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11 min read

Seven case studies in carbon and climate

Every part of the mosaic of Earth's surface — ocean and land, Arctic and tropics, forest and grassland — absorbs and releases carbon in a different way. Wild-card events such as massive wildfires and drought complicate the global picture even more. To better predict future climate, we need to understand how Earth's ecosystems will change as the climate warms and how extreme events will shape and interact with the future environment. Here are seven pressing concerns.

The Far North is warming twice as fast as the rest of Earth, on average. With a 5-year Arctic airborne observing campaign just wrapping up and a 10-year campaign just starting that will integrate airborne, satellite and surface measurements, NASA is using unprecedented resources to discover how the drastic changes in Arctic carbon are likely to influence our climatic future.

Wildfires have become common in the North. Because firefighting is so difficult in remote areas, many of these fires burn unchecked for months, throwing huge plumes of carbon into the atmosphere. A recent report found a nearly 10-fold increase in the number of large fires in the Arctic region over the last 50 years, and the total area burned by fires is increasing annually.

Organic carbon from plant and animal remains is preserved for millennia in frozen Arctic soil, too cold to decompose. Arctic soils known as permafrost contain more carbon than there is in Earth's atmosphere today. As the frozen landscape continues to thaw, the likelihood increases that not only fires but decomposition will create Arctic atmospheric emissions rivaling those of fossil fuels. The chemical form these emissions take — carbon dioxide or methane — will make a big difference in how much greenhouse warming they create.

Initial results from NASA's Carbon in Arctic Reservoirs Vulnerability Experiment (CARVE) airborne campaign have allayed concerns that large bursts of methane, a more potent greenhouse gas, are already being released from thawing Arctic soils. CARVE principal investigator Charles Miller of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California, is looking forward to NASA's ABoVE field campaign (Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment) to gain more insight. "CARVE just scratched the surface, compared to what ABoVE will do," Miller said.

Methane is the Billy the Kid of carbon-containing greenhouse gases: it does a lot of damage in a short life. There's much less of it in Earth's atmosphere than there is carbon dioxide, but molecule for molecule, it causes far more greenhouse warming than CO 2 does over its average 10-year life span in the atmosphere.

Methane is produced by bacteria that decompose organic material in damp places with little or no oxygen, such as freshwater marshes and the stomachs of cows. Currently, over half of atmospheric methane comes from human-related sources, such as livestock, rice farming, landfills and leaks of natural gas. Natural sources include termites and wetlands. Because of increasing human sources, the atmospheric concentration of methane has doubled in the last 200 years to a level not seen on our planet for 650,000 years.

Locating and measuring human emissions of methane are significant challenges. NASA's Carbon Monitoring System is funding several projects testing new technologies and techniques to improve our ability to monitor the colorless gas and help decision makers pinpoint sources of emissions. One project, led by Daniel Jacob of Harvard University, used satellite observations of methane to infer emissions over North America. The research found that human methane emissions in eastern Texas were 50 to 100 percent higher than previous estimates. "This study shows the potential of satellite observations to assess how methane emissions are changing," said Kevin Bowman, a JPL research scientist who was a coauthor of the study.

Tropical forests

Tropical forests are carbon storage heavyweights. The Amazon in South America alone absorbs a quarter of all carbon dioxide that ends up on land. Forests in Asia and Africa also do their part in "breathing in" as much carbon dioxide as possible and using it to grow.

However, there is evidence that tropical forests may be reaching some kind of limit to growth. While growth rates in temperate and boreal forests continue to increase, trees in the Amazon have been growing more slowly in recent years. They've also been dying sooner. That's partly because the forest was stressed by two severe droughts in 2005 and 2010 — so severe that the Amazon emitted more carbon overall than it absorbed during those years, due to increased fires and reduced growth. Those unprecedented droughts may have been only a foretaste of what is ahead, because models predict that droughts will increase in frequency and severity in the future.

In the past 40-50 years, the greatest threat to tropical rainforests has been not climate but humans, and here the news from the Amazon is better. Brazil has reduced Amazon deforestation in its territory by 60 to 70 percent since 2004, despite troubling increases in the last three years. According to Doug Morton, a scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, further reductions may not make a marked difference in the global carbon budget. "No one wants to abandon efforts to preserve and protect the tropical forests," he said. "But doing that with the expectation that [it] is a meaningful way to address global greenhouse gas emissions has become less defensible."

In the last few years, Brazil's progress has left Indonesia the distinction of being the nation with the highest deforestation rate and also with the largest overall area of forest cleared in the world. Although Indonesia's forests are only a quarter to a fifth the extent of the Amazon, fires there emit massive amounts of carbon, because about half of the Indonesian forests grow on carbon-rich peat. A recent study estimated that this fall, daily greenhouse gas emissions from recent Indonesian fires regularly surpassed daily emissions from the entire United States.

Wildfires are natural and necessary for some forest ecosystems, keeping them healthy by fertilizing soil, clearing ground for young plants, and allowing species to germinate and reproduce. Like the carbon cycle itself, fires are being pushed out of their normal roles by climate change. Shorter winters and higher temperatures during the other seasons lead to drier vegetation and soils. Globally, fire seasons are almost 20 percent longer today, on average, than they were 35 years ago.

Currently, wildfires are estimated to spew 2 to 4 billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year on average — about half as much as is emitted by fossil fuel burning. Large as that number is, it's just the beginning of the impact of fires on the carbon cycle. As a burned forest regrows, decades will pass before it reaches its former levels of carbon absorption. If the area is cleared for agriculture, the croplands will never absorb as much carbon as the forest did.

As atmospheric carbon dioxide continues to increase and global temperatures warm, climate models show the threat of wildfires increasing throughout this century. In Earth's more arid regions like the U.S. West, rising temperatures will continue to dry out vegetation so fires start and burn more easily. In Arctic and boreal ecosystems, intense wildfires are burning not just the trees, but also the carbon-rich soil itself, accelerating the thaw of permafrost, and dumping even more carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.

North American forests

With decades of Landsat satellite imagery at their fingertips, researchers can track changes to North American forests since the mid-1980s. A warming climate is making its presence known.

Through the North American Forest Dynamics project, and a dataset based on Landsat imagery released this earlier this month, researchers can track where tree cover is disappearing through logging, wildfires, windstorms, insect outbreaks, drought, mountaintop mining, and people clearing land for development and agriculture. Equally, they can see where forests are growing back over past logging projects, abandoned croplands and other previously disturbed areas.

"One takeaway from the project is how active U.S. forests are, and how young American forests are," said Jeff Masek of Goddard, one of the project’s principal investigators along with researchers from the University of Maryland and the U.S. Forest Service. In the Southeast, fast-growing tree farms illustrate a human influence on the forest life cycle. In the West, however, much of the forest disturbance is directly or indirectly tied to climate. Wildfires stretched across more acres in Alaska this year than they have in any other year in the satellite record. Insects and drought have turned green forests brown in the Rocky Mountains. In the Southwest, pinyon-juniper forests have died back due to drought.

Scientists are studying North American forests and the carbon they store with other remote sensing instruments. With radars and lidars, which measure height of vegetation from satellite or airborne platforms, they can calculate how much biomass — the total amount of plant material, like trunks, stems and leaves — these forests contain. Then, models looking at how fast forests are growing or shrinking can calculate carbon uptake and release into the atmosphere. An instrument planned to fly on the International Space Station (ISS), called the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) lidar, will measure tree height from orbit, and a second ISS mission called the Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) will monitor how forests are using water, an indicator of their carbon uptake during growth. Two other upcoming radar satellite missions (the NASA-ISRO SAR radar, or NISAR, and the European Space Agency’s BIOMASS radar) will provide even more complementary, comprehensive information on vegetation.

Ocean carbon absorption

When carbon-dioxide-rich air meets seawater containing less carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas diffuses from the atmosphere into the ocean as irresistibly as a ball rolls downhill. Today, about a quarter of human-produced carbon dioxide emissions get absorbed into the ocean. Once the carbon is in the water, it can stay there for hundreds of years.

Warm, CO 2 -rich surface water flows in ocean currents to colder parts of the globe, releasing its heat along the way. In the polar regions, the now-cool water sinks several miles deep, carrying its carbon burden to the depths. Eventually, that same water wells up far away and returns carbon to the surface; but the entire trip is thought to take about a thousand years. In other words, water upwelling today dates from the Middle Ages – long before fossil fuel emissions.

That's good for the atmosphere, but the ocean pays a heavy price for absorbing so much carbon: acidification. Carbon dioxide reacts chemically with seawater to make the water more acidic. This fundamental change threatens many marine creatures. The chain of chemical reactions ends up reducing the amount of a particular form of carbon — the carbonate ion — that these organisms need to make shells and skeletons. Dubbed the “other carbon dioxide problem,” ocean acidification has potential impacts on millions of people who depend on the ocean for food and resources.

Phytoplankton

Microscopic, aquatic plants called phytoplankton are another way that ocean ecosystems absorb carbon dioxide emissions. Phytoplankton float with currents, consuming carbon dioxide as they grow. They are at the base of the ocean's food chain, eaten by tiny animals called zooplankton that are then consumed by larger species. When phytoplankton and zooplankton die, they may sink to the ocean floor, taking the carbon stored in their bodies with them.

Satellite instruments like the Moderate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra and Aqua let us observe ocean color, which researchers can use to estimate abundance — more green equals more phytoplankton. But not all phytoplankton are equal. Some bigger species, like diatoms, need more nutrients in the surface waters. The bigger species also are generally heavier so more readily sink to the ocean floor.

As ocean currents change, however, the layers of surface water that have the right mix of sunlight, temperature and nutrients for phytoplankton to thrive are changing as well. “In the Northern Hemisphere, there’s a declining trend in phytoplankton,” said Cecile Rousseaux, an oceanographer with the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office at Goddard. She used models to determine that the decline at the highest latitudes was due to a decrease in abundance of diatoms. One future mission, the Pre-Aerosol, Clouds, and ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite, will use instruments designed to see shades of color in the ocean — and through that, allow scientists to better quantify different phytoplankton species.

In the Arctic, however, phytoplankton may be increasing due to climate change. The NASA-sponsored Impacts of Climate on the Eco-Systems and Chemistry of the Arctic Pacific Environment (ICESCAPE) expedition on a U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker in 2010 and 2011 found unprecedented phytoplankton blooms under about three feet (a meter) of sea ice off Alaska. Scientists think this unusually thin ice allows sunlight to filter down to the water, catalyzing plant blooms where they had never been observed before.

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Editor’s pick: 7 case studies on environmental cooperation

We know environmental changes and dwindling resources can lead to conflicts and inflame grievances among societal groups or even states dependant on nature. But how often do we speak about the role of environment as a catalyst for cooperation? In honour of this year’s World Environment Day, we bring to you 7 case studies in which the need to share a common environment and its resources has led adversaries to – despite hostilities and even ongoing conflict, and with the help of several resolution mechanisms – work in cooperation.

Turkey-Armenia: Water Cooperation Despite Tensions

Armenia and Turkey have been sharing the water of the Arpacay River – which forms the border between them – equitably, despite their lack of bilateral diplomatic relations. Before Armenia became independent in 1991, the former USSR had signed a number of treaties with Turkey over the Arpacay (or Akhourian) River. Although relations between Turkey and Armenia have been at an impasse since the 1990s, both countries have continued to implement the old treaties brokered before the collapse of the USSR and share the Arpacay River equitably to this day. 

DISCOVER THE CASE STUDY

Jordan and Israel: Tensions and Water Cooperation in the Middle-East

The rivers of the Jordan system all have a transboundary nature, a configuration which requires cooperation amongst all co-riparians to achieve sustainable water management. Yet the tensions which have prevailed between Israel and its Arab neighbours since 1948 have limited cooperation until today and at times escalated to war. However, one country, Jordan, distanced itself from the other Arab countries in the region and signed a peace agreement with Israel in which cooperation over water played an important role.

Transnational Conflict and Cooperation in the Lake Chad Basin

Since the beginning of the 2000s, growing claims of an urgent need to protect and restore Lake Chad have led the riparian states and the Lake Chad Basin Commission to engage in a number of joint water management initiatives with the support of a number of international organisations. These include a major project to transfer the waters of the Congo Basin (Oubangui) to Lake Chad in order to replenish the lake – the “Transaqua” project and a sustainable development programme for Lake Chad, which was launched in 2009. The Lake Chad Water Charter adopted in 2012 seeks to define water management and wetland management objectives based on shared concerns.

EU Influence on the Euphrates-Tigris Conflict

From the 1960s to the 1990s, tensions among the co-riparian states of the Euphrates-Tigris Basin hampered cooperation over the rivers. Since 1999, when Turkey was granted the status of candidate country for membership to the EU, the country started transposing and implementing the EU body of legislation, including the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). The renewed cooperation which was observed among the three co-riparians in the 2000s reflects the influence of the WFD.

Lower Mekong Basin: Challenges and opportunities for early cooperation

To promote peace, regional cooperation, and development in the Lower Mekong Basin, the United Nations (UN) encouraged the creation of an intergovernmental agency for joint water management. In 1957, the Mekong Committee was created. After an initial period of enthusiasm, momentum began to subside during the 1970s. Nevertheless, the Mekong’s early institutional architecture provided a forum for dialogue that was sustained even in times of regional hostilities. It also laid the groundwork for contemporary Mekong governance in times of rapid development.

Transboundary Water Disagreements between South Africa and Namibia

Following the independence of Namibia in 1990, a number of water-related disagreements have emerged between the Orange River riparians South Africa and Namibia. These revolve around the demarcation of a common border, water allocation and water pricing, and the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP). Existing water scarcity in the lower Orange River Basin is likely to be further aggravated by the impacts of climate change. Despite the conflict potential harboured by existing disagreements, the basin’s high level of institutionalised cooperation and the possibilities for intra- and inter-basin water transfers could help alleviate water stress and resolve bilateral disagreement over shared water resources.

Iraq-Iran: from Water Dispute to War

The Shatt al-Arab River forms the boundaries between Iran and Iraq before flowing into the Persian Gulf. Due to its strategic importance for both Iraq and Iran, for centuries both countries have defended their sovereignty rights over the river. The Shatt al-Arab dispute was an important cause which led to the outbreak of the 1980-1988 war between Iraq and Iran. In recent years – and particularly since the beginning of the war in Syria –, relations between Iraq and Iran have majorly improved. This has been reflected on the Shatt-al Arab issue. In 2014, Iraq and Iran’s Prime Minister met to discuss how to delimit the river in a mutually acceptable way and to put an end to the status quo. Water-protection aspects took also a major space in the talks. Today both countries have restored bilateral diplomatic relations and reached agreements on a mutually satisfying delimitation of the river. They are also jointly working towards the protection of the river. 

