Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Role Of Urban Parks In Carbon Sequestration– A Case Study Of Safari Park, Karachi, Pakistan, Amna Bano, Minzah Shehzad, Hasnain Kazmi, Jamshaid Iqbal

Journal of Bioresource Management

Urban parks besides their recreational use can be the potential source of climate mitigation through carbon sequestration. Present study aims to identify the carbon sequestration potential of Safari Park which is by far the largest public park of Karachi established in 1970 covering an area of 0.72 km². A total of 153 individual trees belonging to 25 species and 14 families were included in the study. Five dominant species with highest Important Value Index (IVI) were Cocos nucifera (14.62 %), Azadirachta indica (14.21 %), Guaiacum officinale (9.93 %), Washington robusta (9.31 %) and Delonix regia (7.11 %). The …

Reimagining Large River Management Using The Resist–Accept–Direct (Rad) Framework In The Upper Mississippi River, Nicole K. Ward, Abigail J. Lynch, Erik A. Beever, Joshua Booker, Kristen L. Bouska, Holly Embke, Jeffrey N. Houser, John F. Kocik, Joshua Kocik, David J. Lawrence, Mary Grace Lemon, Doug Limpinsel, Madeline R. Magee, Bryan M. Maitland, Owen Mckenna, Andrew Meier, John M. Morton, Jeffrey D. Muehlbauer, Robert Newman, Devon C. Oliver, Heidi M. Rantala, Greg G. Sass, Aaron Shultz, Laura M. Thompson, Jennifer L. Wilkening

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Background: Large-river decision-makers are charged with maintaining diverse ecosystem services through unprecedented social-ecological transformations as climate change and other global stressors intensify. The interconnected, dendritic habitats of rivers, which often demarcate jurisdictional boundaries, generate complex management challenges. Here, we explore how the Resist–Accept–Direct (RAD) framework may enhance large-river management by promoting coordinated and deliberate responses to social-ecological trajectories of change. The RAD framework identifies the full decision space of potential management approaches, wherein managers may resist change to maintain historical conditions, accept change toward different conditions, or direct change to a specified future with novel conditions. In the Upper Mississippi …

Analysis And Assessment Of Land Use / Land Cover Impact On Human And Natural Ecosystems In The Salton Sea Watershed, 2013 - 2021, Diego Ramirez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study represents an interdisciplinary analysis of the changing landscape of the Salton Sea Watershed from 2013 to 2021, focusing on land use land cover (LULC) category changes, climatic variations, and socioeconomic factors. The findings of this research show a shift in land cover categories, portrayed by the changes of natural landscapes and vegetative areas into rapidly increasing urbanized expansion and increased impervious surfaces. These changes pose concerns about increased temperature in the region, a decrease in overall water availability and groundwater infiltration, and an increase in pollution. The study explores 10 sub-watersheds within the Salton Sea Watershed basin, focusing …

Vegetated Coastal Ecosystems In The Southwestern Atlantic Ocean Are An Unexploited Opportunity For Climate Change Mitigation, Vanessa Hatje, Margareth Copertino, Vinicius F. Patire, Ximena Ovando, Josiah Ogbuka, Beverly J. Johnson, Hilary Kennedy, Pere Masque, Joel C. Creed

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Vegetated coastal ecosystems (mangroves, seagrasses, and saltmarshes, often called Blue Carbon ecosystems) store large carbon stocks. However, their regional carbon inventories, sequestration rates, and potential as natural climate change mitigation strategies are poorly constrained. Here, we systematically review organic carbon storage and accumulation rates in vegetated coastal ecosystems across the Central and Southwestern Atlantic, extending from Guyana (08.28°N) to Argentina (55.14°S). We estimate that 0.4 Pg organic carbon is stored in the region, which is approximately 2-5% of global carbon stores in coastal vegetated systems, and that they accumulate 0.5 to 3.9 Tg carbon annually. By ecosystem type, mangroves have …

The How And Why Of Visual Practice At Un Climate Negotiations, Stéphanie Heckman

New England Journal of Public Policy

In this article Stéphanie Heckman examines the process and outcomes of her graphic recording work and other forms of visual practice in the context of UN climate negotiations, reflecting on three years of collaboration with the UN Climate Change Secretariat, particularly during the eighteen-month Global Stocktake process. After a review of the history and science behind visual storytelling, she analyses one of the graphic recordings made for the third meeting of the Technical Dialogue of the Global Stocktake through the lens of Kelvy Bird’s ‘Levels of Scribing’ model. Drawing on comments from delegates at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt and …

