Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Climate Change Hope Scale: Does The Three-Factor Model Fit An Adult Sample?, Yuhan Bi, Victoria Angulo, Michal Newhouse-Van Vlerin, Orei Z. Odents, Kimberly A. Barchard

Psychology Faculty Presentations

The Climate Change Hope Scale (CCHS; Li & Monroe, 2017) adapted Synder et al.'s (1991) Hope Scale to focus specifically on climate change. In an adolescent sample, the CCHS has three factors: Personal-sphere willpower and waypower, Collective-sphere willpower and waypower, and Lack of willpower and waypower. Our research tests if Li and Monroe's (2017) three-factor model fits the data from an adult sample.

A Literature Review On Developments In Timber Design And Its Impact On Carbon Emissions, Raquel Jackson

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Carbon dioxide emissions are a growing issue worldwide as urbanization and industrialization continues to increase (ie. Steel and concrete). Non-renewable resources limit steel and concrete production. Despite current methods to reduce greenhouse gasses, carbon emissions remain difficult to reduce from steel and concrete industries.

An Exploratory Factor Analysis Of Climate Friendly Purchasing Choices, Susan E. Gutierrez, Fred Vincent Y. Margallo, Zihan Gong

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Climate change is negatively affecting the environment and all its inhabitants. People's increased awareness have made them more willing to adopt more climate friendly purchasing choices. The Climate Change Action Inventory measures how often individuals take actions that can reduce climate change. We focused on the Climate Friendly Purchasing Choices Domain. We conducted an exploratory factor analysis of the Climate Friendly Purchasing Domain to help us examine the factor structure.

Climate Change Hope Scale: Factor Analysis In An Adult Sample, Gemma Ortega, Steven J. Glover, Jesse Tabaczynksi, Orei Z. Odents

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Willpower - how much individuals believe that set goals can be met. Waypower - the extent to which individuals can think of strategies for accomplishing those goals.

The Climate Change Hope Scale (CCHS; Li & Monroe, 2017) was designed to measure three aspects of hope: 1. Personal sphere willpower and waypower (WP) 2. Collective sphere willpower and waypower (CW) 3. Lack of willpower and waypower (LW).

A three-factor model fits the CCHS among adolescents. The purpose of our study was to determine if the three-factor model fits the CCHS in adults.

Investigating The Growth Of Algae Under Low Atmospheric Pressures For Potential Food And Oxygen Production On Mars, Leena M. Cycil, Elisabeth M. Hausrath, Douglas W. Ming, Christopher T. Adcock, James Raymond, Daniel Remias, Warren P. Ruemmele

Geoscience Faculty Publications

With long-term missions to Mars and beyond that would not allow resupply, a self-sustaining Bioregenerative Life Support System (BLSS) is essential. Algae are promising candidates for BLSS due to their completely edible biomass, fast growth rates and ease of handling. Extremophilic algae such as snow algae and halophilic algae may also be especially suited for a BLSS because of their ability to grow under extreme conditions. However, as indicated from over 50 prior space studies examining algal growth, little is known about the growth of algae at close to Mars-relevant pressures. Here, we explored the potential for five algae species …

Real-Time Pm10 Emission Rates From Paved Roads By Measurement Of Concentrations In The Vehicle's Wake Using On-Board Sensors Part 2. Comparison Of Scamper, Traker™, Flux Measurements, And Ap-42 Silt Sampling Under Controlled Conditions, Dennis R. Fitz, Kurt Bullimer, Vic Etyemezian, Hampden D. Kuhns, John A. Gillies, George Nikolich, David E. James, Rodney Langston, Russell S. Merle Jr.

