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Articles 1 - 30 of 57
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Numerical Simulation Of Hydrodynamic Forces On Riverine And Coastal Bridges Subjected To Extreme Weather Events, Fahad Pervaiz
Numerical Simulation Of Hydrodynamic Forces On Riverine And Coastal Bridges Subjected To Extreme Weather Events, Fahad Pervaiz
Civil Engineering Dissertations
ABSTRACT: Recent bridge failures due to hurricane-generated storm surges and riverine flood events have highlighted the vulnerability of bridge infrastructure to extreme hydrodynamic loading. In addition to posing an immediate risk to human life, bridge failures can hinder evacuation planning and emergency response efforts. Changes in flood frequency and intensity due to climate change and urbanization may alter the hydrodynamic conditions along urban streams, further stressing bridge infrastructure designed based on historical flow conditions. As a result, quantifying the structural response and stability of bridges under current and future hydrodynamic conditions is crucial to improving transportation safety and efficiency. This …
Carbon Footprint Assessment And Emissions Reduction Strategies For The University Of Texas At Arlington, Dravid Sabarish Villavan Kothai
Carbon Footprint Assessment And Emissions Reduction Strategies For The University Of Texas At Arlington, Dravid Sabarish Villavan Kothai
Civil Engineering Theses
In the past decade, many universities have started to ascertain their emissions and benchmark their progress towards sustainability and climate control. The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) is no exception in working toward the goal of carbon neutrality. While UTA continues to grow and transform, its goal is to simultaneously reduce energy intensity and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To this end, the Office of Sustainability is maintaining a carbon inventory for each year to track GHG emissions and provide information to guide reduction strategies. The primary objectives of this research were: 1. To update UTA’s greenhouse gas emissions inventory …
Posthuman Nurturing In American Literary Futurities, Andrew Ryan Tolle
Posthuman Nurturing In American Literary Futurities, Andrew Ryan Tolle
English Dissertations
This dissertation applies posthuman theories to the concept of nurture in American literatures of 1880-1920 and 1980-2020 to explore how writers construct and imagine futurities that increasingly critique the liberal Cartesian human. While relationships between “subjects” and “objects” in Cartesian dualism can render the act of nurturing both problematic and violent, posthuman nurture decenters the nurturer, shifting focus onto the nurtured. This allows us to view nurture as an inherently mutual act that includes agencies beyond humans, including animals, plants, and other non-zoe. American literatures of 1880-1920, which often speculated futures taking place in 1980-2020, exhibit nascent strains of the …
Understanding Climate Change: Communicating Topics On Climate Change To Non-Experts, Michaela K. Plagwitz
Understanding Climate Change: Communicating Topics On Climate Change To Non-Experts, Michaela K. Plagwitz
Honors Capstones
Climate change is an increasingly prevalent phenomenon in recent years as it affects every corner of the world. However, there is a gap of understanding between scientists and non-experts. Some non-experts are unsure if climate change affects local areas, and whether they can do anything to help mitigate it. Of course, climate change indeed affects every environment, even urban areas, and small actions are helpful in the overall mitigation of climate change. Therefore, this project was created in order to teach this information to non-experts. In order to do so, a target demographic was chosen, and an initial survey was …
Evolution Of Sustainability And Resilience In Military Master Planning: Examining Planners' Perceptions, Rhonda E. Fields
Evolution Of Sustainability And Resilience In Military Master Planning: Examining Planners' Perceptions, Rhonda E. Fields
Public Affairs Dissertations
An increasingly globalized world and mounting threats to our economy, environment, and social structures have brought the concepts of sustainability and resilience into sharp focus. These threats include climate change, rapid urbanization, and loss of biodiversity in an increasing volatile, uncertain, ambiguous, and complex world. Sustainability and resilience have emerged as key concepts in understanding and addressing urban dynamics toward a livable urban future. These concepts are important because resilience typically deals with the short-term issues surrounding predicting and responding to immediate threats, while sustainability looks at the long-term, steady state of the built and natural environment. Focusing on resilience …
