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Earthjustice: The Role Of The African Regional Human Rights System In Containing Climate Change, Bright Nkrumah, Ebenezer Durojaye, Maria Usang Assim Jul 2025

Earthjustice: The Role Of The African Regional Human Rights System In Containing Climate Change, Bright Nkrumah, Ebenezer Durojaye, Maria Usang Assim

Journal of African Policy Studies

At the turn of the millennium, the landscape of Africa has been punctuated by intense weather conditions. With a disproportionate percentage of the continent’s population bearing the brunt of climate-induced heatwaves, deluges, and drought, it is expected that this phenomenon will spur regional climate litigation. The essay argues that although there is an evolution of climate cases submitted at the national level, this development has not evolved to the African regional human rights system. The lack of cases at the regional level beckons one to explore why (potential)victims are unable or unwilling to explore these mechanisms given their role in …


Atmospheric Teleconnection Patterns And Hydrological Whiplashes In The Western U.S., Wenzhao Li, Surendra Maharjan, Hesham El-Askary Jul 2025

Atmospheric Teleconnection Patterns And Hydrological Whiplashes In The Western U.S., Wenzhao Li, Surendra Maharjan, Hesham El-Askary

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

The Western U.S. is undergoing notable transformations in its hydrological patterns, distinguished by rising variability and recurrent “whiplash” shifts between extreme wet and dry phases. Our comprehensive analysis of 469 streamflow stations from 1981 to 2023 reveals a substantial increase in hydrological whiplash events, with a peak of 206 stations experiencing dry-to-wet whiplash in the early 1990s. We establish strong links between these streamflow extremes and sub-seasonal to seasonal teleconnection factors, particularly the Western Pacific Oscillation (WP) and Eastern Pacific/North Pacific Oscillation (EPO). Additionally, we demonstrate the combined impacts of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), …


A Comprehensive Systematic Review Of Machine Learning Applications In Assessing Land Use/Cover Dynamics And Their Impact On Land Surface Temperatures, Rasool Vahid, Mohamed Aly Jun 2025

A Comprehensive Systematic Review Of Machine Learning Applications In Assessing Land Use/Cover Dynamics And Their Impact On Land Surface Temperatures, Rasool Vahid, Mohamed Aly

Environmental Dynamics Faculty Publications and Presentations

In a world experiencing rapid urbanization, the phenomenon of land surface temperature (LST) variation has invited substantial attention due to its profound impact on the environment and human well-being. Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) within urban areas significantly influence the dynamics of LST and are a major driver of urban eco-environmental change. The complex connections between LULC dynamics, LST, and climate change are investigated in this systematic review, with a focus on the combined effects of these variables and the use of Machine Learning (ML) techniques. The data in this study, based on peer-reviewed publications from the …


Arts-Based Sustainability: From New York To Malawi, Martha B. Lerski Jun 2025

Arts-Based Sustainability: From New York To Malawi, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Recognizing that libraries serve multiple constituencies and subject areas, this chapter documents and advocates for development of transdisciplinary arts-based research (ABR) and culture-related projects linked to environmental challenges. Libraries contribute collections and spaces, as well as the research of library and information scientists. Libraries are currently among invisible contributors to sustainability planning and services. The chapter will link this invisibility to the value of what visual arts refer to as negative space elements in subjects ranging from traditional ecological knowledge to environmental science. Library collections, projects, and research contribute to education for sustainable development (ESD) as required to achieve the …


Reconciling Theology, God, And Climate Change In The Pacific Islands: The Emergence Of Syncretism And Ecotheology, Dan F. Orcherton Jun 2025

Reconciling Theology, God, And Climate Change In The Pacific Islands: The Emergence Of Syncretism And Ecotheology, Dan F. Orcherton

Pacific Studies

No abstract provided.


Long-Range Transport Of Canadian Wildfire Smoke: Public Health And Earth System Impacts, Erica L. Simon Jun 2025

Long-Range Transport Of Canadian Wildfire Smoke: Public Health And Earth System Impacts, Erica L. Simon

Environmental Studies Senior Theses

In the summer of 2023, Canada experienced an unprecedented wildfire season with total burned area reaching 15 million hectares, doubling the previous record. Notably, smoke plumes from Eastern Canada were transported to the Northeast United States, resulting in record-breaking measures of poor air quality in early June 2023. This thesis employs a multi-method analysis to understand the June 2023 Quebec wildfires, focusing on atmospheric science, public health effects in New York City, and albedo changes on the Greenland ice sheet. Through this analysis, I find record-high monthly mean aerosol optical depth values in June 2023 in three regions– the Northeast …


Rebuilding Consent: Fear, Trust, And The Future Of Nuclear Energy, Austin Dunham Jun 2025

