Climate Variability and Trends

The climate of Sierra Nevada conditions many relevant aspects for the living systems that inhabit it as well as the water resources of a region with semi-arid characteristics. Climate change in Sierra Nevada can be especially exacerbated by its mountain condition in a Mediterranean area, which makes it a double climate change hotspot. This chapter focuses on describing the main climate characteristics of Sierra Nevada as well as the recent trends and climate change projections for the near fu...

An SEIR Epidemic Model of Fractional Order to Analyze the Evolution of the Covid-19 Epidemic in Argentina

A pandemic caused by a new coronavirus (Covid-19) has spread worldwide, inducing an epidemic still active in Argentina. In this chapter, we present a case study using an SEIR (Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Recovered) diffusion model of fractional order in time to analyze the evolution of the epidemic in Buenos Aires and neighboring areas (Región Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, (RMBA)) comprising about 15 million inhabitants. In the SEIR model, individuals are divided into four classes, namely, ...

Impact of Plastic Pollution on Marine Life in the Mediterranean Sea

Marine litter is an environmental problem of global concern with well-documented impacts on marine biodiversity and ecosystems. At a global scale, marine litter is mainly composed of plastic. Plastics can affect marine organisms mainly through ingestion and entanglement but also through the facilitation of transport of organisms via rafting or the provision of new habitats for colonization. Impacts vary according to the type and size of the plastics and can occur at different levels of biolog...

An Approach to Rockfall Hazard Scenarios Based on Earthquake Ground Motion