It’S Not All Partisan Politics: The Interaction Between Religion And Extreme Weather Events In Shaping Attitudes Toward Anthropogenic Climate Change In The Greater Houston Metropolitan Area, Gary J. Fitzsimmons
It’S Not All Partisan Politics: The Interaction Between Religion And Extreme Weather Events In Shaping Attitudes Toward Anthropogenic Climate Change In The Greater Houston Metropolitan Area, Gary J. Fitzsimmons
Sociology & Anthropology Theses
This study investigates the effect that Pope Francis’ 2015 Encyclical Laudato Si had on Catholic beliefs about climate change using a Houston area case study, and presents a model for how religious affiliation and religious worldview impacts those beliefs. I tested three variables gauging respondent views on climate change included in the Rice | Kinder annual survey of Houston area residents for 2015, 2016 and 2018. My results show that Catholicism was not a factor in pro-climate belief formation in 2015, but was in 2018. The data also suggest that Catholics may have increased their risk perceptions of climate change …
Sensitivity Analysis Of Lake Erie And Lake Ontario Lake Effect Snow Events Using The Weather Research And Forecast Model, Jacob Wiley
Theses and Dissertations
The Weather Research and Forecast model (WRF) was utilized to study the effects of warmer lake surface temperatures on the lake effect snow (LES) environments of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. Composites of recorded LES cases were created for WRF input to represent average LES conditions which revealed three distinct large-scale patterns. WRF runs consisted of altering lake temperatures up to 4.3°C for three future time frames. Lake Erie projections exhibited more sensitivity to alterations as more WRF runs revealed significant (p-value ≤ 0.05) changes to the environment. Lake Erie solely showed any distinctive changes with early and mid-century WRF …
Behavior Plasticity Mitigates The Effect Of Climate Warming In White-Tailed Deer, Carter L. Wolff
Behavior Plasticity Mitigates The Effect Of Climate Warming In White-Tailed Deer, Carter L. Wolff
Theses and Dissertations
Climate change can alter the ecology of natural systems through various mechanisms, such as direct thermal effects on a consumer. However, consumers may employ behavioral mechanisms in response to warming. Among these may be spatial or temporal shifts in activity, making use of thermal heterogeneity on the landscape. Despite this, few studies consider the role of behavioral plasticity and spatial or temporal heterogeneity in the context of climate change. I conducted experiments to evaluate the importance of behavior in mediating the net effects of warming at the population and the individual level using captive white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). I created …
Climate Change Communication In The United Kingdom, Ag Anderson
Climate Change Communication In The United Kingdom, Ag Anderson
School of Society and Culture
There is a comparably lengthy history of climate change communication research in the UK that can be traced back to the late 1980s. As is the case for media research in general, most attention has historically focused on print media and elite newspapers in particular. The British public appears to have a rather ambivalent response to climate change and most people do not view it as a pressing threat. Whilst surveys suggest that the majority of citizens believe that climate change is occurring, and is at least partly caused by human activity, sceptic views have received greater prominence in the …
On Non-Parametric Confidence Intervals For Density And Hazard Rate Functions & Trends In Daily Snow Depths In The United States And Canada, Yang Xu
Theses and Dissertations
The nonparametric confidence interval for an unknown function is quite a useful tool in statistical inferential procedures; and thus, there exists a wide body of literature on the topic. The primary issues are the smoothing parameter selection using an appropriate criterion and then the coverage probability and length of the associated confidence interval. Here our focus is on the interval length in general and, in particular, on the variability in the lengths of nonparametric intervals for probability density and hazard rate functions. We start with the analysis of a nonparametric confidence interval for a probability density function noting that the …
The Impact Of Projected Climate Change On Bioswales In North Texas, Joann Paris Leavell
The Impact Of Projected Climate Change On Bioswales In North Texas, Joann Paris Leavell
Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses
