Estimating economic impacts in New Zealand: Technical issues

Abstract: This technical paper describes the techniques used to calculate future economic impacts, using two quite different situations: a technology park in a major urban area and the suspension of fees at a tertiary institution in a provincial town. A number of issues arose which required assumptions to be made. Notable among these were the lack of regionalized input–output tables and estimating the ‘leakage’ to economies outside the specified target area.     

全球气候变化与能源安全的地缘政治

当前,气候变化问题已经远远超出科学研究的范畴,它影响到经济运行模式,乃至于利益格局和地缘关系,并成为国际关系中的焦点。中国正处于工业化的中期,在国际经济社会发展转型、世界地缘格局重组关键期,应对气候变化也是中国发展阶段的内在需求。随着气候变化对各国国内竞争力,以及重要地缘战略地区影响加大,气候变化和地缘政治呈现出复杂多元的关系,气候变化时代的地缘政治逐渐影响到各国战略和外交。本文围绕利益和博弈来阐述气候变化带来的地缘政治新特征,并在此基础上提出相关政策建议：国际气候谈判中,权衡利益,处理好复杂的大国关系;加强风险研判,积极与美国和欧盟开展能源、气候变化方面的合作;依托“一带一路”,确保我国能源安全,并积极参与全球能源治理;在“南南合作”方面,创新机制,大幅增加投入力度。最后,提出地理学界在气候变化与能源安全方面应加强的研究方向。     

气候变化风险的新型分类

风险分类是对气候变化风险进行系统风险评估和管理的前提和基础。本文首先按部门和领域识别了主要的气候变化风险,然后采用国际风险管理理事会(International Risk Governance Council, IRGC)的新型风险分类体系(简单风险、复杂风险、不确定风险和模糊风险)进行分类:提出以"不确定性"作为分类依据;把IPCC第四次评估报告中描述不确定性的主要术语——"信度"和"可能性"作为分类特征参数,分别构建了四类风险的模糊隶属函数,根据最大隶属度原则从定量角度对气候变化风险进行分类;同时利用IPCC的两个定性指标"达成一致的程度和证据量"对定量分类方法进行补充,初步建立了气候变化风险的分类方法体系。获得的气候变化风险分类的初步结果,可以为风险管理机构选择不同类别的评估和管理方法进行风险研究提供科学依据。     

Multi-decadal coastal change in New Zealand: Evidence, mechanisms and implications

Abstract:   Coastal research and monitoring on New Zealand beaches have typically examined seasonal and event-driven (storms) changes in the coast. However, historical records are now of sufficient length to indicate that change occurs at longer timescales. This paper presents examples of multi-decadal change at three case-study locations around New Zealand. Results show that morphological adjustment of the coast occurs at multi-decadal scales and is much larger than short-term dynamics. Physical mechanisms driving changes are ill defined but may be associated with El Niños and La Niña episodes which modulate waves and sea level, as well as changes in sediment supply.     

Mapping the stray domestic cat (Felis catus) population in New Zealand: Species distribution modelling with a climate change scenario and implications for protected areas

Species distribution models of stray cats were developed using two types of occurrence data: (i) a combined dataset of stray cats and cat colonies in Auckland and projected to the wider New Zealand area; and (ii) population density as an analogue for country-wide stray cat occurrence. These occurrence data, together with sets of environmental variables were used as input to the Maxent modelling tool to produce maps of suitability for the species. Environmental variables used in the models consist of current bioclimatic conditions, and a future climate scenario (RCP8.5 for year 2070 CCSM model). Commonly occurring bias in the modelling process due to latitude, the area for selecting background points in model evaluation, inherent spatial autocorrelation of occurrence points, and correlated bioclimatic variables were explicitly addressed. Results show that the North Island consistently provide more suitable areas for stray cats with increased suitability in a high emission climate change condition. Key protected areas at risk from the increased suitability to stray cats are also presented.     

Perceived deficiencies in the provision of climate and weather information for tourism: A New Zealand media analysis

Climate and weather are important for tourism and leisure as they impact on destination attractiveness and subsequent visitation. Through an archive analysis of media articles and a content analysis of Regional Tourism Organisation (RTO) websites, this paper explores perceived deficiencies in the currently available climate and weather information for tourists in New Zealand. While media reports focused on concern by many RTOs over the poor regional images generated by inaccurate and poorly presented climate and weather data, the RTO websites were found to contain limited climate and weather information. There is considerable potential for RTOs to improve in this respect.     

Sediment supply and climate change: implications for basin stratigraphy

The rate of sediment supply from erosional catchment to depositional basin depends primarily upon climate, relief, catchment slope and lithology. It varies in both time and space. Spatial changes in erosion rates due to variations in lithology are illustrated by contrasting rates of drainage divide migration away from faults of known ages. Time variations in relative sediment supply are extremely complex and vary widely according to the direction and magnitude of climate change. In many parts of the Great Basin and south-western USA, glacial maximum climates were characterized by higher effective moisture and the altitudinal downward spread of woods and forests. Sparse data from alluvial fans indicate reduced sediment supply, despite the increased runoff evident from higher lake levels. The situation in Mediterranean areas is less clear, with rival climatic scenarios for vegetation ecotypes predicting contrasting runoff. In order to test these latter we run Cumulative Seasonal Erosion Potential [CSEP] experiments for present-day and a variety of full-glacial Mediterranean candidate climates. The results indicate the likelihood of enhanced sediment supply and runoff compared to the present day during full-glacial times for a cool wet winter climate and a reduction in sediment supply and runoff for a full-glacial cool dry winter climate. We then explore the consequences of such phase differences in sediment supply, and sea and lake levels for the stratigraphy of sedimentary basins. Highstands and lowstands of sea or lake may be accompanied by greater or lesser sediment and water supply, as determined by the regional climate and the direction of climatic change. Thus marine lowstands are not necessarily periods of great transfer of coarse clastic sediments to shelves and deep water basinal environments. Unsteady sediment supply has greatest implications for alluvial systems, in particular the effect that changing relative supplies of water and sediment have upon river and fan channel incision.     

