Model emulators for the assessment of regional impacts and risks of climate change: A case study of rainfed maize production in Mexico


Por: Estrada, Francisco, Mendoza, Alma, Murray, Guillermo, Calderon-Bustamante, Oscar, Botzen, Wouter, De León Escobedo T., Velasco, Julian A.

Publicada: 9 mar 2023
Categoría: Environmental science (miscellaneous)

Resumen:
The collection of publicly available databases about climate change and its impacts on natural and human systems is unprecedented and ever-growing. However, the requirements of information can vary widely among users depending on their region, socioenvironmental context, and interests. Moreover, in the current era of active mitigation and adaptation policies, information needs are frequently not satisfied even by these massive and variated collections of databases. The development and use of emulators can help closing this information gap by allowing users to approximate the output from complex models and create user-defined experiments, without being technically or computational demanding on the user. Here, a simple emulator of the EPIC biophysical crop model is presented which is able to adequately reproduce the changes in rainfed maize and to create projections for user-defined scenarios. Moreover, it allows to produce risk measures that are not available with the original model. The proposed methodology is illustrated with a case study of rainfed maize production in Mexico for a reference emissions scenario (SSP370) and two user-defined international mitigation policy scenarios. These scenarios represent 1) current international mitigation commitments and 2) a scenario in which China withdraws from international mitigation efforts. Results showed that, under the reference scenario, climate change could have widespread consequences on rainfed production all over the country with decreases in yields reaching up to 80% in the southeast and northeast of the country. These impacts can be partially modulated by the moderately ambitious mitigation commitments assumed in recent international agreements if all countries comply. However, a potential withdraw of China from these efforts would significantly reduce any benefits from international mitigation. Under all scenarios, changes in productivity impose increasing risks for already vulnerable populations and considerable economic costs at the state and national levels. These results suggest the urgent need for critical planning for adaptation in the agricultural sector of the country.

Filiaciones:
Estrada, Francisco:
 Centro de Ciencias de la Atmósfera, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

 Institute for Environmental Studies, VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

 Programa de Investigación en Cambio Climático, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

 Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Ctr Ciencias Atmosfera, Mexico City, Mexico

 Vrije Univ Amsterdam, Inst Environm Studies, Amsterdam, Netherlands

 Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Programa Invest Cambio Climat, Mexico City, Mexico

Mendoza, Alma:
 Programa de Investigación en Cambio Climático, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

 Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Programa Invest Cambio Climat, Mexico City, Mexico

Murray, Guillermo:
 Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

 Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Inst Invest Ecosistemas & Sustentabilidad, Mexico City, Mexico

Calderon-Bustamante, Oscar:
 Centro de Ciencias de la Atmósfera, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

 Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Ctr Ciencias Atmosfera, Mexico City, Mexico

Botzen, Wouter:
 Institute for Environmental Studies, VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands

 Utrecht University School of Economics (U.S.E.), Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands

 Vrije Univ Amsterdam, Inst Environm Studies, Amsterdam, Netherlands

 Utrecht Univ Sch Econ USE, Utrecht, Netherlands

De León Escobedo T.:
 Posgrado en Geografía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

Velasco, Julian A.:
 Centro de Ciencias de la Atmósfera, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

 Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Ctr Ciencias Atmosfera, Mexico City, Mexico

Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Posgrad Geog, Mexico City, Mexico
ISSN: 2296665X





Frontiers In Environmental Science
Editorial
Frontiers Media S.A., AVENUE DU TRIBUNAL FEDERAL 34, LAUSANNE, CH-1015, SWITZERLAND, Suiza
Tipo de documento: Article
Volumen: 11 Número:
Páginas:
WOS Id: 000957565100001
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