Rebuilding Consent: Fear, Trust, And The Future Of Nuclear Energy, Austin Dunham

University Honors Theses

This thesis traces the cultural and emotional roots of nuclear fear in the United States and explores how those inherited anxieties continue to shape public resistance to nuclear energy in the face of a worsening climate crisis. Drawing on personal narrative, risk perception theory, and the history of nuclear discourse - from Hiroshima to Chernobyl to today - the research examines how trust, rather than technology, remains the largest barrier to progress. By analyzing the stories we tell about energy, disaster, control, and overall perceived risk, this work asks what it would take for Americans to imagine nuclear energy not …


The ‘Double-Exposure’ Of Riverine Communities In Northeast India To Dams And Climate Change, Costanza Rampini Jun 2025

The ‘Double-Exposure’ Of Riverine Communities In Northeast India To Dams And Climate Change, Costanza Rampini

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.


Enhancing Water Supply Resilience & Sustainability: Potential Solutions To Address Water Scarcity In Bogotá, Colombia, Sophia Alvarez Wong May 2025

Enhancing Water Supply Resilience & Sustainability: Potential Solutions To Address Water Scarcity In Bogotá, Colombia, Sophia Alvarez Wong

Master's Projects and Capstones

Municipal water utilities are in urgent need of adapting to the intensifying impacts of climate change and population growth—key drivers of urban water scarcity worldwide. In rapidly expanding cities like Bogota, Colombia, these pressures have contributed to a severe water crisis driven by prolonged droughts, ecosystem degradation, increasing water demands, and overdependence on limited water sources. This study explores potential adaptation and management strategies that utilities can implement to sustainably strengthen supply system resilience and enhance water security, in the context of low- to middle-income regions. A series of comparative and case study analyses were conducted to assess the feasibility …


Climate Change Behind Prison Walls: Environmental Justice, Prison Abolition, And Social Welfare, Mia Moody May 2025

Climate Change Behind Prison Walls: Environmental Justice, Prison Abolition, And Social Welfare, Mia Moody

Student Theses 2015-Present

Unbeknownst to many, human rights violations occur on a large scale behind prison walls. This paper examines some of these violations, especially those exacerbated by climate change, through an environmental lense in order to emphasize the need for social welfare-based solutions in the abolition of the prison industrial complex. It also seeks to illustrate the connection between the environmental justice movement and the prison abolition movement so that marginalized peoples may be free from shouldering disproportionate effects of environmental hazards and imprisonment. This paper is introduced with a brief overview of the human rights violations occurring in prisons. Using quantitative …


The Human Legacy: Agriculture, Civilizations, Strife, And Pandemics Changing Our Climate, Jacalyn M. Wittmer Malinowski May 2025

The Human Legacy: Agriculture, Civilizations, Strife, And Pandemics Changing Our Climate, Jacalyn M. Wittmer Malinowski

Climate Change and the Individual, 2025-26

For most of human history, climate has shaped our lives, while our influence on it remained minimal. However, the notion that early humans had no measurable impact on the climate before industrialization is inaccurate. Early in human history, activities – such as the rise of agriculture, the growth of civilizations, periods of conflict, and pandemics – altered greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere. These changes contributed to significant periods of climate change long before the burning of fossil fuels set us on the path to today’s global climate crisis.


From Self To Society: How Threat Type And Message Mode Affect Environmental Intentions Among Young Audiences, Lucas Vogt May 2025

From Self To Society: How Threat Type And Message Mode Affect Environmental Intentions Among Young Audiences, Lucas Vogt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the influence of threat type (personal vs. societal) and message mode (narrative vs. utilitarian) on young adults’ environmental intentions. Using the extended parallel process model (EPPM), this study argued for expanding the theory to include threat type (societal vs. personal) to clarify how threat is understood. A 2 x 2 factorial design was utilized to test the effects of threat type and message mode on environmental behavioral intentions. A sample of 266 university students participated in an online survey. Based on prior research, this study hypothesized that personal threats would yield the highest levels of environmental behavioral …


Violent Infrastructure: Natural And Unnatural Barriers To Climate Migration, Walden Hicks Apr 2025

Violent Infrastructure: Natural And Unnatural Barriers To Climate Migration, Walden Hicks

Global Tides

This paper attempts to compare and contrast the impact of immigration policy on climate migrants in three Global North countries, Italy, the United States, and New Zealand. Climate migration will continue to be one of the most significant international concerns as global temperatures increase and previously habitable areas of the globe become uninhabitable. Climate migrants are forced to migrate for a variety of reasons due to climate change, including sea level rise, famine, rising temperatures, drought, and natural disaster. Global North countries must begin to transform their immigration systems towards climate justice and acceptance for climate migrants or communities will …