130+ case studies on environment, conflict and cooperation

The Factbook is a knowledge platform that provides an overview of environmental conflict and cooperation from around the world. It does so by offering a select number of case studies that reflect instances of conflict, resolution and peacebuilding processes that are related to environmental change.

The Factbook seeks to help policy-makers, experts, researchers and any interested members of the public to better understand and compare the drivers behind environmental conflict and cooperation. The ultimate goal of this project is to contribute to the prevention and sustainable transformation of such conflicts using lessons learned from earlier (non-) interventions.

                Discover the ECC Factbook

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• Published: 26 March 2021

Environmental problems and Geographic education. A case study: Learning about the climate and landscape in Ontinyent (Spain)

• Benito Campo-Pais   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7675-7788 1 ,
• Antonio José Morales-Hernández 1 ,
• Álvaro Morote-Seguido 1 &
• Xosé Manuel Souto-González   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1480-327X 1  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  8 , Article number:  90 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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• Environmental studies

Cultural perceptions of the environment bring us back to elements and factors guided by “natural” cause-effect principles. It seems that academic education has had little effect on the manner and results of learning about changes in the local landscape, especially as regards rational explanations. There is considerable difficulty relating academic concepts about the climate to transformations in the environmental landscape. Teaching tasks are mediatized due to the use of rigorous and precise concepts which facilitate functional and satisfactory learning. This is the objective of the research this article aims to undertake, for which we have chosen the case of Ontinyent (Spain). This research will include two parts: the first aims to identify problems in geographical education of the climate, and the second applies to didactic suggestions for improvement. Methodologically, this study involves qualitative, non-experimental, research-oriented toward change, which purports to understand the educational reality. Our sample included a total of 431 students. Moreover, a semi-structured interview, conducted with teachers in schools and universities in Ontinyent, was organized. Fourteen teachers were interviewed, including two who participated as research professors in the action-research method. The study revealed that students’ conceptual and stereotypical errors, in the different educational stages, vary according to the type (climate, weather, climate change, landscape) and stage (Primary, Secondary, University). They are persistent and continuous, given that they are repeated and appear anchored in the ideas and knowledge development of students regarding the problems and the study of the climate throughout their education.

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“The spring, the summer,

The childing autumn, angry winter, change

Their wonted liveries, and the mazed world,

By their increase, now knows not which is which:

And this same progeny of evils comes

From our debate, from our dissension”

(W. Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream , cited in Kitcher and Fox, 2019 )

Introduction

Traditionally, school-taught geography has focused on studying the relationships between physical and cultural factors in the organization of the environment (Capel, 1981 , 1984 ; Graves, 1985 ). Climate change and the environmental impact are two representative examples that have had an impact on how the research group S ocials Footnote 1 has planned educational activities.

In this vein, the sixth Global Environment Outlook report (GEO 6) declared that climate change is a matter of priority that affects both human (including human health) and natural systems (the air, biological diversity, freshwater, the oceans, and the earth) and alters the complex interactions between these systems (UNEP, 2019 , p. 10).

Furthermore, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development expresses, through Sustainable Development Goal 13 (SDG 13), the need to “take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts” (United Nations, 2015 , p. 16). All of this leads us to reflect on the way in which we learn about and understand the concept of climate and its impact on the landscape, and vice versa, in order to take measures, as a critical and active citizen, which could reverse the current emergency situation facing the planet’s climate.

Within the group Socials (University of Valencia, Spain), we are developing a line of didactic research related to socio-environmental education to analyze the obstacles which hinder learning about the climate and landscape in an academic setting. This includes the following: (1) The lack of an interdisciplinary approach to understand the impact on socio-ecological systems from a glocal perspective; (2) The disconnection between scholarly academic knowledge related to the climate/landscape and the reality experienced by students, which allow for geographic conceptualization and an understanding of the world from school-taught geography (Cavalcanti, 2017 ); (3) The absence of analysis of the influence of social representations (Moscovici, 1961 ) on the perception of the environment (Reigota, 2001 ) related to the interaction between climate and landscape; (4) The need to boost active participation (Hart, 1993 ) in order to implement strategies and measures related to climate change mitigation and adaptation; and (5) The accuracy of using active territoriality (Dematteis and Governa, 2005 ) to create emotional links with the territory we must manage (Morales, Santana and Sánchez, 2017 ), due to its particular impact on climate and landscape factors.

All of this leads us to re-evaluate the importance of analyzing cultural perceptions of the environment to determine the factors which have an impact on environmental transformation, starting from the paradigm Education for Eco-Social Transformation. The aim is to encourage the inclusion thereof in the academic curriculum (González, 2018 ). This is a line of study we have already tackled through the analysis of the trialectics of spatiality, where we reconsidered the Piaget taxonomy of lived, objective, and conceived spaces (Hannoun, 1977 ). We aimed to further our understanding of space through lived emotions, the cultural perceptions which create spatial stereotypes, and the conceived space, a result of the actions taken by political and economic leaders in the country (Souto, 2016 , 2018a ). This conceptual modification helped us understand the environment as a process of intellectual construction, like a reflection of a physical reality conceived with emotions and social filters. In other words, this is coherent with what we consider in our research proposal.

Our approach to the problem

Local geographical studies are methodologically similar to what are known as case studies in educational research. To this effect, it is worthwhile recalling that a local case is specific, but it is not unique or unrepeatable. That is to say, there are aspects particular to the social and territorial context, but the explanatory factors refer us to theories that have been developed around other comparative analyses. In this vein, the work we are presenting here, as a case study of climate and landscape education in Ontinyent (Spain), answers three basic questions which outline the problem.

Firstly, what is the role of the academic system in explaining everyday issues? If climate change and the perception of changes in the landscape are of social concern, we must specify whether the academic system should codify aspects of these expectations in a conceptual corpus. This can be done through a series of educational activities and by seeking answers to events that may be communicated with explanations in a public sphere. This will be the main objective of this study.

Secondly, we wonder what specific disciplinary knowledge can contribute? In the case of geography, due to its interdisciplinary links, it will be useful to determine its impact on academic knowledge and, consequently, the construction of a public opinion regarding everyday issues. How can an understanding of geography affect the development of a critical theory which questions the practical meaning of everyday life?

Finally, a significant contribution to this study: what conclusions can we draw from the social representations of spontaneous knowledge in developing social arguments? We want to know to what extent representations of daily practicality present an obstacle to developing independent knowledge and thus render conceptual disciplinary knowledge useful for arguing in public opinion debates influencing common sense and determining our everyday practicality. We wanted to exemplify this with ideas provided by students and teachers from schools in the region.

When looking at the relationships between stages, from global phenomena to local measures with eco-geographical dynamics and where anthropogenic activities are included as explanatory factors, school and university students’ ideas about the climate and the lived and conceived landscape do not tend to be included in a subjective way. This fact contradicts the definition itself of the landscape set out in the European Landscape Convention, by not taking into account the territorial perception of the population (Council of Europe, 2000 ).

The central idea of our line of research points to using students’ personal and social perceptions as a starting point to develop basic knowledge about the climate and landscape. We question spontaneous concepts to explain the landscape in terms of the climate and create a certain environment (microclimate, evapotranspiration, sunlight…).

In this vein, students taking the Research in Social Science Didactics: Geography postgraduate programs (University of Valencia) have produced several master’s and Doctoral Theses which deal with the existing relationship between social representations and environmental education Footnote 2 . Some of this research is related to the EcoRiba Footnote 3 project, with the aim of understanding the importance of linking this didactic research to integral education about the local environment, in order to promote more sustainable and supportive interactions both in a local and global setting (Morales and García, 2016 ; Morales, 2017 ; Morales, 2018 ). It is a way of integrating academic studies into social and civic renown, an academic construction of an educational public space for the local community.

The research context

Studies about “marginalised students” Footnote 4 as examples of the realities of academic failure, but also of second chances, present arguments about what happens in the teaching and thus the didactics of geography. Analyzing this set of school students provides evidence linking failure with teachers’ and students’ personal narratives to understand what is concealed (Campo, Ciscar, and Souto, 2014 ; García Rubio and Souto, 2020 ). As such, it was possible to carry out an assessment, using social representations, of academic knowledge which facilitates improvement options at different educational stages, including the experiences of marginalized students (Campo, 2014 ). These representations also challenge academic traditions and routines, presenting obstacles and causing difficulties teaching and learning geography (Canet et al., 2018 ; Campo et al., 2019 ). These studies represent the instruction and methodological arguments that are part of the rational and personal reasons for taking on this research: learning difficulties at school, social representations in educational research of geography didactics, and the question of innovation as a requirement for educational improvement.

We have pinpointed these principles for a research topic. Learning about the climate and landscape is fundamental for students to understand environmental changes and problems and, moreover, is part of geography didactics both in basic education (Tonda and Sebastiá, 2003 ; Jaén and Barbudo, 2010 ; García de la Vega, 2014 ; Martínez and López, 2016 ; Olcina, 2017 ; Martínez and Olcina, 2019 ), and in the work of students training to become teachers (Valbuena and Valverde, 2006 ; Boon, 2014 ; Souto, 2018a ; Morote et al., 2019 ) who highlight the dilemmas and perceptions of geography or climate change (González and Maldonado, 2014 ; Chang and Pascua, 2016 ). In our case, we are mainly concerned with observing what is happening in classrooms. Students make explanations about climate problems which are full of mistakes and stereotypes produced by the trivialization of some scientific concepts shared by the mass media (Olcina and Martín, 1999 ; Martín-Vide, 2009 ). In order to analyze students’ education about the climate and landscape, we must identify teaching practices (Souto, 2013 , 2018a ) and reveal what students know. In both cases, we are guided by various studies focused on conceptions, ideas, and representations (Gil, 1994 ; García Pérez, 2002 , 2004 ; Kindelan, 2013 ; Bajo, 2016 ; Santana, 2019 ; García-Monteagudo, 2019 ) which, stemming from research and interest in the psychology of learning, aim to understand student mistakes and make constructive suggestions based on models focused on student learning. This starts with their existing knowledge, moving on to what students have been taught, and finally observing the impact of the media on their education. In this way, theoretical tenets of social representations will allow us to interpret what is happening, based on referential systems and enabling categories that classify contexts, phenomena, or individuals (Jodelet, 1991 ). We use these educational research theories with the pertinent epistemological awareness (Castorina and Barreiro, 2012 ) which proves the representations observed in school geography (Souto and García, 2016 ) among the population as regards climate change (Heras, 2015 ; Alatorre-Frenk et al., 2016 ) and the landscape (Santana et al., 2014 ) or among students and teachers in the practice thereof (Domingos, 2000 ).

This objective corresponds with a line of research Footnote 5 linked to doctoral research Footnote 6 , which outlines its idiographic, explanatory, and applied nature (Bisquerra, 2009 ). First, it is idiographic due to the approach for understanding and interpreting the unique nature of school geography lessons on the climate and landscape as curricular content. Secondly, it is explanatory because it claims to clarify what is happening in teaching-learning processes. Finally, it is applied in nature because it aims to transform the conditions of didactic activities and introduce improvements in the teaching-learning process of geography using real-life experiences from schools in Ontinyent (Spain). This research will include two parts: the first aims to identify problems in geographical education of the climate, and the second applies to didactic suggestions for improvement.

In this article, we will develop the first part—assessing the topic we outlined above. Our hypothesis indicates that geography lessons about the climate, school traditions, and the mass media lead to knowledge shaped by stereotypes and conceptual mistakes which are exposed in children’s education and remain present in higher education.

Methodology

This study involves qualitative, non-experimental, research-oriented toward change, which purports to understand the educational reality. As such, an open and mixed design is most suitable, which adapts to the knowledge observed during the study. This justifies the analytical study we propose for this research. We selected the case study (Stake, 1999 , Álvarez and San Fabián, 2012 ) as a way of analyzing how students in Ontinyent (Valencia) learn about the region’s climate and landscape. Given the study’s characteristics and the objective of making the quantity of information manageable and systematizing the analysis (Goetz and Lecompte, 1988 ; Miles and Huberman, 1994 ; Rodríguez et al., 1996 ; Rodríguez et al., 2005 ) we have used a combination of quantitative techniques, which make statistical analysis possible (Gil, 2003 ), and qualitative techniques, which facilitate content analysis, for the data analysis. This combination of techniques is used in case studies to further explore explanations for the phenomena analyzed, with the aim of making the quantity of information manageable (Bisquerra, 2009 ).

It is worthwhile outlining the sample in context for assessment purposes. The sampling technique used is non-probabilistic for convenience and accessibility (Bisquerra, 2009 ; Otzen and Manterola, 2017 ). We chose the municipality of Ontinyent due to adjustment reasons and opportunity criteria. On the one hand, the population of Ontinyent assures a sample size that is representative of a concrete population: the innovation program Footnote 7 provided access to school and university settings in this municipality which has a population of 35,534 Footnote 8 (2016) and boasts educational centers across the different educational stages: Kindergarten, Primary, Secondary, and University. In other words, we can carry out a transversal study of children’s education about the climate throughout the different educational stages, with different chronological ages, at the same time and encompassing the entire school and university education of one person. On the other hand, Ontinyent, as shown in Fig. 1 is a municipality in the Community of Valencia (Spain) with specific climatic conditions due to its location 47 kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea. It has a typical Mediterranean climate or, according to the Koppen classification, a semi-arid cold climate with mild winters and hot summers (Guerra, 2018 ).

Ontinyent is located within Valencian Community (Spain). Self-elaborated map based on Google Earth data.

During the 2015–16 academic year, between May and December 2016, we gathered data from different school classrooms in Ontinyent, including 5 Kindergartens Footnote 9 and Primary Schools (4 public schools and 2 private schools with state-funded financial support), 3 Compulsory and Baccalaureate Secondary Schools Footnote 10 (1 public school and 2 private schools with state-funded financial support) and the headquarters of the University of Valencia in Ontinyent (2 classes of the Teaching Diploma). In total, 202 first-year primary school pupils, 204 fifth-year primary school pupils, 135 second-year secondary school students, and 92 university students taking the Teaching Diploma participated.

As such, our sample included a total of 633 students, covering a range of the academic population, from both school and university, in Ontinyent which has a total of 6185 students Footnote 11 . If we take the demographic numerical data in Table 1 Footnote 12 as a reference, it represents a Confidence Interval (CI) of 0.52% which indicates that the academic population in Ontinyent is representative of the academic population in the Community of Valencia. This represents a level of reliability equaling 95% of the academic population, typical of Social Sciences statistical studies (Campo and Martínez, 2017 ). But this does not mean that the study sample is in turn representative of the population in the Community of Valencia.

