Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 22 of 22
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Bryophyte Species Composition Over Moisture Gradients In The Windmill Islands, East Antarctica: Development Of A Baseline For Monitoring Climate Change Impacts, J Wasley, S A. Robinson, J D. Turnbull, D H. King, W Wanek, M Popp
Bryophyte Species Composition Over Moisture Gradients In The Windmill Islands, East Antarctica: Development Of A Baseline For Monitoring Climate Change Impacts, J Wasley, S A. Robinson, J D. Turnbull, D H. King, W Wanek, M Popp
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
Extreme environmental conditions prevail on the Antarctic continent and limit plant diversity to cryptogamic communities, dominated by bryophytes and lichens. Even small abiotic shifts, associated with climate change, are likely to have pronounced impacts on these communities that currently exist at their physiological limit of survival. Changes to moisture availability, due to precipitation shifts or alterations to permanent snow reserves, will most likely cause greatest impact. In order to establish a baseline for determining the effect of climate change on continental Antarctic terrestrial communities and to better understand bryophyte species distributions in relation to moisture in a floristically important Antarctic …
Seed Bank Persistence And Climate Change, Mark K. J Ooi
Seed Bank Persistence And Climate Change, Mark K. J Ooi
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
"The strong mechanistic relationship between climatic factors and seed dormancy and germination suggests that forecast climatic changes will significantly affect seed bank persistence. This review focuses on the potential impact of changing temperature, rainfall and fire regimes on the longevity of long-term persistent seed-banks. Currently, there are few studies investigating the mechanistic responses of demographic processes, such as seed-bank dynamics, to forecast climate change. However, from the work that has been published, several key points have been highlighted. First, increased air temperatures will produce significantly higher soil temperatures in open and sparsely vegetated habitats. Some evidence shows that this could …
Radiocarbon Bomb Spike Reveals Biological Effects Of Antarctic Climate Change, Laurence J Clarke, Sharon A. Robinson, Quan Hua, David J. Ayre, David Fink
Radiocarbon Bomb Spike Reveals Biological Effects Of Antarctic Climate Change, Laurence J Clarke, Sharon A. Robinson, Quan Hua, David J. Ayre, David Fink
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
The Antarctic has experienced major changes in temperature, wind speed and stratospheric ozone levels during thelast 50 years. However, until recently continental Antarctica appeared to be little impacted by climate warming, thusbiological changes were predicted to be relatively slow. Detecting the biological effects of Antarctic climate changehas been hindered by the paucity of long-term data sets, particularly for organisms that have been exposed to thesechanges throughout their lives. We show that radiocarbon signals are preserved along shoots of the dominant Antarcticmoss flora and use these to determine accurate growth rates over a period of several decades, allowing us toexplore the …
Meteorological Modes Of Variability For Fine Particulate Matter (Pm2.5) Air Quality In The United States: Implications For Pm2.5 Sensitivity To Climate Change, A. P K. Tai, L J. Mickley, D J. Jacob, E M. Leibensperger, L Zhang, J A. Fisher, H. O T. Pye
Meteorological Modes Of Variability For Fine Particulate Matter (Pm2.5) Air Quality In The United States: Implications For Pm2.5 Sensitivity To Climate Change, A. P K. Tai, L J. Mickley, D J. Jacob, E M. Leibensperger, L Zhang, J A. Fisher, H. O T. Pye
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
We applied a multiple linear regression model to understand the relationships of PM2.5 with meteorological variables in the contiguous US and from there to infer the sensitivity of PM2.5 to climate change. We used 2004–2008 PM2.5 observations from ~1000 sites (~200 sites for PM2.5 components) and compared to results from the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model (CTM). All data were deseasonalized to focus on synoptic-scale correlations. We find strong positive correlations of PM2.5 components with temperature in most of the US, except for nitrate in the Southeast where the correlation is negative. Relative humidity (RH) is …
Climate Change, Fuel And Fire Behaviour In A Eucalypt Forest, Stuart Matthews, Andrew L. Sullivan, Penny Watson, Richard J. Williams
Climate Change, Fuel And Fire Behaviour In A Eucalypt Forest, Stuart Matthews, Andrew L. Sullivan, Penny Watson, Richard J. Williams
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
A suite of models was used to examine the links between climate, fuels and fire behaviour in dry eucalypt forests in south-eastern Australia. Predictions from a downscaled climate model were used to drive models of fuel amount, the moisture content of fuels and two models of forest fire behaviour at a location in western Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. We found that a warming and drying climate produced lower fine fuel amounts, but greater availability of this fuel to burn due to lower moisture contents. Changing fuel load had only a small effect on fuel moisture. A warmer, drier …
The First Climate Refugees? Contesting Global Narratives Of Climate Change In Tuvalu, Carol Farbotko, Heather Lazrus
The First Climate Refugees? Contesting Global Narratives Of Climate Change In Tuvalu, Carol Farbotko, Heather Lazrus
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
