CNH-L: Energy Transitions and Environmental Change in East and Southern Africa's Coupled Human, Terrestrial, and Atmospheric Systems

在发展中国家，许多人将木质燃料用作烹饪、取暖和小型工业活动的能源。随着人口的增加，燃烧木材或其他生物质对森林活力、空气质量以及人类健康或福祉的影响可能是严重的。这个项目调查了这些关注领域之间的动态联系，并评估了可以缓解未来问题的策略。它审查了人们如何利用森林资源获取能源，以及这些习惯是否会因采用更高效的炉灶和其他新技术而改变。对森林状况的影响将通过直接测量和建模加以检验。对空气质量的测量将决定污染程度的影响程度。实地地点在马拉维，结果将扩大，以确定东部和南部非洲较大地区可能发生的变化。这项研究有可能改善环境状况严重恶化地区的森林状况和空气质量，并改善大量依赖这些资源的人的生活质量。该项目的总目标是调查非洲南部生物质能的使用及其对人类、陆地和大气系统的耦合影响之间的联系。对人类和自然系统的定量和定性实地观测、情景发展以及对大气和土地利用变化的建模将进一步审查这些联系，并量化人类影响的程度。该项目将探讨如何在地方、国家和区域范围内提高自然和人类系统的恢复能力，评估可扩展的家庭能源干预措施的影响。这项研究将陆地和大气系统与人类系统结合起来，为人类与环境的关系提供了一个新的维度。它还为广泛的生物质能使用对土地利用、土地覆盖变化、空气质量和人类福祉的相对影响提供了新的见解。该项目还评估了针对最贫困和最脆弱家庭的可扩展家庭能源干预措施，并模拟了其在未来情景中对陆地和大气系统的影响。

Wood fuels are used as an energy source for cooking, heating, and small-scale industrial activities by a large number of people in the developing world. As populations increase, the effects of burning wood or other biomass on the vitality of forests, air quality, and human health or well-being can be severe. This project investigates the dynamic connections among these areas of concern and evaluates strategies that can alleviate problems in the future. It examines how people use forest resources for energy and whether these habits are altered by the introduction of more efficient cooking stoves and other new technologies. The effects on forest condition will be examined through direct measurements and modeling. Measurements of air quality will determine how pollution levels will be affected. The field sites are in Malawi and the results will be scaled up to determine the possible changes in the larger regions of eastern and southern Africa. This research has the potential to improve forest condition and air quality in areas at risk of severely declining environmental conditions, and improve the quality of life for large numbers of people who depend upon these resources.The overall goal of this project is to investigate linkages between the use of biomass energy in Southern Africa and its coupled impacts on human, terrestrial, and atmospheric systems. Quantitative and qualitative field observations of both human and natural systems, scenario development, and modeling of both the atmospheric and land-use changes will further examine these linkages and quantify the magnitude of human influence. The project will explore how natural and human system resilience can be enhanced at local, national and regional scales assessing the impact of a scalable household energy intervention. This study couples both terrestrial and atmospheric systems with the human system, providing a new dimension on human-environment relationships. It also adds new insights into the relative effects of a wide array of biomass energy uses on land-use land-cover changes, air quality, and human well-being. The project also evaluates a scalable household energy intervention targeted at the poorest and most vulnerable households, and models its influence on terrestrial and atmospheric systems in future scenarios.