In order to define the context of academic knowledge, qualitative tools were developed. These tools are unique to research in Social Science Didactics and include a semi-structured interview and questionnaire (Banchs, 2000 ). These tools have been validated by experts in the fields of knowledge associated with this research (Physical Geography, Regional Geographical Analysis, Social Science Didactics and Didactics, and School Organisation) from four universities, three of which are in Spain (Seville, Alicante, and Valencia) and one in Chile (La Serena). Footnote 13

Furthermore, this research draws on previous studies Footnote 14 , using the action-research method which puts the participating students and teachers at the heart of the study (Stenhouse, 1990 ; Elliot, 2000 ), reflecting on their own practice (Teppa, 2012 ). This distinctly includes the model of a research professor in the research (Stenhouse, 1975 ; Sancho and Hernández, 2004 ). In order to improve the curriculum, teachers and other professionals are in the best conditions to carry out this type of research.

The questionnaire is a versatile technique that facilitates the collection of information regarding the objectives of the research. In January and February 2016, teachers and students were asked to participate in the study, obtaining a commitment of wilfulness for this investigation. This is done through specific questions which gather specific quantifiable information for the study (Cohen and Manion, 1990 ), thus allowing for direct comparison between groups. In our case, this is a comparison between the variable of educational stages or the co-variation of students’ ideas in the different educational stages when learning about the climate. Its design focuses on the evaluative considerations of a questionnaire about geography didactics (Alfageme et al., 2010 ) and follows the process itself for the creation of questionnaires: following the research objectives, creating a first draft of the questionnaire for assessment and validation by experts, carrying out a pilot test and delivering the final version of the questionnaire (Del Rincón et al., 1995 ). For the proposed analysis, we used three of the sections which make up the questionnaire: the first section, item 1, covers information sources for students about climate change; the second section, items 2 to 6, looks at the difference between the climate and the weather; the third section, items 7 to 10, tackles the causes of climate change. The questionnaire was created based on content that appears in the textbooks used by participants, containing the same questions/items in order to maintain homogeneity among the 431 participating students, representing Primary Education (10–12 years old; 105 girls and 99 boys), Secondary Education (13–15 years old; 63 girls and 72 boys) and University (82 women and 8 men with 21–23 years old). The design covers a mixed structure of closed and open questions which appear in sections with the corresponding items.

The semi-structured interview , conducted with teachers in schools and universities in Ontinyent, is a substantial part of the research. The teachers were selected according to accessibility and interest in the research. This convenience-based option was chosen due to the possibility of being able to interview them and the relevance to the project framework on the study of the climate and landscape Footnote 15 . Fourteen teachers were interviewed, including two who participated as research professors in the action-research method. The questions were chosen for the study related to their ideas (Saraiva, 2007 ) before participating in the project and covered teacher training, methodology and practice, and their explanations of environmental problems—how they explain environmental changes in Ontinyent to their students. Ultimately, we wanted to find out what the teacher knows and what they do to help their students learn about the climate.

Of the 14 teachers, 8 are women and 6 are men. Three of them are over the age of 56, 2 are between 46 and 55 years old, 6 between 36 and 45, and 3 between 25 and 35 years old. They teach in public (6), private (7), and privately managed public (1) schools. They teach at different educational levels, 1 in Kindergarten, 2 in Primary, 9 in Secondary School, and 2 at Baccalaureate level. They teach different subjects: 2 teach Social Sciences, 4 teach Biology, 2 teach Physics and Chemistry, 1 teaches Mathematics, 1 teaches Language and Literature, 1 teaches Social Integration, 1 teaches Administration and 1 teaches Kindergarten.

Results and data analysis

The data gathered using the questionnaire and interviews are shown, in a quantitative setting, through the already processed conversion into percentages of the participants’ responses per educational stage. The qualitative data has been categorized in line with the desired objectives.

Students’ perception of climate and landscape

In the first section of the questionnaire, related to the hypothesis and objectives of the study, we wanted to know what the students’ favorite source of news on climate change was in order to analyze the trends among students regarding the information they obtain about climate change in the communication society, and the impact on their academic knowledge (Souto, 2011 ). The items in this section questioned the participants about where they get information on climate change, establishing an order of preference. In order to understand what information, they get and the extent to which they receive it from the sources mentioned, we asked a multiple-choice question, the percentages of which established a percentage median of the students’ priorities per educational stage. The data were quantified using a statistical median of the participants’ responses per stage, reflecting the order of importance of the sources they selected in the first step. We differentiated online social networks from the internet, due to their renown and growth. Although the first requires the second, we distinguished that the essential use and function of social networks is communication between people who are active in social relationships, while the internet is a source of information with multiple uses and possibilities. Thereafter, we will detail the number of students who chose each source as their top source and the percentage of the sample. As such, as shown in Fig. 2 , of the 423 students we can see how sources evolve from the family environment (37.7%) in Primary School to the Internet (39.3% in Secondary School and 79.8% at University). We also observe that social networks are used more in Secondary School than at any other educational stage.

The bars represent the percentage in each educational stage.

When analyzing the data, we started with the premise that traditional information sources for learning over the last century such as school, family, friends (social relations), and the media (the press, television) have been expanded by this society of information, communication and technology and the globalization of information and news, because we are now in a network society (Castells, 2006 ). Surveys by official bodies about the information society in Spain and in Europe (Eurostat, 2016 ) show that in 2016 95.2% of students in Spain used the internet, 58.8% used it every day, and 25.7% almost every day for between one and three hours. Among those over the age of 15, around 90% used the internet for e-mail and social networks. The data obtained allowed us to qualify these figures, which are reduced into percentages about more generic sectors. In this way, we established four large categories of information sources that have an impact on knowledge: school, family, the media (Internet, television, and the press), and social relations (friends and networks).

The trend shift towards the media as an information source for students was confirmed. This preference, especially from secondary school onwards, corresponds with the exponential trend for the use of the media by society. However, this suggests a problem and a risk for learning about the climate as it is subject to errors and stereotypes. The liquid modernity we live in comprises the transience, use, and access to a large quantity of data. From the perspective of cognitive psychology and as proven, people find it difficult to retain more than seven units of information. When building our knowledge, quality is more important than quantity. This liquid society produces a series of habits that make it difficult to learn geography (Sebastiá and Tonda, 2017 ). The need for information to learn collides with the sheer quantity of data available which spreads on technological motorways and platforms, motorways of information in the informational technological revolution. The so-called technological revolution hangs over new informative engineering like a cloud and is of great concern for data verification and codes of best practice (Goldenberg and Bengtsson, 2016 ; Wardle et al., 2018 ). Fake news is generated to create states of opinion about climate change (Maslin, 2019 ) and we have observed how these factors have a harmful impact on students’ geographical literacy (Campo, 2019 ). In other words, data shows us that students do not look at social media from a critical perspective.

In addition to understanding the attitudes to climate and environmental knowledge, we wanted to find out what knowledge students had in relation to two main aspects of climate education : the difference between the climate and the weather, and understanding the causes of climate change. We dedicated a part of the questionnaire to these issues.

For the first aspect, we analyzed students’ understanding of the differences between the climate and the weather, identifying whether they knew how to distinguish them. To do this, we provided different statements which they had to match up with climate or weather. This gave us some clues as to their cognitive level (Anderson and Krathwohl, 2001 ; Biggs and Tang, 2007 ; Granados, 2017 ) and what the students had learned because the act of matching up indicates subject knowledge and the identification of relationships. The data was obtained through a closed polytomous question in which they could choose which statement referred to the climate, the environment, or unsure. The statements were included in the following items of the questionnaire: item 2, “Last year, the annual average temperature in Ontinyent was 16.2°C” (climate); item 3, “In the summer, the Clariano river is drier than in the winter” (climate); item 4, “The Ontinyent landscape is the Mediterranean” (climate); item 5, “It’s very hot today” (weather); item 6, “Yesterday, the historical center of Ontinyent was flooded” (weather).

As shown in Fig. 3 , the students in each educational stage who correctly matched the concepts with the statements were measured. In addition to the responses from students who answered incorrectly, there were the students who indicated that they did not know.

The colors of the bars represent the student’s answers per item. Right answers are represented by “RIGHT”. Wrong answers are represented by “WRONG”. Not answered questions are represented by “DON’T KNOW”. We have combined the “WRONG” and “DON’T KNOW” answers to represent the degree of confusion regarding each item at each educational stage.

In general, throughout the three stages, more than 25% of students matched the items up incorrectly, making mistakes with all the suggested statements, except for university students who answered item 3 correctly at a rate of 76.2%, item 4 at 92.9%, and item 6 at 77.4%. The high proportion of students who answered item 2 incorrectly stands out, with at least 53.3% answering incorrectly. This percentage corresponds to the secondary school pupils. The average annual temperature was not associated with the climate and the time event “last year” confused them. Primary pupils and university students were further off-the-mark for item 2 with 67.6% and 72.6% respectively, responding incorrectly. As regards the weather, for item 5 at least 36.9% of the students surveyed (this percentage corresponds to university students) did not connect that the weather happens at a certain time while the climate is a succession of weather conditions; for item 5, 53.9% of primary school pupils and 46.7% of secondary school pupils were also incorrect.

We have noted that mistakes about the concepts of climate and weather carry through from primary school to university. If we calculate the average of wrong answers to all items for students from each educational stage, the degree of confusion per participating stage is 55.5% for primary education (113 students out of 204), 41.4% for secondary education (56 students out of 135) and 32.32% for university (27 students out of 84).

Ultimately, students from all educational stages make mistakes or display a lack of knowledge about the climate and weather. This is proven by the incorrect answers to questions about the average temperature and climate (item 2), knowledge of the local climate, characteristics of the climate and its implications for the landscape (items 3 and 4), or identifying the fleeting nature of weather as the climate (item 5) or indeed other phenomena, such as a temporary flood (item 6).

Furthermore, using the questionnaire we wanted to find out if students recognized some of the causes of climate change which were presented in the questions, relating them to gas emissions or the increase in the greenhouse effect. The items were dichotomous: the participants had to select whether the statements were true or false. In line with the taxonomies established by the educational stages, the questions asked aimed to distinguish causes from events, truths from falsehoods, which is interesting given the confusion that surrounds climate change. The statements corresponded with the following items in the questionnaire: item 7, “Thanks to the greenhouse effect, we can live on Earth”; item 8, “Deforestation doesn’t have an impact on climate change, it only has an impact on ground erosion”; item 9, “One of the causes of climate change is the global warming of the Earth”; item 10, “One of the causes that contribute to the process of climate change is the excessive burning of fossil fuels”.

In Table 2 , we note how items 8 and 9 maintain a line of progression of wrong answers in correlation with the age of students and their cognitive level per educational stage. For item 8, 31.9% and 32.9%, and for item 9, 18.6% and 15.6% of primary school and secondary school pupils responded incorrectly. Although they are almost the same, for item 8 around 32% of both groups had difficulties relating deforestation processes with the climate, as indicated by IPCC reports Footnote 16 . The loss of wooded areas produces a rise in carbon emissions, gases which increase the greenhouse effect (IPCC, 2013 ) because they are not absorbed by tree leaves and trunks. In parallel, deforestation leads to land desertification (IPCC, 2019 ) which hinders the processes of afforestation and reforestation. This chain explanation is an example of seeing the world and its problems in a holistic way, working on comprehensive thinking (Morin, 1990 ). This is more difficult to integrate with various fields of knowledge for certain levels and education.

As regards the answers to items 9 and 10, there is visible controversy. For item 9, most students recognize the link between global warming and climate change. But it is concerning that the link is not as clear in the answers to item 10 to which 54% of primary pupils, 33.3% of secondary pupils, and 26.2% of university students answered incorrectly. This data supposes that 41.06% of the surveyed population (see Table 3 ), in other words, 177 of 431 students between the ages of 6 and 24, do not identify the causal relationship between human activities and global warming. They do not associate the increase in burning fossil fuels with climate change (IPCC, 2014 ).

The item which reveals the most mistakes is item 7. Some of the experts consulted when validating this item already indicated that it is a complex question given the origin of the gases because there are those of natural and human origin.

The analysis of the results shows us that there are different levels of confusion among students across all the educational stages to explain the relationships between physical factors (items 7 and 9), humans (items 8 and 10), and climate change. However, there is further confusion regarding the effects of human activities, which lead to deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels, on the climate and its evolution.

Teachers’ opinion about climate and landscape explanation

The semi-structured interview allowed us to expand on certain aspects. Once the questions on learning had been asked and the students’ ideas about the climate and landscape gathered, we wanted to define a more precise scale for analysis. In other words, we wanted to see how learning happens in real life in school classrooms. The questionnaire confirmed our hypothesis that there some conceptual problems and corresponding mistakes. The interview allowed us to dig deeper into these assumptions through teachers’ disciplinary and practical training. The design of a personal interview makes it easier to repeat questions to teachers, related with concrete aspects that we had already found proof of thanks to the students’ answers to the questionnaire.

For the study, four categories related to teachers’ ideas were established, allowing us to elaborate coherent explanations for the analysis of students’ education and the vulgar representations of climate change theories. This followed patterns shown by different authors regarding problems in learning and teaching geography, related to students and teachers (Horno, 1937 ; García Pérez, 2011 ; Liceras, 2000 ; Martínez and Olcina, 2019 ).

Teacher training: the academic background of the teachers interviewed is apparent in the basic statistical data we gathered. We asked them when they complete their continuous teacher training, how long it takes, at what time of day, where, and what topics they study. Given the inaccuracy of some responses, we asked them again to specify when they studied, if it was in their free time, in the evening after class, during summer courses, a Cefire course Footnote 17 etc.

Student difficulties regarding the topic of the climate. We tried to understand what the main difficulties are which hinder the effectiveness of the explanations they bring to the subject matter and the problems they encounter when trying to explain topics to their students when teaching about the climate, climate change, and the Ontinyent landscape. To be more precise, we asked them again about knowledge gaps and the procedures and didactic learning difficulties they encounter when explaining these topics.

Teaching methodologies: classroom strategies. We wanted to identify what teachers’ perceptions are regarding how to explain the climate in order to understand their opinion as a teacher on education about the climate and landscape, the relationship between the climate and landscape in the Clariano river landscape in the municipality of Ontinyent, and by which means they explain the problem of climate change to their students in the class. We aimed to understand how they lay out the topic with the textbook in addition to their own explanations using local data or any other means.

which Concepts teachers value and believe necessary to their explanations: climate, weather, climate change, minimum average temperature, night-time irradiation, sunlight, greenhouse effect, albedo effect, cold drop, and landscape. The scale is designed for them to evaluate the concept in line with their use or evaluation of it, with 0 being “nothing” (I don’t use it or deem it useful), 1 “little”, 2 “quite” and 4 “a lot”.

For this article, we will present a summary of the analysis for each category in line with the questions asked and answered by the teachers.

