Climate Commons^™

Modeling Scenarios Of Sea-Level Rise And Human Migration: Rita Village, The Republic Of The Marshall Islands, Donna Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the relationship between sea-level rise and human migration from Rita Village in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). As one of only four low-lying atoll countries at the forefront of risks associated with climate change, examining the extent to which sea level will rise and displace residents in the Marshall Islands is of timely importance. The approach to this research is a scenario-based, case study and it examines loss of home, human displacement and subsequent migration in Rita Village as a result of varying levels of sea level rise. The scenario-based approach is based on the …

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 …

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 …

Detecting Tropical Cyclone Signals In Tree Rings Of Longleaf Pine (Pinus Palustris Mill.), Valdosta, Georgia, U.S.A., Savannah Anne Collins

Masters Theses

The study of past hurricanes to help interpret the patterns of current and future tropical storms is vital to our economy, society, and infrastructure. Understanding how hurricanes are influenced by a warm climate is critical, and hurricane reconstructions from former periods of the Holocene (the last ~11,500 yr) will be beneficial. Paleotempestology is the study of past tropical cyclones and uses historical, biological, and geological proxies to reconstruct tropical cyclone activity to create a record of historical hurricane patterns. A tropical cyclone (TC) is a chaotic weather event that is influenced by several elements, including warm ocean waters from which …

The Economic Viability Of Cocoa Crop Insurance In Ghana, Justin D. Mckinley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was motivated by the fact that Ghanaian cocoa producers face lower yields than other main cocoa producing counties which in turn increases food insecurity for smallholder producers. In addition, low yields experienced by Ghanaian producers is a driving factor for forest degradation and deforestation as cocoa producers encroach further into previously undisturbed forests in efforts to increase their incomes. There are currently production methods to achieve higher yields readily available in Ghana; however, many producers choose not to adopt these methods because they are seen as too risky, or simply cannot adopt them due to financial/credit constraints. A …

Aircraft-Based Measurements For The Identification And Quantification Of Sources And Sinks In The Carbon Cycle, Dana R Caulton

Open Access Dissertations

Improved quantification of carbon-cycle sources and sinks is an important requirement for determining mitigation strategies and modeling future climate interactions. Analytically robust measurements require high-precision instrumentation and thoughtful experimental design to produce rigorous and reproducible results despite complex and quickly changing meteorological and environmental conditions. Here, an aircraft platform equipped with a high-precision cavity ring-down spectrometer for CO₂, CH₄ and H₂O quantification was used to acquire data from previously un-sampled sources. The aircraft mass-balance technique was used to quantify CH4 emissions from natural gas well pads in the drilling stage, which were 2-3 orders of …

Measuring Carbon Dioxide (Co2) Flux Of Agricultural Practices In Sub-Saharan Africa, Debra Blumberg O'Dell

Masters Theses

Agriculture has an important role in addressing two of the world’s most pressing problems: meeting global food demand and mitigating climate change. If agriculture is not practiced sustainably it will fail to meet future food demand and likely intensify the pace of global climate change. There are some agricultural practices, such as Conservation Agriculture, that can produce food sustainably and have the potential to mitigate climate change. However it is not clear which agricultural practices contribute to climate mitigation and by how much. By measuring the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of specific agricultural practices, the ability of practices to sequester …

Timing Of Svalbard/Barents Sea Ice Sheet Decay During The Last Glacial Termination, Tasha Snow

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Arctic and North Atlantic underwent significant climactic changes since the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000 years before present (1950 AD); ka BP), but offsets in the timing of events between the two regions are poorly constrained due to age model uncertainties that arise from changing radiocarbon reservoir ages. Here, we use a relatively high-resolution, multi-proxy stable isotope and sedimentologic dataset from Eastern Fram Strait (ODP Leg 162 Site 986) marine sediments to constrain the timing of Svalbard/Barents Sea Ice Sheet decay and infer deglacial reservoir ages over the last 30 ka. We use magnetic susceptibility, inorganic and organic carbon, foraminiferal …

Implications Of Climate Change For Cyanobacteria Over The Western Florida Shelf In The Gulf Of Mexico, Ivy Mara Ozmon