This research addresses how bioswales are affected by the projections for climate change in the North Texas region. Bioswales are a type of green infrastructure that conveys stormwater before directing it to a storm sewer system or other flood control structure (McLaughlin, 2016). They minimize the volume of stormwater runoff from the ground level and allow for the infiltration and remediation of pollutants while reducing the amount of water that is directed towards storm sewers. The research seeks to provide an understanding of how the efficacy of bioswales is related to the projected climatic conditions in North Texas and their …
The Impact Of Projected Climate Change On Bioswales In North Texas, Joann Paris Leavell
The Impact Of Projected Climate Change On Bioswales In North Texas, Joann Paris Leavell
Landscape Architecture Masters & Design Theses
This research addresses how bioswales are affected by the projections for climate change in the North Texas region. Bioswales are a type of green infrastructure that conveys stormwater before directing it to a storm sewer system or other flood control structure (McLaughlin, 2016). They minimize the volume of stormwater runoff from the ground level and allow for the infiltration and remediation of pollutants while reducing the amount of water that is directed towards storm sewers. The research seeks to provide an understanding of how the efficacy of bioswales is related to the projected climatic conditions in North Texas and their …
Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Effects Of Climate Change On Geotechnical Infrastructure, Joe Dylan Robinson
Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Effects Of Climate Change On Geotechnical Infrastructure, Joe Dylan Robinson
Theses and Dissertations
The main goal of this research is to quantitatively assess the resilience and vulnerability of geotechnical infrastructure to extreme events under a changing climate. In the first part, pertinent facts and statistics regarding California’s extreme drought and current status of its levees are presented. Weakening processes such as soil strength reduction, soil desiccation cracking, land subsidence and surface erosion, and oxidation of soil organic carbon are comprehensively evaluated to illustrate the devastating impacts that the California drought can have on earthen structures. In the second part, rainfall-triggered slope instabilities are analyzed using extreme precipitation estimates, derived using the historical stationary …
Assessing The Impacts Of Climate And Land Use Changes On Water Quantity And Quality In Mississippi, Abdullah Oda Dakhlalla
Assessing The Impacts Of Climate And Land Use Changes On Water Quantity And Quality In Mississippi, Abdullah Oda Dakhlalla
Theses and Dissertations
This study used the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to model 2 watersheds in Mississippi, which are the Lower Pearl River Watershed (LPRW) and the Big Sunflower River Watershed (BSRW), to simulate streamflow, groundwater storage and recharge, sediments, nutrients, and bacteria transport. The LPRW model was calibrated and validated for daily streamflow at 4 locations with R2 ranging from 0.49 to .90 and Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) ranging from 0.49 to 0.84. In the BSRW, the model showed good to very good performance for daily streamflow simulation (R2 = 0.53-0.75 and NSE = 0.49-0.72) and seasonal groundwater table depth fluctuations …
Climate Change Planning In Dallas-Fort Worth: Discourse And Public Participation In A Politically Conservative Region, Ann W. Foss
Climate Change Planning In Dallas-Fort Worth: Discourse And Public Participation In A Politically Conservative Region, Ann W. Foss
Planning Dissertations
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges currently facing our world, and in the field of planning there has been much attention paid to climate action planning by environmental leader cities. However, political controversy surrounds climate change in the United States, making it difficult for some cities and regions to explicitly and effectively respond to climate change. This dissertation examines planning actions related to the federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, and climate change more broadly, in the politically conservative Dallas-Fort Worth region of Texas from 2005 to 2015. In particular, the research strives to better understand the …
Climate Change Planning In Dallas-Fort Worth: Discourse And Public Participation In A Politically Conservative Region, Ann W. Foss
Climate Change Planning In Dallas-Fort Worth: Discourse And Public Participation In A Politically Conservative Region, Ann W. Foss
Public Affairs Dissertations
Climate change is one of the greatest challenges currently facing our world, and in the field of planning there has been much attention paid to climate action planning by environmental leader cities. However, political controversy surrounds climate change in the United States, making it difficult for some cities and regions to explicitly and effectively respond to climate change. This dissertation examines planning actions related to the federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, and climate change more broadly, in the politically conservative Dallas-Fort Worth region of Texas from 2005 to 2015. In particular, the research strives to better understand the …