If we analyze the results of the interviews regarding teacher training , most participants, 12 out of 14, revealed that they completed their training outside working hours. Only two teachers answered that certain times were set aside in their work timetable for training purposes. In general, training takes place in the evening or summer, at the cost of their free time. The Cefire courses Footnote 18 were the most common option for continuous training. In the end, their training was reliant on the personal availabilities of teachers who had to bear the responsibility of their training outside school hours and its costs. This infringes the challenges highlighted by different international geography partnerships and the IGU’s Footnote 19 declarations where they recommend geography training as a necessity for primary and secondary school teachers (De Miguel et al., 2016 ; De Miguel, 2017 ). However, it cannot be denied that nowadays, with regard to work and school organization and structure, the school system and political decisions on education result in scarce teacher training to the detriment of teachers’ intentions. It is a pathway that presents too many obstacles for them to be able to commit to potential interests including didactics, innovation, and scientific knowledge about climate change. Rather it relies on the individual will and sense of responsibility of teachers, as reflected in this teacher’s answer Footnote 20 :

“Outside of school hours, through the completion of courses such as Cefire, reading scientific articles published in journals, watching documentaries, TV programs, etc.”

As regards students and the main learning difficulties when it comes to the climate and landscape, teachers understand and outline 25 problems in total which have been categorized into five groups, and the problems which appear in Fig. 4 are broken down into percentages according to the frequency with which they appeared in teachers’ answers, which was in this order: Field of Study (5 problems, 18 references), Student Characteristics (7 problems, 14 references), Didactic Materials (5 problems, 9 references), Teaching Staff (5 problems, 9 references) and School Context (3 problems, 5 references).

The inner ring represents the relative frequency of each difficulty within its group. The outer ring represents the absolute frequency of each difficulty within the whole array of difficulties.

The problems which are identified the most and repeated most frequently are the need to experience the topic outside of the classroom and the theoretical complexity of the content, the spread of data to be used on the topic, the lack of basic education among students, and inter-disciplinary coordination. The rest of the factors highlighted by one or more teachers included the conceptual ideas and errors already held by students, the lack of continuity in the educational stages to tackle curricular topics or the objectives of the school. The teachers’ answers justify the importance of taking them into account when making changes for innovation, the integration of subject matters, and working on projects and problems relevant to the student. Geography is a science explained through other sciences; these ideas, as well as those previously mentioned, were expressed by the teachers interviewed, as summarized by this teacher:

“On the one hand, the content is approached in an isolated way in some subjects and, in my opinion, it should be studied in “all” subject areas. There should be coordination among teachers, as well as continuity between stages and courses, providing a contextualised approach applied to their surroundings. Consequently, their families, the authorities and the rest of the community should participate in their studies. If, furthermore, we don’t get out of the “ordinary classroom” scenario in order to observe, evaluate, analyze, apply knowledge, etc., the student ends up viewing a real problem which affects them directly as an abstract foreign concept, “something we talk about but has nothing to do with me”.

Geography is a science that requires practice, so the main problem mentioned is the need for contact with the environment. It is relevant for the student to study the climate and landscape. The theoretical complexity of the topic combines with the education received by the pupil, the materials used, and the academic context, but how do teachers tackle the subject to give answers and explain the problems of school geography lessons with climate problems and the environmental consequences? (Santiago, 2008 ).

We will now look at how teachers organize and handle their explanations to respond to these difficulties. The methodological aspects outlined in Table 3 demonstrate the 27 aspects the teachers associated with their teaching and the study of the climate. These factors belong to three main groups: materials and resources (13), methodologies (7), and type of activities (7). Most teachers use the textbook (10), documentaries and videos (7), local articles and data (6), illustrations, and the internet (5) for support, as a basis for the information to be studied in the classroom. In addition, but to a lesser extent, they use information about extreme weather events, climograph, or personal experiences related to the climate. The second group relates to the methods used. Environmental experimentation and research appear as the main strategy for learning alongside democratic training, the development of knowledge using previous ideas, cooperative learning, and interactive methods. Finally, the third group encompasses the activities undertaken in tandem with the methodology: brainstorming, understanding of reading materials, presenting projects, debates, and data analysis.

Some methodological aspects about resources, activities, and strategies coincide with those regularly used for teaching and learning about the climate (Romero, 2010 ; Martínez and López, 2016 ; Olcina, 2017 ), such as the textbook, the use of data and graphs, maps and activities for the interpretation and analysis of data. However, although there are aspects which could be included generically, there are no references to specific or innovative aspects for the study of the climate such as thematic maps, satellite images, the creation of monthly rain diagrams, constructing a laboratory, gathering data about the weather on a daily basis (Cruz, 2010 ) or learning based on projects or interdisciplinary projects (Rekalde and García, 2015 ).

The contrast between the difficulties that teachers observe among their students and the teaching they practice indicates that, without specific continuous teacher training, teachers’ thoughts and intentions do not correspond with their practice to a large extent. In other words, teachers are aware of the difficulties, but they cannot utilize methods such as methodological changes and specific resources for the design of activities related to the improvement of climate study at school.

In the end, we are interested in finding out what value teachers attribute to their explanations of independent and necessary concepts to explain climate and climate change. Here we have to highlight, as can be observed in Fig. 5 , the result obtained regarding the frequency of use for its evaluation. Teachers use, with a frequency of over 50%, the concepts of climate change, landscape, the greenhouse effect, climate, and weather compared with, at less than 50%, the minimum average temperature, cold drops, and sunlight. Night-time irradiation and the albedo effect were practically mentioned by one teacher.

The graph bars show how teachers make use of these concepts. The frequency of use of these concepts, represented by colors, shows the percentage of use of each notion by teachers on a scale from 0 (never) to 3 (very frequently).

The results show that teachers identify some concepts as more important to explain climate change in class. Thanks to the analysis carried out with the questionnaire, we were able to demonstrate the confusion experienced by students about the climate and weather, the mistaken identification of the average temperature as a piece of data that explains the climate, or the confusion about the causes of climate change. Teachers attribute relative value to minimum average temperatures, night-time irradiation, the albedo effect of sunlight. Science, on the other hand, explains and draws links between climate change and the increase in night-time temperatures to explain global warming, one of the causes of climate change, as expressed in a report and evaluations by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Houghton; Callander and Varney, 1992 ):

“Average warming over parts of the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitude continents has been found to be largely characterized by increases in minimum (night-time) rather than maximum (daytime) temperatures.” (p. 7)

“A notable feature over considerable areas of the continental land masses of the Northern Hemisphere is that warming over the last few decades is primarily due to an increase in night-time rather than daytime temperatures.” (p. 21).

The school geography curriculum in Spain prescribes the complexity of curricular content, in line with the cognitive level of the pupil, to be studied during primary and secondary education. Studying with a progression of knowledge is important. During primary education, the curriculum is based on the physical environment, studying the air, then the atmosphere, atmospheric phenomena, weather elements, measurements and recording, the difference between weather and climate, the characteristics of different climates, and explanations for climate change (Martínez and López, 2016 ). During secondary education, they expand on causal and complex thinking, physical and human geography, and ecology from an analytical and later scalar perspective (Romero, 2010 ). Here lies the problem in properly understanding knowledge development processes on the topic of the climate. The teachers we interviewed mentioned this when they identified students’ learning difficulties, identifying their lack of basic training, their idealization of concepts, or the discontinuity in the curricular development of the topic. However, this contrasts with how the teachers evaluated basic concepts used to explain the climate, which is more or less the same as those found in the textbooks, related to the curriculum, rather than those necessary for a comprehensive causal explanation, such as that of climate change. As such, sunlight is only valued by one of the teachers interviewed and used very little. In Ontinyent itself, data over the last 30 years reveals the progressive increase in annual temperatures (Souto, 2018b ), which is not caused so much by sunlight—the same percentage of sunlight hours at certain times of the day is maintained—but rather by night-time irradiation. This concept was only mentioned by two teachers who use it very little.

As we can see, teachers mainly follow the topics in the curriculum as embodied in the textbooks, with the exception of the local reference to the Clariano river. They agree on the importance of this element of the landscape and understanding the significance of its dynamic relationship with the climate. The teachers observe the difficulty students have when studying the climate without leaving the classroom and speak of the need for more commensurate strategies. However, they maintain school traditions and routines, the use of the textbook, and standard curricular content.

Conclusions

The conclusions of the statistical study we carried out confirm the representativeness of the sample, while the analysis of responses verifies the substantiality of the surveyed population in tracking certain stereotypes in the “practical sense” (Domingos and Diniz, 2019 ) and the mechanic reproduction of climate and landscape concepts.

The results endorse the use of “practical sense” ideas Footnote 21 when it comes to everyday explanations regarding the climate, climate change, and its relationship with the landscape. We expected to explain the traditional method of learning about the climate, conditioned by students’ social representations. In this way, we concluded that the mistaken stereotypes and perceptions of a part of the academic population in primary, secondary, and baccalaureate, as well as higher education, are related with the assumption of “common sense”, derived from an everyday practical sense, to which authority is granted when “the facts” are reflected in social communication media.

The study revealed that students’ conceptual and stereotypical errors in the different educational stages vary according to the type (climate, weather, climate change, landscape) and stage (primary, secondary, university). They are persistent and continuous, given that they are repeated and appear anchored in the ideas and knowledge development of students regarding the problems and the study of the climate throughout their education.

We highlight the continuity regarding the manner of reasoning, although representations of abstract thinking are distinguished among secondary school and university students. In these stages, representations of concrete thinking, characteristic of lower cognitive levels and stages, are considered in the school curriculum for the teaching of the climate (Martínez and Olcina, 2019 ).

In the mind maps drawn by students about the climate and learning about the climate, we ascertained that the media and education are the most important factors in the development of knowledge among students. As regards the first, the influence of the internet and digital social communication media grows every day on students as a source of information, whilst other traditional sources of learning and knowledge such as school and family fall behind. As regards teaching, we highlight the role of the teacher in classes: how they teach, the obstacles of the school system, methodology, and the selection of conceptual aspects, procedures, and attitudes which predispose a certain education of the climate, its materialization on the landscape and the evidence of climate change.

Ultimately, the representativeness of the study helps us decipher one of the initial conjectures of this research: “stereotypes and conceptual errors about the climate and landscape are repeated in different statistical demographic cohorts” . This means that the educational system reinforces the ideas derived from common sense and those who transform these stereotypes into alternative arguments as a result of academic education (basic and university) are scarce.

In terms of the students and given the considerable degree of confusion between the weather and climate or about the causes of climate change in the educational stages, we showed how social representations have had an impact on children, teenagers, and young adults developing their knowledge about the climate and landscape, influenced more by the presence of vulgar theories on the topic than by the understanding and application of school concepts.

As regards the teachers, we showed how teachers’ intentions for methodological change collide with difficulties in specific continuous professional development. The obstacles to developing different methodologies, resources, and innovative activities are not overcome by teacher training in order to provide comprehensive explanations about climate change to their students. The increase of the influence of the media on students’ education about climate change facilitates students’ development of knowledge about the climate and environmental changes filled with errors and stereotypes. Some situations cannot be compared or analyzed in a classroom environment, either due to a lack of time dedicated to these topics or due to the obstacles inferred by teaching practice, such as the absence of specific training.

Failing to contest these spontaneous conceptions and academic traditions and routines leads to academic concepts being overshadowed by an incomplete explanation of the climate, resulting in a partial explanation based on vulgar and superficial ideas.

Data availability

The article directly contains the data used to carry out the analysis pertinent to the study. If you are interested in the rest of the data gathered for the research, it can be made available by reasonable written request to the authors.

The Social(S) group is recognized by the University of Valencia as a research group, including teachers from the non-university educational system as collaborators. For more details on the educational background of the group, you can check http://socialsuv.org/educacionsocioambiental/ .

Accordingly, we can highlight the doctoral theses by Diana Santana, “School participation and environmental governance: an educational dialectic” and Diego García, “The social representation of the rural environment: an analysis of school geography”, both presented in 2019, alongside more than ten Master’s theses developed between 2011 and 2019 which tackle the line of research related with Socio-environmental Education.

EcoRiba is a program local to Riba-roja de Túria in Valencia, Spain, which aims to showcase the landscape in order to invigorate the territory. It was presented to society in February 2016 and underpins all the objectives of this sustainable strategy for socio-environmental education.

This is what we call students who have obstacles and hindrances to achieving the objectives and basic skills set out in the school curriculum for a certain age. The book “La invisibilidad de las periferias escolares” [The invisibility of marginalised students] by J. García and X. Souto ( 2020 ) contains a compilation of a research project, thesis, and innovative educational proposals for use in classrooms by teachers who carry out this work with their students.

Group subsidiary dedicated to research and innovation in the education of history and geography at the University of Valencia, Socials group which refers to the understanding of social and environmental problems when teaching and learning about the climate and landscape. https://www.uv.es/uvweb/servicio-investigacion/es/grupos-investigacion/grupo-1285949714098.html?p2=GIUV2015-217 .

The work we referred to pertained to research carried out within the Research in Specific Didactics Doctoral Programme at the University of Valencia, in the line of research of Geography Didactics. Namely, the doctoral thesis entitled “Knowledge of the climate and landscape: from analysis to a teaching proposal”.

The Educational Innovation Project, “teacher training entrenched in the environment from the perspective of school practice” by the Generalitat Valencia with the code UV-SFPIE-GER18-85040, was developed during the three academic years from 2016 to 2019 by teachers in Ontinyent and the Department of Experimental and Social Science Didactics at the University of Valencia. This facilitated relationship-building with teachers, schools, and local bodies which was a guarantee for the sample and data collection.

Data about the Ontinyent population from the year 2016 extracted from the 2019 municipal sheets which can be found on the Generalitat Valencia’s Statistics Portal: http://www.pegv.gva.es/auto/scpd/web/FITXES/Fichas/46184.pdf .

Representations held by Kindergarten pupils were studied, but the explanation thereof is not reflected in the article, because it was a specific study of drawings.

Hereafter, we will use the term Secondary Education to refer to Compulsory Secondary Education.

For this article, pictorial representations were not analyzed.

Census data from the Valencian Statistics Institute (IVE).

The procedure to validate the questionnaire consisted of sending a first model of 84 questions so that the five experts could evaluate it. With the comments and assessment of each item, we have selected the most relevant questions to be able to analyze the students’ learning results; an exchange of views that have been archived, but not published. 10 questions have been selected from these results in this article.

See note 8, an Educational Innovation Project created with the objective of both students and teachers improving the teaching and learning about the climate and local landscape.

See note 4 of this article.

IPCC is the acronym for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, made up of an international group of experts and part of the UN, which generates periodical reports with studies and recommendations about climate change.

In the Community of Valencia, the Cefire is responsible for providing state-run courses for the continued professional development of teachers.

