Reviewing the Adverse Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Measures on Almond Trees (Prunus dulcis)

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Abstract

Climate change is one of the most emergent environmental challenges, with rising global temperatures, changes in precipitation regimes, and an increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Climate change impacts on the agrarian sector are being experienced across the world and are expected to be aggravated in the upcoming decades. Almond fruits are highly sought after due to their economic and nutritional interest, which contribute to their spread throughout the world. In 2021, the world almond production was approximately 3.9 × 106 t with upward of 4.9 × 103 t year−1. Despite being relatively drought- and heat-resistant, this species is also vulnerable to climate change, particularly its production, which is highly dependent on soil water content and air temperature. To address the challenges of climate change, farmers and other stakeholders in the almond industry are increasingly adopting a range of adaptation measures, such as implementing irrigation systems and planting more drought-tolerant almond varieties. This manuscript describes the impacts of climate change on almond cultivation, reviewing the most recent studies on the subject. Furthermore, a comprehensive analysis of possible adaptation strategies against the potentially negative impacts is carried out, which might be of relevance to almond producers and other stakeholders operating in this value chain.

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The Shared Socioeconomic Pathways and their energy, land use, and greenhouse gas emissions implications: An overview

Keywan Riahi, Detlef Van Vuuren, Elmar Kriegler … (2017)

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Extreme weather and climate events with ecological relevance: a review.

Caroline C. Ummenhofer, Gerald Meehl (2017)

Robust evidence exists that certain extreme weather and climate events, especially daily temperature and precipitation extremes, have changed in regard to intensity and frequency over recent decades. These changes have been linked to human-induced climate change, while the degree to which climate change impacts an individual extreme climate event (ECE) is more difficult to quantify. Rapid progress in event attribution has recently been made through improved understanding of observed and simulated climate variability, methods for event attribution and advances in numerical modelling. Attribution for extreme temperature events is stronger compared with other event types, notably those related to the hydrological cycle. Recent advances in the understanding of ECEs, both in observations and their representation in state-of-the-art climate models, open new opportunities for assessing their effect on human and natural systems. Improved spatial resolution in global climate models and advances in statistical and dynamical downscaling now provide climatic information at appropriate spatial and temporal scales. Together with the continued development of Earth System Models that simulate biogeochemical cycles and interactions with the biosphere at increasing complexity, these make it possible to develop a mechanistic understanding of how ECEs affect biological processes, ecosystem functioning and adaptation capabilities. Limitations in the observational network, both for physical climate system parameters and even more so for long-term ecological monitoring, have hampered progress in understanding bio-physical interactions across a range of scales. New opportunities for assessing how ECEs modulate ecosystem structure and functioning arise from better scientific understanding of ECEs coupled with technological advances in observing systems and instrumentation.This article is part of the themed issue 'Behavioural, ecological and evolutionary responses to extreme climatic events'.