation plays an important role in how we communicate climate change science to the public and is a key component integrated throughout the Next Generation Science Standards. A scientific argument can be described as a disagreement between explanations with data being used to justify each position. Argumentation is social process where two or more individuals construct and critique arguments (Kuhn & Udell, 2003; Nussbaum, 1997). Sampson, Grooms, and Walker's (2011) developed a framework for understanding the components of a scientific argument. The three components start with a claim (a conjecture, conclusion, explanation, or an answer to a research question). This claim must fit the evidence (observations that show trends over time, relationships between variables or difference between groups). The evidence must be justified with reasoning (explains how the evidence supports the explanation and whey it should count as support). In a scientific argument, or debate, the controversy focuses on how data were collected, what data can or should be included, and what inferences can be made based on a set of evidence. Toulmin's model (1969) also includes rebutting or presenting an alternative explanation supported by counter evidence and reasoning of why the alternative is not the appropriate explanation for the question of the problem. The process of scientific argumentation should involve the construction and critique of scientific arguments, one that involves the consideration of alternative hypotheses (Lawson, 2003). Scientific literacy depends as much on the ability to refute and recognize poor scientific arguments as much as it does on the ability to present an effective argument based on good scientific data (Osborne, 2010). Argument is, therefore, a core feature of science. When students learn to construct a sound scientific argument, they demonstrate critical thinking and a mastery of the science being taught. To present a convincing argument in support of

Climate change and skin disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Lundgren, Ashley D

2018-04-01

Despite commanding essentially universal scientific consensus, climate change remains a divisive and poorly understood topic in the United States. Familiarity with this subject is not just for climate scientists. The impact of climate change on human morbidity and mortality may be considerable; thus, physicians also should be knowledgeable in this realm. Climate change science can seem opaque and inferential, creating fertile ground for political polemics and undoubtedly contributing to confusion among the general public. This puts physicians in a pivotal position to facilitate a practical understanding of climate change in the public sphere by discussing changes in disease patterns and their possible relationship to a changing climate. This article provides a background on climate change for dermatologists and highlights how climate change may impact the management of skin disease across the United States.

Climate change governance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Knieling, Joerg [HafenCity Univ. Hamburg (Germany). Urban Planning and Regional Development; Leal Filho, Walter (eds.) [HAW Hamburg (Germany). Research and Transfer Centre Applications of Life Science

2013-07-01

Climate change is a cause for concern both globally and locally. In order for it to be tackled holistically, its governance is an important topic needing scientific and practical consideration. Climate change governance is an emerging area, and one which is closely related to state and public administrative systems and the behaviour of private actors, including the business sector, as well as the civil society and non-governmental organisations. Questions of climate change governance deal both with mitigation and adaptation whilst at the same time trying to devise effective ways of managing the consequences of these measures across the different sectors. Many books have been produced on general matters related to climate change, such as climate modelling, temperature variations, sea level rise, but, to date, very few publications have addressed the political, economic and social elements of climate change and their links with governance. This book will address this gap. Furthermore, a particular feature of this book is that it not only presents different perspectives on climate change governance, but it also introduces theoretical approaches and brings these together with practical examples which show how main principles may be implemented in practice.

What Butterfly Effect? The Contextual Differences in Public Perceptions of the Health Risk Posed by Climate Change

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James W. Stoutenborough

2015-08-01

Full Text Available One of the most difficult aspects of persuading the public to support climate change policy is the lack of recognition that climate change will likely have a direct impact on an individual’s life. Anecdotal evidence and arguments within the media suggest that those who are skeptical of climate change are more likely to believe that the negative externalities associated with climate change will be experienced by others, and, therefore, are not a concern to that individual. This project examines public perceptions of the health risk posed by climate change. Using a large national public opinion survey of adults in the United States, respondents were asked to evaluate the health risk for themselves, their community, the United States, and the world. The results suggest that individuals evaluate the risk for each of these contexts differently. Statistical analyses are estimated to identify the determinants of each risk perception to identify their respective differences. The implications of these findings on support for climate change policy are discussed.

Public attitudes to climate change and carbon mitigation—Implications for energy-associated behaviours

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borgstede, Chris von; Andersson, Maria; Johnsson, Filip

2013-01-01

This work explores public opinions regarding climate change and mitigation options and examines how psychological factors, such as attitudes, norms, and willingness to pay, determine self-reported energy-efficient behaviour. The aim is to create knowledge for the design and implementation of policy measures. The results of an opinion poll conducted in 2005 and 2010 are compared. The number of respondents favouring new technologies as a way to reduce emissions was substantially lower in 2010 than in 2005, whereas there was an increase in the number of people who acknowledged that lifestyle changes are necessary to counteract climate changes. This indicates an increased awareness among the public of the need for lifestyle changes, which could facilitate implementation of policies promoting environmental behaviour. Renewable energy and energy saving measures were ranked as the top two measures for mitigating climate change in both polls. In determining which energy behaviours of the public are determined by psychological factors, an analysis of the 2010 survey revealed that respondents with pro-environmental attitudes towards global warming favour significantly increased use of renewable energy technologies and greater engagement in energy-efficient behaviours. - Highlights: ► Public opinion place priority to environmental issues and beliefs to change current lifestyle. ► A decline in favoring new technologies as a way to reduce emissions in 2010 compare to 2005 poll. ► Environmental attitudes relate to favor of renewable energy technologies. ► Environmental attitudes relate to households energy efficient behaviour

A community study of language concordance in Russian patients with diabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Mehler, Philip S; Lundgren, Rita A; Pines, Irina; Doll, Katherine

2004-01-01

Unique challenges exist in the provision of culturally and linguistically appropriate health care to ethnically diverse populations. The purpose of this study was to improve the metabolic control of Russian patients with diabetes through increased attention to language and cultural concordance between the provider and patient. This is a retrospective cohort study of 55 Russian immigrant type 2 patients with diabetes to assess levels of glycemic, lipid, and blood pressure control before and after the arrival of a bilingual Russian internist trained in both the United States and Russia. Paired t test was used to compare these parameters before and after the bilingual Russian provider joined our practice. Overall, the mean low density lipoprotein (LDL) level decreased by 20% from 126 mg/dL to 102 mg/dL (P=.0002) respectively before and after the Russian provider began treating these patients. Mean hemoglobin A1c decreased from 8.4% to 8.0% (P=.007), and diastolic blood pressure was reduced from 82.7 mm Hg to 76.3 mm Hg (P=.0002). Systolic blood pressure also improved from 143.2 mm Hg to 140.6 mm Hg (P=.3). At the end of the study period more than 90% of the patients with diabetes were appropriately taking lipid-lowering medications and an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor. Our findings suggest that it is important to facilitate the health care of ethnically diverse minority populations in a manner that attempts to maximize language and cultural concordance. These potential benefits will assume an even greater importance with the expansive growth of ethnic minorities in the United States and their unique healthcare needs.

THE REFLECTION OF BILINGUALISM IN THE SPEECH OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN SPEAKING NATIVE (ERZYA AND NON-NATIVE (RUSSIAN LANGUAGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mosina, N.M.

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This article considers the specific features of Mordovian speech of 16 bilingual children, aged 3 to 7 years, speaking both the Erzya and Russian languages, living in Mordovia. Their language is studied on the example of short stories in pictures, and it attempts to identify the influence of the Russian language on the Erzya one and to detect the occurrences of interference at the lexical and grammatical levels.

Applying "Climate" system to teaching basic climatology and raising public awareness of climate change issues

Science.gov (United States)

Gordova, Yulia; Okladnikov, Igor; Titov, Alexander; Gordov, Evgeny

2016-04-01

theory and practice. Along with its usage in graduate and postgraduate education, "Climate" is used as a framework for a developed basic information course on climate change for common public. In this course basic concepts and problems of modern climate change and its possible consequences are described for non-specialists. The course will also include links to relevant information resources on topical issues of Earth Sciences and a number of case studies, which are carried out for a selected region to consolidate the received knowledge.

Using digital game-based technologies in a system of studying russian as aforeign language in modern university

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Matokhina

2017-01-01

Full Text Available According to the State Educational Standard of the Russian Federation, the main objectives of teaching Russian as a foreign language are training communication and independent working skills, learning neutral and scientific styles of speech, motivating to study at Russian universities, preparing to pass certification and qualification examinations, adapting to live in Russia, etc. One of the promising trends in teaching foreign languages is the use of educational computer games. By now, digital gamebased technologies for studying Russian as a foreignlanguage have been implemented in a number of desktop and mobile applications, however, they are all intended for teaching Russian language as a discipline, and are not focused on adapting international students who have come to a new language environment. In this article, a learning game is presentedfor studying Russian as a foreign language with immersing a user into a virtual language environment in different life situations. The game includes seven game levels; each level consists of several sections, devoted to a specific real life situation with a set of assignments of increasing complexity for writing or translating some words, phrases or sentences. For each type of assignment a template with empty text fields is used, for importing files with corresponding data and their on-screen display special functions are implemented. Such approach allows to use the same template several times for the same type of assignment or to load different files for filling out the assignment text fields, depending on the number of player’s attempts. The database of tasks, level scripts and graphical content for each section are developed. Each level is matched with a game character, accompanying the player and helping him to complete the assignments. The player can choose a character, andchoose any section of the level. The assignments are stored in a coded format, for uploading files with data matched to

Russian National Corpus as a Tool of Linguo-Didactic Innovation in Teaching Languages

Science.gov (United States)

Ponomareva, Lyubov Dmitrievna; Churilina, Lyubov Nikolaevna; Buzhinskaya, Darya Sergeyevna; Derevskova, Elena Nikolayevna; Dorfman, Oksana Vyacheslavovna; Sokolova, Elena Petrovna

2016-01-01

Emphasis on universal learning activities of each student rather than acquisition of ready knowledge, as well as on how an individual masters a language necessitate the development and application of innovative technologies promoting functional-semantic and textual approaches. In the modern context, Russian language teachers, along with knowledge…

Trusted Sources: The Role Scientific Societies Can Play in Improving Public Opinions on Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

McEntee, C.; Cairns, A.; Buhrman, J.

2012-12-01

Public acceptance of the scientific consensus regarding climate change has eroded and misinformation designed to confuse the public is rapidly proliferating. Those issues, combined with an increase of politically motivated attacks on climate scientists and their research, have led to a place where ideology can trump scientific consensus as the foundation for developing policy solutions. The scientific community has been, thus far, unprepared to respond effectively to these developments. However, as a scientific society whose members engage in climate science research, and one whose organizational mission and vision are centered on the concepts of science for the benefit of humanity and ensuring a sustainable future, the American Geophysical Union can, and should, play an important role in reversing this trend. To that end, in 2011, AGU convened a Leadership Summit on Climate Science Communication, in which presidents, executive directors, and senior public policy staff from 17 scientific organizations engaged with experts in the social sciences regarding effective communication of climate science and with practitioners from agriculture, energy, and the military. The discussions focused on three key issues: the environment of climate science communication; public understanding of climate change; and the perspectives of consumers of climate science-based information who work with specific audiences. Participants diagnosed previous challenges and failings, enumerated the key constituencies that need to be effectively engaged, and identified the critical role played by cultural cognition—the influence of group values, particularly around equality and authority, individualism, and community; and the perceptions of risk. Since that meeting, AGU has consistently worked to identify and explore ways that it, and its members, and improve the effectiveness of their communication with the public about climate change. This presentation will focus on the insights AGU has

Challenging conflicting discourses of climate change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fleming, Aysha; Vanclay, Frank; Hiller, Claire; Wilson, Stephen

2014-01-01

The influence of language on communication about climate change is well recognised, but this understanding is under-utilised by those seeking to increase uptake of action for climate change. We discuss the terms, discourse, resistance, and agency, to assist in developing ways to progress social

Can "Ozzie" the Ostrich Prepare the Public for Better Learning about Climate Change?

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, R. F.; Lustick, D. S.; Lohmeier, J.; Lockwood, L.

2016-02-01

Climate change is one of the most pressing societal issues today, and educators are struggling with how to inform people of all ages and backgrounds about the reality and relevance of climate change. ScienceToGo.org has designed 12 posters that were placed on the Boston subways over the course of 15 months. Surveys of T-riders suggest that Ozzie the Ostrich is highly recognizable, is non-threatening, and is connecting Boston with climate change impacts and solutions. We hypothesize that our advertising campaign not only raises awareness about climate change in Boston and engages the public in thinking and talking about climate change, but also prepares them for learning more about climate change in the future. By exposing students to the 12 posters, we think that fears associated with climate change are lessened, and that students are more willing to explore a variety of media (newspaper articles, internet postings, peer-reviewed journal articles, data, and graphs) compared to students that are not exposed to the posters. Students will complete an initial survey, be exposed (or not exposed) to Ozzie posters, asked to explore a variety of media related to climate change, then surveyed again. Finally, focus groups will be conducted to gain insights on how students interact about climate change with or without exposure to Ozzie. We are interested in learning if exposure to brief, engaging, and humorous advertising messages will change the way students learn about climate change. This presentation will present initial results of this study.

The Public Health Impacts of Climate Change in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vladimir Kendrovski

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Projected climatic changes for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia for the period 2025–2100 will be most intense in the warmest period of the year with more frequent and more intense heat-waves, droughts and flood events compared with the period 1961–1990. The country has examined their vulnerabilities to climate change and many public health impacts have been projected. A variety of qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used in the assessment: literature reviews, interviews, focus groups, time series and regression analysis, damage and adaptation cost estimation, and scenario-based assessment. Policies and interventions to minimize the risks and development of long-term adaptation strategies have been explored. The generation of a robust evidence base and the development of stakeholder engagement have been used to support the development of an adaptation strategy and to promote adaptive capacity by improving the resilience of public health systems to climate change. Climate change adaptation has been established as a priority within existing national policy instruments. The lessons learnt from the process are applicable to countries considering how best to improve adaptive capacity and resilience of health systems to climate variability and its associated impacts.