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Representative soil was evenly applied to an 800-m section of road surface. The test area was of sufficient length to allow for measurement at constant speeds of up to 72 km hr−1. SCAMPER and TRAKER™ mobile measurement vehicles made repeated test runs while an instrumented tower measured upwind-downwind horizontal PM10 flux. AP-42 methods were used to collect silt samples and calculate PM10 emission factors. Both silt loadings and vehicle speeds were varied during the experiment. Street sweeping the as-found roadway showed an initial rise in PM10 emission rates. Both TRAKER and SCAMPER measured rapid decay of PM10 emission rates after …

Climatic And Topographic Control Of The Stable Isotope Values Of Rivers On The South Island Of New Zealand, Matthew S. Lachniet, Christopher M. Moy, Christina Riesselman, Haroon Stephen, Andrew M. Lorrey

Geoscience Faculty Publications

We show that climate and topography control the spatial distribution of stable isotope values on the South Island of New Zealand, based on a spatially dense (n = 193) river isotopic survey. Our data show a δ O minimum in isotope values east of the Southern Alps that demonstrates topographically driven continentality associated with the Southern Alps, which intersect the prevailing, moisture-laden westerlies. Our data define a South Island surface water line of δ H = 8.17 (±0.26) × δ O + 10.57 (±2.04), which is identical within 95% confidence intervals to the global and New Zealand meteoric water lines …

Kaleidoscope Of Urban Evapotranspiration: Exploring The Science And Modeling Approaches, Rubab Saher

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Urban evapotranspiration is a complex physical process. It depends on various critical drivers, including the land surface temperature (LST), surface albedo, landscape types, and building orientations. All of these factors create difficulties in the estimation of evapotranspiration (ET) by changing the microclimate conditions. The literature has oversimplified microclimate conditions by considering temperature difference as the only variable defining climate. The physical process depends on land-use changes, building proximities, and landscape types. This study devised three objectives to understand the microclimate effects on ET.

In the first objective, land-use change effects on LST, surface albedo, and ET were analyzed over a …

Pattern-Based Downscaling Of Snowpack Variability In The Western United States, Nicolas Gauthier, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Bethany Coulthard

Geoscience Faculty Publications

The decline in snowpack across the western United States is one of the most pressing threats posed by climate change to regional economies and livelihoods. Earth system models are important tools for exploring past and future snowpack variability, yet their coarse spatial resolutions distort local topography and bias spatial patterns of accumulation and ablation. Here, we explore pattern-based statistical downscaling for spatially-continuous interannual snowpack estimates. We find that a few leading patterns capture the majority of snowpack variability across the western US in observations, reanalyses, and free-running simulations. Pattern-based downscaling methods yield accurate, high resolution maps that correct mean and …

Great Basin Paleoclimate And Aridity Linked To Artic Warming And Tropical Pacific Sea Surface Temperature, Matthew S. Lachniet, Yemane Asmerom, Victor Polyak, Rhawn Denniston

Geoscience Faculty Publications

The arid southwestern United States is susceptible to sustained droughts that impact water resources and economic activity for millions of residents. Previous work has not systematically investigated the structure, timing, and possible forcings of Holocene Great Basin sub‐orbital hydroclimate changes, impeding our ability to understand the potential future controls on Southwestern aridity. The objective of this paper is to constrain the potential forcings on Holocene aridity and temperature, via comparison of new high‐resolution speleothem data, an Aridity Index synthesizing hydroclimate records, and linkages of Southwestern paleoclimate to other regions. The high‐resolution data from Leviathan Cave provide a paleoclimate record since …

Changes In Pm2.5 Peat Combustion Source Profiles With Atmospheric Aging In An Oxidation Flow Reactor, Judith C. Chow, Junji Cao, Lung-Wen Anthony Chen, Xiaoliang Wang, Qiyuan Wang, Jie Tian, Steven Sai Hang Ho, Adam C. Watts, Tessa B. Carlson, Steven D. Kohl, John G. Watson

Environmental & Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Smoke from laboratory chamber burning of peat fuels from Russia, Siberia, the USA (Alaska and Florida), and Malaysia representing boreal, temperate, subtropical, and tropical regions was sampled before and after passing through a potential-aerosol-mass oxidation flow reactor (PAM-OFR) to simulate intermediately aged (∼2 d) and well-aged (∼7 d) source profiles. Species abundances in PM2.5 between aged and fresh profiles varied by several orders of magnitude with two distinguishable clusters, centered around 0.1 % for reactive and ionic species and centered around 10 % for carbon. Organic carbon (OC) accounted for 58 %–85 % of PM2.5 mass in fresh profiles with …

