• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2020

Background: As the impact of climate change intensifies, exposure to heat stress will grow, leading to a loss of work capacity for vulnerable occupations and affecting individual labor decisions. This study estimates the future work capacity under the Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 scenario and discusses its regional impacts on the occupational structure in the Republic of Korea. Methods: The data utilized for this study constitute the local wet bulb globe temperature from the Korea Meteorological Administration and information from the Korean Working Condition Survey from the Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute of Korea. Using these data, we classify the occupations vulnerable to heat stress and estimate future changes in work capacity at the local scale, considering the occupational structure. We then identify the spatial cluster of diminishing work capacity using exploratory spatial data analysis. Results: Our findings indicate that 52 occupations are at risk of heat stress, including machine operators and elementary laborers working in the construction, welding, metal, and mining industries. Moreover, spatial clusters with diminished work capacity appear in southwest Korea. Conclusion: Although previous studies investigated the work capacity associated with heat stress in terms of climatic impact, this study quantifies the local impacts due to the global risk of climate change. The results suggest the need for mainstreaming an adaptation policy related to work capacity in regional development strategies.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.39-50
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• 2013

Occurrence of landslides has been increasing due to extreme weather events(e.g. heavy rainfall, torrential rains) by climate change. Pyeongchang, Korea had seriously been damaged by landslides caused by a typhoon, Ewiniar in 2006. Moreover, the frequency and intensity of landslides are increasing in summer due to torrential rain. Therefore, risk assessment and adaptation measure is urgently needed to build resilience. To support landslide adaptation measures, this study predicted landslides occurrence using MaxEnt model and suggested susceptibility map of landslides. Precipitation data of RCP 8.5 Climate change scenarios were used to analyze an impact of increase in rainfall in the future. In 2050 and 2090, the probability of landslides occurrence was predicted to increase. These were due to an increase in heavy rainfall and cumulative rainfall. As a result of analysis, factors that has major impact on landslide appeared to be climate factors, prediction accuracy of the model was very high(92%). In the future Pyeongchang will have serious rainfall compare to 2006 and more intense landslides area expected to increase. This study will help to establish adaptation measure against landslides due to heavy rainfall.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.397-405
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• 2011

Objectives: The impact of climate change on the health has been of increasing concern due to a recent temperature increase and weather abnormality, and the research results of the impact varied depending on regions. We synthesized risk estimates of the overall health effects of low and high temperature taking account of the heterogeneity. Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted using PUBMED to identify journal articles of low and/or high temperature effects on mortality. The search was limited to the English language and epidemiological studies using time-series analysis and/or case-crossover design. Random-effect models in meta analysis were used to estimate the percent increase in mortality with $1^{\circ}C$ temperature decrease or increase with 95% confidence intervals (CI) in cold or hot days. Results: Twenty three studies were presented in two tables: 1) low temperature effects; 2) high temperature effects on mortality. The combined effects of low and high temperatures on total mortality were 2% (95% CI, 1-4%) per $1^{\circ}C$ decrease and 4% (95% CI, 2-5%) per $1^{\circ}C$ increase of temperature, respectively. Conclusions: This meta analysis found that both low and high temperatures affected mortality, and the magnitude of high temperature appeared to be stronger than that of low temperature.

• Journal of Climate Change Research
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.407-419
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• 2016

The low flow is the necessary and important index to establish national water planning, however there are lots of uncertainty in the low flow estimation. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to assess the climate change uncertainty and the effects of hydrological models on low flow estimation. The 5 RCMs (HadGEM3-RA, RegCM4, MM5, WRF, and RSM), 5 statistical post-processing methods and 2 hydrological models were applied for evaluation. The study area were selected as Chungju dam and Soyang river dam basin, and the 30 days minimum flow is used for the low flow evaluation. The results of the uncertainty analysis showed that the hydrological model was the largest source of uncertainty about 41.5% in the low flow projection. The uncertainty of hydrological model is higher than the other steps (RCM, statistical post-processing). Also, VIC model is more sensitive for climate change compared to SWAT model. Therefore, the hydrological model should be thoroughly reviewed for the climate change impact assessment on low flow.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.1111-1124
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• 2017

This study aimed to understand the distribution of vegetation in the eastern and western sides of the Baekdudaegan (ridge) dividing the Odaesan National Park, as influenced by its topography and climate. The actual vegetation, topography and climate for each side were used in the overlay analysis. The results of the analysis of actual vegetation showed a high distribution rate of Quercus mongolica forest on both the eastern and western sides. On the eastern side, the distribution rate of Pinus densiflora forest and P. densiflora-Q. variabilis forest was high, while the western side had a high distribution rate of deciduous broad-leaved tree forest and Abies hollophylla forest. A clear trend was identified for vegetation distribution with respect to elevation but not with respect to slope or aspect. The results of micro-landform analysis showed that the P. densiflora forests in the ridge and slope and the deciduous broad-leaved tree forest in the valley were respectively distributed with a high ratio. In terms of climate, the eastern side revealed an oceanic climate, with a relatively high average annual temperature, while the western side was characterized by relatively high average annual humidity and average annual precipitation. The distribution rate of P. densiflora forest was found to be high on the eastern side of the mountain range.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.299-311
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• 2011