Forest Management Under The Uncertainties Of Carbon Life Cycle, Zhuo Ning
Forest Management Under The Uncertainties Of Carbon Life Cycle, Zhuo Ning
Theses and Dissertations
Forests play an important role in mitigating climate change. It can not only provide carbon sequestration in standing forests and long-life forest products, but can also reduce carbon release by bioenergy’s substitution of fossil fuel. Therefore, a comprehensive impact from forest carbon on landowners’ forest management decisions should be analyzed when considering those uncertainties in carbon life cycle. The first part of the dissertation is a meta-analysis review, in which important factors that can influence the estimation of harvesting rotations under carbon sequestration are summarized and analyzed. It concludes that some issues as natural disturbances and forest bioenergy deserve more …
International Legal Protection For Climate Refugees: Where Lies The Haven For The Maldivian People?, Simran Dolla
International Legal Protection For Climate Refugees: Where Lies The Haven For The Maldivian People?, Simran Dolla
Student Works
Climate change and sea level rise are not just mere words for the Maldivian people; they are a grim reality that is consuming their nation. Sea level rise presents one of the gravest dangers for the Maldives because of its already low-lying characteristics. As the levels continue to rise, the nation is sinking into extinction. Some 300,000 people of the Maldives are on the brink of losing their homes and becoming climate change refugees. The existing international laws are not only ill-equipped to provide protections or the much-needed relief, they also make no mention of climate change refugees. Therefore, as …
The Indirect Effects Of Climate Variability On The Reproductive Dynamics And Productivity Of An Avian Predator In The Arid Southwest, Corrie C. Borgman
The Indirect Effects Of Climate Variability On The Reproductive Dynamics And Productivity Of An Avian Predator In The Arid Southwest, Corrie C. Borgman
Biology ETDs
The deserts of the Southwestern United States are experiencing rapid warming and climate models predict declining winter precipitation. The combined effects of higher air temperatures and drought are a reduction in productivity, which may importantly impact reproduction in consumers. Here, we investigate the effects of warming and drought on the reproductive timing and output in loggerhead shrikes (Lanius ludovicianus) in central New Mexico from 2007 to 2012. We found increases in air temperature of 3°C during the breeding season (March—July) and highly variable winter and annual precipitation. With increasing spring temperatures, shrikes advanced nesting phenology by 20 days over 6 …
Too Wet For Frogs, Too Dry For Lizards: Role Of Changing Precipitation On Tropical Frogs And Arid Lizards, Mason J. Ryan
Too Wet For Frogs, Too Dry For Lizards: Role Of Changing Precipitation On Tropical Frogs And Arid Lizards, Mason J. Ryan
Biology ETDs
During the course of the Anthropocene, humans have modified the landscape and atmosphere resulting in increased global temperatures and intensification of the hydrologic cycle over the last 100 years. Amphibians and reptiles are especially vulnerable to climate change because of their ectothermic physiology and sensitivity to changes in water availability. The role of moisture or precipitation in ectotherm responses to climate change has not been well studied, but moisture plays a vital role in all aspects of the lives of lizards and frogs. It is exceedingly difficult to study the ecological effects of changing precipitation patterns due the stochastic nature …
Community Ecology, Climate Change And Ecohydrology In Desert Grassland And Shrubland, Matthew Petrie
Community Ecology, Climate Change And Ecohydrology In Desert Grassland And Shrubland, Matthew Petrie
Biology ETDs
This dissertation explores the climate, ecology and hydrology of Chihuahuan Desert ecosystems in the context of global climate change. In coming decades, the southwestern United States is projected to experience greater temperature-driven aridity, possible small decreases in annual precipitation, and a later onset of summer monsoon rainfall. These changes may have profound consequences for ecological systems in the Chihuahuan Desert, which are intensely water-limited and respond to even small pulses of moisture availability. The first chapter (Chapter 2) compares change in the properties of monsoon season precipitation from 1910-2010 in the northern Chihuahuan Desert region to local variability in monsoon …