Changes In Snow Phenology From 1979 To 2016 Over The Tianshan Mountains, Central Asia, Tao Yang, Qian Li, Sajjad Ahmad, Hongfei Zhou, Lanhai Li

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Snowmelt from the Tianshan Mountains (TS) is a major contributor to the water resources of the Central Asian region. Thus, changes in snow phenology over the TS have significant implications for regional water supplies and ecosystem services. However, the characteristics of changes in snow phenology and their influences on the climate are poorly understood throughout the entire TS due to the lack of in situ observations, limitations of optical remote sensing due to clouds, and decentralized political landscapes. Using passive microwave remote sensing snow data from 1979 to 2016 across the TS, this study investigates the spatiotemporal variations of snow …

The Circulation Of Climate Change Denial Online: Rhetorical And Networking Strategies On Facebook, Emma Frances Bloomfield, Denise Tillery

Communication Studies Faculty Publications

This study uses a topical, rhetorical approach to analyze how climate change denial circulates online through the 25 most popular posts on the Watts Up With That and the Global Warming Policy Forum Facebook pages. These groups adopt the appearance of credibility through reposting and hyperlinking, thus establishing a supportive, networked space among other skeptical sites, while distancing readers from original sources of scientific information. Visitors use a variety of rhetorical strategies to echo posts’ main themes and to discredit alternative viewpoints. Differences between the topoi and rhetorical strategies of WUWT and the GWPF show that the climate change denial …

Formation Of Evolved Rocks At Gale Crater By Crystal Fractionation And Implications For Mars Crustal Composition, Arya Udry, Esteban Gazel, Harry Y. Mcsween Jr.

Geoscience Faculty Publications

The recent discovery of some ancient evolved rocks in Gale crater by the Curiosity rover has prompted the hypothesis that continental crust formed in early Martian history. Here we present petrological modeling that attempts to explain this lithological diversity by magma fractionation. Using the thermodynamical software MELTS, we model fractional crystallization of different Martian starting compositions that might generate felsic igneous compositions like those analyzed at Gale crater using different variables, such as pressure, oxygen fugacities, and water content. We show that similar chemical and mineralogical compositions observed in Gale crater felsic rocks can readily be obtained through different degrees …

Holocene Climate Evolution Of Continental Western Eurasia Constrained By Stable-Isotope And Cation Geochemistry Of U-Th-Dated Speleothems And Meteogenic Travertine, Jonathan Lloyd Baker

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Reliable reconstructions of global and regional climate during the Holocene (11,700 years ago to present) are vital to constraining the natural range of climate variability and testing state-of-the-art models, which seek to forecast the near- and long-term impact of anthropogenic greenhouse forcing. Much of continental Eurasia is still underrepresented, however, in geological proxy reconstructions of Holocene climate variability, and the vast majority of paleoclimate data only reflect conditions during peak summer months (JJA) or the growing season. The paucity of winter proxy data has therefore been cited as a possible explanation for the current mismatch between geological proxy-based and climate-model …

Climate Change And Eutrophication: A Short Review, Mohammad Nazari-Sharabian, Sajjad Ahmad, Moses Karakouzian

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Water resources are vital not only for human beings but essentially all ecosystems. Human health is at risk if clean drinking water becomes contaminated. Water is also essential for agriculture, manufacturing, energy production and other diverse uses. Therefore, a changing climate and its potential effects put more pressure on water resources. Climate change may cause increased water demand as a result of rising temperatures and evaporation while decreasing water availability. On the other hand, extreme events as a result of climate change can increase surface runoff and flooding, deteriorating water quality as well. One effect is water eutrophication, which occurs …

Environmental Changes Across The Early Mississippian Carbon Isotope Excursion, Dev Krishna Maharjan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Early Mississippian K–O (Kinderhookian-Osagean) δ13C excursion or TICE (mid-Tournaisian carbon isotope excursion) is characterized by an anomalous carbonate carbon isotope value of ≥5‰ that has been documented from numerous stratigraphic sections across the globe. This δ13C excursion coincides with global cooling and sea-level fall and predicts a significant change in seawater chemistry. However, sulfate sulfur isotope data across the K-O δ13C excursion reported in previous studies seem not to be responsive to the carbon cycle. Likewise, a recent study has documented a unidirectional increase in nitrogen isotopes across this excursion, which is not anticipated considering the amount of organic …