The public health impacts of climate change in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Science.gov (United States)

Kendrovski, Vladimir; Spasenovska, Margarita; Menne, Bettina

2014-06-05

Projected climatic changes for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia for the period 2025-2100 will be most intense in the warmest period of the year with more frequent and more intense heat-waves, droughts and flood events compared with the period 1961-1990. The country has examined their vulnerabilities to climate change and many public health impacts have been projected. A variety of qualitative and quantitative methodologies were used in the assessment: literature reviews, interviews, focus groups, time series and regression analysis, damage and adaptation cost estimation, and scenario-based assessment. Policies and interventions to minimize the risks and development of long-term adaptation strategies have been explored. The generation of a robust evidence base and the development of stakeholder engagement have been used to support the development of an adaptation strategy and to promote adaptive capacity by improving the resilience of public health systems to climate change. Climate change adaptation has been established as a priority within existing national policy instruments. The lessons learnt from the process are applicable to countries considering how best to improve adaptive capacity and resilience of health systems to climate variability and its associated impacts.

Computer-assisted Language Learning for the Development of Listening Skills: A Case Study of Pre-university Russian as a Foreign Language

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Yu. Lebedeva

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The research explores the effectiveness of using computer-assisted language learning (CALL approach for the development of non-reciprocal listening skills in the context of studying Russian as a foreign language (RFL. Despite the fact that the influence of CALL on the development of listening skills has been well studied based on a case study of teaching other languages (especially English, a similar study in the context of teaching the Russian language is performed for the first time. The RFL students (N=68 and teachers (N=7 of the Preparatory Department in Russian took part in the intervention study. The students were divided into experimental and control groups. The research was conducted based on both qualitative and quantitative methods. The researchers focused the attention on two kinds of listening: listening for general information and selective listening. As the listening competence, and especially academic listening proficiency, is critically important for the students of the preparatory department,  he researchers’ target was to research ways of improving listening abilities with different approaches of using CALL.  The testing and assessment materials were developed and the statistics was collected for each kind of listening. In addition, the students of the experimental group were surveyed to identify their experiences from using CALL in the classroom. The research findings allowed concluding about the effectiveness of CALL application for developing listening for the detail skills, whereas in the general listening no significant effect was found. In addition, the study revealed specific complexities in the application of CALL in teaching listening in Russian.

Global Climate Change and Ocean Education

Science.gov (United States)

Spitzer, W.; Anderson, J.

2011-12-01

the Earth's climate system. The problem is not simply that the public lacks information. In fact, the problem is often that there is too much information available with much of it complicated and even contradictory. The news media, both print and electronic, tend to exacerbate this by aiming for "balance" even when there is an overwhelming scientific or policy consensus. An additional problem is "reinforcement bias," which tends to lead people to focus on information that supports what they already believe or think they know. Instead, we need an approach that facilitates "meaning-making." A "framing" approach to communication (Frameworks Institute, 2010) supports meaning-making by appealing to strongly held values, providing metaphoric language and models, and illustrating specific applications to real world problems. This approach translates complex science in a way that allows people to examine evidence, make well-informed decisions, and embrace science-based solutions. However, interpreters need specialized training, resources, up-to-date information, and ongoing support to help understand a complex topic such as climate change, its connections to the ocean, and how to relate it to the live animals, habitats and exhibits they interpret.

Climate@Home: Crowdsourcing Climate Change Research

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, C.; Yang, C.; Li, J.; Sun, M.; Bambacus, M.

2011-12-01

Climate change deeply impacts human wellbeing. Significant amounts of resources have been invested in building super-computers that are capable of running advanced climate models, which help scientists understand climate change mechanisms, and predict its trend. Although climate change influences all human beings, the general public is largely excluded from the research. On the other hand, scientists are eagerly seeking communication mediums for effectively enlightening the public on climate change and its consequences. The Climate@Home project is devoted to connect the two ends with an innovative solution: crowdsourcing climate computing to the general public by harvesting volunteered computing resources from the participants. A distributed web-based computing platform will be built to support climate computing, and the general public can 'plug-in' their personal computers to participate in the research. People contribute the spare computing power of their computers to run a computer model, which is used by scientists to predict climate change. Traditionally, only super-computers could handle such a large computing processing load. By orchestrating massive amounts of personal computers to perform atomized data processing tasks, investments on new super-computers, energy consumed by super-computers, and carbon release from super-computers are reduced. Meanwhile, the platform forms a social network of climate researchers and the general public, which may be leveraged to raise climate awareness among the participants. A portal is to be built as the gateway to the climate@home project. Three types of roles and the corresponding functionalities are designed and supported. The end users include the citizen participants, climate scientists, and project managers. Citizen participants connect their computing resources to the platform by downloading and installing a computing engine on their personal computers. Computer climate models are defined at the server side. Climate

Polish-Bulgarian-Russian, Bulgarian-Polish-Russian or Russian-Bulgarian-Polish dictionary?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Violetta Koseska-Toszewa

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Polish-Bulgarian-Russian, Bulgarian-Polish-Russian or Russian-Bulgarian-Polish dictionary? The trilingual dictionary (M. Duszkin, V. Koseska, J. Satoła and A. Tzoneva is being elaborated based on a working Polish-Bulgarian-Russian electronic parallel corpus authored by Maksim Duszkin, Violetta Koseska-Toszewa and Joanna Satoła-Staśkowiak, and works by A. Tzoneva. It is the first corpus comparing languages belonging to three different Slavic language groups: western, southern and eastern. Works on the dictionary are based on Gramatyka konfrontatywna bułgarsko-polska (Bulgarian-Polish confrontative grammar and the proposed there semantic-oriented interlanguage. Two types of classifiers have been introduced into the dictionary: classic and semantic. The trilingual dictionary will present a consistent and homogeneous set of facts of grammar and semantics. The Authors point out that in a traditional dictionary it is not clear for example whether aspect should be understood as imperfective / perfective form of a verb or as its meaning. Therefore in the dictionary forms and meaning are separated in a regular way. Imperfective verb form has two meanings: state and configuration of states and events culminating in state. Also perfective verb form has two meanings: event and configuration of states and events culminating in event. These meanings are described by the semantic classifiers, respectively, state and event, state1 and event1. The way of describing language units, mentioned in the article, gives a possibility to present language material (Polish, Bulgarian, Russian in any required order, hence the article’s title.

Assessment of extreme flood events in a changing climate for a long-term planning of socio-economic infrastructure in the Russian Arctic

Science.gov (United States)

Shevnina, Elena; Kourzeneva, Ekaterina; Kovalenko, Viktor; Vihma, Timo

2017-05-01

Climate warming has been more acute in the Arctic than at lower latitudes and this tendency is expected to continue. This generates major challenges for economic activity in the region. Among other issues is the long-term planning and development of socio-economic infrastructure (dams, bridges, roads, etc.), which require climate-based forecasts of the frequency and magnitude of detrimental flood events. To estimate the cost of the infrastructure and operational risk, a probabilistic form of long-term forecasting is preferable. In this study, a probabilistic model to simulate the parameters of the probability density function (PDF) for multi-year runoff based on a projected climatology is applied to evaluate changes in extreme floods for the territory of the Russian Arctic. The model is validated by cross-comparison of the modelled and empirical PDFs using observations from 23 sites located in northern Russia. The mean values and coefficients of variation (CVs) of the spring flood depth of runoff are evaluated under four climate scenarios, using simulations of six climate models for the period 2010-2039. Regions with substantial expected changes in the means and CVs of spring flood depth of runoff are outlined. For the sites located within such regions, it is suggested to account for the future climate change in calculating the maximal discharges of rare occurrence. An example of engineering calculations for maximal discharges with 1 % exceedance probability is provided for the Nadym River at Nadym.

Teaching vocabulary to elementary level students learning Russian as a foreign language: topic "My family and I"

OpenAIRE

Vesnina, L. E.

2017-01-01

The article describes a lesson "My Family and I" for elementary level students learning Russian as a foreign language. This topic is the first in the academic subject Russian Vocabulary. The article sums up the experience of teaching this subject to Chinese students learning Russian at the Ural State Pedagogical University. The content and the aims of the lesson "My Family and I", as well as the subject Russian Vocabulary, are based on the communicative approach to teaching Russian as a forei...

Russian Language Classes

CERN Multimedia

2008-01-01

The Russian Cultural Circle is organising a new Russian course for beginners and will continue its course for advanced students (3rd year), both from September onwards. Anyone interested in taking part is invited to contact Mrs M. Mikhailova (e-mail: mailto:mmmacha@hotmail.com or tel. 022 788 27 53) or Mrs C. Kukowka (e-mail: mailto:christinekukowka@orange.fror tel. ++ 33 4 50 42 43 22 after 8.00 p.m.).

Nuclear power crises and public opinion: Russian Experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gagarinski, A.Y.

1998-01-01

This report presents the state of Russian nuclear power, which provides 13 per cent of the country's electricity production (up to 80 per cent in some large regions) and shows no recession trends, characteristic of the whole Russian economic complex. The report discusses measures taken both for improvement of the safety of operating and future new-generation NPPs, and for improvement of public confidence in them. Also considered are the problems related to both civil power and the military heritage, which are most actively discussed in mass media. This report provides the prognosis for nuclear power and public opinion for the next 10-15 years. (author)

The Palestinian Authority and 'Climate Change' as an Emergent Public Problem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fustec, Klervi

2014-01-01

'Climate change' is an oft avowed environmental priority among cooperation and development actors. The Palestinian Territories, for their part, are one of the largest recipients of international aid. To the degree that the UNPD has played a role in promoting the question of 'climate change', the dependence of the Palestinian Authority on international aid has contributed to framing this emergent public problem; its construction is anchored in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Palestinian state's demand for recognition at the international level. In the international arenas dedicated to 'climate change', what's more, the Palestinian Authority discusses this question in terms of political and climatic injustice. Two questions thus merit study: what effect does the construction of the climate problem have on the Palestinian Authority and, conversely, what effect does the Palestinian Authority have on the construction of the climate problem?

Interpreting Definiteness in a Second Language without Articles: The Case of L2 Russian

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Jacee; Slabakova, Roumyana

2014-01-01

This article investigates the second language (L2) acquisition of two expressions of the semantic feature [definite] in Russian, a language without articles, by English and Korean native speakers. Within the Feature Reassembly approach (Lardiere, 2009), Slabakova (2009) has argued that reassembling features that are represented overtly in the…

Changes in the Perceived Risk of Climate Change: Evidence from Sudden Climatic Events

Science.gov (United States)

Anttila-Hughes, J. K.

2009-12-01

In the course of the past two decades the threat of anthropogenic climate change has moved from a scientific concern of relative obscurity to become one of the largest environmental and public goods problems in history. During this period public understanding of the risk of climate change has shifted from negligible to quite large. In this paper I propose a means of quantifying this change by examining how sudden events supporting the theory of anthropogenic climate change have affected carbon intensive companies' stock prices. Using CAPM event study methodology for companies in several carbon-intensive industries, I find strong evidence that markets have been reacting to changes in the scientific evidence for climate change for some time. Specifically, the change in magnitude of response over time seems to indicate that investors believed climate change was a potentially serious risk to corporate profits as early as the mid 1990s. Moreover, market reaction dependence on event type indicates that investors are differentiating between different advances in the scientific knowledge. Announcements by NASA GISS that the previous year was a “record hot year” for the globe are associated with negative excess returns, while news of ice shelf collapses are associated with strong positive excess returns. These results imply that investors are aware of how different aspects of climate change will affect carbon intensive companies, specifically in terms of the link between warming in general and polar ice cover. This implies that policy choices based on observable public opinion have lagged actual private concern over climate change's potential threat.

Safeguards and legal matters 1994. International Atomic Energy Agency Publications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-01-01

This catalogue lists all sales publications of the International Atomic Energy Agency dealing with Safeguards and Legal Matters issued during the period 1970-1994. Most publications are published in English, through some are also available in French, Russian and Spanish. Proceedings of conferences, symposia and panels of experts may contain some papers in languages other than English (French, Russian or Spanish), but all of these papers have abstracts in English. If publications are also available in other languages than English, this is noted as C for Chinese, F for French, R for Russian and S for Spanish by the relevant ISBN number. It should be noted that prices of books are quoted in Austrian Schillings. The prices do not include local taxes and are subject to change without notice. All books in this catalogue are 16 x 24 cm, paper-bound, unless otherwise stated

FUNCTIONAL AND SEMANTIC PROPERTIES OF LOANWORDS IN THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE (BASED ON HYPERTEXTS

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Novikov Vladimir Borisovich

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The author studies functional and semantic properties of foreign-language nouns revealed in the form of the oral written language in computer-mediated communication, taking into account the debatability of issues about the borders of a loanword's notion, about the reasons of penetration of foreign-language words into the Russian language and classification of loanwords, which are used in linguistic literature. The actual material (500 foreign-language nouns was selected by the method of continuous sampling of the online texts posted in social networks, news portals and various forums. It is established that the loanwords used in hypertexts reflect the updating of lexical means by generating the words that refer to the new and current phenomena; penetrate into the Russian language along with the borrowing of thing or notion; generate parallels to the existing names (at this, the ability of forming doublet reflection is eliminated by means of semantic and stylistic differentiation of units – a borrowed one and an existing in the language of the recipient. The analysis of lexical content of loanwords revealed that the most numerous LSG are Technology LSG that unites the names of technical devices; Art and Evaluation LSGs. It is proved in the article that foreign-language nouns are used in hypertexts for communicative, nominative, emotive, and metalinguistic functions. However, such lexemes do not participate in the implementation of regulatory and phatic functions.

A new Approach to the Study of Russian Language Acquisition in Preschool Children with Normal and Abnormal Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lebedeva T.V

2014-11-01

Full Text Available We discuss the possibilities of using a standardized method of psychological evaluation of the Russian language development in preschool children. We provide a rationale for the relevance of timely differentiation of children with language and speech difficulties in modern educational practice. We present the results of comparative analysis of language and speech development in the two groups of children 5-6 years old: normally developing (N=92 and with language and speech disorders (N=59. We describe the diagnostic potential of this research tool for clinical sample of children with speech and language disorders, reveal differences in the development of Russian language between the two groups of children. The data obtained can be used in solving the problems of differentiated correctional help to pre-school children with impaired language and speech development.