See previous note.

IGU is the acronym for the International Geographical Union.

Response received to the question regarding when and on what topic they take classes, given by a biology teacher from a public school which provides compulsory secondary education.

We follow the theories of Moisés Domingos regarding Pierre Bourdieu and Sergi Moscovici’s ideas.

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This work is part of the project: The social representations of school content in the development of teaching skills , R&D Projects on Knowledge Development and Scientific Consolidation and System Technology R + D + i (Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities), reference PGC2018-094491-B-C32, and co-financed with EU FEDER funds. This work was supported by the research project “The social representations of educational content in the development of teaching competencies” [PGC2018-094491-B-C32], funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities of Spain and co-funded by the ERDF.

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Campo-Pais, B., Morales-Hernández, A.J., Morote-Seguido, Á. et al. Environmental problems and Geographic education. A case study: Learning about the climate and landscape in Ontinyent (Spain). Humanit Soc Sci Commun 8 , 90 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-00761-6

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-021-00761-6

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Environmental Education in Action

Learning from Case Studies Around the World

Environmental Education in Action: Learning from Case Studies Around the World

This GEEP e-book Environmental Education in Action: Learning from Case Studies Around the World explores the world of environmental education (EE) case studies—studies that reflect the complexity, messiness, beauty, and diversity of EE programs across the planet that strive to create a more sustainable future for us all.

In these pages, we explore what a case study is and how to create one, and examine the ways in which you can use case studies as teaching tools. The examples we offer can be used in university courses and professional development workshops for educators, and each includes discussion questions and activities designed to promote critical conversations about EE. We hope that these chapters will prompt you to reflect on and enhance your own work in the field, too, as you educate and mentor the next generation of environmental stewards.

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Case studies are useful learning tools that demonstrate how theory applies to practice. These real world examples educate and inspire, and we have many more for you to explore!

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Case Studies: Environmental Science

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Forests for Lemurs

By Ariadna Mondragon-Botero, Susan M. Galatowitsch

A Long Recovery Road for Norrie

By Melissa S. Kosinski-Collins , Caitlin M. Hepps Keeney, Ariana L. Hinckley-Boltax 

The Name’s Bond, Chemical Bond

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Does Jazmyne Need a New Chair?

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Can Birds “Keep Up” with Earlier Springs?

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Environmental Disaster in Honolulu Harbor

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If Only These Bones Could Talk

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Life and Environmental Science Ethics: Case Studies

This collection of cases covers topics related to Life and Environmental Science ethics including, agriculture ethics, bioethics, environmental ethics, and more. Cases come from a variety of online educational sources, ethics centers, and ethics programs.

Ethics Unwrapped. “Arctic Offshore Drilling.” 2021. https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/case-study/arctic-offshore-drilling.

• Offshore oil and gas reserves, primarily along coastlines in Alaska, California, Louisiana, and Texas, account for a large proportion of the oil and gas supply in the United States. In August 2015, President Obama authorized Royal Dutch Shell to expand drilling off Alaska’s northwest coast. His decision brought into sharp relief the different, oftentimes competing views on the expansion of offshore drilling.

Ethics Unwrapped. “Climate Change & the Paris Deal.” 2021. https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/case-study/climate-change-paris-deal.

• In December 2015, representatives from 195 nations gathered in Paris and signed an international agreement to address climate change, which many observers called a breakthrough for several reasons. First, the fact that a deal was struck at all was a major accomplishment, given the failure of previous climate change talks. Second, unlike previous climate change accords that focused exclusively on developed countries, this pact committed both developed and developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the voluntary targets established by nations in the Paris climate deal fall considerably short of what many scientists deem necessary to achieve the stated goal of the negotiations: limiting the global temperature increase to 2 degrees Celsius. Furthermore, since the established targets are voluntary, they may be lowered or abandoned due to political resistance, short-term economic crises, or simply social fatigue or disinterest.

Ethics Unwrapped. “Patient Autonomy & Informed Consent - Ethics Unwrapped.” 2021. https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/case-study/patient-autonomy-informed-consent.

• In the context of health care in the United States, the value on autonomy and liberty was cogently expressed by Justice Benjamin Cardozo in Schloendorff v. Society of New York Hospitals (1914), when he wrote, “Every human being of adult years and sound mind has a right to determine what shall be done with his own body.” This case established the principle of informed consent and has become central to modern medical practice ethics . However, a number of events since 1914 have illustrated how the autonomy of patients may be overridden. In Buck v. Bell (1927), Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote that the involuntary sterilization of “mental defectives,” then a widespread practice in the U.S., was justified, stating, “Three generations of imbeciles are enough.” Another example, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, in which African-American males were denied life-saving treatment for syphilis as part of a scientific study of the natural course of the disease, began in 1932 and was not stopped until 1972.

Ethics Unwrapped. “Prenatal Diagnosis & Parental Choice.” 2021. https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/case-study/prenatal-diagnosis-parental-choice.

• In the United States, many citizens agree that the government may impose limits on the freedom of individuals when individuals interfere with the rights of others, but the extent of these limits is often a topic of debate. Among the most debated of bioethical issues is the issue of abortion, which hinges on whether the fetus is a person with rights, notably the right to life.

Ethics Unwrapped. “Retracting Research: The Case of Chandok v. Klessig.” 2021. https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/case-study/retracting-research-case-chandok-v-klessig.

• In 2003, a research team from prominent laboratory the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) for Plant Research in Ithaca, New York published an article in the prestigious academic journal Cell. It was considered a breakthrough paper in that it answered a major question in the field of plant cell biology. The first author of this paper was postdoctoral researcher Meena Chandok, working under her supervisor Daniel Klessig, president of BTI at the time.

International Dimensions of Ethics Education in Science & Engineering. “IDEESE Case: GMOs.” University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2009. https://www.umass.edu/sts/ethics/online/cases/GMO/case.html.

• High ethical concern about GM organisms has two sources: concerns for the integrity and sustainability of the natural environment and concern about the social consequences of allowing the supply of seeds or breeding stock to be controlled by developers (mainly though not exclusively large multinational corporations) having 20-year monopolies over the distribution of any particular genetic material as a consequence of patent rights.

International Dimensions of Ethics Education in Science & Engineering. “IDEESE Case: Stem Cell.” University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2009. https://www.umass.edu/sts/ethics/online/cases/StemCell/case.html.

• Stem cells are undifferentiated cells in the human body which are able to replenish themselves by dividing. Under particular natural or medically induced circumstances, they are able to develop into more specialized cells for forming bones, nerves, body tissue, brains, muscles, and blood. Stem cell research has provoked considerable ethical concern; while many welcome the prospect of more effective treatments of birth defects or diseases, using human embryonic stem cells for such treatments, or even in scientific research, is very controversial. The embryo must be destroyed to secure its stem cells, and anyone who believes that human life begins at the moment of conception equates destroying embryos with committing murder. Excitement generated by the first acquisition of human embryonic stem cells in 1998 spread around the world. In South Korea, where scientists and the government had been attuned to advances in genetics, bioscience, and biotechnology since the mid-1980s, there was strong interest in taking up the new possibilities. Four years earlier, the South Korean government had adopted an ambitious "Plan 2000" intended to make South Korea one of the leading sites of bioscience and biotechnology research in the world. In 1990 it provided its national Genetics Research Institute with ample facilities in the new Taedok Science town just outside Seoul; in 1995 it expanded the Institute and renamed it the Korean Research Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology to better reflect its expanded areas of work.

Iowa State University. “Case Studies.” Bioethics Program, 2021. https://bioethics.las.iastate.edu/a-note-about-case-studies-for-the-classroom/.

• The following are helpful for introducing real-life ethics situations to students. These case studies are designed for teaching purposes, to help students develop critical responses to ethical issues, taking into account a multitude of viewpoints. Please feel free to use these case studies in your classrooms, or modify as necessary for your purposes. Please give credit where credit is due.

Teach the Earth. “Case of GMOs in Environmental Cleanup.” Across the Geoscience Currirulum, 2019. https://serc.carleton.edu/geoethics/activities/84049.html.

• This case represents various agendas, hidden and otherwise, that can come into play during environmental remediation.

Teach the Earth. “Does A River Have Rights?” Across the Geoscience Curriculum, 2019. https://serc.carleton.edu/geoethics/activities/84031.html.

• Individual students have different ethical "lines." This class discussion proceeds with a series of prompts that presents a set of scenarios that explores ethical boundaries. Students discuss right and wrong actions with respect to a river and discuss why those actions are "right" or "wrong" as well as how their ethical viewpoints vary.

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Award No. 2055332. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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Case Studies in the Environment

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Case Studies in the Environment (cse.ucpress.edu) is an online journal of peer-reviewed case study articles and case study pedagogy articles from University of California Press. The journal informs faculty, students, researchers, educators, professionals and policymakers on case studies and best practices in the environmental sciences and studies.

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The Environmental Case Translating Values Into Policy

• Judith A. Layzer - Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
• Sara R. Rinfret - Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, USA
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NEW TO THIS EDITION:

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• Two case studies have been removed to reduce the book's length and streamline its focus.

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• Engaging chapter case studies help students examine environmental policy through real-life examples.
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• Case Studies

On this page:

Arkansas River, CO

Willimantic river, ct, little floyd river, ia, long creek, me, presumpscot river, me, groundhouse river, mn, bogue homo, ms, little scioto river, oh, touchet river, wa, lake washington, wa, clear fork watershed, wv, elk hills, ca (terrestrial), upper arkansas river, co (terrestrial), birds of prey (terrestrial).

These fourteen (14) case studies illustrate how assessors have developed and interpreted evidence to determine causes of biological impairments. They provide examples of how to organize an assessment report, analyze data, and present results. Most of the cases assess rivers and streams, but a few assess terrestrial ecosystems.

The process for identifying causes of biological impairments continues to improve. As a result you will note differences among the case studies. In some examples, comments have been inserted by the U.S. EPA editor or the authors. These comments are not meant to indicate errors in the analyses. Rather, they suggest alternative approaches that users may apply in future assessments.

The full list of case studies are listed in the box to the right. The dots displayed in the map below show the approximate locations of where these case studies occurred.

Many of the following links exit the EPA web site

This case study used several evidence lines to show that metal exposure impaired benthic macroinvertebrates.

Effect : Altered benthic invertebrate assemblage Sources : Mining wastes Probable causes : Mixed metals Report : Arkansas River Case Study: Using Strength of Evidence Analysis. p. 4-11 in U.S. EPA (2000) Stressor Identification Guidance Document . U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC. EPA/822/B-00/025. Guidance, presentations, other : Clements WH (1994) Benthic invertebrate community responses to heavy metals in the Upper Arkansas River Basin, Colorado. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 13:30-44. Clements WH, Kiffney PM (1994) Integrated laboratory and field approach for assessing impacts of heavy metals at the Arkansas River, Colorado. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 13:397-404. Clements WH, Carlisle DM, Lazorchak JM, Johnson PC (2000) Heavy metals structure benthic communities in Colorado mountain streams. Ecological Applications 10:626-638. Kiffney PM, Clements WH (1994) Structural responses of benthic macroinvertebrate communities from different stream orders to zinc. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 13:389-395. Kiffney PM, Clements WH (1994) Effects of heavy metals on a macroinvertebrate assemblage from a Rocky Mountain stream in experimental microcosms. Journal of the North American Benthological Society 13:511-523. Nelson SM, Roline RA (1996) Recovery of a stream macroinvertebrate community from mine drainage disturbance. Hydrobiologia 339:73-84.

A screening assessment from a one-day workshop led to additional sampling. This sampling discovered an illicit toxic source, remediation of which led to improved aquatic life. This experience led the State to develop a causal assessment program. In turn, this program led the State to address impervious surface effects on stream condition.

Effect : Altered benthic invertebrate assemblage Sources : Impervious surfaces, upstream impoundments, concrete channels, waste water treatment facility, industrial outfalls Probable causes : Primarily a toxic effluent; secondarily sediment, altered food resources, increased temperature Report : Bellucci C, Hoffman G, Cormier S (2009) An Iterative Approach for Identifying the Causes of Reduced Benthic Macroinvertebrate Diversity in the Willimantic River, Connecticut . U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH. EPA/600/R-08/144. TMDL : CTDEP (2001) Total Maximum Daily Load Analysis for the Upper Willimantic River (PDF) (16 pp, 382 K, About PDF ) . Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Stafford CT.

This case study illustrates the difficulties of assigning specific cause to biological impairment. Challenges included data collected in different ways, small discrimination between acceptable and impaired streams, and the presence of multiple stressors. This case study demonstrates several strategic techniques to address these challenges.

Effect : Altered fish and benthic invertebrate assemblages and a fish kill Sources : Row crop agriculture, hog production, wastewater treatment facility Probable causes : Primarily substrate alteration; secondarily nutrient enrichment and episodic toxic ammonia concentrations Manuscript : Haake DM, Wilton T, Krier K, Stewart AJ, Cormier SM (2010) Causal assessment of biological impairment in the Little Floyd River, Iowa, USA. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment 16(1):116-148. Report : Haake D, Wilton T, Krier K, Isenhart T, Paul J, Stewart A, Cormier S (2008) Stressor Identification in an Agricultural Watershed: Little Floyd River, Iowa .  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH. EPA/600/R 08/131. TMDL : IA DNR (2005) Total Maximum Daily Load For Sediment and Dissolved Oxygen, Little Floyd River, Sioux and O’Brien Counties, Iowa (PDF)   (32 pp, 378 K, About PDF ) . Iowa Department of Natural Resources, TMDL & Water Quality Assessment Section.

This detailed assessment illustrates the complexity of urban systems affected by many causes.

Effect : Altered benthic invertebrate assemblage, extirpated brook trout fishery Sources : Commercial and industrial area, airport, dairy Probable causes : Decreased dissolved oxygen, altered flow regime, decreased large woody debris, increased temperature and increased toxicity due to ionic strength Report : U.S. EPA (2007) Causal Analysis of Biological Impairment in Long Creek, a Sandy-Bottomed Stream in Coastal Southern Maine (Final Report) . U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC. EPA/600/R-06/065F.

This is one of first two Stressor Identification case studies. The study was performed prior to development of the SI Guidance, and it informed guidance development. The weight of evidence was heavily influenced by the lack of co-occurrence of the effect with other candidate causes and by manipulations at a pulp mill on the Androscoggin River. Reductions in total suspended solids at the pulp mill led to recovery.