OES Theses and Dissertations

Concentrations of atmospheric CO₂ are expected to double by year 2100 as a result of anthropogenic activities. Under elevated CO₂ conditions, cyanobacteria may reallocate energy from active accumulation and transport of dissolved inorganic carbon (C) required for photosynthesis to other growth processes. Stimulation of cyanobacterial production on the Western Florida Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) could lead to improved nutritional status for the toxic, mixotrophic dinoflagellate Karenia brevis that utilizes newly fixed N₂ from co-occurring diazotrophic cyanobacteria and consumes unicellular cyanobacteria via grazing for growth. Culture studies performed by other researchers on the climate induced …

A Multi-Proxy Approach To Understanding Abrupt Climate Change And Laurentide Ice Sheet Melting History Based On Gulf Of Mexico Sediments, Clare Carlisle Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

During the last deglaciation (ca. 24-10 ka thousand years ago (ka)), the North American Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) was a major source of meltwater to the Arctic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), and it is hypothesized that meltwater routing played an important role in regulating Late Quaternary millennial-scale climate variability, via its influence on Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). For example, the meltwater routing hypothesis predicts that a rerouting of meltwater from the GOM to the North Atlantic and/or Arctic Oceans resulted in a decrease of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) formation and subsequent cooling …

Water In The 21st Century, Grayson Michael Shor

Social Sciences

The aim of this research project is to provide a comprehensive and global analysis of water use in order to provide the reader with a comprehensive grasp of current and impending issues. The included five (5) chapters discuss water distribution, conservation, purification, law, international development, economic debates, ethical consideration, as well as educated estimations of the effects water related issues may cause in the next one-hundred years.

Using Green Building To Mitigate Climate Change In The Twenty-First Century, Lisa Battiste

Honors Theses

The need for green buildings are rapidly becoming more important as the nation faces impending energy crises and the world heats up from the overabundance of greenhouse gases. Buildings in America are one of the largest consumers of energy and one of the greatest contributors to CO2 emissions; more than the total emissions from all the transportation vehicles used every day. By making the construction and use of buildings more resource efficient, this can help alleviate the environmental strain of climate change. Neutralizing or eliminating carbon emissions from building use will significantly reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the …

Late Glacial-Holocene Climate Change Recorded In Proglacial Lake Sediment Cores From The Huaguruncho Massif, Central Peruvian Andes, Dane O'Neil

Honors Theses

Alpine glaciers respond rapidly to changes in climate and the growth and decay of alpine glaciers is recorded in sediment cores extracted from lakes immediately downvalley from the margins of former glaciers. These records provide continuous archives of glaciation and climate change that complement the inherently discontinuous records of glaciation preserved by moraines. The aim of this study is to generate a continuous record of glaciation in Jaico cirque from lake sediment cores, which is located on the southeastern side of the quartz-monzonite dominated Huaguruncho Massif (5789 masl) in the eastern Peruvian Andes. The lakes are Laguna Jaico (10.56° S, …

Dust And Pleistocene Ice Ages: Eolian Sediments And Climate Change At Ziegler Reservoir, Snowmass Village, Colorado, Jeffrey S. Honke

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The discovery of the Ziegler Reservoir fossil site near Snowmass Village, Colorado presents an opportunity to examine subalpine ecosystem response, during a relatively unknown period, in which climate conditions were similar to present. Finegrained sediments at Ziegler Reservoir represent continuous deposition between ~140–55 ka (thousand years before present), spanning the close of the Bull Lake glacial period [marine isotope stage (MIS) 6], the Sangamon interglacial (MIS 5) and the early stages of the Pinedale (early Wisconsin) glacial period (MIS 4). Ziegler Reservoir is positioned on top of a ridge, at an elevation of 2705 m, and has a small watershed …

Climate Planning In Politically Conservative Cities: A Case Study Of Seven Climate Action Plans, Coleman Moore Frick

Master's Theses

Current research indicates that the potential risks associated with human-induced climate change are likely to increase in frequency and intensity. Although there have been several attempts, no effective international treaty or policy has been enacted by the United States with the purpose of combating this global issue. In the past decade, local climate action plans (CAPs) have emerged as a planning solution designed to reduce greenhouse emissions (GHGs). Previous studies have examined CAP attributes, but no research has focused solely on climate planning in politically conservative jurisdictions. This research finds that of 245 CAPs completed to date nationally, approximately 90 …

Quantifying The Impacts Of Initial Condition And Model Uncertainty On Hydrological Forecasts, Caleb Matthew Dechant