Recognition of English and German Borrowings in the Russian Language (Based on Lexical Borrowings in the Field of Economics)

Science.gov (United States)

Ashrapova, Alsu; Alendeeva, Svetlana

2014-01-01

This article is the result of a study of the influence of English and German on the Russian language during the English learning based on lexical borrowings in the field of economics. This paper discusses the use and recognition of borrowings from the English and German languages by Russian native speakers. The use of lexical borrowings from…

Simulation of climate change in San Francisco Bay Basins, California: Case studies in the Russian River Valley and Santa Cruz Mountains

Science.gov (United States)

Flint, Lorraine E.; Flint, Alan L.

2012-01-01

As a result of ongoing changes in climate, hydrologic and ecologic effects are being seen across the western United States. A regional study of how climate change affects water resources and habitats in the San Francisco Bay area relied on historical climate data and future projections of climate, which were downscaled to fine spatial scales for application to a regional water-balance model. Changes in climate, potential evapotranspiration, recharge, runoff, and climatic water deficit were modeled for the Bay Area. In addition, detailed studies in the Russian River Valley and Santa Cruz Mountains, which are on the northern and southern extremes of the Bay Area, respectively, were carried out in collaboration with local water agencies. Resource managers depend on science-based projections to inform planning exercises that result in competent adaptation to ongoing and future changes in water supply and environmental conditions. Results indicated large spatial variability in climate change and the hydrologic response across the region; although there is warming under all projections, potential change in precipitation by the end of the 21st century differed according to model. Hydrologic models predicted reduced early and late wet season runoff for the end of the century for both wetter and drier future climate projections, which could result in an extended dry season. In fact, summers are projected to be longer and drier in the future than in the past regardless of precipitation trends. While water supply could be subject to increased variability (that is, reduced reliability) due to greater variability in precipitation, water demand is likely to steadily increase because of increased evapotranspiration rates and climatic water deficit during the extended summers. Extended dry season conditions and the potential for drought, combined with unprecedented increases in precipitation, could serve as additional stressors on water quality and habitat. By focusing on the

Language-Game and Language Tendency: Conceptual Correlation (on the Example of the Modern Transitivity of Russian Intransitive Verbs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olena Nekrylova

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the clarification of the question of the possibility of correlation between the concepts of language-game and the language trend, which is carried out on the example of modern transitive Russian intransitive verbs. Said correlation is concretized by elucidating the possibility of a gradual transition from a language-game to the transitivity of intransitive verbs to the empirically confirmed tendency of their transition. The opinions of the researchers of the language-game concerning the possibility of manifesting such a tendency are supported by examples that show the gradual transition of the language-game into the transitivity of intransitive verbs into the corresponding linguistic tendency.

Climate change matters.

Science.gov (United States)

Macpherson, Cheryl Cox

2014-04-01

One manifestation of climate change is the increasingly severe extreme weather that causes injury, illness and death through heat stress, air pollution, infectious disease and other means. Leading health organisations around the world are responding to the related water and food shortages and volatility of energy and agriculture prices that threaten health and health economics. Environmental and climate ethics highlight the associated challenges to human rights and distributive justice but rarely address health or encompass bioethical methods or analyses. Public health ethics and its broader umbrella, bioethics, remain relatively silent on climate change. Meanwhile global population growth creates more people who aspire to Western lifestyles and unrestrained socioeconomic growth. Fulfilling these aspirations generates more emissions; worsens climate change; and undermines virtues and values that engender appreciation of, and protections for, natural resources. Greater understanding of how virtues and values are evolving in different contexts, and the associated consequences, might nudge the individual and collective priorities that inform public policy toward embracing stewardship and responsibility for environmental resources necessary to health. Instead of neglecting climate change and related policy, public health ethics and bioethics should explore these issues; bring transparency to the tradeoffs that permit emissions to continue at current rates; and offer deeper understanding about what is at stake and what it means to live a good life in today's world.

Natural versus anthropogenic climate change: Swedish farmers' joint construction of climate perceptions.

Science.gov (United States)

Asplund, Therese

2016-07-01

While previous research into understandings of climate change has usually examined general public perceptions, this study offers an audience-specific departure point. This article analyses how Swedish farmers perceive climate change and how they jointly shape their understandings. The agricultural sector is of special interest because it both contributes to and is directly affected by climate change. Through focus group discussions with Swedish farmers, this study finds that (1) farmers relate to and understand climate change through their own experiences, (2) climate change is understood either as a natural process subject to little or no human influence or as anthropogenic and (3) various communication tools contribute to the formation of natural and anthropogenic climate change frames. The article ends by discussing frame resonance and frame clash in public understanding of climate change and by comparing potential similarities and differences in how various segments of the public make sense of climate change. © The Author(s) 2014.

Iranian English Language Teachers' Job Satisfaction and Organisational Climate in Public and Private Schools

Science.gov (United States)

Razavipour, Kioumars; Yousefi, Moslem

2017-01-01

Organisation issues rarely feature in the English language education literature, since language education is seemingly mostly concerned with the individual learner or teacher. As such, the impact that school climate might have on Iranian English language teachers remains an uncharted territory. This mixed-method study explores the relationship…

Businessmen v. Investigators: who is responsible for the Poor Russian Investment Climate?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dmitry Gololobov

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This article aims to examine the extent to which Russian investigations into economic and financial crimes are influenced by such factors as systemic problems with Russian gatekeepers, the absence of a formal corporate whistle-blowing mechanism and the continuous abuse of the law by the Russian business community. The traditional critical approach to the quality and effectiveness of Russian economic and financial investigations does not produce positive results and needs to be reformulated by considering the opinions of entrepreneurs. The author considers that forcing Russian entrepreneurs, regardless of the size of their business, to comply with Russian laws and regulations may be a more efficient way to develop the business environment than attempting to gradually improve the Russian judicial system. It is also hardly possible to expect the Russian investigatory bodies to investigate what are effectively complex economic and financial crimes in the almost complete absence of a developed whistle-blowing culture. Such a culture has greatly contributed to the success of widely-publicised corporate and financial investigations in the United States and Europe. The poor development of the culture of Russian gatekeepers and the corresponding regulatory environment is one more significant factor that permanently undermines the effectiveness of economic investigations and damages the investment climate.

CORPORATE MODEL OF PUBLIC SECTOR OF THE RUSSIAN ECONOMY: TRENDS AND PATTERNS OF DEVELOPMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga S. Makarenko

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The article reveals the issues of development and functioning of corporate model of public sector of the Russian economy. Today Russia is fully influenced by consequences of entry into world economy. Privatization processes, on the one hand, and increase in intervention of the state in economy, on the other hand, changed composition and structure of the public sector of the Russian economy. Establishment of large state corporations and further increase in scales and directions of Russian government’s policy. These corporations acquired an extensive set of functions, large volumes of state property (federal budgetary funds, different production and financial assets, which ensured their activity in the long run. The state corporations carry out an important role in ensuring stable development of national economic systems for already several years, smoothing the so-called “failures” of the market, and create the necessary conditions for overcoming the crisis phenomena. The author presents the classification of economic sectors consisting of public, municipal and private sectors, studies the character and structure of public sector of the developed foreign countries. The carried-out comparative characteristic of main national models of public sector allowed to reveal the extent of state’s influence on the economy in the North American, Western European and Asian countries, as well as to define the main features of public sector in these countries. The concept and essence of the state corporation, as well as trends of their creation and development are also studied. The author proposes the corporate model of public sector of the Russian economy and defines its main characteristics. The analysis of the conducted research allowed to draw a conclusion on the need of further development of the state corporations and large national companies with the state participation.

Estimating the effects of regional political climate on Russian tourists to Spain

OpenAIRE

ALVAREZ DIAZ MARCOS; MANUEL GONZÁLEZ-GÓMEZ; OTERO-GIRÁLDEZ MARÍA SOLEDAD

2017-01-01

Regional political climate has become an increasingly significant force influencing travel behaviour in many tourist destinations. This paper attempts to address impacts of regional political stability on Russian inbound tourism into Spain within a demand model framework and using a cointegration approach. The results show that visa openness as well as political instability and civil unrest in substitute destinations attract more Russian tourists boosting economic growth and reducing unemploy...

E-SovTox: An online database of the main publicly-available sources of toxicity data concerning REACH-relevant chemicals published in the Russian language.

Science.gov (United States)

Sihtmäe, Mariliis; Blinova, Irina; Aruoja, Villem; Dubourguier, Henri-Charles; Legrand, Nicolas; Kahru, Anne

2010-08-01

A new open-access online database, E-SovTox, is presented. E-SovTox provides toxicological data for substances relevant to the EU Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) system, from publicly-available Russian language data sources. The database contains information selected mainly from scientific journals published during the Soviet Union era. The main information source for this database - the journal, Gigiena Truda i Professional'nye Zabolevania [Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Diseases], published between 1957 and 1992 - features acute, but also chronic, toxicity data for numerous industrial chemicals, e.g. for rats, mice, guinea-pigs and rabbits. The main goal of the abovementioned toxicity studies was to derive the maximum allowable concentration limits for industrial chemicals in the occupational health settings of the former Soviet Union. Thus, articles featured in the database include mostly data on LD50 values, skin and eye irritation, skin sensitisation and cumulative properties. Currently, the E-SovTox database contains toxicity data selected from more than 500 papers covering more than 600 chemicals. The user is provided with the main toxicity information, as well as abstracts of these papers in Russian and in English (given as provided in the original publication). The search engine allows cross-searching of the database by the name or CAS number of the compound, and the author of the paper. The E-SovTox database can be used as a decision-support tool by researchers and regulators for the hazard assessment of chemical substances. 2010 FRAME.

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Open NASA Earth Exchange (OpenNEX): A Public-Private Partnership for Climate Change Research

Science.gov (United States)

Nemani, R. R.; Lee, T. J.; Michaelis, A.; Ganguly, S.; Votava, P.

2014-12-01

NASA Earth Exchange (NEX) is a data, computing and knowledge collaborative that houses satellite, climate and ancillary data where a community of researchers can come together to share modeling and analysis codes, scientific results, knowledge and expertise on a centralized platform with access to large supercomputing resources. As a part of broadening the community beyond NASA-funded researchers, NASA through an agreement with Amazon Inc. made available to the public a large collection of Climate and Earth Sciences satellite data. The data, available through the Open NASA Earth Exchange (OpenNEX) platform hosted by Amazon Web Services (AWS) public cloud, consists of large amounts of global land surface imaging, vegetation conditions, climate observations and climate projections. In addition to the data, users of OpenNEX platform can also watch lectures from leading experts, learn basic access and use of the available data sets. In order to advance White House initiatives such as Open Data, Big Data and Climate Data and the Climate Action Plan, NASA over the past six months conducted the OpenNEX Challenge. The two-part challenge was designed to engage the public in creating innovative ways to use NASA data and address climate change impacts on economic growth, health and livelihood. Our intention was that the challenges allow citizen scientists to realize the value of NASA data assets and offers NASA new ideas on how to share and use that data. The first "ideation" challenge, closed on July 31st attracted over 450 participants consisting of climate scientists, hobbyists, citizen scientists, IT experts and App developers. Winning ideas from the first challenge will be incorporated into the second "builder" challenge currently targeted to launch mid-August and close by mid-November. The winner(s) will be formally announced at AGU in December of 2014. We will share our experiences and lessons learned over the past year from OpenNEX, a public-private partnership for

The social construct of climate and climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stehr, N.

1994-01-01

Different time scales of climate change and their differential perception in society are discussed. A historical examination of natural climate changes during the past millennium suggests that short-term changes, especially crucial changes, trigger a significant response in and by society. Short-term changes correspond to the 'time horizon of everyday life', that is, to a time scale from days and weeks to a few years. The anticipated anthropogenic climate changes, however, are expected to occur on a longer time scale. They require a response by society not on the basis of primary experience but on the basis of scientifically constructed scenarios and ways in which such information is represented in the modern media for example. Socio-economic impact research relies on concepts that are based on the premise of perfectly informed actors for the development of optimal adaptation strategies. In contrast to such a conception, we develop the concept of a 'social construct of climate' as decisive for the public perception of scientific knowledge about climate and for public policy on climate change. The concept is illustrated using a number of examples. (orig.)

Making Rapid Gains in Second Language Writing: A Case Study of a Third-Year Russian Language Course

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, N. Anthony; Bown, Jennifer; Eggett, Dennis L.

2009-01-01

This research describes a method applied in a third-year Russian language course designed to push students' writing proficiency to the Intermediate/Advanced threshold and beyond and the findings associated therewith. The approach centered around argumentation and debate, a subject usually designed to improve students' command of logic and…

Radionuclide transfer to freshwater biota species: review of Russian language studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fesenko, S.; Fesenko, J.; Sanzharova, N.; Karpenko, E.; Titov, I.

2011-01-01

Around 130 publications reporting studies on radionuclide transfer to freshwater biota species conducted in the former USSR were reviewed to provide the concentration ratio values. None of these studies were available up to now in the English language reviews or publications. The values derived have been compared with the CR values used for freshwater systems in the International reviews. For some radionuclides reviewed in this paper, the data are in good agreement with the mean CR values presented earlier, however for some of them, in particular, for 241 Am (bivalve molluscs, gastropods and pelagic fish), 60 Co (gastropods, benthic fish and insect larvae), 90 Sr and 137 Cs (benthic fish and zooplankton), the mean values given here are substantially different from those presented earlier. The data reported in this paper for thirty five radionuclides and eleven groups of freshwater species markedly improve the extent of available data for evaluation of radiation impact on freshwater species. - Research highlights: → The paper provides information on concentration ratios to freshwater biota species for 35 radionuclides. Many of the data are for 90 Sr and 137 Cs. → For the majority of radionuclides reviewed in this paper, the CR values are in good agreement with those given in the recent International reviews. → For 241 Am (bivalve molluscs, gastropods and pelagic fish), 60 Co (gastropods, benthic fish and insect larvae), 90 Sr and 137 Cs (benthic fish and zooplankton), the mean values based on review of the Russian language publications are substantially different from those presented in the International reviews. → Information presented in the paper significantly increases the availability of data on radionuclide accumulation in freshwater species.