Effect : Altered benthic invertebrate assemblage Sources : Impoundment, paper and pulp mill Probable cause : Total suspended solids with floc Report : Presumpscot River, Maine. Ch. 6 in U.S. EPA (2000) Stressor Identification Guidance Document . U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC. EPA/822/B-00/025. TMDL : U.S. EPA (1998) New England’s Review of the Presumpscott River TMDL Memo (PDF)   (12 pp, 14.1.Mb, About PDF ) . [Last accessed 02/03/10] Guidance, presentations, other : Presumpscot River Plan Steering Committee (2002) Cumulative Impacts to Environmental Conditions on the Presumpscot River and its Shorelands (PDF)  (DRAFT – As distributed at the June 2002 Public Meetings) (102 pp, 1.3 Mb, About PDF ) . [Last accessed 02/02/10]

This screening assessment was done during a two-and-a-half day workshop. Findings were used to mount a more extensive watershed-scale assessment with additional data collection. Results of the screening assessment were confirmed and additional causes were characterized. The State adopted the Stressor Identification process and developed their own guidance and training materials.

Effect : Altered benthic invertebrate assemblage Sources : Waste water treatment facility, agriculture Probable causes : Sediment, nutrients Report : Lane C, Cormier S (2004) Screening Level Causal Analysis and Assessment of an Impaired Reach of the Groundhouse River, Minnesota. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati OH. TMDL : Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (2009) Groundhouse River Total Maximum Daily Loads for Fecal Coliform and Biota (Sediment) Impairments (PDF)   (377 pp, 9.3 Mb, About PDF ) .  [Last accessed 01/31/10]  Guidance, presentations, other :  Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (2009) Brown's Creek Impaired Biota TMDL - Stressor Identification  (229  pp, 1.9Mb, About PDF ) .[Last accessed 03/31/12]

This assessment was one of the first cases undertaken by the State. It resulted in the State's streamlined stressor identification process. The State performed more than 700 court-ordered causal assessments for total maximum daily load (TMDL) development. A standard candidate cause list and screening levels developed at the program's beginning increased assessment speeds.

Effect : Altered benthic invertebrate assemblage Sources : Forestry, agriculture, reservoir Probable causes : Primarily dissolved oxygen and altered food resources Report : Hicks M, Whittington K, Thomas J, Kurtz J, Stewart A, Suter GW II, Cormier S (2010) Causal Assessment of Biological Impairment in the Bogue Homo River, Mississippi Using the U.S. EPA's Stressor Identification Methodology . U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati OH. EPA/600/R-08/143. TMDL : MDEQ (2005) Phase 1: Total Maximum Daily Load Biological Impairment Due to Organic Enrichment/Low Dissolved Oxygen and Nutrients: The Bogue Homo River, Pascagoula Basin, Jones County, Mississippi (PDF)   (44 pp, 681 K, About PDF ) . Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Pollution Control, Jackson MS. Guidance, presentations, other : MDEQ (2004) Draft Stressor Identification for the Bogue Homo River, Forrest and Perry Counties, Mississippi. Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Pollution Control, Jackson MS.

This is one of the first two Stressor Identification case studies. In addition to the original case, alternate formats for organizing data are presented in CADDIS.

Effects : Altered fish and benthic invertebrate assemblages Sources : Channelized stream, creosote plant and treatment facility, industrial waste site, waste water treatment facilities Probable causes : Altered habitat, PAHs, metal and ammonia toxicity in different segments Manuscripts : Norton SB, Cormier SM, Suter GW II, Subramanian B, Lin ELC, Altfater D, Counts B (2002) Determining probable causes of ecological impairment in the Little Scioto River, Ohio, USA. Part 1: Listing candidate causes and analyzing evidence. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 21(6):1112-1124. Cormier SM, Norton SB, Suter GW II, Altfater D, Counts B (2002) Determining the causes of impairments in the Little Scioto River, Ohio. Part 2: Characterization of causes. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 21(6):1125-1137. Report : Little Scioto River, Ohio. Ch. 7 in U.S. EPA (2000) Stressor Identification Guidance Document . U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC. EPA/822/B-00/025. Guidance, presentations, other : Ohio EPA (2008) Biological and Water Quality Study of the Little Scioto River (PDF) (59 pp, 1.04Mb, About PDF ). Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Columbus OH. [Last accessed 02/02/10]

This screening causal assessment was a novel application of the Stressor Identification process for several reasons. It involved a long river stretch, in an arid watershed of the northwestern U.S. It also marked the first use of endangered salmonids as a Stressor Identification endpoint. Specific alteration of the invertebrate assemblage aided analysis.

Effect : Altered benthic invertebrate assemblages and extirpation of salmonids Sources : Wheat and irrigated agriculture, impoundments, logging, cattle raising Probable causes : Primarily water temperature and sedimentation; secondarily toxics, low dissolved oxygen, alkaline pH, reduced detritus, reduced flow and reduced habitat complexity Manuscript : Wiseman CD, LeMoine M, Cormier S (2010) Assessment of probable causes of reduced aquatic life in the Touchet River, Washington, USA. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment 16(1):87-115. Report : Wiseman CD, LeMoine M, Plotnikoff R, Diamond J, Stewart A, Cormier S (2009) Identification of Most Probable Stressors to Aquatic Life in the Touchet River, Washington . U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati OH. EPA/600/R 08/145. TMDL : Washington Department of Ecology. Walla Walla River Basin TMDL Water Quality Improvement Report (2007) and the Walla Walla Watershed TMDL Water Quality Implementation Plan (2008) with links to stressor-specific TMDLs. [Last accessed 05/27/18]  Guidance, presentations, other : Adams K (2010) Guidance for Stressor Identification of Biologically Impaired Aquatic Resources in Washington State . Washington State Department of Ecology, Olympia WA. Publication No. 10-03-036.

This is a brief synopsis of a historically important causal assessment of a eutrophic system. Evidence of world-wide consistency of association established general causality. Modeling was important in establishing specific causality.

Effect : Cyanobacteria blooms Sources : Waste water inputs Probable causes : Phosphorus Report : Lake Washington Case Study. p. 4-13 in U.S. EPA (2000) Stressor Identification Guidance Document .  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC. EPA/822/B-00/025. Guidance, presentations, other : Summarized from Lehman JT (1986) Control of eutrophication in Lake Washington: Case Study. pp. 301-316 in Ecological Knowledge and Environmental Problem-Solving: Concepts and Case Studies. National Academy Press, Washington DC.

This case addresses a moderately sized drainage with several tributaries. Stressor-response relationships derived from field data prior to the assessment provided the primary evidence.

Effect : Altered benthic invertebrate assemblage Sources : Mining, logging, agriculture, and residential development. Probable causes : Sulfate/conductivity, organic and nutrient enrichment, acid mine drainage, residual metals (particularly aluminum) at moderately acidic pH, excess sediment, and multiple stressors Report : Gerritsen J, Zheng L, Burton J, Boschen C, Wilkes S, Ludwig J, Cormier S (2010) Inferring Causes of Biological Impairment in the Clear Fork Watershed, West Virginia . U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Center for Environmental Assessment, Cincinnati OH. EPA/600/R-08/146. TMDL : WVDEP (2006) Appendix 1. Clear Fork (PDF)   (14 pp, 372 K, About PDF ) in Total Maximum Daily Loads for Selected Streams in the Coal River Watershed, West Virginia. Prepared by Water Resources and TMDL Center, Tetra Tech, Inc., Charleston WV. Guidance, presentations, other : WVDEP (1997) An Ecological Assessment of the Coal River Watershed. West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Water Resources, Watershed Assessment Program. Report number - 5050009 – 1997, pp. 93.

This case study deals with a contaminated terrestrial site and an endangered wildlife population. This study illustrates the importance of spatial and temporal scales of causes and effects. Based on mathematical modeling to link causes with population changes, it reverses a prior assessment’s findings.

Effect : Decline in abundance of the endangered San Joaquin Kit Fox Sources : Petroleum drilling, wastes, vehicles and drought Probable causes : Predation and accidents Report : U.S. EPA (2008) Analysis of the Causes of a Decline in the San Joaquin Kit Fox Population on the Elk Hills, Naval Petroleum Reserve #1, California . U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati OH. EPA/600/R-08/130.

This case study applied Stressor Identification to a highly mineralized area of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Evaluated impairments were reduced vegetation, plant growth and species richness in meadows irrigated with Upper Arkansas River water. This study demonstrates aspects of the assessment process that may differ between aquatic and terrestrial systems.

Effect : Reduced plant growth and plant species richness Sources : Mining, smelting, agriculture Probable causes : Extrinsic metal with decreased pH (floodplain); extrinsic metal (irrigated meadows) Report : Kravitz M (2011) Stressor Identification (SI) at Contaminated Sites: Upper Arkansas River, Colorado . U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati OH. EPA/600/R-08/029.

This synopsis explains that the link between DDT and peregrine falcon decline was not initially recognized. The connection was made by re-examining the impairment description. Eventually it was recognized that the specific effect was reproductive failure due to eggshell thinning.

Effect : Decline of birds of prey Probable causes : DDT/DDE Report : Revisiting the Impairment in the Case of DDT. p. 5-2 in U.S. EPA (2000) Stressor Identification Guidance Document . U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington DC. EPA/822/B-00/025. Guidance, presentations, other : Blus LJ, Henny CF (1997) Field studies on pesticides and birds: unexpected and unique relations. Ecological Applications 7:1125-1132.  Grier JW (1982) Ban of DDT and subsequent recovery of reproduction in bald eagles. Science 218:1232-1234.

• CADDIS Home
• Volume 1: Stressor Identification
• Volume 2: Sources, Stressors and Responses
• Analytical Examples
• Worksheet Examples
• State Examples
• Volume 4: Data Analysis
• Volume 5: Causal Databases

A Q&A with Case Studies in the Environment Associate Editor Anne Egelston

Anne Egelston is an associate professor at Tarleton State University, where she teaches courses including environmental policy and environmental law, and is Program Director of Environmental Science. She recently joined UC Press’s journal Case Studies in the Environment as an associate editor.

UC Press: Welcome to Case Studies in the Environment!

AE: Thank you! I’m honored to join the editorial staff of this journal.

UC Press: What’s your view of case studies within the environmental arena? Do you use them in the classroom? And if so, how?

AE: Case studies remain one of our primary teaching pedagogies for this field and this journal has the potential to impact not only other members of academia, but also our students.

I do use them in the classroom. Case studies are a great way to introduce students to complex issues within the field. I believe case studies frame issues in ways that are more appealing to students, especially students that are early in their academic development.

UC Press: During the journal’s recent editorial transition, highlighted by the appointment of Jennifer Bernstein as Editor-in-Chief, you were the first of several new associate editors to join the editorial team. What drew you to the journal, and what is your role there?

AE: I liked the people that are editing the journal. The members of the editorial board are all excellent scholars and I’m looking forward to learning from them. My role with the journal will be to assist authors with the process of publishing their manuscripts. I’m also keen to promote this journal as I feel like it is underutilized.

UC Press: As an associate editor, are there particular topics, approaches, or subject areas that you will primarily focus on?

AE: My primary fields are in climate policy, especially carbon markets, and in sustainability broadly. I also have some expertise in air permitting within the United States.

UC Press: Are there any specific environmental issues, or environmental problem-solving approaches, that you hope will be addressed in the journal by new case studies? And do you have any advice or suggestions for authors who may be considering submitting case studies?

AE: At the moment, I’m intently focused on the role of agricultural products in the carbon markets. I’m also looking at some rural sustainability initiatives. It’s very tempting to focus all of our scholarly attention on areas that are well-known for their environmental progress. I also think it is important to show that work on environmental quality occurs in unlikely places.

My advice for authors would be to submit the article . Scholarship advances through peer review, that hopefully leads to publications. If you’re not submitting articles for publication, then you are missing an important opportunity to receive feedback.

UC Press: Thank you for taking on this role with Case Studies in the Environment, for taking the time to talk with us today, and best wishes for your fall term at Tarleton and with the journal!

AE: Thank you. I’m looking forward to my new role.

Case Studies in the Environment is a journal of peer-reviewed case study articles and case study pedagogy articles. The journal informs faculty, students, researchers, educators, professionals, and policymakers on case studies and best practices in the environmental sciences and studies.  online.ucpress.edu/cse

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Confronting the ‘two-headed monster’ of environmental injustice

Scholars and community leaders gathered at an environmental justice conference to discuss the importance of community-driven research, intersectional frameworks, and institutional legitimacy.

Responding to global environmental change requires a more just and equitable approach to understanding the relationship between social and ecological systems, according to attendees of a recent conference at Stanford University on The Duality of Environmental Justice .

“We tend to think about the disproportionate impact of the harmful aspects of the environment – pollution, contamination, climate change, mining, and so on. I want to emphasize that the wonderful benefits from nature and the services that it provides – healthy food, clean water, clean air, recreation, spiritual life, and so on – are also subjected to this disproportionate impact,” said Rodolfo Dirzo , the associate dean for Integrative Initiatives in Environmental Justice at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and faculty organizer of the conference. This is the second year the conference has been offered and co-hosted by the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and Stanford Graduate School of Business .

Speakers presented 36 talks on March 18 and 19, outlining historical frameworks, challenging implicit assumptions, probing scholarly terminology, sharing findings and best practices, and grappling with the obstacles and opportunities ahead for environmental justice scholars.

Acknowledging and confronting systemic oppression

Multiple people who spoke at the conference identified the roots of environmental injustice in colonialism – the global occupation of Indigenous people’s lands and economic exploitation of the most vulnerable people and resources by predominantly white and Western Europeans.

That legacy was critical in shaping modern environmental discourse, said Maxine Burkett , a professor of law and policy at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She noted that some of the first authors to publish research using the term “climate justice” were lawyers and economists. These writers legitimized the use of cost-benefit analyses as the leading lens with which to evaluate harms and responsibility.

“The irony is that given the climate destabilization that we are orchestrating, the response that would preserve the international order is one that fundamentally reexamines the relationship between the Global North and South, attends to the needs of the most vulnerable, and understands the development of just responses in international law as part of this endeavor,” said Burkett.

Stanford researchers have employed a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze rights and representation in the aquatic foods industry globally. Their findings, published in Nature Food as part of the Blue Food Assessment , highlighted the failure of dominant development policies to create equitable outcomes rooted in human rights. “It was really clear that pursuing wealth benefits – for example, profits or exports – often comes at the expense of pursuing welfare benefits, like nutrition or livelihoods,” said Rosamond Naylor , a Stanford professor of environmental social sciences and lead author of the assessment.

Environmental justice offers an alternative lens, leaning into the wisdom and firsthand knowledge of communities who have been finding pathways to resilience for centuries.

Delving into duality

Marginalized communities are often the first to experience the harmful impacts of global environmental change and the last to have access to beneficial services that nature provides. In this way, environmental injustice is like a “two-headed monster,” said Dirzo, who is the Bing Professor in Environmental Science in the School of Humanities and Sciences . Speakers illuminated the multiple ways in which this duality rears its ugly heads, and in doing so challenged some common models of evaluating environmental impact.