Establishment Of Larrea Tridentata At The Northern Edge Of The Modern Mojave Desert: Insights From Neotoma Paleomiddens, Clare Steinberg
Establishment Of Larrea Tridentata At The Northern Edge Of The Modern Mojave Desert: Insights From Neotoma Paleomiddens, Clare Steinberg
Biology ETDs
Shifting climates affect the composition of biological communities. If environmental conditions change sufficiently, new species can invade, leading to large-scale community turnover. Understanding how and why such shifts occur is crucial in this era of anthropogenic global change. Paleontological studies provide a valuable long-term perspective of the dynamics of community turnover. Here, we examine changes in the plant community over the past 34 thousand years in what is now the northern Mojave Desert. This time period includes the last glacial maximum as well as numerous smaller climatic fluctuations in the Holocene and the end of the Pleistocene. We quantified plant …
Abiotic Drivers Of Chihuahuan Desert Plant Communities, Laura Marie Ladwig
Abiotic Drivers Of Chihuahuan Desert Plant Communities, Laura Marie Ladwig
Biology ETDs
Within grasslands, precipitation, fire, nitrogen (N) addition, and extreme temperatures influence community composition and ecosystem function. The differential influences of these abiotic factors on Chihuahuan Desert grassland communities was examined within the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, located in central New Mexico, U.S.A. Although fire is a natural disturbance in many grasslands, fire during drought temporarily increased forb cover and decreased grass cover for several years. The seasonal timing of fire was not important, rather community recovery was more influenced by the persistent drought conditions. N deposition is increasing worldwide due to human activities, and although additional N increases productivity and …
Use Of Incentive-Based Pricing: Cataloguing Current Water Rate Structures And Analyzing Community Adopter Characteristics For Select Municipalities In New Mexico, Ashley M. Hooper
Use Of Incentive-Based Pricing: Cataloguing Current Water Rate Structures And Analyzing Community Adopter Characteristics For Select Municipalities In New Mexico, Ashley M. Hooper
Water Resources Professional Project Reports
Facing water scarcity, population growth, and issues of climate change, New Mexico municipalities should consider incentive-based pricing (IBP), empirically shown to encourage conservation. Given that adoption of IBP will likely be affected by community and political will, it is important to know what socio-economic and demographic factors may influence a municipalitys decision to adopt. As such, this research descriptively summarizes and catalogues the use of IBP structures for a select sample of 30 NM communities; further, t-tests are used to statistically investigate significant differences in a select set of 12 community characteristics between those that adopt IBP and those that …
The Effects Of Climate Change On Stream Invertebrates In Their Role As Biological Indicators And Responders To Disturbance, Anna Hamilton
The Effects Of Climate Change On Stream Invertebrates In Their Role As Biological Indicators And Responders To Disturbance, Anna Hamilton
Biology ETDs
Global climate models provide estimates of future changes in air temperature and precipitation patterns, drought, flooding, sea-level rise, and increases in the frequency, duration, and intensity of extreme heat and storm events. These climate changes will affect stream invertebrate communities directly, indirectly, and through interactions with other stressors, resulting in a range of biological responses, including species range shifts, losses and replacements, novel community compositions, and altered ecosystem functions and services. Effects will vary regionally and present heretofore unaccounted influences on biomonitoring, which water-quality agencies use to assess the status and health of ecosystems as required by the Clean Water …
Signs That Climate Change Is Already Spelling Big Trouble For Tiny El Salvador, Benjamin Witte-Lebhar
Signs That Climate Change Is Already Spelling Big Trouble For Tiny El Salvador, Benjamin Witte-Lebhar
NotiEn: An Analytical Digest About Energy Issues in Latin America
This article discusses how climate change is already having serious effects on El Salvador. Despite the country's relatively small share of global carbon dioxide output, El Salvador is experiencing the compounded effects of climate change--rising sea levels as well as shifting weather patterns that disrupt economic livelihoods, such as farming. In addition, the article discusses how the Funes administration is addressing the changes. These approaches range from implementing school curriculum on climate change to increased spending on infrastructural improvements.
