Climate change, with a higher temperature, is making the snow covered period shorter in the Swedish mountain region. This represents a threat towards plant species at high altitudes which, due to their sensitivity to temperature changes, will likely lead to a change in plant species composition. The purpose of this study was to determine if there has been any change in vegetation cover in the Swedish mountain region and if temperature has changed, based on data from a long-term monitoring program called National Inventory of Landscapes in Sweden (NILS), and data collected from the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI). The NILS program has conducted three different inventories from 2003 – 2018 in which Sweden is divided into 10 stratums. Further, NILS divided Sweden into 631 survey quadrates (5x5 km), which of 145 were distributed across the Swedish mountain region. Linear regression analysis was used to determine if there had been any change in the average vegetation cover, or in the cover of lichens, mosses and herbs, and to assess if there had been any change in temperature during the sample years 2003 – 2018. The results showed that the vegetation cover in both the sample blocks of 20 m radius and smaller sample areas 0.252 m had no significant change. Neither did the cover of herbs or the average temperature. The period of 2003 – 2018 might have been too short of a period to see any kind of difference in the temperature and the herbs might have a difficult time surviving due to a long drought period and hence they have not been able to increase their average cover. Results of lichens and mosses showed a significant increase in cover which could be because they can withstand drought better than herbs and therefore have a better chance of surviving the rise in temperature. In conclusion I observed no change in the cover of vegetation but there is an increasing cover of lichens and mosses in the Swedish mountain regions. / Klimatförändring med en högre temperatur leder till att den snötäckta perioden är kortare i det svenska fjällområdet. Detta är ett hot mot växtarter som redan befinner sig på gränsen av sin extrema klimatzon och kommer med stor sannolikhet leda till en förändring i kompositionen av växtarter. Syftet med denna studie var att fastställa om det har blivit någon förändring i vegetationstäcket i det svenska fjällområdet och om det finns en förändring i temperaturen med hjälp av data från Nationell Inventering av Landskapet i Sverige (NILS) och data insamlat av Sveriges Meteorologiska och Hydrologiska Institut (SMHI). NILS programmet har i dagsläge utfört inventering vid 3 olika perioder fördelade mellan 2003 – 2018 och dom har delat upp Sverige i 10 olika stratum där stratum 10 är fjällområdet. Vidare har dom delat in Sverige i 631 inventerings rutor, varav 145 ligger i fjällområdet. Lineär regression analys användes för att se om det blivit någon förändring i täckningen av vegetationen, lavar, mossor och örter, samt för att se om temperaturen förändrats under inventeringsåren 2003 – 2018. Resultatet av täckningen på vegetationen i 20 m radie samt de små provområdena på 0,252 visade inte någon antydan på signifikant skillnad. Det gjorde inte heller resultatet på täckningen av örter eller medeltemperaturen. 2003 – 2018 kan ha varit alldeles för kort för att avgöra om det har blivit någon förändring i medeltemperaturen och örter kan ha de svårare att överleva då torrperioden blivit längre på grund utav den kortare snötäckta perioden. Mossor och lavar hade dock båda en ökning i sin täckning vilket kan förklaras med att många arter kan lagra vätska under en lång tid och har därmed en större chans att överleva en stigande temperatur. Slutsatsen är att sedan 2003 förekommer det inte någon förändring i vegetationstäcket, däremot finns det en ökad täckning av lavar och mossor i det svenska fjällområdet.

The present work examines the potential impact of changes in climatic conditions on the long-term functioning of nuclear power plants. Nuclear power plants are potentially susceptible to changes both in acute risks, such as severe storm events, and chronic risks, such as detrimental changes in the thermodynamics of plant operation. Extending plant lifetimes well beyond the lengths of operation for which they were originally designed suggests the necessity of studying the impacts such changes might have. Potential threats are examined in light of earlier work performed by Business Continuity Consulting on commission for Enteritgy Nuclear. The fourteen risk drivers identified in that work as threats warranting additional investigation are studied individually, and their relevance and likely impact extrapolated for regions covered by the ten selected sites under examination. Thermodynamic eff ects are simulated with a plant analysis program known as PEPSE (Performance Evaluation of Plant Systems Efficiencies), with which a broad range of modeled environmental and plant conditions are analyzed for potential impacts to plant functioning. Of the fourteen climatic risk drivers considered, changes in drought and ood severity and frequency resulting from climate change were determined to be the most likely detriments to plant operations. Precipitation gures indicate that plants located in the Midwest are particularly susceptible to future drought conditions while those in the Northeast are likely to experience more frequent ooding. Many of the risk drivers specifi ed by the earlier work were only cursorily examined in light of the complex nature of these phenomena and lack of well defi ned correlation to climate change. Other risks were analyzed using the gathered data, but were determined not to pose signi ficant threats to plant operations. In addition to large scale climatic e ffects, changes related to coolant uid temperature rise and plant component efficiency were examined to qualify their e ect on the thermodynamics of the model plant. Plant operating conditions were modeled for a wide range of conditions related to theoretical environmental changes. These examinations showed negligibly small impacts caused by increased coolant water temperature and moderate impact caused by changes in air humidity.