Imaging vulnerability: the iconography of climate change

This paper explores the iconography of climate change in contemporary climate action campaigns in the UK. I aim to show how sample images are simultaneously scientific denotations of global warming and cultural connotations of danger and vulnerability. I further demonstrate that while similar images are associated with different agendas and geographical visions, they attach to a shared discourse of vulnerability that has Western (colonial) roots. The paper concludes with an overview of possible ways for climate action campaigns to effectively convey their political messages without recycling colonial visions of the world.     

A new look at population change and regional development in Aotearoa New Zealand

In New Zealand, population change is interlinked with regional development. Places growing in population attract regional investment, while regional investment—or lack thereof—can change migration patterns. However, to determine the appropriate response to population change for a community, it is important to understand that population change involves much more than “just” migration. Specifically, it involves interactions between the three components of population change: natural change (births minus deaths), net migration (international and internal) and population ageing (changing cohort size). For example, migration can be negative, but growth can be positive due to underlying natural increase or growth in cohort size. Responses need to differ, depending on these drivers. The goal of this article is to provide new insights into these interactions using data for 275 cities, towns and rural centres (hereafter “urban places”) in New Zealand for the period 1976 to 2013. The results show that natural change has been consistently positive for most urban places up to the present, although projections indicate that in the future this component will become negative across much of the country. At the same time, net migration shows considerable spatial variation, not only in terms of volume, but also direction (negative or positive), which differs markedly by age. A net gain of people of retirement age can offset a net loss of young adults to deliver overall growth, and vice‐versa, but the two have very different implications for longer term growth. An analysis of the drivers of net migration using GIS and machine learning techniques provides an indication of the importance of economic conditions (land‐use and access to markets), lifestyle, access to essential services (hospitals and education) and their interaction with age in regional change. The results show that population age is the best predictor of migration. Younger people are moving to cities for tertiary education and work and older people near or in retirement are moving to smaller lifestyle towns but also want to be close to amenities such as hospitals and international airports. The research also shows that natural lifestyle characteristics (landscape and climate), in combination with age are just as important as economic conditions for understanding migration. Regional development, such as infrastructure that helps business (ports and services) is important for the working age population but not necessarily the retirement age group. When regional development, age/life‐cycle stage and lifestyle come together, such as in Queenstown and Tauranga, net migration gain is high.     

Managing climate change scenarios for societal impact studies

Dealing with the potential consequences of climate change on society requires scenarios that accurately project future climate. Uncertainties about future greenhouse gas emissions, climate sensitivity to radiative forcing, and limits to simulating a complex system constrain this objective. This paper reviews literature outlining the inherent challenges of creating future climate scenarios from general circulation models; it examines methods used to improve their interpretation and use; and it explores approaches taken to recognize and address uncertainty when investigating interactions between climate and society.     

Understanding and managing climate change: the UK experience

Climate change has emerged over the last 25 years not just as a physical reality, affecting global and regional climates, but also as a socio-cultural phenomenon – an icon of a globalizing world which is increasingly altering the physical fabric of our planet and at the same time demanding new forms of global governance. The UK, both through its scientific research activity and through its development of climate change policy initiatives, has been at the forefront of this emergence. This review traces some of this history from a UK perspective, with an emphasis on the last 10 years. The relationship between climate change science and policy has become increasingly reflexive, leading to new forms of research and institutional structures. The academic discipline of geography has been rather marginalized from this process.     

Agents of landscape change in southern New Zealand, 1896–1920

The records of two large stock and station agents, Loan & Mercantile Agency in Dunedin and Wright Stephenson in Invercargill, allowed us to track the timing, nature, magnitude and rate of landscape change in southern New Zealand between 1896 and 1920. This period extends from the final years of subdivision of large estates, and includes closer settlement, the shift from pastoral farming to intensive agriculture, growth of dairying, and increasing mechanisation of agriculture. These changes are reflected in clients’ annual expenditures on capital items such as fencing and building materials, tools and implements, materials for drains.     

Comparative policy analysis: Neoliberalising New Zealand

Comparative policy analysis involves systematically examining the long‐term formation of public policies across a number of societies. It focuses particularly on the sequence of policy regimes: liberalism – Keynesianism/social democracy – neoliberalism. Since 1980, neoliberalism has been widely adopted as the guiding ideological structure for economic policy making. But neoliberalism encounters resistances that vary with national contexts. New Zealand is a particularly interesting case because of its reputation as a social democratic, welfare state that went neoliberal with a vengeance (Rogernomics).     

Air Pollution Exposure Index for New Zealand

This study proposes a regional air pollution exposure index (RAPEI) for Auckland, Canterbury, Otago and Wellington regions. The air pollution index multiplies an emission index (NOx emissions kg/annum), a surrogate for ambient air pollution levels, with a population density index (people per sq km), a surrogate for population exposure. Census Area Units (CAUs), and subsequently defined “key areas” within a region are ranked from 0 to 16. This is one method of investigating the effectiveness of air quality monitoring networks and identifying urban exposure airsheds in New Zealand. Results verified New Zealand's urban exposure airsheds and highlighted areas that may be potential “hot spots” in terms of relatively high ambient air pollution levels and potentially high population exposures. It is possible that these areas should be closely monitored. The GIS‐based maps also show New Zealand's permanent and temporary air quality monitoring stations.