The Role Of Carbon Management Technologies In Meeting Net Zero, Ali Al-Saffar

New England Journal of Public Policy

The pathway toward implementing the changes necessary in the energy sector to keep global temperature rises from breaking through catastrophic barriers is narrow and tenuous and will require a range of zero- and low-carbon technologies to be dispatched at a speed and scale that is virtually unprecedented. Decarbonization through renewables, matched with the more efficient use of energy in the end-use sectors will play a large part. But there is growing realization that there will be residual fossil fuel use long into the future, and that the emissions from the burning of these fossil fuels in power plants and factories …

The Gulf: An Appeal For More Coordinated Action On Climate Change, Fareed Yasseen

New England Journal of Public Policy

This article seeks to provide the rationale behind Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Sudani’s call at the United Nations for the formation of a negotiating group within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change process that brings together all member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Iraq, and Iran. This article argues that these countries would benefit doubly from such an arrangement, because it would help them better address the direct effects of climate change, on the one hand, and to better address the effects of the measures taken to address climate change, which will affect them as fossil fuel producers, …

Editor's Note, Padraig O'Malley, Adanna C. Kalejaye

New England Journal of Public Policy

To coincide with COP28 in Dubai, this issue of the New England Journal of Public Policy published a series of articles on climate warming.

Results Of Cop27 And Expectations For Cop28, Cecilia Kinuthia-Njenga, Fareed Yasseen

New England Journal of Public Policy

Since 1995, government representatives from around the world have gathered nearly every year for the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP) to advance work on multilateral agreements and to provide a way forward in tackling the significant challenges of climate change. The last of these conferences took place on November 6–20, 2022, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

COP27 brought together more than 35,000 people from across the globe to deliberate on important actions for addressing the climate. Hailed as the “African COP” and “Implementation COP,” it raised expectations that decisions from previous conferences, reflecting the needs and priorities of the …

Joint Global Responsibility Fund For Climate, Conservation, And Communities: A Proposed Innovative Tax-Based Funding Mechanism, Tamar Ron

New England Journal of Public Policy

Nature-based solutions address biodiversity loss, climate change, and societal challenges at the local, national, regional, and global levels. The costs of their conservation, however, are mostly local and national in nature. Confronting the rolling dual crisis of biodiversity loss and climate change requires us to recognize nature’s intrinsic value. Moreover, we must find practical ways for their monetary valuation to be channeled as payment for the services of conservation custodians. It is suggested here to translate the value of natural assets and the understanding of the local costs and global benefits of their conservation, into an innovative and ambitious funding …

Solar Radiation Modification Governance In The Context Of Temperature Overshoot, Janos Pasztor

New England Journal of Public Policy

As the climate crisis escalates, governments—and recently even those in the wealthier countries in the Global North—are struggling to manage the impacts we are experiencing around the world in frightening abundance, including record-setting temperatures, fires, floods, and glacial and ice melt. Behind closed doors, policymakers are concerned as they contemplate the increasing likelihood, even under the most ambitious emission reduction pathways, that the world will overshoot the goal agreed upon in the Paris Agreement to limit global average temperature rise to 1.5oC beyond pre-industrial levels.

It is in this “overshoot context” that interest is growing in an emerging, potentially supplementary …

Cop27 And The New Rise Of The Global South, Janice Golding

New England Journal of Public Policy

Developing countries require direct and indirect financial and non-financial assistance to address the climate crisis. The COP27 announcement of a new Loss and Damage Fund as well the unveiling of the Bridgetown Initiative collectively hold substantial promise to alter the course of climate multilateralism. The outcome of COP27 has presented unprecedented opportunities for the Global South to build global solidarity for climate justice, but the path ahead will not be easy. Materialization of support to developing countries may be, at best, not sustainable, or at worst, unforeseeable without consistent application of principles and values enshrined in historic, moral accountability for …