L’activité de captage permet d’assurer l’approvisionnement en juvéniles d’huîtres creuses,C. gigas, pour de nombreux ostréiculteurs. Les professionnels du bassin d’Arcachon ont constaté une augmentation de la variabilité du nombre de naissains fixés depuis la fin des années 90. Cette thèse vise à identifier les sources d’une telle variabilité du recrutement de l’huître creuse. Cette question est abordée par une analyse originale de chacune des étapes du cycle de reproduction :un modèle DEB pour la gamétogenèse, la valvométrie pour l’émission des gamètes, des séries historiques de pêches de larves pour le stade larvaire et un modèle hydrodynamique pour la dispersion.Concernant la gamétogenèse, les résultats soulignent l’importance du paramètre de qualité du phytoplancton pour la description des variations de la fécondité. L’étude de l’émission des gamètes montre qu’elle intervient préférentiellement aux pleines mer, lors des marées de vives-eaux et pour des amplitudes thermiques quotidiennes importantes. Ces observations rendent l’émission des gamètes prévisible. Le captage à Arcachon dépend de la survie des cohortes larvaires, elle-même dépendante d’un effet climatique complexe structuré autour de la température de l’eau. Enfin, les bassins d’Arcachon et de Marennes-Olèron semblent soumis aux variations de l’apport en larves, avec une source extérieure aux zones de captage en Charente et une source interne déclinante à Arcachon. Ce déclin de l’apport en larves et l’effet climatique sont les deux sources supposées de la variabilité accrue du captage dans le bassin d’Arcachon. / Spat collecting supplies numerous oyster-farmers with young cupped oyster, C. gigas.Since the end of the nineties, professionals have noticed an increasing variability of the number of spat among years. This thesis aimed to identify the origin of the variability of oyster recruitment. This question is addressed by different methods for each step of the reproduction of oyster: a DEB model for gametogenesis, valvometry for spawning, cohort analysis for larvalstage and hydrodynamic models for dispersion.At the stage of the gametogenesis, variations of fecundity appear to be mainly influenced by phytoplankton quality. The study of spawning shows that it happens during high tides of springtides, leading to a spawning that is foreseeable. For Arcachon Bay, spat number depends on the survival of larval cohort that is in turn submitted to a complex climatic effect mainly based on sea temperature. Arcachon and Marennes-Oléron Bays seem also to depend on the variability of larval supply: the supply of larvae is provide by a source of larvae in the north of spat collecting areas for Charente and by an local source that seems to decrease for Arcachon. This decreaseof larval supply and the climate effect are the two suspected origins of the increased variabilityof spat collecting in Arcachon Bay.

The effect of recent climate change in Central Asia poses a significant and potentially serious challenge to the region’s agricultural sector. An investigation of the aerosol-climate- crop yield correlation in this region is essential for a better understanding of the effect of aerosols and climate on Central Asian agriculture. Our goal is to investigate the linkages between aerosol, climate and major crop production (cotton, maize, wheat, and rice) in specified agricultural regions in the five Central Asian countries. Our approach is to perform the Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient analysis in order to observe the statistical correlation between crop yield, temperature, precipitation, and aerosol optical depth (AOD), for each indicated agricultural region in the selected countries. Besides, using NASA GIOVANNI website tools, we retrieve distribution maps and time series of temperature, precipitation and AOD to facilitate the analyses. The research shows that in some aspects, the relation between AOD, climate, and crop yield is different in Central Asia than in previous global or large scale research hypotheses. The statistical correlations vary not only across countries but also across agricultural regions. For example, in Kazakhstan, opposite correlations exist between precipitation and AOD in two different agricultural regions even though both regions are rain-fed. In the more arid countries (with lower rain rates) such as Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, no correlation exists between crop production and temperature, precipitation, and AOD, while the less arid (with higher rain rate) countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan) indicate a positive correlation.