Yukon Government climate change action plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2009-02-01

This Climate Change Action Plan described the measures that are being taken by the Yukon Government to adapt to, understand, and reduce contributions to climate change. The action plan is the result of input received from more than 100 individuals and organizations and provides clear direction for a strategy that will minimize the negative impacts of climate change and provide economic, social and other environmental benefits through climate change mitigation. The Yukon government has already taken many actions that respond to climate change, such as: developing the Yukon Cold Climate Innovation Centre; supporting the Northern Climate Exchange for public education and outreach; funding community recycling depots and other groups that reduce waste generation, promote public awareness and divert solid waste; and working with provincial and territorial counterparts to enhance national building standards. The main objectives of the climate change actions are to enhance knowledge and understanding of climate change; adapt to climate change; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and lead Yukon action in response to climate change. tabs., figs.

Discussing Climate Change with the Public: Presenting the Science is Necessary but Insufficient

Science.gov (United States)

Vincelli, P.; Humble, J.

2012-12-01

Social science literature shows that the topic of climate change is imbued with cultural meaning for most Americans, such that sound scientific information alone is likely to be unpersuasive to people already doubtful about climate change. A current educational program on climate change emphasizes the following: *Less reliance on geophysical data *Positive messages as frequently as possible *Making the subject personal and concrete *Focusing on scientific aspects of climate change while refraining from promotion of particular policy solutions *Seeking ways to speak to core identities of diverse audiences *Assuring that communication efforts on this highly divisive topic are based on sensitivity to, and respect for, the diversity of worldviews present in citizens *To the extent possible, emphasizing optimism as well as our personal and collective capability to solve the problem of climate change. While this may seem self-evident, we also remind ourselves of the importance of avoiding criticism, blame, demonization, or arrogance in building a more inclusive community of public leaders on climate literacy.; Citing the recognition of climate-change science by trusted organizations is probably more convincing than showing reams of geophysical data. In particular, citing the Department of Defense may speak to the values of many who remain skeptical. ; This image is intended to speak to people that deeply value passing on a way of life to their descendants. Although nationalism can be carried to an extreme, this imagery can convey the notion that protecting our world from climate change is actually patriotic, something few Americans may realize.

ONERC Observatoire National sur les Effets du Rechauffement Climatique (National Observatory of Climate warming effects). Report to the Prime Minister and to Parliament. Climate changes and public health risks in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

After having recalled the climate change context and the activities of the ONERC (the French National Observatory of Climate Warming Effects) since its previous report, this report gathers several contributions by as many scientists. They propose analysis, comments and discussions on various topics: human diseases which might be influenced by climate change in France (heat waves and allergies, emergence of animal and human diseases, potential impacts of climate change on vector-borne diseases, infectious diseases in overseas territories, public health consequences), surveillance and health alert systems (infectious disease national surveillance and monitoring network, emergency response, satellite imagery, public health and risk management, lessons learned from the chikungunya pandemic), public health and risk management (overview of international works on the relationship between climate change and public health, public health consequences of climate change)

What Butterfly Effect? The Contextual Differences in Public Perceptions of the Health Risk Posed by Climate Change

OpenAIRE

Stoutenborough, James; Kirkpatrick, Kellee; Field, M.; Vedlitz, Arnold

2015-01-01

One of the most difficult aspects of persuading the public to support climate change policy is the lack of recognition that climate change will likely have a direct impact on an individual’s life. Anecdotal evidence and arguments within the media suggest that those who are skeptical of climate change are more likely to believe that the negative externalities associated with climate change will be experienced by others, and, therefore, are not a concern to that individual. This project examine...

Open Educational Resources as a Tool to Improve Language Education Effectiveness in the Russian Higher Institutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tatiana Sidorenko

2014-09-01

Full Text Available An attempt of Russian universities to move forward to the leading positions in the world rankings has resulted in some initiatives to enhance their activities on the market of education services. Under these conditions, foreign language proficiency is no longer a luxury and it is becoming an important tool to implement goals of university development. In this regard, new methods and techniques of foreign language teaching are highly demanded, which would significantly improve the language competency of both students and faculty members. A search for effective methods to enhance foreign language teaching makes analyze Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs open educational platforms and consider an opportunity for these platforms to be integrated into the existing system of foreign language teaching in Russian higher education institutions. Based on the research findings, the author concludes that it is irrational to use the resources as embedded components without significant adjustment to the conditions existing in the current higher education system.

The burgeoning field of transdisciplinary adaptation research in Quebec (1998–: a climate change-related public health narrative

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gosselin P

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Pierre Gosselin1–3, Diane Bélanger1,3,4, Véronique Lapaige1,5,6, Yolaine Labbé11Quebec National Public Health Institute, Quebec, 2Laval University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Quebec, 3National Institute of Scientific Research, Water-Earth-Environment Centre, Quebec, 4Research Centre of the Quebec University Hospital Centre, Quebec, 5University of Montreal, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, Montreal, 6Fernand-Seguin Research Centre, Montreal, QC, CanadaAbstract: This paper presents a public health narrative on Quebec’s new climatic conditions and human health, and describes the transdisciplinary nature of the climate change adaptation research currently being adopted in Quebec, characterized by the three phases of problem identification, problem investigation, and problem transformation. A transdisciplinary approach is essential for dealing with complex ill-defined problems concerning human–environment interactions (for example, climate change, for allowing joint research, collective leadership, complex collaborations, and significant exchanges among scientists, decision makers, and knowledge users. Such an approach is widely supported in theory but has proved to be extremely difficult to implement in practice, and those who attempt it have met with heavy resistance, succeeding when they find the occasional opportunity within institutional or social contexts. In this paper we narrate the ongoing struggle involved in tackling the negative effects of climate change in multi-actor contexts at local and regional levels, a struggle that began in a quiet way in 1998. The paper will describe how public health adaptation research is supporting transdisciplinary action and implementation while also preparing for the future, and how this interaction to tackle a life-world problem (adaptation of the Quebec public health sector to climate change in multi-actors contexts has progressively been

The role of attitudes in the development of Russian as a foreign language: A retrospective study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Szilvia Bátyi

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The article reports the findings of a retrospective study which looked at Hungarian learners’ attitudes towards Russian people, the Russian language and teachers of Russian. Mixed-methods sequential explanatory design (Ivankova, Creswell, & Stick, 2006 was applied which combines the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data in two consecutive phases. First person accounts turned out to be a useful and relevant resource for exploring individual differences in proficiency in Russian. Differences in attitudes appear to play a role in the developmental process, but to what extent this refers to attrition or non-acquisition is unclear.

Climate Change Education: Student Media Production to Educate and Engage

Science.gov (United States)

Rooney-Varga, J. N.; Brisk, A. A.; Ledley, T. S.; Shuldman, M.

2011-12-01

Climate change education offers many challenges, including the complexity of the natural and human systems involved, a need for a multi-disciplinary perspective, and the psychological barriers to learning that result from a problem that frequently elicits a sense of being overwhelmed and powerless. The implications of climate change impacts and/or solutions can be especially overwhelming for today's students, who are likely to be confronted with many projected changes within their lifetimes. We are developing approaches to incorporate video production by students at both the high school and university levels in order to overcome many of the challenges unique to climate change education. Through media production, students are asked to convey complex topics using clear, simple language and metaphor, so their content knowledge must be deep enough to educate others. Video production is a team effort (director, camera person, editor, etc.) and inherently creates an opportunity for learning in a social context, which has been shown to lead to better learning outcomes in climate change education. Video production also promotes the basic tenets of engagement theory, in which a small group of students is in constant contact with the content and, ideally, creates a product that can be disseminated broadly. Lastly, putting students behind the camera can give them a voice and a sense of empowerment, fostering active participation in the learning process. While video is a medium that is readily disseminated to a broad audience, our focus is on the process (i.e., learning outcomes of students directly involved in media production), not the product. However, we have found that providing students with a means to add their voices to the broader public's discussion of climate change has a positive impact on student engagement with climate change science and on public awareness this problem beyond the classroom. While student-produced media pieces are not intended to provide in

Climate Change and Public Information in the Spanish Central Government. Its Management, Legal and Foresight in Emergencies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ángel Ibáñez

2013-05-01

Full Text Available In spite of the increasing amount of data that inform us of the possible causes that have contributed to climate change, the solution to the problem has not been identified or achieved yet. In the beginning it looked like a scientific and technical problem as climate change is attributed to the production and accumulation of greenhouse gases. However, time has shown that this issue is totally linked to public perception and public opinion. The effect of mass media upon the public has a great influence. Experts on climate change are criticizing those who are skeptical of the causes. According to these experts, the response from the international community has decreased by the denial of global warming. The mis-management of public information by governments is one of the causes of the aforementioned decreased response. The regulations about public information have also contributed to this. This article tries to give an opinion about the way in which the Public Administration uses and broadcasts the information and the restrictions and legal limitations it faces.

Linguadidactic peculiarities of the new teaching complex of the Russian language for foreigners

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olga V. Shestak

2016-09-01

Full Text Available The article provides a description of linguamethodic educational complex in Russian for foreigners studying at language courses in the universities of Russia and reached the first level of certification of general proficiency in Russian (B1. The complex consists of a textbook, workbook, containing targets for the grammar, audio and disk videotasks. The authors pay special attention to the methods of training to kinds of speech activity and improve the communicative competence in social and cultural spheres, as well as different techniques of presentation of lexical and grammatical material. Targets set are designed on traditional methods of teaching Russian as a foreign language, and taking into account modern test technologies. The authors used a criterion-oriented tests that are presented in the quest to establish compliance, logical or chronological sequence, as well as jobs of multiple-choice and alternative answers. As part of a school assignment can use a combination of issues related to reading and writing, listening and speaking. The textbook and workbook has available application sheet with keys to tasks. Audio recordings, videos, excerpts from films and photographs used in the performance of tasks are placed on the disk.

Optimising Russian natural gas - reform and climate policy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-07-18

The world's largest gas producer and exporter, Russia has an enormous energy saving potential. At least 30 billion cubic meters, a fifth of Russian exports to European OECD countries, could be saved every year by enhanced technology or energy efficiency. As the era of cheap gas in Russia comes to an end, this potential saving is increasingly important for Russians and importing countries. And, as domestic gas prices increase, efficiency investments will become increasingly economic - not to mention the incentive for Gazprom to enhance its efficiency against a backdrop of high European gas prices. The book analyzes and estimates the potential savings and the associated reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in the oil extraction (flaring), gas transmission, and distribution sectors. Achieving these savings will require linking long-standing energy efficiency goals with energy sector reforms, as well as climate policy objectives. The book also describes Russia's emerging climate policy and institutional framework, including work still ahead before the country is eligible for the Kyoto Protocol's flexibility mechanisms and can attract financing for greenhouse gas reductions. Stressed is the need for Russia to tap the full potential of energy savings and greenhouse gas emission reductions through a more competitive environment in the gas sector to attract timely investments.

VERSHINA – A POLISH VILLAGE IN SIBERIA. FACTORS INFLUENCING LANGUAGE MAINTENANCE UNDER CHANGING SOCIAL, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michał Głuszkowski

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The article discusses factors influencing language maintenance under changing social, cultural, economic and political conditions of Polish minority in Siberia. The village of Vershina was founded in 1910 by Polish voluntary settlers from Little Poland.During its first three decades Vershina preserved Polish language,traditions, farming methods and machines and also the Roman Catholic religion. The changes came to a village in taiga in the1930s. Vershina lost its ethnocultural homogeneity because of Russian and Buryat workers in the local kolkhoz. Nowadays the inhabitants of Vershina regained their minority rights: religious, educational and cultural. However, during the years of sovietization and ateization, their culture and customs became much more similar to other Siberian villages. Polish language in Vershina is under strong influence of Russian, which is the language of education,administration, and surrounding villages. Children from Polish-Russian families become monolingual and use Polish very rare, only asa school subject and in contacts with grandparents. The process of abandoning mother tongue in Vershina is growing rapidly. However,there are some factors which may hinder the actual changes:the activity of local Polish organisations and Roman Catholic parish as well as folk group “Jazhumbek”.

Research on climate effects. Effects of climate changes. Proceedings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fischer, W.; Stein, G.

1991-01-01

Global changes affecting the earth are at the forefront of public interest, possibly caused by climate alterations amongst other things. The public expects appropriate measures from politics to successfully adapt to unavoidable climate changes. As well as an investigation into the causes of climatic changes and the corollaries between the different scientific phenomena, the effects on the economy and society must also be examined. The Federal Minister for Research and Technology aims to make a valuable German contribution to international Global Change Research with the focal point ''Effects of Climate Changes on the Ecological and Civil System''. The aim of the workshop was to give an outline of current scientific knowledge, sketch out research requirements and give recommendations on the focal point with regard to the BMFT. (orig.) [de

Validation of a Russian-language version of the Foot Functional Index (FFI questionnaire

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. V. Orlova

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The Foot Functional Index (FFI questionnaire most completely reflects the functional status of patients with joint diseases of the feet.Objective: to study the psychometric properties of a Russian-language version of the FFI questionnaire.Patients and methods. The reliability, sensitivity, and validity of the Russian-language version of the FFI questionnaire were assessed in 55 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA. The investigators checked the reliability by assessing the internal consistency (calculating Cronbach's alpha and reproducibility by a test-retest analysis. The criterion validity was evaluated by correlation analysis using HAQ, RAPID3, and pain visual analogue scale (VAS scores. The sensitivity of FFI was studied by comparing its dynamics with RAPID3 changes during treatment.Results. Evaluating the internal consistency yielded a high Cronbach's alpha (0.78. The test-retest analysis demonstrated a significant correlation (0.83 between the results of primary and secondary testing. Assessing the criterion validity showed a high or near-high relationship to the scores of RAPID3 (0.78, HAQ (0.69, and pain VAS (0.76. The group of patients who were observed to have a decrease in disease activity according to RAPID3 from a high (16.2±4.1 to moderate (10.5±5.2 degree displayed a more marked reduction in FFI (ΔFFI = 20.5±2.3 than the group that did not exhibit significant changes in disease activity (ΔFFI = 6.9±3.4.Conclusion. FFI is a reliable, valid, and sensitive tool to evaluate the functional status of patients with foot diseases in RA.

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Home · Agriculture and Environment. Climate Change. Language English. Read more about Prefabricated Engineered Bamboo Housing for East Africa. Language English. Read more about Maisons préfabriquées en bambou en Afrique de l'Est. Language French. Read more about Vers une collectivité productive à Malika ...