Impact Of Climate Change On Surgery: A Scoping Review To Define Existing Knowledge And Identify Gaps, Tina Bharani, Rebecca Achey, Harris Jamal, Alexis Cherry, Malcolm K. Robinson, Guy J. Maddern, Deirdre K. Tobias, Divyansh Agarwal

Department of Surgery Faculty Papers

With climate change accelerated at a worrisome rate, global warming also will have implications for surgery and surgical practice. The goal of this current study was to systematically survey the literature and better understand how climate change has affected surgical disease burden, surgical care delivery, and surgical outcomes. We performed a comprehensive scoping review, screening 3334 unique citations from three databases – 1766 from Embase, 1329 from Pubmed and 239 from Scopus – to identify studies that had associated climate change with surgery. After systematic searching, quality appraisal, and data extraction, we synthesized findings from qualitative and quantitative studies. Twenty-six …

Identifying Untapped Legal Capacity To Promote Multi‑Level And Cross‑Sectoral Coordination Of Natural Resource Governance, Nicola Harvey, Utrecht University, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Emory University, Craig R. Allen, Anoeska Buijze, Marleen Van Rijswick

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Natural resource governance in the face of climate change represents one of the seminal challenges of the Anthropocene. A number of innovative approaches have been developed in, among others, the fields of ecology, governance, and sustainability sciences for managing uncertainty and scarcity through a coordinated approach to natural resource governance. However, the absence of an enabling legal and regulatory framework has been identified in the literature as one of the primary barriers constraining the formal operationalization of these governance approaches. In this paper, we show how these approaches provide tools for analyzing procedural mandates across governmental levels and sectors in …

Utahns' Perceptions Of Climate Change And Disaster Vulnerabilities, Mufti Nadimul Quamar Ahmed, Jennifer E. Givens, Peter D. Howe, Jessica D. Ulrich-Schad

Utah People and Environment Poll (UPEP)

Climate change increases the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, making people more vulnerable in a variety of ways^1-2. It is essential to determine if individuals believe they are susceptible to the effects of climate change in order to develop effective adaptation strategies.

Climate change has contributed to extreme weather occurrences in Utah in recent years. For instance, in the summer of 2022, there was a severe or extreme drought in all of Utah's counties³. Health effects of drought vary with intensity⁴ and can cause climate related deaths directly and indirectly, such as by …

Tree Planting As An Adaptive Management Tool For Climate Change In Morocco, Stephanie J. Robinson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The practice of planting fruit trees to combat climate change impacts in Morocco has been growing in popularity with support from the Moroccan government and non-profit organizations. Although it is often considered a successful adaptive management tool, tree planting initiatives (TPIs) in arid lands have not been thoroughly analyzed, their management is unstandardized, and these initiatives can cause harm when trees are planted in areas that cannot support them. To implement tree planting better these TPIs need to find areas where the trees they are introducing have the best chance of survival without negatively impacting the surrounding ecosystem and human …

Tree Planting As An Adaptive Management Tool For Climate Change In Morocco, Stephanie J. Robinson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The practice of planting fruit trees to combat climate change impacts in Morocco has been growing in popularity with support from the Moroccan government and non-profit organizations. Although it is often considered a successful adaptive management tool, tree planting initiatives (TPIs) in arid lands have not been thoroughly analyzed, their management is unstandardized, and these initiatives can cause harm when trees are planted in areas that cannot support them. To implement tree planting better these TPIs need to find areas where the trees they are introducing have the best chance of survival without negatively impacting the surrounding ecosystem and human …

The Coastal Monitor: Vol. 10 No. 2, John Tanacredi Ph.D.

The Coastal Monitor

Stephen J. Gould’s prophetic piece, “The Golden Rule: A Proper Scale for Our Environmental Crisis”, noted that, “Patience enjoys a long pedigree of favor”, which he elaborated, “usually involves a deep understanding of the fundamental principle… rarely grasped in daily life – the effects of scale.” Scientists observe changes incessantly, in dimensions and time, from microscopic conditions of cellular biology to the inconceivable distances of galaxies and their influences on Earth.