Climate change effects such as sea-level rise are almost certain. What these outcomes mean for different populations, however, is far less certain. Climate change is both a narrative and material phenomenon. In so being, understanding climate change requires broad conceptualisations that incorporate multiple voices and recognise the agency of vulnerable populations. In climate change discourse, climate mobility is often characterised as the production of 'refugees', with a tendency to discount long histories of ordinary mobility among affected populations. The case of Tuvalu in the Pacific juxtaposes migration as everyday practice with climate refugee narratives. This climate-exposed population is being problematically …
Negotiating Change: Working With Children And Their Employers To Transform Child Domestic Work In Iringa, Tanzania, Natascha Klocker
Negotiating Change: Working With Children And Their Employers To Transform Child Domestic Work In Iringa, Tanzania, Natascha Klocker
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
This paper documents the practical and action-oriented findings of an investigation into child domestic work undertaken in Iringa, Tanzania from 2005 to 2007. It provides an overview of the experiences of both child domestic workers and their employers, before discussing their suggestions for how child domestic working arrangements may be improved. The latter sections of the paper relate the attempts to regulate child domestic work that emerged from such dialogue. In providing detailed information on that process, the paper is positioned within the field of action research and resists the boundary frequently applied between academia and activism. It also moves …
An Australian Feeling For Snow Towards Understanding Cultural And Emotional Dimensions Of Climate Change, Andrew W. Gorman-Murray
An Australian Feeling For Snow Towards Understanding Cultural And Emotional Dimensions Of Climate Change, Andrew W. Gorman-Murray
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
In Australia, snow is associated with alpine and subalpine regions in rural areas; snow is a component of ‘natural’ rather than urban environments. But the range, depth and duration of Australia’s regional snow cover is imperilled by climate change. While researchers have considered the impacts of snow retreat on the natural environment and responses from the mainland ski industry, this paper explores associated cultural and emotional dimensions of climate change. This responds to calls to account for local meanings of climate, and thus localised perceptions of and responses to climate change. Accordingly, this paper presents a case study of reactions …
Assessing The Vulnerability Of Asian Megadeltas To Climate Change Using Gis, Colin D. Woodroffe
Assessing The Vulnerability Of Asian Megadeltas To Climate Change Using Gis, Colin D. Woodroffe
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
Susceptibility of Asian megadeltas to climate change, including sea-level rise, is investigated using GIS. The Indus, Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna, Irrawaddy, Chao Phraya, Mekong, Red, Pearl, Changjiang, and Huanghe deltas began to form around 6000 years ago and have prograded since. The surface topography of active and abandoned delta plains is examined using digital terrain models derived from Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data and channel morphology is investigated using radar imagery. After delta plains are abandoned they become increasingly dominated by tidal processes. Population density is estimated using gridded world population data but highly variable local microtopography and uncertainty regarding future climate changes …
Age And Origin Of Alluvial Sediments Within And Flanking The Mt Lofty Ranges, Southern South Australia: A Late Quaternary Archive Of Climate And Environmental Change, D Banerjee, N F. Alley, R P. Bourman, S Buckman, J R. Prescott
Age And Origin Of Alluvial Sediments Within And Flanking The Mt Lofty Ranges, Southern South Australia: A Late Quaternary Archive Of Climate And Environmental Change, D Banerjee, N F. Alley, R P. Bourman, S Buckman, J R. Prescott
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
No abstract provided.
Response Of Coral Reefs To Climate Change: Expansion And Demise Of The Southernmost Pacific Coral Reef, Colin D. Woodroffe, Brendan P. Brooke, Michelle Linklater, David M. Kennedy, Brian G. Jones, Cameron Buchanan, Richard Mleczko, Quan Hua, Jian-Xin Zhao
Response Of Coral Reefs To Climate Change: Expansion And Demise Of The Southernmost Pacific Coral Reef, Colin D. Woodroffe, Brendan P. Brooke, Michelle Linklater, David M. Kennedy, Brian G. Jones, Cameron Buchanan, Richard Mleczko, Quan Hua, Jian-Xin Zhao
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
Coral reefs track sea level and are particularly sensitive to changes in climate. Reefs are threatened by global warming, with many experiencing increased coral bleaching. Warmer sea surface temperatures might enable reef expansion into mid latitudes. Here we report multibeam sonar and coring that reveal an extensive relict coral reef around Lord Howe Island, which is fringed by the southernmost reef in the Pacific Ocean. The relict reef, in water depths of 25-50 m, flourished in early Holocene and covered an area more than 20 times larger than the modern reef. Radiocarbon and uranium-series dating indicates that corals grew between …
Towards Understanding The Cultural Aspects Of Climate Change In The Snow, Andrew W. Gorman-Murray
Towards Understanding The Cultural Aspects Of Climate Change In The Snow, Andrew W. Gorman-Murray
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
No abstract provided.