Public information - North West region of Russian Federation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saiapina, A.

2000-01-01

Center of Public Information (CPI) in North West region of Russian Federation is a part of the State Regional Educational Center of Ministry of the Russian Federation on atomic energy. The premises of the Centre (about 500 sq. rn.) include the exposition hall, video hall, the hall for press conferences, rooms for meetings, conferences. CPI provides the visitor with the wide range of information dealing with the nuclear power. It was opened in the structure of State Regional Educational Centre in 1997. Regional Centre of Public Information of MINATOM of Russia in Saint Petersburg was created according to the agreement with the European Union Commission in the framework of the TACIS program with the participation of French companies EDF, COGEMA, STEPFER. The objectives of the CPI are discussed (authors)

Climate Change and Health on the U.S. Gulf Coast: Public Health Adaptation is Needed to Address Future Risks.

Science.gov (United States)

Petkova, Elisaveta P; Ebi, Kristie L; Culp, Derrin; Redlener, Irwin

2015-08-11

The impacts of climate change on human health have been documented globally and in the United States. Numerous studies project greater morbidity and mortality as a result of extreme weather events and other climate-sensitive hazards. Public health impacts on the U.S. Gulf Coast may be severe as the region is expected to experience increases in extreme temperatures, sea level rise, and possibly fewer but more intense hurricanes. Through myriad pathways, climate change is likely to make the Gulf Coast less hospitable and more dangerous for its residents, and may prompt substantial migration from and into the region. Public health impacts may be further exacerbated by the concentration of people and infrastructure, as well as the region's coastal geography. Vulnerable populations, including the very young, elderly, and socioeconomically disadvantaged may face particularly high threats to their health and well-being. This paper provides an overview of potential public health impacts of climate variability and change on the Gulf Coast, with a focus on the region's unique vulnerabilities, and outlines recommendations for improving the region's ability to minimize the impacts of climate-sensitive hazards. Public health adaptation aimed at improving individual, public health system, and infrastructure resilience is urgently needed to meet the challenges climate change may pose to the Gulf Coast in the coming decades.

Climate Change and Health on the U.S. Gulf Coast: Public Health Adaptation is Needed to Address Future Risks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elisaveta P. Petkova

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The impacts of climate change on human health have been documented globally and in the United States. Numerous studies project greater morbidity and mortality as a result of extreme weather events and other climate-sensitive hazards. Public health impacts on the U.S. Gulf Coast may be severe as the region is expected to experience increases in extreme temperatures, sea level rise, and possibly fewer but more intense hurricanes. Through myriad pathways, climate change is likely to make the Gulf Coast less hospitable and more dangerous for its residents, and may prompt substantial migration from and into the region. Public health impacts may be further exacerbated by the concentration of people and infrastructure, as well as the region’s coastal geography. Vulnerable populations, including the very young, elderly, and socioeconomically disadvantaged may face particularly high threats to their health and well-being. This paper provides an overview of potential public health impacts of climate variability and change on the Gulf Coast, with a focus on the region’s unique vulnerabilities, and outlines recommendations for improving the region’s ability to minimize the impacts of climate-sensitive hazards. Public health adaptation aimed at improving individual, public health system, and infrastructure resilience is urgently needed to meet the challenges climate change may pose to the Gulf Coast in the coming decades.

FURTHER IMPROVEMENT OF THE INVESTMENT CLIMATE IN RUSSIA AS A RESULT OF MODERNIZATION OF THE RUSSIAN CIVIL CODE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

V. Musin

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This article traces the history, and discusses some of the recent changes in the Russian Federation Civil Code, which result in a more favorable business climate inRussia. In particular, it discusses the development of changes related to the documentation of contracts, expansion in the durations and uses of powers of attorney, and the modernization of the statute of limitations period for bringing an action.">Russia >

Term Croatian considered in russian context

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Željka Čelić

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Term Croatian is considered in Russian context, i. e. context of Russian scientific material (which is comparable to the unwritten situation in universities. Russian scientific texts connect term Croatian, almost without an exception, with the term Serbian in words such as Serbo-Croatian. This point of view is politically approved in the period untill 1990’s, but it exists in the 21st century’s scientific material. The nature of the problem lays, at the same time, in politics, language and society; thus, the question is: what is the reason of such a context in which Croatian language is placed now? There are no arguments for it, especially if it is for Slovak language politically based and language approved to be an entity – in comparison to the Czech language; for Ukrainian (once Littlerussian – at least in principle, in comparison to the Russian, or, more convincable, Belorussian to Russian (the standard Belorussian language exists from 1905. The term Croatian is independently, even in new books, connected with terms of soil, state, nation, but not language. And though today, because of political reasons, exists an awareness of Croatian language without its Serbian mirror reflexion, the term Serbo-Croatian stays. Thus, this paper looks through the history concerning Croatian language in 19, 20 and 21st century’s Russian philology, including Juraj Križanić and Vatroslav Jagić – innovators of the Croatian word in Russia.

Public perceptions of climate change as a human health risk: surveys of the United States, Canada and Malta.

Science.gov (United States)

Akerlof, Karen; Debono, Roberto; Berry, Peter; Leiserowitz, Anthony; Roser-Renouf, Connie; Clarke, Kaila-Lea; Rogaeva, Anastasia; Nisbet, Matthew C; Weathers, Melinda R; Maibach, Edward W

2010-06-01

We used data from nationally representative surveys conducted in the United States, Canada and Malta between 2008 and 2009 to answer three questions: Does the public believe that climate change poses human health risks, and if so, are they seen as current or future risks? Whose health does the public think will be harmed? In what specific ways does the public believe climate change will harm human health? When asked directly about the potential impacts of climate change on health and well-being, a majority of people in all three nations said that it poses significant risks; moreover, about one third of Americans, one half of Canadians, and two-thirds of Maltese said that people are already being harmed. About a third or more of people in the United States and Canada saw themselves (United States, 32%; Canada, 67%), their family (United States, 35%; Canada, 46%), and people in their community (United States, 39%; Canada, 76%) as being vulnerable to at least moderate harm from climate change. About one third of Maltese (31%) said they were most concerned about the risk to themselves and their families. Many Canadians said that the elderly (45%) and children (33%) are at heightened risk of harm, while Americans were more likely to see people in developing countries as being at risk than people in their own nation. When prompted, large numbers of Canadians and Maltese said that climate change can cause respiratory problems (78-91%), heat-related problems (75-84%), cancer (61-90%), and infectious diseases (49-62%). Canadians also named sunburn (79%) and injuries from extreme weather events (73%), and Maltese cited allergies (84%). However, climate change appears to lack salience as a health issue in all three countries: relatively few people answered open-ended questions in a manner that indicated clear top-of-mind associations between climate change and human health risks. We recommend mounting public health communication initiatives that increase the salience of the

Public Perceptions of Climate Change as a Human Health Risk: Surveys of the United States, Canada and Malta

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karen Akerlof

2010-06-01

Full Text Available We used data from nationally representative surveys conducted in the United States, Canada and Malta between 2008 and 2009 to answer three questions: Does the public believe that climate change poses human health risks, and if so, are they seen as current or future risks? Whose health does the public think will be harmed? In what specific ways does the public believe climate change will harm human health? When asked directly about the potential impacts of climate change on health and well-being, a majority of people in all three nations said that it poses significant risks; moreover, about one third of Americans, one half of Canadians, and two-thirds of Maltese said that people are already being harmed. About a third or more of people in the United States and Canada saw themselves (United States, 32%; Canada, 67%, their family (United States, 35%; Canada, 46%, and people in their community (United States, 39%; Canada, 76% as being vulnerable to at least moderate harm from climate change. About one third of Maltese (31% said they were most concerned about the risk to themselves and their families. Many Canadians said that the elderly (45% and children (33% are at heightened risk of harm, while Americans were more likely to see people in developing countries as being at risk than people in their own nation. When prompted, large numbers of Canadians and Maltese said that climate change can cause respiratory problems (78–91%, heat-related problems (75–84%, cancer (61–90%, and infectious diseases (49–62%. Canadians also named sunburn (79% and injuries from extreme weather events (73%, and Maltese cited allergies (84%. However, climate change appears to lack salience as a health issue in all three countries: relatively few people answered open-ended questions in a manner that indicated clear top-of-mind associations between climate change and human health risks. We recommend mounting public health communication initiatives that increase the

Chinese and Russian Policies on Climate Change: Implications for U.S. National Security Policy

Science.gov (United States)

2016-06-01

crop productivity in China by 2030 as a result of climate change, and a decline of up to 37 percent in rice, maize , and wheat yields after 2050...against global warming. Comparing and contrasting China’s and Russia’s climate change policies and programs may also help to identify gaps in...adequate measures to adapt agriculture to climate change, the annual economic loss from a decrease in climate-determined crop yield in Russia is

Radionuclide transfer to freshwater biota species: review of Russian language studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fesenko, S., E-mail: s.fesenko@iaea.or [International Atomic Energy Agency, NAAL, 1400 Vienna (Austria); Fesenko, J.; Sanzharova, N.; Karpenko, E.; Titov, I. [Russian Institute of Agricultural Radiology and Radioecology, 249020 Obninsk (Russian Federation)

2011-01-15

Around 130 publications reporting studies on radionuclide transfer to freshwater biota species conducted in the former USSR were reviewed to provide the concentration ratio values. None of these studies were available up to now in the English language reviews or publications. The values derived have been compared with the CR values used for freshwater systems in the International reviews. For some radionuclides reviewed in this paper, the data are in good agreement with the mean CR values presented earlier, however for some of them, in particular, for {sup 241}Am (bivalve molluscs, gastropods and pelagic fish), {sup 60}Co (gastropods, benthic fish and insect larvae), {sup 90}Sr and {sup 137}Cs (benthic fish and zooplankton), the mean values given here are substantially different from those presented earlier. The data reported in this paper for thirty five radionuclides and eleven groups of freshwater species markedly improve the extent of available data for evaluation of radiation impact on freshwater species. - Research highlights: {yields} The paper provides information on concentration ratios to freshwater biota species for 35 radionuclides. Many of the data are for {sup 90}Sr and {sup 137}Cs. {yields} For the majority of radionuclides reviewed in this paper, the CR values are in good agreement with those given in the recent International reviews. {yields} For {sup 241}Am (bivalve molluscs, gastropods and pelagic fish), {sup 60}Co (gastropods, benthic fish and insect larvae), {sup 90}Sr and {sup 137}Cs (benthic fish and zooplankton), the mean values based on review of the Russian language publications are substantially different from those presented in the International reviews. {yields} Information presented in the paper significantly increases the availability of data on radionuclide accumulation in freshwater species.

Climate Change 2014: Technical Summary

Science.gov (United States)

Field, Chrisopher B.; Barros, Vicente; Mach, Katherine; Mastrandrea, Michael; van Aalst, Maarten; Adger, Niel; Arent, Douglas J; Barnett, Jonathan; Betts, Richard; Bilir, Eren; Birkmann, Joern; Carmin, Joann; Chadee, Dave; Challinor, Andrew; Chaterjee, Monalisa; Cramer, Wolfgang; Davidson, Debra; Estrada, Yuka; Gatusso, Jean-Pierre; Hijioka, Yasuakai; Yohe, Gary; Hiza, Margaret; Hoegh-Guldberg, Ove; Huang, He-Qing; Insarov, Gregory; Jones, Roger; Kovats, Sari; Lankao, Patricia Romero; Larsen, Joan Nymand; Losada, Iñigo; Marengo, José; McLean, Roger; Mearns, Linda; Mechler, Reinhard; Morton, John; Niang, Isabelle; Oki, Taikan; Olwoch, Jane Mukarugwiza; Opondo, Maggie; Poloczanska, Elvira; Pörtner, Hans -O.; Reisinger, Andy; Revi, Aromar; Schmidt, Daniela; Shaw, Rebecca; Solecki, William; Stone, Dáithí; Stone, John; Strzepek, Ken; Suarez, Avelino G.; Tschakert, Petra; Valentini, Riccardo; Vicuna, Sebastian; Villamizar, Alicia; Vincent, Katharine; Warren, Rachel; White, Leslie; Wilbanks, Thomas; Wong, Poh Poh

2014-01-01

Human interference with the climate system is occurring (WGI AR5 SPM Section D.3; WGI AR5 Sections 2.2, 6.3, 10.3 to 10.6, 10.9). Climate change poses risks for human and natural systems. The assessment of impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability in the Working Group II contribution to the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report (WGII AR5) evaluates how patterns of risks and potential benefits are shifting due to climate change. It considers how impacts and risks related to climate change can be reduced and managed through adaptation and mitigation. The report assesses needs, options, opportunities, constraints, resilience, limits, and other aspects associated with adaptation. It recognizes that risks of climate change will vary across regions and populations, through space and time, dependent on myriad factors including the extent of adaptation and mitigation. For the past 2 decades, IPCC’s Working Group II has developed assessments of climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. The WGII AR5 builds from the WGII contribution to the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report (WGII AR4), published in 2007, and the Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX), published in 2012. It follows the Working Group I contribution to the AR5. The WGII AR5 is presented in two parts (Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects, and Part B: Regional Aspects), reflecting the expanded literature basis and multidisciplinary approach, increased focus on societal impacts and responses, and continued regionally comprehensive coverage. [1.1 to 1.3] The number of scientific publications available for assessing climate change impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability more than doubled between 2005 and 2010, with especially rapid increases in publications related to adaptation, allowing for a more robust assessment that supports policymaking (high confidence). The diversity of the topics and regions covered has similarly expanded, as has

International aspects of climate change: The intergovernmental panel on climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brydges, T.; Fenech, A.

