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The climate crisis not only has significant impacts on biodiversity and the physical health of humans, but its ramifications are also affecting people’s mental health. Eco-anxiety, or the emotions that emerge with the awareness of climate change and the apprehension of its detrimental effects, has been investigated in adults and adolescents, but much less attention has been given to the impacts on children’s mental health and well-being. Initial evidence confirms that youth are significantly concerned about climate change, but few studies have investigated the resulting emotional responses of children and the role of their parents in tempering these, especially using qualitative methodologies. The present study used a descriptive qualitative design with a convenience sample of parents and child dyads, assessed separately. Children’s ( n = 15, ages 8–12 years) experiences were explored using semi-structured interviews and their parents’ ( n = 12) perceptions were captured using a survey with closed and open-ended questions. A reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyze the interview data, and content analysis was used to investigate parent-child experiences. Three themes emerged from the thematic analysis: 1. children’s understanding of climate change, 2. their emotional reaction to climate change, and 3. their coping mechanisms to deal with these emotions. The comparative content analysis revealed that parents who were aware that their children had concerns about climate change, had children who used more adaptive coping mechanisms. The results of this qualitative study contribute to a better understanding of children’s emotional experience of the awareness of climate change in Canada and how they cope with these emotions. Furthermore, the results provide insight into the role parents might play in helping their children cope with their feelings.

Abstract Climatic disaster impacts, such as loss of human life as its most severe consequence, have been rising globally. Several studies argue that population growth is responsible for the rise, and the role of climate change is not evident. While disaster mortality is highest in low-income countries, existing studies focus mostly on developed countries. Here we address this impact attribution question in the context of the Global South using disaster-specific mixed-effects regression models. We show that the rise in landslide and flood mortality in a low-income country such as Nepal between 1992-2021 is primarily attributable to increased precipitation extremes. An increase in one standardized unit in maximum one-day precipitation increases flood mortality by 33%, and heavy rain days increase landslide mortality by 45%. Similarly, a one-unit increase in per capita income decreases landslide and flood mortality by 30% and 45%, respectively. Population density does not show significant effects.

Abstract Surface conditions are known to mediate the impacts of climate warming on permafrost. This calls for a better understanding of the environmental conditions that control the thermal regime and the depth of the active layer, especially within heterogeneous tundra landscapes. This study analyzed the spatial relationships between thaw depths, ground surface temperature (GST), and environmental conditions in a High Arctic tundra environment at Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada. Measurements were distributed within the two dominant landforms, namely earth hummocks and low‐center polygons, and across a topographic gradient. Our results revealed that GST and thaw depth were highly heterogeneous, varying by up to 3.7°C and by more than 20 cm over short distances (<1 m) within periglacial landforms. This microscale variability sometimes surpassed the variability at the hillslope scale, especially in summer. Late‐winter snowpack thickness was found to be the prime control on the spatial variability in winter soil temperatures due to the highly heterogeneous snow cover induced by blowing snow, and this thermal effect carried over into summer. However, microtopography was the predominant driver of the spatial variability in summer GST, followed by altitude and moss thickness. In contrast, the spatial variability in thaw depth was influenced predominantly by variations in moss thickness. Hence, summer microclimate conditions dominated active layer development, but a thicker snowpack favored soil cooling in the following summer, due to the later disappearance of snow cover. These results enhance our understanding of High Arctic tundra environments and highlight the complexity of considering surface feedback effects in future projections of permafrost states within heterogeneous tundra landscapes.

Abstract. Accurate knowledge of snow depth distributions in forested regions is crucial for applications in hydrology and ecology. In such a context, understanding and assessing the effect of vegetation and topographic conditions on snow depth variability is required. In this study, the spatial distribution of snow depth in two agro-forested sites and one coniferous site in eastern Canada was analyzed for topographic and vegetation effects on snow accumulation. Spatially distributed snow depths were derived by unmanned aerial vehicle light detection and ranging (UAV lidar) surveys conducted in 2019 and 2020. Distinct patterns of snow accumulation and erosion in open areas (fields) versus adjacent forested areas were observed in lidar-derived snow depth maps at all sites. Omnidirectional semi-variogram analysis of snow depths showed the existence of a scale break distance of less than 10 m in the forested area at all three sites, whereas open areas showed comparatively larger scale break distances (i.e., 11–14 m). The effect of vegetation and topographic variables on the spatial variability in snow depths at each site was investigated with random forest models. Results show that the underlying topography and the wind redistribution of snow along forest edges govern the snow depth variability at agro-forested sites, while forest structure variability dominates snow depth variability in the coniferous environment. These results highlight the importance of including and better representing these processes in physically based models for accurate estimates of snowpack dynamics.