Drygt en miljon invånare i Sverige är beroende av enskild dricksvattenförsörjning från grundvatten. För låga grundvattennivåer i grundvattenmagasin, kan bland annat leda till saltvatteninträngning i dricksvattenbrunnar. Syftet med studien var att fastställa om topografi, avstånd till hav, brunnsdjup, jorddjup och jordart är kopplat till kloridhalter i dricksvatten, att undersöka om och vad det finns för risker för saltvatteninträngning i ett framtida förändrat klimat, av klimatförändringar, samt om det finns några åtgärder mot saltvatteninträngning.  Korrelationstestet Kendall’s tau användes för att undersöka om det fanns en signifikant korrelation mellan kloridhalter och topografi, avstånd till hav, brunnsdjup och jorddjup och Wilcoxon rank sum test användes för att undersöka om det fanns någon signifikant skillnad mellan de olika jordarterna. I denna studie fastställdes negativ korrelation mellan kloridhalter och avstånd till hav (p=0,000341), samt kloridhalter och topografi (p=0,0124). Studien visade på att det inte fanns någon signifikant korrelation mellan kloridhalter och resterande parametrar, vilket tidigare forskning dock indikerar. Vad gäller brunnsdjup, fanns en signifikant korrelation mellan topografi och brunnsdjup, vilket kan tyda på att brunnar generellt är borrade grundare i låglänta områden. Gällande jorddjupet kopplat till kloridhalter, antogs det vara för tunt (cirka en meter) för att kunna se något tydligt resultat av korrelationstestet, då ett för tunt jordlager inte påverkar grundvattenbildningen i tillräckligt stor utsträckning. Detta bidrog även till att det inte fanns någon signifikant skillnad mellan jordarterna.  För den andra delen av studien utformades en modell i Matlab, för att undersöka om och hur klimat- förändringar kommer påverka grundvattennivåförändring och därmed även saltvatteninträngning. Referensperioden var 2004-2020 och framtidsscenariona var RCP4.5 och RCP8.5, vilka delades upp i två olika perioder: 2021-2060 och 2061-2099. Modellen visade på att grundvattennivåer blir lägre i ett framtida påverkat klimat, vilket kan tyda på att det är en större risk för saltvatteninträngning. Dock fanns det många osäkerheter och modellen skulle kunna göras mer nyanserad.  För den tredje delen av studien gjordes en litteraturstudie där sju olika åtgärder undersöktes: kontrollering av grundvattenuttag, vattensnåla åtgärder i hemmet, att borra grundare brunnar i riskområden, anslutning till kommunalt vatten, omvänd osmos, ADR (abstraction, desalination, recharge) och SWT (subsurface water technologies). Dessa jämfördes därefter mot varandra genom att ställa upp för- och nackdelar för alla åtgärder. Överlag är förebyggande åtgärder att föredra, dock tycks SWT eller ADR vara bättre än omvänd osmos för redan kontaminerat vatten. / Just over one million inhabitants in Sweden are dependent on individual drinking water supply from groundwater. When the groundwater levels are too low in a groundwater reservoir, it can lead to saltwater intrusion in drinking water wells. The purpose of this study was to establish whether topography, distance to sea, well depth, soil depth and type of soil correlated with chloride in drinking water, to investigate whether there is a risk for saltwater intrusion in a future changed climate, due to climate change, and to investigate if there are any measures to minimize saltwater intrusion.  Kendall’s tau was used to investigate if there were any significant correlations between chloride and topography, distance to sea, well depth and soil depth. Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to investigate if there was a significant difference between the soil types. In this study the results only showed a significant correlation between chloride and distance to sea (p=0,000341) and between chloride and topography (p=0,0124). There was no significant correlation between chloride and the rest of the parameters. However, earlier research has shown that there is a correlation between chloride and all previous mentioned parameters. There was a significant correlation between topography and well depth, which can imply that the wells are drilled shallower in lowland areas. Regarding the soil depth connected to chloride, it is assumed that the soil depth is too thin (about one meter) to see any clear results, since a shallow soil depth won’t affect the groundwater recharge enough. This could also contribute to no significant difference between chloride and soil types.  For the second part of the study a model was built in Matlab, to investigate if and how climate change will affect changes in groundwater levels and therefore if it will influence saltwater intrusion. The reference period was 2004-2020 and the future scenarios were RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, which were divided into two periods: 2021-2060 and 2061-2099. The model showed lower groundwater levels in the future, which can imply there is a greater risk of saltwater intrusion. Although there are multiple limitations and the model could be made more nuanced.  For the third part of this study, a literature study was made, where seven different measures where investigated: to control groundwater abstraction, to install waterefficient techniques in households, to drill shallower wells in risk areas, reversed osmosis, ADR (abstraction, desalination, recharge) and SWT (subsurface water technologies). These were compared to each other, where advantages and disadvantages were balanced against each other. Overall, preventative measures are preferable, although SWT and ADR are better than reversed osmosis for already contaminated water.