Dissertations and Theses

Forecasts of hydrological information are vital for many of society's functions. Availability of water is a requirement for any civilization, and this necessitates quantitative estimates of water for effective resource management. The research in this dissertation will focus on the forecasting of hydrological quantities, with emphasis on times of anomalously low water availability, commonly referred to as droughts. Of particular focus is the quantification of uncertainty in hydrological forecasts, and the factors that affect that uncertainty. With this focus, Bayesian methods, including ensemble data assimilation and multi-model combinations, are utilized to develop a probabilistic forecasting system. This system is applied …

Sedimentology And Paleoecology Of Fossil-Bearing, High-Latitude Marine And Glacially Influenced Deposits In The Tepuel Basin, Patagonia, Argentina, Kathryn N. Pauls

Theses and Dissertations

The glacial and non-glacial intervals of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA) are of great interest because they are our best deep time analogue for Pleistocene climate change. The changes and adaptations of the biota, as seen in the rock record, can serve as a proxy for understanding future trends in Earth's climate system. Most of the known LPIA marine faunal data come from low-latitudinal regions, and thus have been used as a global proxy. However, modern organisms in the low-latitudes (far-field basins) respond differently to a changing climate relative to marine organisms in the polar regions (near-field basins). In …

Inter-And Intra-Population Variability Across The Transcriptome Of Lake Baikal’S Endemic Copepod With Ramifications For Adapting To Climate Change, Larry L. Bowman Jr

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The future of Lake Baikal’s biodiversity is uncertain in response to climate change. Unlike its diverse benthos, Lake Baikal’s zooplankton is species poor, with up to 96% of its biomass being composed of a single Calanoid copepod species, Epischura baikalensis. This study characterizes the genetic differentiation and differential gene expression of E. baikalensis. Using partial-transcriptome sequences obtained by 454 Rosche and Illumina sequencing technologies, the genetic differentiation at inferred single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sites and differential gene expression in populations sampled from various parts of the lake were analyzed. The functional genomics of genes showed significant differential …

Geochemical And Stratigraphic Analysis Of The Linnévatnet Sediment Record: A Study Of Late Holocene Cirque Glacier Activity In Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Graham Harper Edwards

Honors Projects

Morainal and lacustrine sediments in Linnédalen, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, record the fluctuations of a glacier in a currently unglaciated mountain cirque during the Little Ice Age (LIA). This study attempts to reconstruct Late Holocene glacial activity within this cirque from geochemical, physical, and visual stratigraphic variation of the Linnévatnet lacustrine sediment record. A 57 cm lacustrine sediment core (D10.5) from Linnévatnet was analyzed at a high-resolution for variations in X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF)-measured elemental composition, spectral reflectance, and magnetic susceptibility. The visual stratigraphy was observed at a microscopic scale. An age-depth model for D10.5 is developed by extrapolating sedimentation rates from dated …

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. …

Re-Examining An Air Mass-Based Approach To Detecting Structural Climate Change, 1948-2011, Joseph James Larsen

Theses and Dissertations

Air mass-based approaches to observing changes in climate can have considerable value beyond simple trends of temperature and moisture, providing more thorough understanding of structural climate patterns. Few methodologies have adequately characterized recent air mass modification, however. This research seeks to update and improve upon the methods of a prior study, providing new data from 1948-2011, as well as more rigorous statistical analyses. Air mass types were created, and monthly averages of temperature, dewpoint, and relative frequency were calculated for each of the air masses in all four seasons; then the time series were submitted to regression analysis. The results …

Climate Forcings On Groundwater Variations In Utah And The Great Basin, Kirsti A. Hakala

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Groundwater levels over northern Utah have undergone a declining trend since the 1960’s. This trend has made apparent the need to understand the relationship between climate and groundwater resources. Such necessary information is already in dire need in places such as California. At the close of 2013, California had experienced its driest year in recorded history, with severe drought continuing for the foreseeable future. Utah is the second driest state in the U.S., and therefore has been paying close attention to California’s current water crises. Water resource projections may prove to be one of the most vital pieces of information …

Bay Of Bengal: Coupling Of Pre-Monsoon Tropical Cyclones With The Monsoon Onset In Myanmar, Boniface Opoku Fosu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Myanmar remained largely closed to the world through political instability for several years, when it continued to suffer terribly at the hands of nature that remained largely unknown. Of note is the period between 2008 and 2013, during which the country suffered at least eight major natural calamities that killed more than 141,000 people and affected 3.2 million. The worst of these was Cyclone Nargis in May 2008 that killed more than 130,000. With an estimated $4 billion in damages, Nargis remains the deadliest and most destructive named cyclone ever to have occurred in the North Indian Ocean. Recent studies …