1990-01-01

The impact of various international conferences concerning global climate change on international opinions and attitudes is discussed. A number of conferences over the past two decades have drawn attention to the large socio-economic consequences of climate change. There has been increasing attention given to the likely affect of anthropogenically derived greenhouse gases on the global climate. Some early uncertainty over the likely long term changes in global temperature have been replaced by a scientific consensus that global temperatures are increasing and will continue to do so into the next century. Public awareness of the possibility of climate change and severe socio-economic consequences has been increasing and was given a major impetus by the Toronto Conference on the Changing Atmosphere. An estimate of the possible time to solution of the climate change issue is given as 1988-2005, a span of 17 years. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has focused work into three working groups examining science, impacts and response strategies. 28 refs., 3 figs., 6 tabs

The building of knowledge, language, and decision-making about climate change science: a cross-national program for secondary students

Science.gov (United States)

Arya, Diana; Maul, Andrew

2016-04-01

The United Nations' declaration on climate change education in December 2014 has sparked a renewal of policies and programs initiated during the 'Decade of Education for Sustainable Development' (DESD, 2005-2014), aimed at promoting awareness, understanding, and civic action for environmental sustainability within learning communities all around the world. We present findings from a dialogic, multimodal, and literacies-based educational project designed to provide secondary students (N = 141) from four countries with the resources to read about and discuss evidence regarding climate change from seminal studies with peers and a core group of scientists (N = 7). Post-program interviews revealed a significant increase in language use related to evidence-based reasoning. Students also demonstrated an increased propensity to recycle. These findings support the hypothesis that providing opportunities for students to read and discuss seminal scientific sources incites positive changes in beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors related to climate change and climate science, and understandings of the nature of scientific evidence and argumentation.

Climate change, conflict and health.

Science.gov (United States)

Bowles, Devin C; Butler, Colin D; Morisetti, Neil

2015-10-01

Future climate change is predicted to diminish essential natural resource availability in many regions and perhaps globally. The resulting scarcity of water, food and livelihoods could lead to increasingly desperate populations that challenge governments, enhancing the risk of intra- and interstate conflict. Defence establishments and some political scientists view climate change as a potential threat to peace. While the medical literature increasingly recognises climate change as a fundamental health risk, the dimension of climate change-associated conflict has so far received little attention, despite its profound health implications. Many analysts link climate change with a heightened risk of conflict via causal pathways which involve diminishing or changing resource availability. Plausible consequences include: increased frequency of civil conflict in developing countries; terrorism, asymmetric warfare, state failure; and major regional conflicts. The medical understanding of these threats is inadequate, given the scale of health implications. The medical and public health communities have often been reluctant to interpret conflict as a health issue. However, at times, medical workers have proven powerful and effective peace advocates, most notably with regard to nuclear disarmament. The public is more motivated to mitigate climate change when it is framed as a health issue. Improved medical understanding of the association between climate change and conflict could strengthen mitigation efforts and increase cooperation to cope with the climate change that is now inevitable. © The Royal Society of Medicine.

National Institutions and Global Public Goods: Are Democracies More Cooperative in Climate Change Policy?

OpenAIRE

Bättig, Michèle B.; Bernauer, Thomas

2017-01-01

This article examines whether democracies contribute more to the provision of global public goods. It thus contributes to the debate on the effects of domestic institutions on international cooperation. The focus is on human-induced climate change, in Stern's words "the biggest market failure the world has ever seen.” Using new data on climate change cooperation we study a cross-section of 185 countries in 1990-2004. The results show that the effect of democracy on levels of political commitm...

Climate change and vector-borne diseases of public health significance.

Science.gov (United States)

Ogden, Nicholas H

2017-10-16

There has been much debate as to whether or not climate change will have, or has had, any significant effect on risk from vector-borne diseases. The debate on the former has focused on the degree to which occurrence and levels of risk of vector-borne diseases are determined by climate-dependent or independent factors, while the debate on the latter has focused on whether changes in disease incidence are due to climate at all, and/or are attributable to recent climate change. Here I review possible effects of climate change on vector-borne diseases, methods used to predict these effects and the evidence to date of changes in vector-borne disease risks that can be attributed to recent climate change. Predictions have both over- and underestimated the effects of climate change. Mostly under-estimations of effects are due to a focus only on direct effects of climate on disease ecology while more distal effects on society's capacity to control and prevent vector-borne disease are ignored. There is increasing evidence for possible impacts of recent climate change on some vector-borne diseases but for the most part, observed data series are too short (or non-existent), and impacts of climate-independent factors too great, to confidently attribute changing risk to climate change. © Crown copyright 2017.

The role of medical language in changing public perceptions of illness.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meredith E Young

Full Text Available This study was designed to investigate the impact of medical terminology on perceptions of disease. Specifically, we look at the changing public perceptions of newly medicalized disorders with accompanying newly medicalized terms (e.g. impotence has become erectile dysfunction disorder. Does using "medicalese" to label a recently medicalized disorder lead to a change in the perception of that condition? Undergraduate students (n = 52 rated either the medical or lay label for recently medicalized disorders (such as erectile dysfunction disorder vs. impotence and established medical conditions (such as a myocardial infarction vs. heart attack for their perceived seriousness, disease representativeness and prevalence. Students considered the medical label of the recently medicalized disease to be more serious (mean = 4.95 (SE = .27 vs. mean = 3.77 (SE = .24 on a ten point scale, more representative of a disease (mean = 2.47 (SE = .09 vs. mean = 1.83 (SE = .09 on a four point scale, and have lower prevalence (mean = 68 (SE = 12.6 vs. mean = 122 (SE = 18.1 out of 1,000 than the same disease described using common language. A similar pattern was not seen in the established medical conditions, even when controlled for severity. This study demonstrates that the use of medical language in communication can induce bias in perception; a simple switch in terminology results in a disease being perceived as more serious, more likely to be a disease, and more likely to be a rare condition. These findings regarding the conceptualization of disease have implications for many areas, including medical communication with the public, advertising, and public policy.

Generation of Complex Verbal Morphology in First and Second Language Acquisition: Evidence from Russian

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kira Gor

2004-07-01

Full Text Available This study explores the structure of the mental lexicon and the processing of Russian verbal morphology by two groups of speakers, adult American learners of Russian and Russian children aged 4-6, and reports the results of two matching experiments conducted at the University of Maryland, USA and St. Petersburg State University, Russia. The theoretical framework for this study comes from research on the structure of the mental lexicon and modularity in morphological processing. So far, there are very few studies investigating the processing of complex verbal morphology, with most of the work done on Icelandic, Norwegian, Italian, and Russian. The current views are shaped predominantly by research on English regular and irregular past-tense inflection, which has been conducted within two competing approaches. This study investigates the processing of verbal morphology in Russian, a language with numerous verb classes differing in size and the number and complexity of conjugation rules. It assumes that instead of a sharp opposition of regular and irregular verb processing, a gradual parameter of regularity may be more appropriate for Russian. Therefore, the issue of symbolic rule application versus associative patterning can take on a new meaning for Russian, possibly, with the distinction between default and non-default processing replacing the regular-irregular distinction.

iSeeChange: Crowdsourced Climate Change Reporting

Science.gov (United States)

Drapkin, J. K.

2012-12-01

Directly engaging local communities about their climate change experiences has never been more important. As weather and climate become more unpredictable, these experiences provide a baseline for community decisions, developing adaptation strategies, and planning for the future. Typically, climate change is documented in a top-down fashion: a scientist has a question, makes observations, and publishes a study; in the best case scenario, a journalist reports on the results; if there's time, a local anecdote is sought to put the results in a familiar context. iSeeChange, a public media project funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, reports local environmental change in reverse and turns community questions and conversations with scientists into reported stories that promote opportunities to learn about climate change's affects on the environment and daily life. iSeeChange engages residents of the North Fork Valley region of western Colorado in a multiplatform conversation with scientists about how they perceive their environment is changing through the course of a year - season to season. By bringing together public radio, a mobile reporting and cellular engagement strategy, and a custom crowdsourcing multimedia platform, iSeeChange provides a central access point to collect observations (texts, photographs, voice recordings, and video), organize conversations and interviews with scientists, and report stories online and on air. In this way, iSeeChange is building a dynamic crowdsourced reservoir of information that can increase awareness of environmental problems and potentially disseminate useful information about climate change and successful adaptation strategies. Ultimately, by understanding the community's information needs in a localized question-driven context, the iSeeChange platform presents opportunities for the science community to better understand the value of information and develop better ways to tailor information for communities to use

Papers of the CWRA climate change symposium : understanding climate change impacts on Manitoba's water resources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-01-01

This symposium provided an opportunity for discussions on climate change issues with particular reference to the impacts on Manitoba's water resources. The presentations addressed issues of importance to governments, scientists, academics, managers, consultants and the general public. Topics of discussion ranged from climate change impacts on water quality, wetlands, hydropower, fisheries and drought, to adaptation to climate change. Recent advances in global and regional climate modelling were highlighted along with paleo-environmental indicators of climate change. The objective was to provide a better understanding of the science of climate change. The conference featured 16 presentations of which 1 was indexed separately for inclusion in this database. refs., tabs., figs

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Read more about West Indian Ocean Deltas Exchange and Research Network. Language English. Read more about Agricultural water innovations in the tropics – AgWIT. Language English. Read more about Climate change adaptation in informal settings: Understanding and reinforcing bottom-up initiatives in Latin ...

From public to private climate change adaptation finance : Adapting finance or financing adaptation?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pauw, W.P.

2017-01-01

Private financing is the latest mark of the privatisation of global governance. The implementation of international agreements in the fields of environment, climate change and development has always been supported by public finance from developed countries. This tradition is broken by a

A Model for Pre-Service Teachers' Climate Change Awareness and Willingness to Act for Pro-Climate Change Friendly Behavior: Adaptation of Awareness to Climate Change Questionnaire

Science.gov (United States)

Dal, Burçkin; Alper, Umut; Özdem-Yilmaz, Yasemin; Öztürk, Nilay; Sönmez, Duygu

2015-01-01

Public awareness of the negative effects of climate change is vital since it leads to collective action for prevention and adaptation. However, investigations on to what extent people are aware of the climate change issue are rare in the literature. The present study reported the adaptation process of awareness to climate change questionnaire into…

A climate of doubts. The weight of uncertainty about climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alex, Bastien

2014-05-01

The author proposes a review of four publications about climate change published in 2012 and 2013. He more particularly focuses on how these publications express how climate change is perceived by the different components of our modern societies, how these perceptions have an influence on the answer to challenges related to this phenomenon, what global warming tells us about mankind ability to (re)act to this major challenge. He notices that any doubt about the reality of climate change is exploited and maintains some confusion, favours the propagation and persistence of popular misbelief such as: population of developing countries will be more impacted by effects of climate change, only rich people can afford interest in environment protection and climate preservation. He outlines that a doubting community will not act, and notices that technological advances, for example geo-engineering or climate engineering, tend to deliberately manipulate the environment to counteract the climate change due to human activity

Ukrainian-Russian Mixed Speech “Suržyk” within the System of Ukrainian and Russian Interaction

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salvatore Del Gaudio

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The question of different forms of real and/or presumed mixed speech, a consequence of the interaction between Ukrainian and Russian and widely known as “Suržyk,” remains central in much of contemporary Ukrainian and, more widely, East Slavic sociolinguistic and language contact research. This article pursues a twofold aim: first, I intend to reaffirm my personal hypothesis on the formation process of this mixed speech, which has at times been cited without attribution in the scholarly literature. Second, the paper aims to examine the functioning of Ukrainian-Russian Suržyk within a broader sociolinguistic framework that takes into account other forms of language interaction. Ukrainian-Russian mixed speech in fact has to be assessed and separated from other factors, such as the Ukrainian variety of Russian, dialects, etc. This approach has rarely been applied in previous studies on the topic. The role played by current language ideology is a further essential aspect in establishing which language elements should be attributed to Ukrainian-Russian Suržik. This undoubtedly affects the average speaker’s judgment about the degree of authenticity of Ukrainian forms. One can note a tendency to restrict the synonymic potential of Ukrainian in favor of lexemes and constructions that are dissimilar to Russian. This situation tends to alter the language consciousness of younger generations of Ukrainian speakers, who are likely to perceive as Russian (and therefore part of the Ukrainian-Russian mix elements that are in fact authentic Ukrainian speech elements. These and other related aspects will be the object of my discussion.

Climate change: Bio-technologies are facing a huge challenge. Why is climate changing? Control and measurement of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Soils at the heart of climate change. Between pollution and climate change, the survival of soil organisms. Modelling microbial degradation in soils to analyse greenhouse gas releases. A threat against plant health. The opinion of the seed industry. Truly living clouds. Language, the other stake of the struggle against climate changes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salas y Melia, David; Delmotte, Marc; Chenu, Claire; Chevallier, Tiphaine; Mougin, Christian; Lamy, Isabelle; Caquet, Thierry; Garnier, Patricia; Sache, Ivan; Pagesse, Pierre; Amato, Pierre; Desprez, Basile; Vernet, Agnes

2015-01-01

As the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 decided to react to limit the irrecoverable global warming, this publication, through several articles, outlines that this issue has not progressed at all after 23 years on a political point of view, and has even regressed with respect to initially defined objectives, but has progressed in terms of understanding of climate change under the influence of our production modes, notably in the agriculture sector. Thus, the articles discuss or recall the origin and process of climate change, how greenhouse gas emissions are controlled and measured, how soil are impacted or play a role in climate change as the survival of soil organisms is at stake under the pressure of pollution and climate change, how climate change can be a threat for plants, how the seed industry perceives these issues, how micro-organisms present in the air and clouds are now a topic in atmosphere sciences. The last article discusses the importance of intelligibility of scientific publications on these issues

Public perceptions of climate change and energy futures before and after the Fukushima accident: A comparison between Britain and Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poortinga, Wouter; Aoyagi, Midori; Pidgeon, Nick F.

2013-01-01

The threats posed by climate change call for strong action from the international community to limit carbon emissions. Before the Fukushima accident that followed the Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011, both Britain and Japan were considering an ambitious expansion of nuclear power as part of their strategy to reduce carbon emissions. However, the accident may have thrown nuclear power as a publicly accep’ energy technology into doubt. This study uses several nationally representative surveys from before and after the Fukushima accident to examine how it may have changed public perceptions of climate change and energy futures in Britain and Japan. The study found that already before the accident the Japanese public were less supportive of nuclear power than the British. While British attitudes have remained remarkably stable over time, the Japanese public appear to have completely lost trust in nuclear safety and regulation, and have become less acceptive of nuclear power even if it would contribute to climate change mitigation or energy security. In Japan the public are now less likely to think that any specific energy source will contribute to a reliable and secure supply of energy. The implications for energy policy are discussed. - highlights: • We report data from 2005 to 2011 of British and Japanese attitudes towards nuclear power and climate change. • The Japanese are less supportive of nuclear power as a solution to climate change than the British. • Public support for and trust in nuclear power has collapsed in Japan after Fukushima. • British public attitudes to nuclear power are remarkably robust in the wake of Fukushima

Risk communication: climate change as a human-health threat, a survey of public perceptions in Malta.