Module 2: Greenhouse Gas Effect - Project: Training Educators For The Development Of Educational Activities On Climate Change, Miguel Fernández F., Iris Guzmán O., Tania Vázquez V., Ana María Michel V., Gladys Rojas P., Noelia Cerruto T., Juan Carlos Parra B., Marcelo Torrez S.
Module 2: Greenhouse Gas Effect - Project: Training Educators For The Development Of Educational Activities On Climate Change, Miguel Fernández F., Iris Guzmán O., Tania Vázquez V., Ana María Michel V., Gladys Rojas P., Noelia Cerruto T., Juan Carlos Parra B., Marcelo Torrez S.
Educational Materials on Latin American Energy
This document provides detailed information and an explanation of the Greenhouse Gas Effect and its associated cycles.
Historical And Topographic Drivers Of Tropical Insular Diversity: Comparative Phylogeography Of Eleutherodactylus Antillensis And E. Portoricensis, Two Ecologically Distinctive Frogs Of The Puerto Rican Bank, Brittany Barker
Biology ETDs
Topographically complex islands present opportunities for in situ (within-island) allopatric speciation because of increased chances for isolation in separate mountain ranges, as well as greater opportunity for fragmentation by high sea levels and climate-driven changes in habitat distribution. Climatic oscillations of the Quaternary (Pleistocene - Holocene; ~2.5 million years ago to the present) may have influenced the severity of vicariant barriers among and within islands, yet how these events influenced evolution of tropical insular biota is not well understood. This dissertation explores the role of topographic complexity and climate-driven range shifts resulting from sea-level changes and habitat suitability in shaping …
Where Is The Future Of Hydro Projects In Latin America Headed?, Inter-American Dialogue's Latin American Energy Advisor
Where Is The Future Of Hydro Projects In Latin America Headed?, Inter-American Dialogue's Latin American Energy Advisor
Latin American Energy Dialogue, White Papers and Reports
Colbún, the Chilean power company holding a 49 percent stake in the controversial HidroAysén project, announced last month that it is ""indefinitely suspending"" the environmental impact assessment for the project's transmission line. It is one of many regional projects that have faced local and environmental opposition, but have also been cited as necessary to meet growing energy needs. Are mega hydropower projects like this doomed in Chile and elsewhere in Latin America? What energy sources will fill in the void if such projects don\'t come to fruition? How are anticipated consequences of climate change, such as drought, going to change …
What Are The Implications Of Mexico's Climate Change Law?, Inter-American Dialogue's Latin American Energy Advisor
What Are The Implications Of Mexico's Climate Change Law?, Inter-American Dialogue's Latin American Energy Advisor
Latin American Energy Dialogue, White Papers and Reports
Mexico's Congress in April passed a landmark climate change law after three years of debate and revisions, Reuters reported. The bill's mandates require that 35 percent of Mexico's energy come from renewable sources by 2024 and carbon emissions must be 50 percent below 2000 levels by 2050, among other requirements. What will be the effects of Mexico's new climate law? Will the energy sector be able to meet the increased demand for renewable power? How do other Latin American countries' future energy plans compare with Mexico, and are they likely to adopt similar legislation? Does the law's passage reflect pessimism …