Dena Montague , an environmental justice lecturer in the Earth Systems Program, described how Africa is one of the continents least responsible for carbon emissions and yet most vulnerable to climate change impacts. In addition to this disproportionate harm from historical emissions, Africa is also largely excluded from the benefits provided by its natural resources. The rare earth materials essential to achieving a clean energy transition are already being harvested and exported to non-African countries. 

Participants in the conference also explored how binary models can limit our ability to see how social and ecological issues are connected. Cities are vibrant cultural and population centers, often synonymous with the “concrete jungle” and human-engineered structures. Yet, urban centers also often contain habitats for native species; gardens provide a point of autonomy and food sovereignty for families; and parks foster creativity, inspiration, and rest. Chris Schell , an assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley, argued that the duality of environmental justice can also work positively. Urban biodiversity can act like a “shield” that provides essential services for human well-being, and in return, equitable, affordable urban housing that incorporates nature can bolster ecosystem health.

Consultation is necessary but not sufficient

In order to make progress on solutions, researchers will need to work directly with local communities on the frontlines of environmental impact.

Indigenous and Native stewardship has a millennia-old track record of sustainable environmental management, said Kyle Artelle , an assistant professor at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. The concept of “ two-eyed seeing ” positions both Indigenous knowledge and Western science as necessary and central to understanding complex environmental issues. Artelle expanded on this idea and flipped the traditional hierarchy on its head, offering a pathway where Western science and scholarship centers and supports Indigenous science, sovereignty, and government. Dirzo reported on how his group exemplifies this approach by meaningfully involving Zapotec Indigenous people in the co-design and co-execution of resource management programs.

In collaborating with local and Indigenous communities, consultation is the bare minimum, speakers said. Successful partnerships are built on trust, humility, and setting clear intentions – a relationship in the truest sense of the word.

Scholars offered practical guidance for researchers looking to work directly with communities: Leverage your network to provide connections and resources for leaders beyond yourself. Be ready to engage over the long term, carrying on relationships through generations. There is no substitute for time and sweat equity.

With an increasing emphasis on community-engaged research projects in academia, multiple attendees highlighted the importance of moving toward community-driven approaches, where researchers preferentially answer the questions that communities identify for themselves.

Art, anger, activism, and beyond

Speakers highlighted a number of approaches that can help uncover insights and perspectives sometimes left out of research methods like community surveys, interviews, modeling, and mapping.

Intersectionality – how multiple aspects of social and political identity overlap to create unique dynamics – is also a key framework. While race and socioeconomic status are often at the forefront of environmental justice issues, gender, citizenship, cultural practices, religion, and health conditions, among others, can also influence the inequitable distribution of environmental harms.

In addition to Western science and Indigenous knowledge, art also serves as a way of understanding the natural world and our human relationship to it.

“Storytelling on its own is about capturing one view of the truth. But collaborative storytelling is capturing multiple views of the same truth,” said Tanvi Dutta Gupta , a master’s student in the Earth Systems Program. “It’s approaching a more complete objectivity, more complete empathy, and more complete authenticity of being in the world, which allows us to create a more environmentally just future by holding these conflicts, compromises, and agreements together.”

Related: Art as a tool for environmental justice

Attendees discussed strategies to build legitimacy and institutional support for environmental justice research and scholarship, such as creating space for community, focusing on scaling out in addition to scaling up, and learning from past social movements.

Theresa Ong , an assistant professor of environmental studies at Dartmouth University, emphasized the importance of mentorship for students. She described her field of agroecology as “a science, a practice, and a movement,” where it can be difficult to navigate the tensions between academia and advocacy.

Several speakers highlighted that interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaboration is essential – even when it requires difficult conversations. “I have come to the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability because I believe that all of my work on inequality can no longer be understood without climate change,” said Michelle Anderson , a professor at Stanford Law School , who recently joined the newly formed Environmental Social Sciences Department . “It’s a premise of environmental justice at Stanford that if we all stay in our little silos, we can’t figure these problems out.”

Despite the challenges ahead for developing environmental justice research and scholarship, speakers also acknowledged the decades and centuries of work that previous researchers and leaders – from W.E.B. Dubois to those in the Environmental Justice Working Group at Stanford – have put into laying the groundwork.

What makes it possible to do this work is to do the work in community. We can stand on the shoulders of those scholars who have documented not just the methodology but the ethics behind it. ” Sibyl Diver Lecturer, Earth Systems Program

View the full list of conference speakers .

Rodolfo Dirzo is a professor of Earth system science in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and of biology in the School of Humanities and Sciences. He is also a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment .

Rosamond Naylor is the William Wrigley Professor in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. She is also a senior fellow at the Woods Institute and at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies , and a professor, by courtesy, of economics and of Earth system science.

Michelle Anderson is the Larry Kramer Professor of Law. She is also a senior fellow at the Woods Institute.

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Debris flow susceptibility mapping in alpine canyon region: a case study of Nujiang Prefecture

• Original Paper
• Published: 12 April 2024
• Volume 83 , article number  169 , ( 2024 )

Cite this article

• Yimin Li 1 , 2 ,
• Wenxue Jiang   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0005-6211-0015 1 ,
• Xianjie Feng 3 ,
• Shengbin Lv 1 ,
• Wenxuan Yu 3 &
• Enhua Ma 1  

Accurate debris flow susceptibility mapping (DFSM) plays a crucial role in enabling government authorities to devise rational policies to mitigate the threats posed by debris flows to human life and property. Nujiang Prefecture, located in the alpine canyon region, is prone to frequent debris flows in China. Therefore, this study focuses on Nujiang Prefecture as the research area. Based on the characteristics of debris flow development, the occurrence mechanism, and the actual conditions of the study area, small watersheds are selected as mapping units. Fifteen influencing factors, including elevation, slope, aspect, relief, surface roughness, Melton ratio, NDVI, lithology, distance to faults, rainfall, SPI, TWI, STI, watershed aera, and gully density, are considered in the mapping process. We explored the predictive performance of three single models, namely, the statistical model certainly factor (CF), the machine learning model support vector machines (SVM), and the deep learning model convolutional neural network (CNN). Additionally, we investigated the coupling models CF-LR (statistical model coupled with machine learning model) and CNN-SVM (machine learning model coupled with deep learning model) in the mapping of debris flow sensitivity. The analysis and comparison of model performance were conducted using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and the mean value (MV) and standard deviation (SD) of debris flow sensitivity values. The results demonstrate that all five models show promising performance in DFSM. Among them, the CNN-SVM coupled model (AUC = 0.933, MV = 0.211, SD = 0.199) outperforms the others, exhibiting the best predictive capability. These findings can serve as valuable references for debris flow prevention and control efforts.

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This research was supported by the Yunnan Provincial Science and Technology Department-Yunnan University Joint Fund Key Projects(Grand no. 2019FY003017), National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grand no. 41161070), and International Laboratory for Remote Sensing of Natural Resources in China, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.

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Yimin Li, Wenxue Jiang, Shengbin Lv & Enhua Ma

Yunnan Colleges and Universities Domestic High Score Satellite Remote Sensing Geological Engineering Research Center, Kunming, 650500, China

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Yimin Li and Wenxue Jiang conceived the idea of this paper. Xianjie Feng, Shengbin Lv, Wenxuan Yu, and Enhua Ma completed the material preparation and model training, and the paper was written by Yimin Li and Wenxue Jiang. All authors commented on the research and agreed to the submission of the final manuscript.

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Li, Y., Jiang, W., Feng, X. et al. Debris flow susceptibility mapping in alpine canyon region: a case study of Nujiang Prefecture. Bull Eng Geol Environ 83 , 169 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-024-03657-2

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-024-03657-2

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Today’s global environmental problems defy simple solutions and are often characterized as “wicked,” signaling that we have arrived at a moment in human history when we can no longer proceed with business as usual. In higher education, changes in approaches to teaching, learning, and research are needed to address these wicked problems [ 1 ]. In particular, bridging disciplinary divides and the divide between research and practice are essential to find feasible solutions [ 2 ]. These transformations require engaging practitioners from outside university communities, as practiced in transdisciplinary research. 1 They also require equipping students with the necessary competencies to engage in truly integrative, interdisciplinary work [ 3 ]. Although interdisciplinary [ 4 ] and transdisciplinary works are on the rise, these approaches still run counter to traditional research practices that necessarily impose boundaries due to the disciplinary structure of most academic institutions, from metrics for success, to the way that we teach.

Despite general agreement on the direction the ongoing transformations in society and scholarship should lead, the pedagogical approaches required to achieve this vision have been less defined. Broadly, there is clarity on the need to shift away from the strict lecture-based approach that has been the predominant instructional method in higher education for centuries and toward the increased use of active learning methods, which have been shown to produce better student outcomes [ 5 ]. While some instructors continue to see a role for lectures in higher education [ 6 ], the call to move toward active learning has gathered momentum over the last decade, particularly in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields such as biology [ 7 ]. Within the broad approach of active learning, however, there is less clarity on best practices and methods for teaching about complex environmental problems. The fact that each of our organizations has independently invested in developing case studies and focused our attention on case study teaching is noteworthy: our collective convergence reflects a broader recognition of case studies as a promising approach. As articulated by Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Wil Burns, in the prospectus for this journal, case studies are a natural fit for the inductive way that most students learn. They also promote critical thinking and give students opportunities to practice defining a problem, recognizing stakeholders, and crafting solutions [ 8 ]. These are all critical elements for effective teaching about complex environmental problems, and therefore, case studies offer great promise for educating and training environmental problem solvers. In this commentary, we introduce each of our efforts to develop case study teaching materials and pedagogies, and we highlight common challenges, solutions, and lessons learned from our collective experiences in leading our respective initiatives.

The pedagogical use of case studies is well established in the fields of medicine, law, and business. Each of these fields has a distinctive approach to teach with case studies, characterized by a common set of teaching methods. In the sciences, the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science [ 9 ] has developed a broader set of pedagogical methods that can be applied across the sciences, many of which are relevant for the environmental sciences. However, although case studies have also been used in many environmental courses, the inherently interdisciplinary nature of environmental problems has led to less clarity on which methods work best for teaching about environmental issues. There is also a lack of clarity about what other methods are employed and whether new pedagogical methods are needed. Moreover, sources for relevant cases have been scattered, and conversations about teaching with cases have been similarly dispersed. The creation of this journal stems in part from the recognition of the need for a curated and dynamic central source for environmental case studies and the need to better define their structure and share best practices. Similarly, each of our organizations has recognized the potential of the case study approach and has thus invested substantial resources to develop case study materials and to advance case study teaching in the environmental arena.

At the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), a center that facilitates synthesis research to advance understanding of socio-environmental (S-E) systems, the decision to focus on case studies for teaching about S-E synthesis was driven by a need to provide clear examples to illustrate complex ideas in a tangible way. S-E synthesis is an interdisciplinary, system-focused research approach that requires a broad range of competencies and methods. Given this, the flexibility of the case study approach is attractive as it allows cases to be adapted for the wide range of learning goals. The case study approach is also a good pedagogical fit because it can be adapted for a broad range of topics, audiences, and classroom formats. To fulfill a need for teaching materials specifically targeting the teaching of S-E synthesis [ 10 ], in 2013, SESYNC developed a short course on Teaching about Socio-Environmental Synthesis with Case Studies , which brings a diverse group of researchers and educators together to write case studies for teaching. Currently, there are 50+ cases in the SESYNC Case Study Collection, all of which are Creative Commons licensed and freely available at http://www.sesync.org/for-you/educator/case-study-collection . This collection aims not only to provide diverse examples of specific S-E problems but also to provide examples of the many ways in which one can engage students in the classroom with a case study, as well as detailed practical advice for implementing case study activities in the classroom.

Michigan Sustainability Cases (MSC) was launched in early 2016, following a successful proposal to the University of Michigan’s Transforming Learning for a Third Century (TLTC) initiative (a university-wide program to encourage engaged learning) that was a collaborative effort between faculty and students. Drawing from decades of in-house experience in teaching with and using cases, a few key faculty members in the School of Natural Resources and Environment wrote the initial proposal, which aimed to transform sustainability education by importing cases more fully into the field. Students then expanded on faculty members’ ideas and added innovative elements such as multimedia and experiential learning activities to the traditional case format. Together, this early team sought to upend the current paradigm of lecture-based content delivery, and MSC began to create case studies focused on real-world decisions that would promote more engaged learning in the classroom, greater knowledge retention, and better inclusion of diverse learners. Case production is ongoing and occurs through collaborative teams of students, faculty, and practitioners. Completed cases are subsequently published on a multimedia-enhanced online platform at learngala.com , which provides students an immersive and applied learning experience. In this way, student learning in the case production process is connected directly to student learning in the classroom. Recently, MSC has begun to explore how case studies might be used outside the classroom to educate the wider public and to generate solutions to pressing environment and sustainability issues.

Similarly, the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES) launched its Case Study Integration Initiative in 2015 to provide faculty and students with crosscutting, online resources around central, ongoing natural resource management challenges. These new cases allow faculty to cover applied topics through their courses, providing students with curricular common threads. Opportunities to bring varying perspectives together for problem-solving exercises are always prioritized. Largely, the initiative seeks to serve as a resource for both faculty and students by providing faculty the iterative curriculum support that allows them to cover compelling case studies and giving students the kind of real-world activities they demand. Key components of the F&ES program are the emphasis on integration of individual case studies across multiple courses, the provision of individual faculty support, and broader guidance for implementing cases.

As we describe below, the format and emphases of the cases in our respective collections vary, but despite such differences, our initiatives represent complementary efforts and face similar challenges and opportunities.

Designing Cases: Selecting Case Study Formats

One fundamental challenge in creating a case study is to determine how the cases should be structured and presented. While a case study in its most distilled form “involves investigation of [a] ‘real-life phenomenon through detailed contextual analysis of a limited number of events or conditions, and their relationships’,” [ 8 ] the structure and content of cases vary widely. Some cases provide in-depth details and context about a particular event, problem, or issue. Typically, students learn specific principles and concepts that are illustrated by the case through guided examination and discussion. On the other end of the spectrum are cases where a problem is introduced, but many details related to the case itself are uncovered by the students. These types of cases, which are typical of problem-based learning (PBL) and case study teaching in the medical field, provide rich opportunities for students to explore, analyze, and research issues on their own and represent a constructive learning experience. Similarly, there is a range in terms of the degree of teaching direction provided with cases; some cases provide a few discussion questions, whereas others provide detailed teaching guidance. All the various formats have utility, but how a case should be structured and presented depends on the purpose of a particular case and its institutional context. As described below, differences in goals and institutional contexts across our three organizations have led to different decisions on how to structure and present the case studies in our respective collections.