“Without Water, Nothing”: Examining The Water Saving Practices Of Women In Amman Under Periodic Water Supply, Rory Dixon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Jordan is among the most water-scarce countries in the world. Consequently, water is only pumped to households once a week and households store water in tanks to last them until the next water day. Women conducting housework do so under conditions of environmental stress that this research calls resource-scarce domestic labor. In this study, I apply an eco-feminist lens to examine the water-saving practices women employ to manage and conserve domestic water supplies. I explore the larger causes of these behaviors including climate change, government management, and regional politics. Resource-scarce domestic labor is not a practice unique to Jordan and …

Effects Of Changing Climate Extremes And Vegetation Phenology On Wildlife Associated With Grasslands In The Southwestern United States, Tyler G. Creech, Matthew A. Williamson, Steven E. Sesnie, Esther S. Rubin, Daniel R. Cayan, Erica Fleishman

Human-Environment Systems Research Center Faculty Publications and Presentations

Assessments of the potential responses of animal species to climate change often rely on correlations between long-term average temperature or precipitation and species' occurrence or abundance. Such assessments do not account for the potential predictive capacity of either climate extremes and variability or the indirect effects of climate as mediated by plant phenology. By contrast, we projected responses of wildlife in desert grasslands of the southwestern United States to future climate means, extremes, and variability and changes in the timing and magnitude of primary productivity. We used historical climate data and remotely sensed phenology metrics to develop predictive models of …

Is Carbon Risk Priced In The Cross-Section Of Corporate Bond Returns?, Tinghua Duan, Frank Weikai Li, Quan Wen

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper examines the pricing of a firm's carbon risk, measured by its carbon emissions intensity, in the cross-section of corporate bond returns. Contrary to the "carbon risk premium" hypothesis, we find bonds of firms with higher carbon emissions intensity earn significantly lower returns. This effect cannot be explained by a comprehensive list of bond characteristics and exposure to known risk factors. Investigating sources of the low carbon premium, we find the underperformance of bonds issued by carbon-intensive firms cannot be fully explained by divestment from institutional investors. Instead, our evidence is most consistent with investor underreaction to carbon risk, …

A Framework For Creating Virtual Reality Models For More Effective Coastal Flood Risk Communication, Tina Korani, Alexandrea Martinez

CSU Journal of Sustainability and Climate Change

Coastal cities are exposed to increasing risks of flooding from sea-level rise. Climate change is expected to double the frequency of coastal flooding within the next decade, and some areas could experience floods of a magnitude 100 times higher than currently (Vitousek et al., 2017). People living in at-risk areas often ignore the impact of climate change on flood intensity and frequency. Immersive visual storytelling techniques proved promising and powerful tools to engage with and raise awareness of flood hazards. Here, we are introducing a framework to use Virtual Reality (VR) to reach better people living in coastal cities and …

Why Reach Codes: Local Players Driving Statewide Building Standards, Gabriella Medina, Darbi Berry, Gabriela Yamhure

San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative

Reach codes are local energy ordinances that employ various technologies, strategies, and integrated systems that go above California Building Standards Code (CA Building Code, Title 24) standards and support greenhouse gas emission reduction efforts. A reach code is a mandated energy performance requirement for the built environment, typically incorporated as part of a city’s climate action plan, local hazard mitigation plan, or climate adaptation plan. Not only do reach codes help local jurisdictions remain in compliance with state mandates, they enable local climate leadership by signaling support for the future direction of state Building Code standards. This blog provides a …

How Active Rainwater Harvesting May Help Reduce Nuisance Flooding: Flood Analysis And Social Barriers To Adoption, Isabel Lopez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

As urbanization continues to expand, fewer pervious surfaces are available to help reduce stormwater runoff from rainfall. The impacts of urbanization are becoming evident through sunny day flooding - flooding that occurs in areas not designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as flood zones. Nevertheless, water accumulates in low-lying areas and compromises street intersections and other parts of neighborhoods. Some methods can help alleviate the impacts of unexpected heavy rains, such as passive and active rainwater harvesting. As a pilot study, in a selected area in the northeast of El Paso, the level of adoption (e.g., what percentage …

Addressing Health Crises Through Courts? Climate Litigation In Latin America, The Right To Health And Vulnerable Populations, Thalia Viveros Uehara