A Climatological Study Of Drought In Southern Michigan, Rudy Bartels

Masters Theses

Drought has become a reoccurring phenomenon throughout many regions around the world. Significant drought conditions have beenobserved overthe pastfive decades in relation to economic, social, and agricultural impacts. In this study, Southern Michigan is investigated over the past 52 years from 1960-2012. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) will be calculated over a 6-month timescale from monthly precipitations. Three variables including 500-mb heights, surface pressure maps, and sea surface temperatures, will be correlated with the SPI using sliding correlations and Pearson's R correlation to determine any relations between these variables and precipitation variations. We will further investigate the five driest, wettest, …

Extreme Value Analysis Of Rainfall Events Over The Kennedy Space Center Complex, Adam David Schnapp

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The use of observational datasets to determine the occurrence frequencies of extreme weather events has gained a lot of recent interest due to concerns about the potential regional impacts from global climate change. Extreme-value theory can quantify the return frequency of the most extreme events, using climatologically short data sets and the assumption that such short climatological periods are stationary. However, the resulting analyses must be used with caution since they may not accurately reflect the potential of extreme events in the future due to climate change and variability. Accurately predicting extreme-event likelihood is important for building realistic long-range planning …

Wetlands And Greenhouse Gas Fluxes: Causes And Effects Of Climate Change – A Meta-Analysis, Robert E. Ventura

Pomona Senior Theses

Climate change is one of the largest problems facing this generation. Anthropogenically caused increases of greenhouse gas emissions is a significant culprit to this problem. Although the obvious problems such as cars, industry, and urbanism garnish a significant amount of the criticism, natural sources such as wetlands are also beginning to contribute to this issue. This is becoming increasingly significant as wetlands shift from being sinks of greenhouse gases to becoming sources as various anthropogenic impacts, including global warming itself, begin to affect the health of the wetlands. The aim of this project is to look at four common types …

Old Tools, New View : Utilizing Species Distribution Models To Focus Conservation Efforts Under A Changing Climate, Samantha Hoff

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In New York State, scientists have observed many changes in bird communities including population declines, range contractions, mismatch between behavior and resources, and changes in bird phenology as a result of climatic changes. Four objectives were addressed with this research: understanding how different bird species may respond to changing climatic conditions under a future IPCC emission scenario; determining how suitable habitat may change in the future and what bioclimatic variables are important to specific avian guilds; identifying hotspots of suitable habitat that may represent important areas for conservation investment; and investigating how managers can incorporate future climate predictions into management …

Numerical Investigation Of Orographic Effects On Supercell Thunderstorms, Galen M. Smith

Dissertations

Orographic effects on tornadic supercell development, propagation, and structure are investigated using the Cloud Model 1 with idealized bell-shaped mountains of various heights and geometries and a homogeneous fluid flow with a single sounding. In total, the variations of height and geometry yield 16 terrain configurations. It is found that blocking effects are dominative compared to the terrain-induced environmental heterogeneity downwind of the mountain. The isolated bell-shaped mountains tended to shift the track of the storm towards the left of storm motion; however, when the terrain was elongated the effect tended to be rightward. The terrain blocking effect also enhanced …

The Impacts Of Multiple Anthropogenic Disturbances On The Montane Forests Of The Green Mountains, Vermont, Usa, Carolyn Ann Pucko

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

How and why species’ ranges shift has long been a focus of ecology but is now becoming increasingly important given the current rate of climatic and environmental change. In response to global warming, species will need to migrate northward or upward to stay within their climatic tolerances. The ability of species to migrate will determine their fate and affect the community compositions of the future. However, to more accurately predict the future extent of species, we must identify and understand their responses to past and current climatic and environmental changes. The first place change is expected to occur is within …

Modeling The Effects Of The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid On Carbon Storage In Northern New England Forests, Jeffrey John Krebs

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA, Adelges tsugae Annand) is an invasive insect that threatens to eradicate native eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr.) across the eastern United States. In southern New England and southern Appalachian forests, HWA-induced hemlock mortality has impacted carbon (C) flux by altering stand age, litter composition, species composition, and coarse woody debris levels. However, no one has examined how total C storage and sequestration may be impacted by these changes. Further, while projections are that HWA will ultimately infest hemlock across its entire geographic range, the majority of studies have been limited to southern New …