What role can a speculative political ecology play in (re)imaging urban futures of climate extremes? In recent years, narratives of dystopian futures of climate extremes have proliferated in geosciences, and across the media and creative arts. These anxiety-fueled narratives often generate a sense of resignation and unavoidability, which contributes to foreclosing the possibility of radically different political projects. In this article, we argue that these narratives conceal the coproduction of nature and society and treat nature as the problem, thereby locking futures into dystopic configurations. Political ecology scholarship can contribute to generate a politics of possibility by reconceptualizing the relations that constitute urban futures under climate extremes as socionatural. This, we argue, calls for a more experimental political ecology and new forms of theorizing. To this aim, we develop a speculative political ecological approach grounded on a numerical model that examines the potential of transformative change in the aftermath of extreme flood events in a capitalist city. Analytically, this opens a unique possibility of exploring urban futures beyond current trajectories, and how these alternative futures might transform vulnerability and inequality across urban spaces. From a policy perspective, we lay the foundations for a new generation of models that apprehend the role of power and agency in shaping uneven urban futures of climate extremes.

Abstract Flood exposure has been linked to shifts in population sizes and composition. Traditionally, these changes have been observed at a local level providing insight to local dynamics but not general trends, or at a coarse resolution that does not capture localized shifts. Using historic flood data between 2000-2023 across the Contiguous United States (CONUS), we identify the relationships between flood exposure and population change. We demonstrate that observed declines in population are statistically associated with higher levels of historic flood exposure, which may be subsequently coupled with future population projections. Several locations have already begun to see population responses to observed flood exposure and are forecasted to have decreased future growth rates as a result. Finally, we find that exposure to high frequency flooding (5 and 20-year return periods) results in 2-7% lower growth rates than baseline projections. This is exacerbated in areas with relatively high exposure to frequent flooding where growth is expected to decline over the next 30 years.

Background: Few studies have explored how vector control interventions may modify associations between environmental factors and malaria. Methods: We used weekly malaria cases reported from six public health facilities in Uganda. Environmental variables (temperature, rainfall, humidity, and vegetation) were extracted from remote sensing sources. The non-linearity of environmental variables was investigated, and negative binomial regression models were used to explore the influence of indoor residual spraying (IRS) and long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) on associations between environmental factors and malaria incident cases for each site as well as pooled across the facilities, with or without considering the interaction between environmental variables and vector control interventions. Results: An average of 73.3 weekly malaria cases per site (range: 0–597) occurred between 2010 and 2018. From the pooled model, malaria risk related to environmental variables was reduced by about 35% with LLINs and 63% with IRS. Significant interactions were observed between some environmental variables and vector control interventions. There was site-specific variability in the shape of the environment–malaria risk relationship and in the influence of interventions (6 to 72% reduction in cases with LLINs and 43 to 74% with IRS). Conclusion: The influence of vector control interventions on the malaria–environment relationship need to be considered at a local scale in order to efficiently guide control programs.

Abstract The contraction of species range is one of the most significant symptoms of biodiversity loss worldwide. While anthropogenic activities and habitat alteration are major threats for several species, climate change should also be considered. For species at risk, differentiating the effects of human disturbances and climate change on past and current range transformations is an important step towards improved conservation strategies. We paired historical range maps with global atmospheric reanalyses from different sources to assess the potential effects of recent climate change on the observed northward contraction of the range of boreal populations of woodland caribou ( Rangifer tarandus caribou ) in Quebec (Canada) since 1850. We quantified these effects by highlighting the discrepancies between different southern limits of the caribou's range (used as references) observed in the past and reconstitutions obtained through the hindcasting of the climate conditions within which caribou are currently found. Hindcasted southern limits moved ~105 km north over time under all reanalysis datasets, a trend drastically different from the ~620 km reported for observed southern limits since 1850. The differences in latitudinal shift through time between the observed and hindcasted southern limits of distribution suggest that caribou range recession should have been only 17% of what has been observed since 1850 if recent climate change had been the only disturbance driver. This relatively limited impact of climate reinforces the scientific consensus stating that caribou range recession in Quebec is mainly caused by anthropogenic drivers (i.e. logging, development of the road network, agriculture, urbanization) that have modified the structure and composition of the forest over the past 160 years, paving the way for habitat‐mediated apparent competition and overharvesting. Our results also call for a reconsideration of past ranges in models aiming at projecting future distributions, especially for endangered species.

There is currently much discussion as to whether probabilistic (top–down) or possibilistic (bottom–up) approaches are the most appropriate to estimate potential future climate impacts. In a context of deep uncertainty, such as future climate, bottom-up approaches aimed at assessing the sensitivity and vulnerability of systems to changes in climate variables have been gaining ground. A refined framework is proposed here (in terms of coherence, structure, uncertainty, and results analysis) that adopts the scenario–neutral method of the bottom–up approach, but also draws on some elements of the top–down approach. What better guides the task of assessing the potential hydroclimatological impacts of changing climatic conditions in terms of the sensitivity of the systems, differential analysis of climatic stressors, paths of change, and categorized response of the scenarios: past, changing, compensatory, and critical condition. The results revealed a regional behavior (of hydroclimatology, annual water balances, and snow) and a differential behavior (of low flows). We find, among others, the plausible scenario in which increases in temperature and precipitation would generate the same current mean annual flows, with a reduction of half of the snow, a decrease in low flows (significant, but differentiated between basins), and a generalized increase in dry events.