Climate Change in Algeria: Vulnerability and Strategy of Mitigation and Adaptation

Climate Change Impacts Can Be Differentially Perceived Across Time Scales: A Study Among the Tuareg of the Algerian Sahara

As an Indigenous community of Algeria and the broader Sahel, the Tuareg hold unique ecological knowledge, which might contribute to broader models of place-based climate change impacts. Between January and April 2019, we carried out semi-structured interviews (N = 23) and focus group discussions (N = 3) in five villages of the province of Illizi, Algeria, to document the local Tuareg community's timeline and ecological calendar, both of which are instruments used to understand place-based reports of climate change impacts. The livelihoods of the Tuareg of Illizi are finely tuned to climate variability as reflected in changes reported in the cadence of events in their ecological calendar (marked by cyclical climatic and religious events). Participants reported rain and temperature irregularities and severe drought events, which have impacted their pastoral and semi-pastoral livelihoods. These reports are aligned with scientifically measured climate observations and predictions. Paradoxically, although participants recall with detail the climatic disasters that happened in the region over the last century, the Tuareg do not explicitly report decadal trends in the frequency of extreme events. The differential perception of climate change impacts across scales can have important implications for undertaking climate change adaptation measures.

Environmental strategies for achieving a new foreign direct investment golden decade in Algeria

While numerous studies have discussed the impact of economic growth on the environment, this paper advances in the empirical literature, aiming to validate the existence of an N-shaped environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) relationship between the ecological footprint and economic growth in Algeria during the period 1975-2014. The proposed empirical model includes as additional explanatory variables the foreign direct investment (FDI) and the electricity consumption aimed to increase the relevance of the results, correcting the lack of studies that have previously analyzed the EKC for the case of Algeria. Through the ARDL econometric approach, we confirm an N-shaped EKC between the per capita economic growth and ecological footprint in Algeria, reinforcing these results using the FMOLS and DOLS techniques. In the long run, the empirical results confirmed that the N-shaped EKC in Algeria is valid; electricity consumption and foreign direct investment directly impact ecological footprint. Even though the main objective of this study is to assess the N-shaped EKC, the novelty of the paper is the analysis of the interaction between FDI and electricity consumption. The empirical evidence reveals that FDI contributes to reducing the negative impact of fossil sources in the energy mix in Algeria through the transition to a cleaner energy mix pattern. In the final step of our analysis, we explore the causal nexus among variables by applying the Toda Yamamoto non-causality test. The Toda Yamamoto non-causality test reveals a unidirectional causality between economic growth and ecological footprint; one-run relationship flows from electricity consumption to ecological footprint, and economic growth leads to cause foreign-direct investment. These empirical results evidence the necessity of establishing suitable policies after the gold decade of the FDI in Algeria, being required to advance in this line to come back to ascending levels of FDI after the financial crisis of 2008 and the current COVID-19 crisis. In this sense, policymakers should consider the advantages of FDI for promoting clean foreign investment, necessary for reaching a transition to sustainable development in Algeria. In this sense, this study proposes a battery of environmental strategies to achieve this objective and sustainable growth in the country. Thus, policy implications and directions for future research are suggested.

Measures to Promote Renewable Energy for Electricity Generation in Algeria

Algeria has enormous renewable energy potential. However, fossil fuels remain the main electricity generation source, and the country is the third largest CO2 emitter in Africa. Algeria is also particularly vulnerable to climate change. Therefore, a set of actions related to energy, forests, industry and waste sectors have been programmed, over the period 2015–2030, and the government action program has given priority to promote renewable energy. In this sense, Algeria is committed to significantly promote investment in renewable energy, during the period 2020–2030. Thus by 2030, renewable electricity production capacity will achieve 22,000 MW, representing 27% of total electricity generation. This paper analyzes the electricity generation measures implemented in Algeria to reach the required energy mix, the legislative framework, financial aid, the feed-in tariff system, the tax incentives, and the tender and auctions undertaken. The analyses reveal that, although the electricity price premium policy has not been revoked, the newly enacted tender scheme is designed to become the standard procedure for launching renewable energy projects in Algeria in the coming years.

Molecular identification of Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) species in Algeria

Bluetongue is a serious vector-borne viral disease that infects wild and domestic ruminants. The causative virus is transmitted by midges of the genus Culicoides, which consists of at least 1350 species worldwide. Since 1998, bluetongue disease has spread to Europe and northern Africa, including Algeria. To better understand the distribution of Culicoides species in Algeria, adult midges were collected from 17 different regions in Algeria from 2009 to 2015. At first, 492 specimens were grouped into 52 batches by wing patterns and geographic area of Algeria. Analysis of 60 nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene showed that the presence of 14 species including five unknown species, which were belonged to seven distinct subgenera. At least five species (C. imicola, C. obsoletus, C. puncticollis, C. kingi, and C. newsteadi) were discussed as potential vectors of bluetongue virus (BTV). The present study provides important insights into the genetic diversity of Culicoides and the potential spread of BTV in Algeria.