For SESYNC, the main purpose of developing a collection of case studies is to engage students in learning about S-E issues and to help students develop specific competencies related to S-E synthesis. To this end, SESYNC cases are designed as teachable units [ 11 ] where learning objectives, assessments, and activities are articulated and aligned. Following the lead of the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science, which has a well-established collection of peer-reviewed case studies in science, SESYNC cases reflect an emphasis on active learning and the thoughtful design of how students will engage with the content of the cases. The cases are formatted to include a set of detailed teaching notes, student handouts, and supplementary materials. The teaching notes are particularly important in SESYNC cases as they contain teaching tips and are intended to be updated with insights gathered from experiences in teaching the case. Within this format, there is a great diversity in the structure and presentation of the cases.

With its cases, MSC opted for a detail-rich, multicomponent format to convey the complexity of sustainability issues and to prepare students to solve sustainability problems. A comprehensive narrative describing a difficult choice faced by a decision maker forms the backbone of each case. A variety of multimedia elements support the narrative and contribute to more inclusive learning by catering to different learning styles and by providing greater accessibility for learners who may respond less well to traditional content delivery modes such as textbooks. In addition, an interactive discussion tool enabled within each case allows users to share knowledge and perspectives across classrooms and across professional and academic communities. Each case includes teaching notes that can be updated with instructor comments and insights and an engaged learning exercise that helps students to unpack a case or teaches them critical skills such as stakeholder conflict resolution. Together the case components are intended to form an instructional package capable of deployment within and outside university classrooms. Although the cases currently follow a standard format, the online presentation is amenable to updates and innovations as the initiative evolves. Thus, the learning platform ( learnmsc.org ) plays a central role in advancing sustainability pedagogy and, through its interactive features, contributes to the goal of bridging research and practice.

Cases in the F&ES collection emphasize student learning and engagement with sustainability issues through cases but in a slightly different way. Like MSC, F&ES cases are also presented as detail-rich, online resources that allow students to explore a variety of modules covering disciplinary and stakeholder perspectives on a central challenge. Rather than focusing on providing a single set of teaching notes for each case, F&ES case efforts focus more broadly on how cases can be integrated into multiple courses within the school’s curriculum. A general set of guiding questions provides faculty case users with a starting point for discussion for the entire case and each module, and the case study team works directly with each faculty member on individually tailored resources as needed. Thus, professors are able to determine how to best cover the case given the time available and subjects covered in their course. As multiple instructors use the same case in different ways, F&ES’s initiative also seeks to uncover best practices and improve cases over time.

Designing Cases: Aligning Learning Goals and Activities

Regardless of the structure and format of a case, the first step for instructors in using a case is to determine what they want students to learn. This is typically formalized through learning goals, which are often provided by case study authors. Given the broad suite of competencies and concepts associated with environmental problem-solving, articulating such learning goals is often a challenge. We agree that the appeal of case studies comes from their real-world relevance and their tangible illustration of the complexity of environmental problems. By examining cases, students can learn about the challenges presented by a particular environmental problem, factors influencing the problem, stakeholders involved with the problem, and potential or actual solutions. But case studies have the potential to go further: They can also help students develop critical competencies needed to tackle environmental problems, including mastery of process skills such as interdisciplinary communication or working in teams. Thus, the challenge of writing learning goals for a particular case forces one to consider more deeply what we want students to learn.

Closely coupled with the articulation of learning goals is the decision of how students will achieve these goals. Given the many ways that students can engage with cases, another challenge for instructors is to decide which activities and methods are best suited for facilitating the desired student learning outcomes. For learning critical process skills, active learning methods are particularly effective given the opportunities they provide for students to learn by doing. For example, one active learning method commonly used in case studies is the jigsaw, a method that helps students to understand and work with differing perspectives. In a jigsaw exercise, students are assigned roles to become experts on a particular aspect of a problem or representatives of a particular viewpoint. The students then bring this newly acquired knowledge and perspective to a group exercise where they are challenged to combine their different expertise—their jigsaw pieces—to arrive at a collective decision about the problem. Jigsaws provide practice in listening and appreciating differing viewpoints and negotiating decisions with groups, where all competencies are important for environmental problem-solving. There are many other active learning methods (for classification scheme of “case study methods,” see [ 9 ]), and one of the SESYNC’s goals is to identify which methods are particularly well suited to teaching environmental competencies. Through the challenge of deciding what students should learn and how they will learn it, instructors must reflect on approaches to teaching with case studies. In doing so, we see potential for individuals to help identify areas where existing pedagogies may be insufficient and perhaps to develop new teaching methods [ 12 ].

Designing Cases: Organizing Materials for Flexible Use

Through the work of creating cases for our respective collections, we have also gained many insights into the process of designing cases and implementing them in the classroom. Perhaps the biggest challenge, and one common to all our efforts, is managing the scope of the case. Given the multifaceted nature of the topics, environmental and sustainability cases tend towards complexity and tend to be long. At the same time, focus and clarity are needed. We have found that an effective solution to this tension is to organize the case in a modular fashion where the elements are presented as a scaffold, and deeper explorations into various aspects of the case are presented as branches from that scaffold. In MSC cases, this can be seen in the supporting multimedia features (podcasts and Edgenotes, which are curated content displayed alongside narrative text). In SESYNC cases, optional, deeper explorations are contained in sections titled “suggested modifications,” where the author provides additional information and suggested activities for deeper study of a particular aspect of the case [ 10 ]. At F&ES, in addition to guiding questions, each background module includes a list of suggested resources (maps, websites, videos, reports, peer-reviewed literature, etc.) that help students dive further into subtopics. This organizational scheme with optional or supplementary modules allows for adaptation of the case to different audience levels and courses. This is particularly important for allowing these cases, which are interdisciplinary in nature, to more easily fit into the curriculum of disciplinary courses.

Using Cases: Supporting Case Study Implementation

Developing high-quality case study materials is important, but the successful implementation of cases can also rely on institutional context and support. While case studies can help students and faculty explore crucial topics and develop needed professional skills, instructors can find it difficult to implement case studies, especially when they are considering using cases they have not developed themselves. Finding good cases has also been problematic given that cases are scattered across many sources, although we hope that the development of this journal and our three initiatives’ libraries will make this easier. Once a case has been selected, an instructor must find ways to adapt it for his or her course, but this can be challenging. First, rearranging an existing syllabus to give adequate time for effective case use is not always possible. Second, faculty members often lament that they have so much core content to cover in a given course that finding time to devote to a case can feel daunting. That can be heightened when teaching a case study requires an instructor to leave his or her comfort zone, in terms of both research subjects and disciplinary expertise, as often happens given the interdisciplinary nature of environmental and sustainability cases. Third, writ large, effective case study teaching requires the practice of active learning strategies and necessitates unscripted, in-class exchanges between instructors and students. This can be a real challenge for the instructor if they do not have experience with active learning and requires support and practice. Overcoming these issues requires institutional support for innovation in teaching, such as creating reward structures for interdisciplinary and collaborative team teaching. It also requires mechanisms for educators to share best practices and teaching insights within and across university units, as we describe below.

Paths Forward

The process of designing case studies has highlighted several directions for future work that could help case studies to reach their full potential as a pedagogical approach for environmental and sustainability fields. Namely, we suggest that greater clarity in how we should teach is needed and that seeking broader engagement in case creation and dissemination will benefit environmental educators and students alike.

Assessment and Evaluation of Case Study Pedagogies

Determining effective ways to help students achieve the desired learning outcomes requires critical reflection about how well various pedagogies are working and for whom. With regard to case studies, some evidence exists that their use promotes knowledge gains [ 13 , 14 ], critical thinking [ 15 ], and problem-solving skills [ 16 , 17 ] and that the case use may be beneficial for first-generation college students [ 18 ]. Additional evidence indicates that teaching through cases and examples that provide “real-world” relevance (i.e., “socio-scientific issues”) increases student’s interest and engagement in learning [ 19 – 22 ] and promotes the development of higher order thinking [ 22 ]. The connection to the place-based, local issues has also been noted for its potential to engage the interest of underrepresented minorities [ 23 ].

However, gaps remain in our understanding of the effectiveness of case study methods in achieving desired learning goals for sustainability and environmental problem-solving. Much of the available evidence supporting case study use comes from investigations of PBL, which is a broader instructional method that varies in its implementation [ 24 ] and is often considered a type of case study method. Moreover, studies of PBL have mainly focused on the medical field. These features of PBL make it difficult to draw broad conclusions, and thus further empirical studies linking case study use to specific student outcomes relevant to environment and sustainability, such as the recently published study in this journal by Anderson et al. [ 14 ], could help to refine best practices in case study production and teaching. Future assessment efforts should also interrogate how the experience of using case studies differs (if at all) in environment and sustainability education. The need for such evidence is particularly acute in the environmental field given the growing emphasis on case studies and the urgency of developing effective pedagogies to help students learn critical competencies. Furthermore, many of the competencies necessary for tackling global environmental problems, such as the ability to work in diverse teams or the ability to integrate ideas from different disciplines, can also be more difficult for instructors to teach and assess. Although some strategies for the assessment of such interdisciplinary competencies exist [ 25 , 26 ], more work needs to be done to develop assessment tools and to make them easily accessible to instructors at the college and university level.

Building Learning Communities

As our initiatives have grown, we have discovered that the process of designing case studies itself is a rich learning experience that we feel is worthwhile to share. Each of our initiatives has made efforts to bring teams together to write cases collaboratively, as well as to build a broader community of educators that can support each other in the design and implementation of case studies in the classroom. We have done this in a variety of ways: At SESYNC, the annual short course on teaching case studies provides a venue for building a base of engaged educators. Many course participants have continued their involvement by engaging in related workshops at SESYNC to further investigate issues related to case study teaching, including best practices for teaching S-E synthesis with case studies [ 27 ] and assessment of systems thinking and interdisciplinary skills. At the University of Michigan, a commitment to include practitioners as case authors promotes co-creation of knowledge across academic and professional communities, and, we posit, helps to train more effective problem solvers and to generate viable solutions to sustainability problems. In addition, the discussion tool enabled within the learning platform provides a space for dialogue to occur between these communities, and with local and global citizens.

Each of our organizations has crafted independent learning communities through our case study initiatives. However, given that environmental case studies are beginning to flourish, as evidenced by the creation of this journal, we see opportunities for building and supporting a broader learning community around case study teaching. For example, one way to build new communities is to create Faculty Mentoring Networks (FMN) modeled after the successful FMNs run by the Quantitative Undergraduate Biology Education and Synthesis network ( qubeshub.org ). These FMNs would facilitate a community of learning focused on improving case study pedagogy by engaging participants in a semester-long effort to adapt and implement existing case studies in their classrooms; participants would then share insights, solicit advice, and provide support to their colleagues through regularly scheduled virtual meetings.

Another way to support a learning community that can disseminate cases and introduce new instructional practices is by inviting case study authors to give in-person demonstrations of their case studies at campuses around the country. Authors are typically highly motivated to share their resources because they have a deep intellectual interest in the subject and, as a result, have devoted substantial time to develop the case. At the same time, instructors unfamiliar with case study use or specific case subject matter can benefit from being exposed to effective case study facilitation. With this in mind, at Yale F&ES, a SESYNC case study on REDD+ in Panama [ 28 ] was integrated into the annual International Society of Tropical Foresters conference in 2017, and the case authors were provided with funding to showcase their work. This allowed students and stakeholder participants to synthesize their existing expertise and newly acquired knowledge from the conference and apply both to the case study. Some in the room had extensive backgrounds in the topic area, while others were newcomers, but by working through the case study role-play exercise, all were able to apply the concepts covered by the event’s panel discussions to a specific context. As this journal and the case study libraries of each of our initiatives expand, we hope to continue to share not just case materials but also teaching insights and experiences from many educators. This could prove especially helpful for faculty members at institutions without robust case study programs who are interested in writing or using cases.

As momentum continues to build around case studies, we are eager to connect with and learn from others who have been working to advance case study teaching in the environmental arena. Only with widely inclusive participation, will we succeed in refining best practices and nurturing pedagogical innovations for environment and sustainability education. Moreover, we have discovered that conversations about case studies also provide a platform for productive discussion about larger issues specific to sustainability and environmental education, including such challenges as defining core competencies for interdisciplinary environmental fields [ 29 ] as well as issues more broadly relevant in higher education, such as interdisciplinary integration and active learning. This journal provides an opportunity to engage in the growing dialogue, and we encourage you to join the collective conversation by submitting your articles to Case Studies in the Environment’s Case Study Pedagogy and other sections. We also invite readers of this journal to explore the case study materials of our growing collections and to share other resources for case studies in the environment. We look forward to hearing your thoughts.

All authors contributed to the original draft preparation, review, and editing of this paper.

The authors thank Bradford Gentry, Rebecca Hardin, and Dustin Mulvaney for their helpful comments on this paper.

Cynthia A. Wei: National Science Foundation DBI-1639145 (National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center). Meghan Wagner: Michigan Sustainability Cases is funded by a grant from the Transforming Learning for a Third Century Initiative at the University of Michigan and by the School for Environment and Sustainability.

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Examining the complex relationship between urbanization and ecological environment in ecologically fragile areas: a case study in southwest china.

• 1 Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
• 2 Neijiang Normal University, Neijiang, Sichuan, China
• 3 Sichuan Institute of Administration, Chengdu, China
• 4 Jinjiang College, Sichuan University, Meishan, China

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The sustainable development of ecologically fragile areas and the implementation of regional coordinated development strategy cannot be separated from the coordinated development and common progress of urbanization and ecological environment, and this is particular the case in Southwest China. This study examines the interplay between urbanization and the ecological environment across 26 cities in Southwest China from 2009 to 2019, utilizing 30 statistical indicators to analyze their coupling coordination relationship and its spatiotemporal evolution. Entropy TOPSIS method, coupling coordination degree model and obstacle factors model were used to calculate the subsystem score, coupling coordination degree and its obstacle factors. Our findings reveal an upward trajectory in urbanization scores across the 26 cities, juxtaposed with a fluctuating downward trend in ecological environment scores. The coupling coordination degree of urbanization and ecological environment of most cities maintained a rapid upward trend, and showed spatial distribution characteristics of "strong core, weak middle and edge". Moreover, our analysis identifies public transport facilities, aggregate purchasing power and cultural supply service services as primary obstacle factors impeding the development of coupling coordination degrees. These research results offer valuable insights for informing future endeavors in achieving high-quality development and fostering ecological civilization.

Keywords: Urbanization, Ecological environment, Coupling coordination degree, obstacle factors model, southwest China

Received: 19 Dec 2023; Accepted: 10 Apr 2024.

Copyright: © 2024 Liu, Guo, Li and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Lanyue Zhang, Jinjiang College, Sichuan University, Meishan, China

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.