Science.gov (United States)

DeBono, Roberto; Vincenti, Karen; Calleja, Neville

2012-02-01

Scientific evidence shows that climate change is very likely the product of human behaviour and lifestyle. The effects of climate change on human health are diverse in nature and range from direct effects due to extreme weather events such as heat waves, floods and storms, to indirect effects such as those caused by water and food shortages. A telephone survey was conducted between January and February 2009, on a stratified representative random sample of the Maltese population over the age of 18 years (N = 310,819). Five hundred and forty-three individuals successfully participated in the survey giving a response rate of 92.7%. The respondent sample was very similar to the target population by gender (P = 0.977), age (P = 0.767) and district (P = 0.812). The results of the study demonstrate a very strong relationship between the perception of climate change as a threat to health and well-being, support for climate change mitigation policy and a willingness to implement measures to address climate change. The findings of this study show that the perception that climate change may claim lives, cause disease, reduce the standard of living and worsen water shortages, may be the strongest driver behind support for climate change mitigation policy and a willingness to act. It is recommended that, in order to gain more public support, climate change campaigns and risk communication strategies should frame climate change as a threat to human health and general well-being.

Adapting to climate change on Western public lands: addressing the ecological effects of domestic, wild, and feral ungulates.

Science.gov (United States)

Beschta, Robert L; Donahue, Debra L; DellaSala, Dominick A; Rhodes, Jonathan J; Karr, James R; O'Brien, Mary H; Fleischner, Thomas L; Deacon Williams, Cindy

2013-02-01

Climate change affects public land ecosystems and services throughout the American West and these effects are projected to intensify. Even if greenhouse gas emissions are reduced, adaptation strategies for public lands are needed to reduce anthropogenic stressors of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and to help native species and ecosystems survive in an altered environment. Historical and contemporary livestock production-the most widespread and long-running commercial use of public lands-can alter vegetation, soils, hydrology, and wildlife species composition and abundances in ways that exacerbate the effects of climate change on these resources. Excess abundance of native ungulates (e.g., deer or elk) and feral horses and burros add to these impacts. Although many of these consequences have been studied for decades, the ongoing and impending effects of ungulates in a changing climate require new management strategies for limiting their threats to the long-term supply of ecosystem services on public lands. Removing or reducing livestock across large areas of public land would alleviate a widely recognized and long-term stressor and make these lands less susceptible to the effects of climate change. Where livestock use continues, or where significant densities of wild or feral ungulates occur, management should carefully document the ecological, social, and economic consequences (both costs and benefits) to better ensure management that minimizes ungulate impacts to plant and animal communities, soils, and water resources. Reestablishing apex predators in large, contiguous areas of public land may help mitigate any adverse ecological effects of wild ungulates.

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Home · Agriculture and Environment. Climate Change. Language English. Read more about Managing the Risk of Flooding and Sea-level Rise in Cape Town : the Power of Collective Governance. Language English. Read more about Gouvernance axée sur la collaboration : gestion des risques associés aux inondations et ...

Navigating Negative Conversations in Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Mandia, S. A.; Abraham, J. P.; Dash, J. W.; Ashley, M. C.

2012-12-01

Politically charged public discussions of climate change often lead to polarization as a direct result of many societal, economic, religious and other factors which form opinions. For instance, the general public views climate change as a political discussion rather than a scientific matter. Additionally, many media sources such as websites and mainstream venues and persons have served to promote the "controversy". Scientists who engage in a public discourse of climate change often encounter politically charged environments and audiences. Traditional presentations of the science without attention paid to political, social, or economic matters are likely to worsen the existing divide. An international organization, the Climate Science Rapid Response Team (CSRRT) suggests a strategy that can be used to navigate potentially troublesome situations with divided audiences. This approach can be used during live lecture presentations, and radio, print, or television interviews. The strategy involves identifying alternative motivations for taking action on climate change. The alternative motivations are tailored to the audience and can range from national defense, economic prosperity, religious motivation, patriotism, energy independence, or hunting/fishing reasons. Similar messaging modification can be used to faithfully and accurately convey the importance of taking action on climate change but present the motivations in a way that will be received by the audience.

Geoengineering, climate change scepticism and the 'moral hazard' argument: an experimental study of UK public perceptions.

Science.gov (United States)

Corner, Adam; Pidgeon, Nick

2014-12-28

Many commentators have expressed concerns that researching and/or developing geoengineering technologies may undermine support for existing climate policies-the so-called moral hazard argument. This argument plays a central role in policy debates about geoengineering. However, there has not yet been a systematic investigation of how members of the public view the moral hazard argument, or whether it impacts on people's beliefs about geoengineering and climate change. In this paper, we describe an online experiment with a representative sample of the UK public, in which participants read one of two arguments (either endorsing or rejecting the idea that geoengineering poses a moral hazard). The argument endorsing the idea of geoengineering as a moral hazard was perceived as more convincing overall. However, people with more sceptical views and those who endorsed 'self-enhancing' values were more likely to agree that the prospect of geoengineering would reduce their motivation to make changes in their own behaviour in response to climate change. The findings suggest that geoengineering is likely to pose a moral hazard for some people more than others, and the implications for engaging the public are discussed.

PROBLEM OF LANGUAGE ADAPTATION OF THE RED ARMY SOLDIERS OF NON-RUSSIAN NATIONALITIES IN THE 1920-1930-s

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

А Ю Безугольный

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Under combat conditions, it is mutual understanding between a commander and a soldier by means of a simple language communication which becomes the cornerstone. The absence or lack of such communication may lead to excessive losses and hinder the execution of combat missions. The author for the fi rst time addresses the problem of mass conscription of soldiers from the Union and Autonomous republics of the USSR, who understood the spoken Russian speech very little or didn’t understand it at all. The author aims to fi nd out the degree of effi ciency of solving the problem of the Russian language in the ranks of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army (RKKA, undertaken by the Soviet leadership in the prewar years.The author has found that in order to overcome this problem, there were taken actions in two directions. On the one hand, there was training of youth of pre-military age due to the introduction in 1938 of the mandatory teaching of the Russian language in national schools. On the other hand, there was training of recruits due to the introduction in 1939 of a three-month course for the soldiers of non-Russian nationalities. The work in these two directions failed to give the desired result in a short time due to the lack of teachers, unifi ed curricula, textbooks and books in dozens of languages of the USSR peoples. The author comes to the conclusion that the emergency measures taken by the government and the military command in the prewar years proved to be ineffective due to the complexity and large scale of the problem. In turn, the unresolved language issue lowered the level of com-bat readiness of the RKKA in the war.

Ecological public health and climate change policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, George P

2010-01-01

The fact that health and disease are products of a complex interaction of factors has long been recognized in public health circles. More recently, the term 'ecological public health' has been used to characterize an era underpinned by the paradigm that, when it comes to health and well-being, 'everything matters'. The challenge for policy makers is one of navigating this complexity to deliver better health and greater equality in health. Recent work in Scotland has been concerned to develop a strategic approach to environment and health. This seeks to embrace complexity within that agenda and recognize a more subtle relationship between health and place but remain practical and relevant to a more traditional hazard-focused environmental health approach. The Good Places, Better Health initiative is underpinned by a new problem-framing approach using a conceptual model developed for that purpose. This requires consideration of a wider social, behavioural etc, context. The approach is also used to configure the core systems of the strategy which gather relevant intelligence, subject it to a process of evaluation and direct its outputs to a broad policy constituency extending beyond health and environment. This paper highlights that an approach, conceived and developed to deliver better health and greater equality in health through action on physical environment, also speaks to a wider public health agenda. Specifically it offers a way to help bridge a gap between paradigm and policy in public health. The author considers that with development, a systems-based approach with close attention to problem-framing/situational modelling may prove useful in orchestrating what is a necessarily complex policy response to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Methods of Work with Pupils-Immigrants at Russian Language Lessons in Primary School

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Zakirova, Venera G.; Kamalova, Lera A.

2016-01-01

In this article, the authors begin by outlining the basic principles of teaching children-migrants at the elementary school level. These principles include: (1) Learning Russian is focused on the development of children's ability to communicate; (2) Language is learned by migrant children as a mean of communication; (3) Students can see the…

Public attention to science and political news and support for climate change mitigation

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Hart, P. Sol; Nisbet, Erik C.; Myers, Teresa A.

2015-06-01

We examine how attention to science and political news may influence public knowledge, perceived harm, and support for climate mitigation policies. Previous research examining these relationships has not fully accounted for how political ideology shapes the mental processes through which the public interprets media discourses about climate change. We incorporate political ideology and the concept of motivated cognition into our analysis to compare and contrast two prominent models of opinion formation, the scientific literacy model, which posits that disseminating scientific information will move public opinion towards the scientific consensus, and the motivated reasoning model, which posits that individuals will interpret information in a biased manner. Our analysis finds support for both models of opinion formation with key differences across ideological groups. Attention to science news was associated with greater perceptions of harm and knowledge for conservatives, but only additional knowledge for liberals. Supporting the literacy model, greater knowledge was associated with more support for climate mitigation for liberals. In contrast, consistent with motivated reasoning, more knowledgeable conservatives were less supportive of mitigation policy. In addition, attention to political news had a negative association with perceived harm for conservatives but not for liberals.

Climate Change Adaptation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hudecz, Adriána

The European Union ROADEX Project 1998 – 2012 was a trans-national roads co-operation aimed at developing ways for interactive and innovative management of low traffic volume roads throughout the cold climate regions of the Northern Periphery Area of Europe. Its goals were to facilitate co......-operation and research into the common problems of the Northern Periphery. This report is an output of the ROADEX “Implementing Accessibility” project (2009-2012). It gives a summary of the results of research into adaptation measures to combat climate change effects on low volume roads in the Northern Periphery...... causes changes in other climatic variables such as rainfall, humidity and wind speed that impact on the functioning of infrastructure such road networks. This paper discusses the climate changes predicted by the world’s meteorological organisations and considers how these may impact on the public...

Teaching About Climate Change in Medical Education: An Opportunity.

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Maxwell, Janie; Blashki, Grant

2016-04-26

Climate change threatens many of the gains in development and health over the last century. However, it could also be a catalyst for a necessary societal transformation to a sustainable and healthy future. Doctors have a crucial role in climate change mitigation and health system adaptation to prepare for emergent health threats and a carbon-constrained future. This paper argues that climate change should be integrated into medical education for three reasons: first, to prepare students for clinical practice in a climate-changing world; secondly, to promote public health and eco-health literacy; and finally, to deepen existing learning and strengthen graduate attributes. This paper builds on existing literature and the authors' experience to outline potential learning objectives, teaching methods and assessment tasks. In the wake of recent progress at the United Nations climate change conference, COP-21, it is hoped that this paper will assist universities to integrate teaching about climate change into medical education. Significance for public healthThere is a strong case for teaching about climate change in medical education. Anthropogenic climate change is accepted by scientists, governments and health authorities internationally. Given the dire implications for human health, climate change is of fundamental relevance to future doctors. Integrating climate change into medical education offers an opportunity for future doctors to develop skills and insights essential for clinical practice and a public health role in a climate-changing world. This echoes a broader call for improved public health literacy among medical graduates. This paper provides medical schools with a rationale and an outline for teaching on climate change.

IS RUSSIAN DECOMMODIFYING IN CATALONIA?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Микел Кабал-Гуарро

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The data collected in an ethnographic study conducted between 2014 and 2016 in tourist areas in Catalonia, Spain shows that the mastery of Russian has become a profitable commodity in Spanish tourism industry. The purpose of this paper is to show where and how Russian is used in the service industry and trace the commodification of the language over time. Against the background of fluctuating numbers of Russian-speaking visitors, this analysis will contribute to a better understanding of processes of language commodification and decommodification and the relationship between wider political and economic con-texts and valorisation of particular languages and speakers.

Problems of Public Initiatives Realization in the Russian Federation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guziy A. E.

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The article reads about the institute of public initiatives in the Russian Federation. The comparative law analysis of this form of democracy with the analogous institute in the United States of America has been conducted.

Climate Generation: Advancing Climate Action through Education, Public Engagement and Youth Leadership

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Poppleton, K. L. I.

2017-12-01

Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy empowers youth, educators, decision-makers and the public to foster climate literacy and action with the goal of building a more equitable and resilient future. We have over eleven years of experience delivering high-quality K-12 education, public engagement and youth leadership programming, reaching over 75,000 people, 35,000 students and 17,000 educators since 2006. By engaging educators, youth, and the public, we believe that communities can be better positioned to build a resilient and equitable future. For this reason we strive to engage with all these sectors through innovative programming and policy initiatives. Communities are resilient when individuals are connected to each other, resources, and decision-makers. Sharing personal narratives, and highlighting locally relevant solutions are all tools that Climate Generation employs to engage the public. We do this through community wide convenings, as well as sector specific events including at breweries, art fairs, and businesses. Education is also an integral piece for sustained action on climate change. We support educators with a science-based, interdisciplinary model of climate change education that engages all learners, and fosters climate literacy and action. We develop curriculum and offer professional development, encouraging teachers to develop today's students into action-competent citizens. Finally, Climate Generation recognizes the importance of empowering high school youth as a key strategy in transitioning to a just and sustainable future for all. We believe in the inherent genius of youth and know from experience that mentorship fosters powerful youth leadership at the community level, inspiring peers, family members, and local decision-makers to take critical action on climate change solutions. In order to accelerate and implement action on climate change we must take a multi-faceted approach: we are building public will for strong climate action at

Translating climate change effects on species into everyday language: an example of more driving and less fishing

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Wagner, Tyler; Jefferson T. Deweber,

2015-01-01

Climate change is expected to result in widespread changes in species distributions (e.g., shifting, shrinking, expanding species ranges; e.g., Parmesan and Yohe, 2003), especially for freshwater fish species (Heino et al. 2009). Although anglers and other resource users could be greatly affected by changes in species distributions, predicted changes are rarely reported in ways that can be easily understood by the general public. In contrast, climate science that more directly affects human welfare or livelihoods is often more readily communicated to the general public because it is of greater concern or closely related to everyday life. For example, most people can readily interpret how increases in the number of “hot” days above a given temperature threshold might affect their lives, and property owners in coastal areas can use predictive maps to determine how they might be affected by sea level rise (for more examples, see the Third National Assessment of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at globalchange.gov). However, the effects of climate change on species are usually reported to the general public using summary metrics or maps designed to communicate concepts that are not normally encountered in everyday life, including changes in habitat suitability, range shifts, or increasing risks from disease or extreme events (e.g., National Audubon Society 2009; Groffman et al. 2014). Though these metrics are necessary, meaningful, and understood by scientists, many people lack the necessary training and background to readily understand them. Further, scientists and nonscientists alike may struggle to convert these metrics into a currency that directly affects day-to-day life.