Evaluation of climate change adaptation in the energy generation sector in Colombia via a composite index - A monitoring tool for government policies and actions

The aim of the article is to evaluate the national adaptation to climate change in the energy generation sector in Colombia via a composite index. To build an index, a framework by stages is used, which includes the definition of the main concepts that supports the measurements; the selection of the relevant indicators using a subject matter experts; standardization of the indicators using a mathematic formula regarding the relationship between the variables that represent the adaptation to climate change; and establishment of the weights using an analytic hierarchical process of paired comparisons and the aggregation of indicators to obtain the following three sub-indexes: reactive adaptation, wherein the replacement of hydraulic energy by thermal energy is evaluated; anticipatory adaptation, which measures the gap between the generation of total energy and the demand of the national energy system; and planned adaptation, which considers indicators such as the sectoral plan for adapting to climate change, the law of alternative energies, and the generation of alternative energies as a percentage of generation capacity. By adding these sub-indices, the climate change adaptation index (CCAI) is obtained. The results of CCAI show that progress was made from a reactive adaptation scenario in which the system vulnerability was high to an anticipatory adaptation scenario wherein the vulnerability was average, indicating that the foundations for this sector to build a planned adaptation are currently being laid.

Modelling fire hazard in the southern Mediterranean fire rim (Bejaia region, northern Algeria)

The southern rim of the Mediterranean Basin (MB) has a long fire history but fire hazard is poorly investigated in comparison to the northern rim. We built a fire database using MODIS data (2001-2015) for an area typical of the northern coastal Algeria (Bejaia region) in order to decipher the role of environmental and anthropic controls on the fire frequency and the area burnt. We found a high role of bioclimate, which controls the fuel dryness, ignitability, and biomass. Maximal fire frequency and burnt areas were recorded in northern sub-humid areas with high amounts of forests and shrublands, and fire was limited in the southern sub-arid area. Humans set most fires, and preferentially burn forests, shrublands, pastures, groves, and agricultural lands. The maximal fire frequency and burnt area occurs in wildland urban interfaces characterized by forest-shrublands mosaics with disseminated habitats. Fire activity is low to medium in rural-urban interfaces characterized by agropastoral areas with high habitat density and large habitat patches. Small to large crown fires occur in forests and shrublands, while small surface fires predominate in agropastoral areas and groves. Large fires (> 100 ha) are rare (10%) but contribute for ca. 50% to the total area burnt. These fire features are typical of many rural countries of the southern rim of the MB, and contrast with those on the northern rim. Based on this, we propose to improve the prevention, the detection, and the management of forest fires in the long term and to protect forests that host high biodiversity in Algeria.

The effects of early age thermal conditioning and vinegar supplementation of drinking water on physiological responses of female and male broiler chickens reared under summer Mediterranean temperatures

The effects of early age thermal conditioning (ETC), vinegar supplementation (VS) of drinking water, broilers' gender, and their interactions on respiratory rate, body temperature, and blood parameters (biochemical, hematological, and thyroid hormones) of broiler chickens reared under high ambient temperatures were determined. A total of 1100 1-day-old chicks were divided into four treatments: the "control" which were non-conditioned and non-supplemented; "heat-conditioned" which were exposed to 38 ± 1 °C for 24 h at 5 days of age; "vinegar supplemented" which were given drinking water supplemented with 0.2% of commercial vinegar from 28 to 49 days of age; and "combined" which were both heat conditioned and vinegar supplemented. All groups were exposed to the natural fluctuations of summer ambient temperature (average diurnal ambient temperature of about 30 ± 1 °C and average relative humidity of 58 ± 5%). ETC and broiler gender did not affect the respiratory rate or body temperature of chronic heat-exposed chickens. VS changed the body temperature across time (d35, d42, d49) (linear and quadratic effects, P < 0.05) without changing respiratory rate. Heat-conditioned chickens exhibited lower levels of glycemia (P < 0.0001) and higher hematocrit and red blood cell counts (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the greatest effects of VS, alone or associated with ETC, were the lowering of cholesterol and triglyceride blood concentrations. A significant (P < 0.05) effect of ETC, gender, and ETC×gender on T3:T4 ratio was observed. Finally, some beneficial physiological responses induced by ETC and VS, separately or in association, on chronically heat-stressed chickens were observed. However, the expected cumulative positive responses when the two treatments were combined were not evident.