Analyses Of Streamflow Change Patterns And Correlation Of These Changes With Sea-Surface Temperature Fluctuations, Kazi Ali Tamaddun

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis presents a comprehensive statistical analysis that determines the direction, rate, and interval of significant streamflow change patterns in the continental U.S. and correlates these changes with sea-surface temperature fluctuations. First, by using two non-parametric tests, namely, the Mann-Kendall trend test and the Pettitt’s test, the presence of long-term trends and abrupt shifts were determined at 10% significance level over continuously adjustable periods that stretched from 1903 to 2012. Modified versions of the tests were applied to account for the presence of persistence (autocorrelation) in data. Theil-Sen slope was determined to evaluate the rate of change across multiple temporal …

Biogeochemistry Of A Saline, Alkaline, Terminal Lake Ecosystem In Transition; Walker Lake, Nevada, Katherine Lynn Willever

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Walker Lake is a saline, alkaline, terminal lake ecosystem located in west-central Nevada. For over one hundred years, anthropogenic streamflow diversions within the Walker River Basin have ultimately led to little or no water reaching Walker Lake, the basin’s terminus for water flow. These diversions have resulted in a >46 meter decrease in the lake surface altitude and increases in salinity and dissolved salt constituents that have caused the elimination of native fish species. This study examines how the lack of freshwater inflow has altered the physical, chemical, and microbiological structure of Walker Lake during the lake’s ongoing desiccation.

Between …

The Visual Framing Of The Three Cycles Of Climate Control In The New York Times 1851 To Present, Jason Lee Thompson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research explored the visual framing of climate control in The New York Times through three cycles of media history. Although no peer-reviewed study has explored this specific topic, a wealth of prior communication articles on both the visual and textual aspects of climate change and geoengineering in the media was mined in order to discover the frames present. Once the visual frames of climate control (war, fix, people, and impacts) were revealed a content analysis was conducted in order to see which frame elements were most and least frequent considering the images of climate control. When combining all three …

Burdens And Benefits Of Climate Change Solutions: A Case Study Of Climate Change Skeptics And Deniers In Rural Nevada, Patricia Dutcher

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation is an ethnographic case study of climate change Doubtfuls and Dismissives with the purpose of understanding their perceptions of water use and renewable energy in the context of a changing climate. I also investigate the information sources and messages they use to understand climate change and climate change solutions. The Global Warming's Six Americas project identifies climate change Doubtfuls and Dismissives as one third of the American public, and an active voice in US climate change policy (Maibach et al, 2009; Leiserowitz et al., 2014). Doubtfuls are people with skeptical attitudes towards anthropogenic climate change, while Dismissives deny …

Framing Reality: Portrayals Of Climate Change In The "Las Vegas Review-Journal", 1997-2014, Jason Ryan Holley

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Discussions of human-caused climate change have become an increasingly salient artifact of various media in recent years. With regard to print media in particular, scholars have uncovered general increases in the frequencies with which climate change articles are published, tantamount to the annual reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) advocating the detriments of human activities (particularly carbon dioxide emissions) on the natural environment. Among such reports—be they scientific or anecdotal—writers and journalists have had to interpret the ongoing discussions and evidence surrounding climate change, and develop schemas (or frames) in which to situate arguments. These arguments have …

Trace Element Variations In A Stalagmite From Southwest Mexico: Implications For Paleoclimate, Chad Michael Crotty

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The combination of stable isotope and trace element concentrations in speleothems has been shown to be a valuable indicator for interpreting paleoclimatic conditions. Anomalous spikes in trace element concentrations have also been shown to indicate anthropogenic environmental changes to the surface, such as deforestation events. In this study, trace element concentrations (24Mg, 25Mg, 84Sr, 88Sr, 137Ba, and 238U) of a stalagmite (JX-6) from Juxtlahuaca Cave, in southwestern Mexico, were measured using an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS). These trace element concentrations were compared to previously analyzed δ18O and δ13C values from JX-6, and to the results of previous studies …

Climate Change, Disasters & Displacement, Elizabeth Ferris

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

This lecture examines trends in natural disasters, the effects of climate change, and their impact on human rights, including economic costs, the displacement/migration of people, and the likelihood that the poor and marginalized are most likely to be affected by natural disasters and climate change.