Time Scavengers: a Website for the Public to Learn about Climate Change and Evolution Through the Experiences of Scientists

Science.gov (United States)

Fraass, A. J.; Lam, A. R.; Bauer, J.; Bryant, R.; Golder, K.; Hartshorn, K. R.; Hils, J. M.; Limbeck, M.; Sheffield, S. L.

2017-12-01

Climate change and evolution are subjects that are consistently in the public sphere, though as public acceptance and desire to act on these subjects has increased, misinformation has as well. Thus, it is critical that scientists engage the public in discussions on these subjects. Several sites and blogs have attempted to explain these concepts; however, they often focus on one aspect of climate change or evolution, and blogs tend to follow the experiences of one scientist in a specific field. Due to these limitations, we have created a new website, TimeScavengers.blog. The site, maintained by postdocs, graduate students, and avocational scientists, is unique in that it includes static pages that thoroughly explain climate and evolution related topics and includes 5 blog pages that highlight the experiences of the site collaborators. Blog pages include: `Meet the Scientist', dedicated to introducing the public to scientists in many disciplines; `Science Bytes', focusing on research conducted by the site collaborators; `Education & Outreach', highlighting interactions between site collaborators and the public; and `Climate & Paleo News', explaining the relevance of important papers in climate research, paleoceanography, and paleontology and how they increase our understanding of climate change and evolution. The site also includes a `Teaching Resources' page with links to sites with activities related to the content on the website appropriate for K-12 classrooms. The overarching goal of the site is to bridge the gap between scientists and the public through engaging, informational pages and personal experiences in the field, lab, classroom, and community. Current data indicate that 78% of the public find the site through social media platforms and people ages 25-34 are dominantly interacting with the site. 21.7% of users' first interaction (first click once on the homepage) viewed the `Meet the Scientist' blog, 10.2% viewed the climate pages, and 8.4% visited the

Witnesses of climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-11-01

After having evoked the process of climate change, the effect of greenhouse gas emissions, the evolution of average temperatures in France since 1900, and indicated the various interactions and impacts of climate change regarding air quality, water resources, food supply, degradation and loss of biodiversity, deforestation, desertification, this publication, while quoting various testimonies (from a mountain refuge guardian, a wine maker, a guide in La Reunion, an IFREMER bio-statistician engineer, and a representative of health professionals), describes the various noticed impacts of climate change on the environment in mountain chains, on agriculture, on sea level rise, on overseas biodiversity, and on health

[Eye movement parameters in reading the sentences with syntactic ambiguity in Russian language].

Science.gov (United States)

Anisimov, V A; Fedorova, O V; Latanov, A V

2014-01-01

We studied the eye movement parameters during reading of syntactically ambiguous sentences with feminine relative clause in Russian language. A priori difficulties of sentence structural analysis results in increase of time spent on reading as opposed to reading control sentences (unambiguous). Such a delay is caused by an increase of frequency of regressions (backward saccades) which are executed for rereading an ambiguous fragment ofsentence. This fact in turn leads to an increase in number of fixations and their duration. The total reading time for particular words composing the ambiguous fragment of sentence depended on disambiguation result (relative clause attachment, early/late closure). In case of early closure (when the subject attached relative clause to first noun) the total reading time for this noun exceeded one for second noun. In case of late closure (when the subject attached relative clause to second noun) the total reading time for both nouns didn't differ. Our results indicate that early closure domination in Russian language determines the greater total reading time for first noun of nominal group associated with relative clause.

Adapting to the Changing Climate: An Assessment of Local Health Department Preparations for Climate Change-Related Health Threats, 2008-2012.

Science.gov (United States)

Roser-Renouf, Connie; Maibach, Edward W; Li, Jennifer

2016-01-01

Climate change poses a major public health threat. A survey of U.S. local health department directors in 2008 found widespread recognition of the threat, but limited adaptive capacity, due to perceived lack of expertise and other resources. We assessed changes between 2008 and 2012 in local public health departments' preparedness for the public health threats of climate change, in light of increasing national polarization on the issue, and widespread funding cutbacks for public health. A geographically representative online survey of directors of local public health departments was conducted in 2011-2012 (N = 174; response rate = 50%), and compared to the 2008 telephone survey results (N = 133; response rate = 61%). Significant polarization had occurred: more respondents in 2012 were certain that the threat of local climate change impacts does/does not exist, and fewer were unsure. Roughly 10% said it is not a threat, compared to 1% in 2008. Adaptation capacity decreased in several areas: perceived departmental expertise in climate change risk assessment; departmental prioritization of adaptation; and the number of adaptation-related programs and services departments provided. In 2008, directors' perceptions of local impacts predicted the number of adaptation-related programs and services their departments offered, but in 2012, funding predicted programming and directors' impact perceptions did not. This suggests that budgets were constraining directors' ability to respond to local climate change-related health threats. Results also suggest that departmental expertise may mitigate funding constraints. Strategies for overcoming these obstacles to local public health departments' preparations for climate change are discussed.

The Stimuli-Actions-Effects-Responses (SAER)-framework for exploring perceived relationships between private and public climate change adaptation in agriculture.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitter, Hermine; Schönhart, Martin; Larcher, Manuela; Schmid, Erwin

2018-03-01

Empirical findings on actors' roles and responsibilities in the climate change adaptation process are rare even though cooperation between private and public actors is perceived important to foster adaptation in agriculture. We therefore developed the framework SAER (Stimuli-Actions-Effects-Responses) to investigate perceived relationships between private and public climate change adaptation in agriculture at regional scale. In particular, we explore agricultural experts' perceptions on (i) climatic and non-climatic factors stimulating private adaptation, (ii) farm adaption actions, (iii) potential on-farm and off-farm effects from adaptation, and (iv) the relationships between private and public adaptation. The SAER-framework is built on a comprehensive literature review and empirical findings from semi-structured interviews with agricultural experts from two case study regions in Austria. We find that private adaptation is perceived as incremental, systemic or transformational. It is typically stimulated by a mix of bio-physical and socio-economic on-farm and off-farm factors. Stimulating factors related to climate change are perceived of highest relevance for systemic and transformational adaptation whereas already implemented adaptation is mostly perceived to be incremental. Perceived effects of private adaptation are related to the environment, weather and climate, quality and quantity of agricultural products as well as human, social and economic resources. Our results also show that public adaptation can influence factors stimulating private adaptation as well as adaptation effects through the design and development of the legal, policy and organizational environment as well as the provision of educational, informational, financial, and technical infrastructure. Hence, facilitating existing and new collaborations between private and public actors may enable farmers to adapt effectively to climate change. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A modelling methodology for assessing the impact of climate variability and climatic change on hydroelectric generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Munoz, J.R.; Sailor, D.J.

1998-01-01

A new methodology relating basic climatic variables to hydroelectric generation was developed. The methodology can be implemented in large or small basins with any number of hydro plants. The method was applied to the Sacramento, Eel and Russian river basins in northern California where more than 100 hydroelectric plants are located. The final model predicts the availability of hydroelectric generation for the entire basin provided present and near past climate conditions, with about 90% accuracy. The results can be used for water management purposes or for analyzing the effect of climate variability on hydrogeneration availability in the basin. A wide range of results can be obtained depending on the climate change scenario used. (Author)

Two decades of reforms. Appraisal of the financial reforms in the Russian public healthcare sector.

Science.gov (United States)

Gordeev, Vladimir S; Pavlova, Milena; Groot, Wim

2011-10-01

This paper reviews the empirical evidence on the outcomes of the financial reforms in the Russian public healthcare sector. A systematic literature review identified 37 relevant publications that presented empirical evidence on changes in quality, equity, efficiency and sustainability in public healthcare provision due to the Russian public healthcare financial reforms. Evidence suggests that there are substantial inter-regional inequalities across income groups both in terms of financing and access to public healthcare services. There are large efficiency differences between regions, along with inter-regional variations in payment and reimbursement mechanisms. Informal and quasi-formal payments deteriorate access to public healthcare services and undermine the overall financing sustainability. The public healthcare sector is still underfinanced, although the implementation of health insurance gave some premises for future increases of efficiency. Overall, the available empirical data are not sufficient for an evidence-based evaluation of the reforms. More studies on the quality, equity, efficiency and sustainability impact of the reforms are needed. Future reforms should focus on the implementation of cost-efficiency and cost-control mechanisms; provide incentives for better allocation and distribution of resources; tackle problems in equity in access and financing; implement a system of quality controls; and stimulate healthy competition between insurance companies. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Drought, Endurance and Climate Change 'Pioneers': Lived Experience in the Production of Rural Environmental Knowledge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deb Anderson

2010-03-01

Full Text Available This article explores the politicisation of environmental knowledge on rural Australia, in an analysis of discourse on the lived experience of drought. It draws on research conducted in dryland farm communities in the Mallee wheat-belt of Victoria – where rural histories have presented spirited sagas of community perseverance in ‘battling’ a harsh climate – during a period of marked shift in public awareness of climate change (2004-07. Indeed climate change projections have intensified debate over rural futures in Australia, where droughts have played a powerful role in the mythologizing of rural battlers and landscapes, and where drought discourse has been dominated by the language of war. Cultural engagement with climate is, however, under constant renegotiation, as rural cultural research is apt to reveal.

Diagnostic accuracy of repetition tasks for the identification of specific language impairment (SLI) in bilingual children: evidence from Russian and Hebrew.

Science.gov (United States)

Armon-Lotem, Sharon; Meir, Natalia

2016-11-01

Previous research demonstrates that repetition tasks are valuable tools for diagnosing specific language impairment (SLI) in monolingual children in English and a variety of other languages, with non-word repetition (NWR) and sentence repetition (SRep) yielding high levels of sensitivity and specificity. Yet, only a few studies have addressed the diagnostic accuracy of repetition tasks in bilingual children, and most available research focuses on English-Spanish sequential bilinguals. To evaluate the efficacy of three repetition tasks (forward digit span (FWD), NWR and SRep) in order to distinguish mono- and bilingual children with and without SLI in Russian and Hebrew. A total of 230 mono- and bilingual children aged 5;5-6;8 participated in the study: 144 bilingual Russian-Hebrew-speaking children (27 with SLI); and 52 monolingual Hebrew-speaking children (14 with SLI) and 34 monolingual Russian-speaking children (14 with SLI). Parallel repetition tasks were designed in both Russian and Hebrew. Bilingual children were tested in both languages. The findings confirmed that NWR and SRep are valuable tools in distinguishing monolingual children with and without SLI in Russian and Hebrew, while the results for FWD were mixed. Yet, testing of bilingual children with the same tools using monolingual cut-off points resulted in inadequate diagnostic accuracy. We demonstrate, however, that the use of bilingual cut-off points yielded acceptable levels of diagnostic accuracy. The combination of SRep tasks in L1/Russian and L2/Hebrew yielded the highest overall accuracy (i.e., 94%), but even SRep alone in L2/Hebrew showed excellent levels of sensitivity (i.e., 100%) and specificity (i.e., 89%), reaching 91% of total diagnostic accuracy. The results are very promising for identifying SLI in bilingual children and for showing that testing in the majority language with bilingual cut-off points can provide an accurate classification. © 2016 Royal College of Speech and Language

Mid-term evaluation of the Climate Change Action Fund : Public education and outreach (PEO) Block

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2001-11-01

In February 1998, the Government of Canada established the Climate Change Action Fund (CCAF) to assist Canada in meeting its commitments under the Kyoto Protocol for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The CCAF managed a budget of 150 million dollars over three years, and the Public Education and Outreach (PEO) Block was allocated 30 million dollars of that total for its operations. Its mandate was to increase public awareness and understanding on the topic of climate change, as well as providing the required information to effect reductions in the emissions of greenhouse gases and adapt to climate change. An evaluation into this program was conducted, and it covered the period September 2000 to January 20, 2001. To date, 152 projects have been approved, which represents an investment of approximately 17.5 million dollars. Approximately 6 million dollars have been spent on the awareness component, while government communication activities used approximately 3.1 million dollars. Staff and project management fees in support of the program account for the remaining funds. This report addressed the performance to date in meeting the objectives, and also included recommendations for improved effectiveness. PEO files and records, a report entitled Interim review of the Climate Change Action Fund PEO Program, interviews with Departmental representatives, and interviews with external stakeholder groups formed the basis for the findings and recommendations. It was determined that future direction represents the most critical issue facing the PEO block. 1 tab

Public Health and Climate Change Adaptation at the Federal Level: One Agency’s Response to Executive Order 13514

Science.gov (United States)

Schramm, Paul J.; Luber, George

2014-01-01

Climate change will likely have adverse human health effects that require federal agency involvement in adaptation activities. In 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance. The order required federal agencies to develop and implement climate change adaptation plans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as part of a larger Department of Health and Human Services response to climate change, is developing such plans. We provide background on Executive Orders, outline tenets of climate change adaptation, discuss public health adaptation planning at both the Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC, and outline possible future CDC efforts. We also consider how these activities may be better integrated with other adaptation activities that manage emerging health threats posed by climate change. PMID:24432931

Migrant Image as an "Other Some" in the Russian Mass Media

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