Climate Change In The Dead Heart Of Australia, Joshua Larsen, Gerald C. Nanson, Timothy J. Cohen, Brian G. Jones, John D. Jansen, Jan-Hendrik May
Climate Change In The Dead Heart Of Australia, Joshua Larsen, Gerald C. Nanson, Timothy J. Cohen, Brian G. Jones, John D. Jansen, Jan-Hendrik May
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
Despite the absence of large-scale glaciation, the Australian continent has experienced substantial environmental change throughout the Quaternary period. This is especially pronounced in central Australia, where one seventh of the continent is drained internally to the depocentre, and lowest point in Australia, Lake Eyre (Figure 1). Research has shown that at one time, large sandy braided and meandering rivers carried water through dunefields to a large freshwater lake system. Today, the rivers are hostage to the dunefield, and floodwaters might only reach Lake Eyre once every ten years or so. In order to understand the development of this arid desert …
Before And After Climate Change: The Snow Country In Australian Imaginaries, Andrew W. Gorman-Murray
Before And After Climate Change: The Snow Country In Australian Imaginaries, Andrew W. Gorman-Murray
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
No abstract provided.
Environmental Effects Of Ozone Depletion And Its Interactions With Climate Change: Progress Report, 2008, S. R. Wilson, C Ballare, L Bjorn, M Caldwell, A Andrady, P Aucamp, A Bais, Keith R. Solomon, Xiaoyan Tang, G Kulandaivelu, J Longstreth, D P. Hader, R C. Worrest, D J. Erickson, J C. Van Der Leun, A H. Teramura, H Redhwi, Richard L. Mckenzie, H D. Kumar, Y Takizawa, F R. Gruijl, R C. Smith, A Torikai, R G. Zepp, A P. Cullen, M Norval, B Sulzberger, Nigel Paul, J R. Bornman, Mohammad Ilyas
Environmental Effects Of Ozone Depletion And Its Interactions With Climate Change: Progress Report, 2008, S. R. Wilson, C Ballare, L Bjorn, M Caldwell, A Andrady, P Aucamp, A Bais, Keith R. Solomon, Xiaoyan Tang, G Kulandaivelu, J Longstreth, D P. Hader, R C. Worrest, D J. Erickson, J C. Van Der Leun, A H. Teramura, H Redhwi, Richard L. Mckenzie, H D. Kumar, Y Takizawa, F R. Gruijl, R C. Smith, A Torikai, R G. Zepp, A P. Cullen, M Norval, B Sulzberger, Nigel Paul, J R. Bornman, Mohammad Ilyas
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
After the enthusiastic celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer in 2007, the work for the proctection of the ozone layer continues. The Environmental Effects Assessment Panel is one of the three expert panels within the Montreal Protocol.
Integrated Late Quaternary Chronostratigraphy For San Salvador Island, Bahamas: Patterns And Trends Of Morphological Change In The Land Snail Cerion, Paul Hearty, Stephen A. Schellenberg
Integrated Late Quaternary Chronostratigraphy For San Salvador Island, Bahamas: Patterns And Trends Of Morphological Change In The Land Snail Cerion, Paul Hearty, Stephen A. Schellenberg
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
Reconstructing the phylogeny and biogeography of the Caribbean land snail Cerion requires a robust stratigraphic and chronological framework. To this end, we have determined the stratigraphic succession on San Salvador, a Bahamian island with a rich fossil and modern Cerion fauna. A primary purpose of this paper is to independently verify this succession through whole-rock and Cerion aminostratigraphies and AMS 14C-based age models. Over 150 individual Cerion shells were age-ranked from 140 ka to modern using stratigraphic position and reverse-phase HPLC (RPC) amino acid racemization, which was sufficiently sensitive to resolve stratigraphic subunits within the Holocene and late Pleistocene. …
Climate Change Impacts On Coastal Biodiversity, V R. Burkett, Robert J. Nicholls, Leandro Fernandez, Colin D. Woodroffe
Climate Change Impacts On Coastal Biodiversity, V R. Burkett, Robert J. Nicholls, Leandro Fernandez, Colin D. Woodroffe
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
No abstract provided.