The objective of this paper is to present a methodology for the classification of spatial patterns considering the parameters of urban form which play a significant role in the formation of the urban climate. The urban morphological parameters, i.e. building coverage, impervious pavement, vegetation, water, farmland and landuse types were used to classify the spatial patterns by a K-means cluster analysis. And the presented methodology was applied on Changwon city, South Korea. According to the results of cluster analysis, the total spatial patterns were classified as 24 patterns. First of all, The spatial patterns(A-1, A-2, A-3, B-1, B-2, B-3, C-1, C-2, C-3, D-1, D-2, D-3, E-1, E-2, E-3, F-1, F-2, F-3, G-1, G-2, G-3), which distributed in the rural area and the suburban area, can have the positive impacts of cold air generation and wind corridor on an urban climate environment, were distributed in the rural area. On the other hand, the spatial patterns of the downtown area including A-4, B-4, C-4 and D-4 are expected to have the negative impacts on urban climate owing to the of artificial heat emission or the wind flow obstruction. Finally, it will require the future research to analysis the climatic properties according to the same spatial patterns by the field survey.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.47-53
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• 2019

This study applies the concept of climate change vulnerability assessment in order to suggest climate change adaptation effects in a quantitative manner, given that previous studies have hitherto rely on qualitative assessment, as climate change adaptive policies are currently being implemented by local governments of Korea. The vulnerability assessment tool used in this study is VESTAP ("Vulnerability assESsment Tool to build a climate change Adaptation Plan"), which was developed by the Korea Adaptation Center for Climate Change (KACCC), and applied to gauge the vulnerability of pine trees to diseases and pests within Chungcheongnam-do. The climate change adaptation project for vulnerability improvement was assessed only in terms of forest disaster prevention and change in regional climate change vulnerabilities within 16 regions of Chungcheongnam-do as the result of 2016 Climate Change Adaptation Project (Forest Disaster Prevention Project). As a result, it was observed that climate change adaptive capacity has improved according to change in the area of forestland with disaster prevention, and the vulnerability indicator decreased, confirming the impact of the climate change adaptation (forest disaster prevention) project. Also, analysis of regional climate change adaptation project scales and change in vulnerabilities allowed us to determine the regional propriety of climate change adaptation (forest disaster prevention) projects launched in 2016.

• Atmosphere
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.107-121
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• 2024

In this study, we empirically analyzed the impact of physical risks due to climate change on the soundness and operational performance of the financial industry by combining economics and climatology. Particularly, unlike previous studies, we employed the Seasonal-Trend decomposition using LOESS (STL) method to extract trends of climate-related risk variables and economic-financial variables, conducting a two-stage empirical analysis. In the first stage estimation, we found that the delinquency rate and the Bank for International Settlement (BIS) ratio of commercial banks have significant negative effects on the damage caused by natural disasters, frequency of heavy rainfall, average temperature, and number of typhoons. On the other hand, for insurance companies, the damage from natural disasters, frequency of heavy rainfall, frequency of heavy snowfall, and annual average temperature have significant negative effects on return on assets (ROA) and the risk-based capital ratio (RBC). In the second stage estimation, based on the first stage results, we predicted the soundness and operational performance indicators of commercial banks and insurance companies until 2035. According to the forecast results, the delinquency rate of commercial banks is expected to increase steadily until 2035 under assumption that recent years' trend continues until 2035. It indicates that banks' managerial risk can be seriously worsened from climate change. Also the BIS ratio is expected to decrease which also indicates weakening safety buffer against climate risks over time. Additionally, the ROA of insurance companies is expected to decrease, followed by an increase in the RBC, and then a subsequent decrease.

• Journal of Satellite, Information and Communications
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.1-7
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• 2017

Climate change adaptation must be prepared, because the pattern of climate change in Korea is higher than the global average. In particular, it is estimated that Korea's economic loss due to climate change will reach 2,800 trillion won, and at least 300 trillion won will be needed for adaptation to climate change(KEI, 2011). Accurate climate change forecasts and impact forecasts are essential for efficient use of enormous climate change adaptation costs. For this climate change prediction and impact analysis, it is necessary to grasp not only the global average concentration but also the inhomogeneity of the greenhouse gas concentration which appears in each region. In this study, we analyze the feasibility of developing a greenhouse gas observation satellite, which is a cause of climate change, and present a development plan for a low orbit environmental satellite by examining the current status of the operation of the greenhouse gas observation satellite. The GHG monitoring satellite is expected to expand the scope of environmental monitoring by water/soil/ecology in addition to climate change, along with weather/agriculture/soil observation satellites.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.58 no.6
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• pp.93-100
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• 2016

This study conducted a quantitative assessment on the environmental flows associated with climate change in the Gosam Reservoir, Korea. The application of RCP 8.5 climate change scenario has found that the peak value of High Flow Pulses has increased by 36.0 % on average compared to historical data (2001 ~ 2010), which is likely to cause disadvantage on flood control and management but the increase in peak value is expected to make a positive impact on resolving the issue of green algal blooms, promoting vegetation in surrounding areas and encouraging spawning and providing habitats for native species by releasing a larger amount of landslides as well as organic matters than the past. However, the decreasing pattern of the peak value of High Flow Pulses is quite apparent with the trend of delay on the occurrence time of peak value, necessitating a long-term impact analysis. The peak value of Large Floods shows a clear sign of decrease against climate change scenario, which is expected to lead to changes in fish species caused by degraded quality of water and decreasing habitats. A quicker occurrence of Small Floods is also expected to make an impact on the growth cycle of aquatic plants, and the reduction in occurrence frequency of Extreme Low Flows is to contribute to increasing the population of and raising the survival rate of native fish, greatly improving the aquatic ecosystem. The results of this study are expected to be useful to establish the water environment and ecological system in adapting or responding to climate change.