Propagation Of Lightning Through Thick Thunderclouds, Isaiah Henry, Dieudonné D. Phanord

McNair Poster Presentations

The phenomenon that is lightning, have sparked the interest of physicists and scientists for centuries. The journey to understanding this phenomenon of high-current electric discharge, can unlock the secret to other lightning related phenomenons. Lightning is a major source of interference in many types of radio communications. The effects of lightning on space crafts, nuclear power plants, and sophisticated military equipment, are problems of increasing concern. The purpose of this research is to study the propagation of lightning through optically thick thunderclouds by applying knowledge of cloud micro-physics, the physics of lightning, diffusion approximations, and an understanding of the scattering …

Identification Of Long Term Changes And Evaluation Of The Relationships Among Streamflow Variability And Oceanic-Atmospheric Indices, Soumya Sagarika

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

To examine the effects of climate variability on streamflow, this thesis presents a comprehensive analysis of the streamflow variability of the continental United States and its association with oceanic-atmospheric indices. First, the presence of trends with consideration of short term and long term persistence followed by shifts over the past years in the continental U.S. streamflow were analyzed by using the non-parametric tests: Mann Kendall and Pettitt. Second, the spatio-temporal relationships between seasonal streamflow variability of continental U.S. and sea surface temperatures (SST) and 500 mbar geopotential height (Z500) of the Pacific and Atlantic were established using the singular valued …

Global Climate Change: The Political Impact Of Global Warming On Developing Countries. The Case Studies Of Egypt And Oman, Eugene Thomas O'Neal

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The discourse of climate change has become important in the field of political science, as well as in the policy-making community. Climate change has become a political phenomenon that has and will greatly impact political stability regionally and globally. Using the ecological security theory as a framework, I explored the relationship between climate change and political stability in developing countries.

This study utilizes both qualitative and quantitative analyses to investigate the relationship between climate change and its effects on political volatility in developing countries. Using regression models, the author examined all non-OECD countries (140 countries) and their relationship to political …

Epa's Proposed Greenhouse Gas Regulation For Power Plants: How Does It Work And What Will It Mean For Nevada?, Adele C. Morris

Brookings Scholar Lecture Series

In June, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed important new limits on carbon dioxide emissions from existing U.S. power plants. The new regulation is the centerpiece of the Obama Administration’s climate policy. If the controversial rule is finalized as planned next year, it will cover about a third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. This lecture will explain the legal, environmental, and economic issues posed by the rule and highlight the important role for states in implementing it. The lecture will also review the implications and options for achieving the emissions target the EPA set for Nevada.

Modern To Late Pleistocene Stable Isotope Climatology Of Alaska, Alison Sloat

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Understanding modern controls on climate is necessary to interpret past climatic conditions. This project investigated the modern controls on δ18O and δD values in Alaskan surface waters to interpret the controls on Late Pleistocene climate variability. ArcGIS was used to develop an isoscape of modern δ18O and δD values of over 400 surface water samples collected across Alaska and the Yukon. It was found that winter temperature and precipitation have the greatest controls on δ18O and δD values in Alaska, resulting in high δ18O values along the coast of the Gulf of Alaska and low values inland toward Central Alaska. …

Religion, Partisanship, And Attitudes Toward Science Policy, Ted G. Jelen, Linda A. Lockett

Political Science Faculty Research

We examine issues involving science which have been contested in recent public debate. These “contested science” issues include human evolution, stem-cell research, and climate change. We find that few respondents evince consistently skeptical attitudes toward science issues, and that religious variables are generally strong predictors of attitudes toward individual issues. Furthermore, and contrary to analyses of elite discourse, partisan identification is not generally predictive of attitudes toward contested scientific issues.