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

As Latin America faces increasing climate-related health crises that disproportionately affect populations experiencing poverty and social exclusion, it becomes increasingly urgent to realize the most vulnerable's right to health. While the region's new constitutionalism (NLAC) has made progress in protecting this right, it has only recently begun to intersect with climate change law through rights-based climate litigation. This dissertation takes a transdisciplinary multi-methods research approach to answer the following question: How do health crises emerge within, and how are they addressed by courts through, domestic climate litigation in Latin America? Specifically, it examines how health concerns for vulnerable populations are …

A Thermodynamics-Based Versatile Evapotranspiration Estimation Method Of Minimum Data Requirement For Water Resources Investigations, Jozsef Szilagyi, Richard D. Crago

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

A recent, two-parameter version of the thermodynamically derived complementary relationship (CR) of evaporation has been tested on a monthly basis at 124 FLUXNET stations around the globe. Local, station-by-station calibration explained 91% (R2) of the variance in eddy-covariance (EC) obtained latent-heat fluxes with the same Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) value. When the dimensionless Priestley-Taylor parameter (α) was expressed as a universal function (f) of the estimated wet-environment air temperature (Tw), station-by-station calibration of the single dimensionless parameter, b (accounting for moisture advection), yielded an R² value of 87% and NSE of 86%. Global calibration (all stations …

Institute For Global Health And Development : Issue 5 - July 2023, Institute For Global Health And Development

IGHD Newsletter

• Research Highlights
• Key Publications
• IGHD in the News
• Webinars, Academics & Conferences
• ‘Choice’ Programme - Technical Advisory Group
• Welcome New Team Members
• Mark your Calendars: Upcoming Event
• Congratulations Team IGHD
• Collaborate With Us

The Future Of Indiana’S Water Resources: A Report From The Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment, Keith Cherkauer, Robert Barr, Laura C. Bowling, Kyuhyun Byun, Indrajeet Chaubey, Natalie Chin, Chun-Mei Chiu, Darren Ficklin, Alan Hamlet, Stephen Kines, Charlotte Lee, Ram Neupane, Garett Pignotti, Sanoar Rahman, Sarmistha Singh, Pandara Valappil Femeena, Tanja Williamson, Melissa Widhalm, Jeffrey Dukes

Water Report

This report from the Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment (IN CCIA) applies climate change projections for the state to explore how continued changes in Indiana’s climate are going to affect all aspects of water resources, including soil water, evaporation, runoff, snow cover, streamflow, drought, and flooding. As local temperatures continue to rise and rainfall patterns shift, managing the multiple water needs of communities, natural systems, recreation, industry, and agriculture will become increasingly difficult. Ensuring that enough water is available in the right places and at the right times will require awareness of Indiana’s changing water resources and planning at regional …

Is Carbon Risk Priced In The Cross Section Of Corporate Bond Returns?, Tinghua Duan, Frank Weikai Li, Quan Wen

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This article examines the pricing of a firm’s carbon risk in the corporate bond market. Contrary to the “carbon risk premium” hypothesis, bonds of more carbon-intensive firms earn significantly lower returns. This effect cannot be explained by a comprehensive list of bond characteristics and exposure to known risk factors. Investigating sources of the low carbon alpha, we find the underperformance of bonds issued by carbon-intensive firms cannot be fully explained by divestment from institutional investors. Instead, our evidence is most consistent with investor underreaction to the predictability of carbon intensity for firm cash-flow news, creditworthiness, and environmental incidents.

Rapidly Changing Range Limits In A Warming World: Critical Data Limitations And Knowledge Gaps For Advancing Understanding Of Mangrove Range Dynamics In The Southeastern Usa, Rémi Bardou, Michael J. Osland, Steven Scyphers, Christine Shepard, Karen E. Aerni, Jahson B. Alemu I, Robert Crimian, Richard H. Day, Nicholas M. Enwright, Christopher A. Gabler

School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Climate change is altering species’ range limits and transforming ecosystems. For example, warming temperatures are leading to the range expansion of tropical, cold-sensitive species at the expense of their cold-tolerant counterparts. In some temperate and subtropical coastal wetlands, warming winters are enabling mangrove forest encroachment into salt marsh, which is a major regime shift that has significant ecological and societal ramifications. Here, we synthesized existing data and expert knowledge to assess the distribution of mangroves near rapidly changing range limits in the southeastern USA. We used expert elicitation to identify data limitations and highlight knowledge gaps for advancing understanding of …