Vulnerability Of Geomorphological Features In The Great Barrier Reef To Climate Change, Scott Smithers, N Harvey, David Hopley, Colin D. Woodroffe
Vulnerability Of Geomorphological Features In The Great Barrier Reef To Climate Change, Scott Smithers, N Harvey, David Hopley, Colin D. Woodroffe
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is the largest contiguous coral reef ecosystem in the world81,49. That it is possibly the largest geomorphological structure ever created by living organisms is less widely appreciated. The GBR extends through approximately 15 degrees of latitude and more than 2100 km along the northeast Queensland coast, covering an area of 344,500 km282. It includes more than 2900 reefs of varying types (eg fringing, patch, cresentic, lagoonal, planar), dimensions and stage of growth, which together occupy greater than 20,000 km2, or about 5.8 percent of the total area of the GBR81,82 …
Changes In Tropospheric Composition And Air Quality Due To Stratospheric Ozone Depletion And Climate Change, Stephen R. Wilson, Keith R. Solomon, Xiaoyan Tang
Changes In Tropospheric Composition And Air Quality Due To Stratospheric Ozone Depletion And Climate Change, Stephen R. Wilson, Keith R. Solomon, Xiaoyan Tang
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
It is well-understood that reductions in air quality play a significant role in both environmental and human health. Interactions between ozone depletion and global climate change will significantly alter atmospheric chemistry which, in turn, will cause changes in concentrations of natural and human-made gasses and aerosols. Models predict that tropospheric ozone near the surface will increase globally by up to 10 to 30 ppbv (33 to 100% increase) during the period 2000 to 2100. With the increase in the amount of the stratospheric ozone, increased transport from the stratosphere to the troposphere will result in different responses in polluted and …
Landscape Variability And The Response Of Asian Megadeltas To Environmental Change, Colin D. Woodroffe, Robert J. Nicholls, Yoshiki Saito, Zhongyuan Chen, S L. Goodbred
Landscape Variability And The Response Of Asian Megadeltas To Environmental Change, Colin D. Woodroffe, Robert J. Nicholls, Yoshiki Saito, Zhongyuan Chen, S L. Goodbred
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
Deltas, occurring at the mouths of river systems that deposit sediments as they enter the sea, are some of the most dynamic sedimentary environments. They contain a long, and often economically significant, sedimentary record of their response to past episodes of climate and sea-level change. Geological investigation of these deposits, and the processes controlling sedimentation, provide insights into the response of deltas to environmental change, which in turn may offer rational and cost-effective strategies for the sustainable management of natural resources and land use in these dynamic systems in the face of future environmental change.
Aeolian-Fluvial Interaction: Evidence For Late Quaternary Channel Change And Wind-Rift Linear Dune Formation In The Northwestern Simpson Desert, Australia, Gerald C. Nanson, Brian G. Jones, David M. Price, Tim Pietsch, C Bristow, Cameron B. Hollands
Aeolian-Fluvial Interaction: Evidence For Late Quaternary Channel Change And Wind-Rift Linear Dune Formation In The Northwestern Simpson Desert, Australia, Gerald C. Nanson, Brian G. Jones, David M. Price, Tim Pietsch, C Bristow, Cameron B. Hollands
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
In central Australia the most easterly extent of the MacDonnell Ranges borders the northwestern Simpson Desert where widely spaced strike ridges intercept the regional linear dunefield. Topographic basins have disrupted regional drainage lines and isolated dune sets from the main dunefield. In the western part of Camel Flat basin large, red coloured linear dunes of fine sand, ~ 74 ka and older, are oriented almost due north. Through gaps in the ranges the Todd River traversed the eastern part of the basin until ~25 ka when it apparently avulsed ~25 km eastwards to its present position. Subsequently, linear dunes, smaller, …
Environmental Effects Of Ozone Depletion And Its Interactions With Climate Change: Progress Report, 2004, A Andrady, P Aucamp, A Bais, C. Ballare, L Bjorn, J R. Bornman, M Caldwell, T Callaghan, A P. Cullen, D J. Erickson, F R. De Gruijl, D P. Hader, Mohammad Ilyas, G Kulandaivelu, H D. Kumar, J Longstreth, Richard L. Mckenzie, M Norval, H Redhwi, R C. Smith, Keith R. Solomon, B Sulzberger, Y Takizawa, Xiaoyan Tang, A H. Teramura, A Torikai, J C. Van Der Leun, Stephen R. Wilson, R C. Worrest, R. G. Zepp
Environmental Effects Of Ozone Depletion And Its Interactions With Climate Change: Progress Report, 2004, A Andrady, P Aucamp, A Bais, C. Ballare, L Bjorn, J R. Bornman, M Caldwell, T Callaghan, A P. Cullen, D J. Erickson, F R. De Gruijl, D P. Hader, Mohammad Ilyas, G Kulandaivelu, H D. Kumar, J Longstreth, Richard L. Mckenzie, M Norval, H Redhwi, R C. Smith, Keith R. Solomon, B Sulzberger, Y Takizawa, Xiaoyan Tang, A H. Teramura, A Torikai, J C. Van Der Leun, Stephen R. Wilson, R C. Worrest, R. G. Zepp
Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)
The complexity of the linkages between ozone depletion, UV-B radiation and climate change has become more apparent.