Ethics Of End-Of-Life Care: Alzheimer's And Assisted Dying, Callan Plant '25 Apr 2025

Ethics Of End-Of-Life Care: Alzheimer's And Assisted Dying, Callan Plant '25

Honor Scholar Theses

Assisted dying and euthanasia are hotly contested end-of-life care options that present pressing dilemmas concerning patient autonomy, relief of suffering, and the misapplication of these delicate medical procedures. Access to and prohibition of these options is predicated on years of legal history, including continuous adjustment, and is actively contested in many places. Each country where at least one of these options is accessible, such as the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands, possesses largely similar restrictions and guidelines, with notable exceptions. Through the examination of data in countries that allow access to assisted dying, euthanasia, or both, it is possible …


The Impact Of Adult Awareness Of Climate Change On Renewable Energy Consumption In The United States, Mohammad Ismayl Al Masud Mar 2025

The Impact Of Adult Awareness Of Climate Change On Renewable Energy Consumption In The United States, Mohammad Ismayl Al Masud

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

I conduct a survey among college students in Texas to assess their willingness to pay for renewable energy to tackle climate change. An individual with a good level of climate awareness is 9.38% more willing to pay extra for renewable energy. Comparably, people with an excellent level of awareness are 23% more likely to financially favor renewable energy than others, given the willingness to pay those with a good level of awareness. Utilizing the ARDL model, I analyze the national-level data to extrapolate the individual-level results on a macroeconomic level. I find that a 1% increase in awareness level would …


Building Relationships For Meaningful Co-Created Indigenous Climate Education, B. Hanson, R. Mccann, D. Smiley, S. Hinck, A. R. Archie, N. Butler Mar 2025

Building Relationships For Meaningful Co-Created Indigenous Climate Education, B. Hanson, R. Mccann, D. Smiley, S. Hinck, A. R. Archie, N. Butler

Environment and Society Student Research

This project involved a multicultural team collaboratively co-creating a climate change module by and for Indigenous people. Embracing the framework of cultural humility, we recognized the bidirectional learning inherent in the project and its role in mitigating power dynamics within the team. This endeavor underscored the significance of transparency, effective communication, respect, reciprocity, trust building, and sensitivity to cultural contexts. Our findings emphasized the need for locally grounded programs that echo local traditional wisdom. We discovered that fostering an environment conducive to active listening and patience is pivotal in establishing a secure space. Our research affirms the equal validity and …


Going Green In Dermatology, Rahib K. Islam, Victoria T. Tong, Shari R. Lipner Mar 2025

Going Green In Dermatology, Rahib K. Islam, Victoria T. Tong, Shari R. Lipner

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


An Analysis Of The Ugandan Media Coverage Of Climate Change Stories: A Case Of Daily Monitor Newspaper And Vision, Joseph Elunya Jan 2025

An Analysis Of The Ugandan Media Coverage Of Climate Change Stories: A Case Of Daily Monitor Newspaper And Vision, Joseph Elunya

Master of Arts in Digital Journalism

The study analyzed how the Ugandan media covers climate change, focusing on the case of The New Vision and the Daily Monitor newspapers. Climate change remains one of the most global challenges of our time. Around the world, the environmental consequences of climate change are leading to more intense droughts in some regions while causing flooding in others. As mitigation efforts are being spearheaded at the international stage, the media is playing a very instrumental role in awareness creation. Despite the critical role of the mass media in shaping public opinion and driving policy, the Ugandan media suffers from the …


The Coverage, Framing And Audience Interaction With Climate Change Reporting: A Case Study Of Nation.Africa’S Stories, Lilys Wangari Njeru Jan 2025

The Coverage, Framing And Audience Interaction With Climate Change Reporting: A Case Study Of Nation.Africa’S Stories, Lilys Wangari Njeru

Master of Arts in Digital Journalism

This study investigated the coverage, framing, and audience interaction with climate change stories published on Nation.Africa, a leading digital news platform in Kenya. The research was motivated by the increasing importance of climate change communication in driving public awareness and action, alongside the observed gaps in audience engagement with such content. The study aimed to analyse how Nation.Africa covered climate change stories, the framing styles used, and the nature of audience interactions with these stories during the period from August 2023 to January 2024. Guided by agenda-setting and framing theories, the study employed quantitative content analysis to evaluate 150 stories …


Adaptation For Whom? Understanding The Impacts Of Dyke Policies On Small-Scale Farmers In Ca Mau Province Of Vietnam, Nguyen Minh Quang, Nguyen Van Minh, Nguyen Vo Chau Ngan, Martha B. Lerski Jan 2025

Adaptation For Whom? Understanding The Impacts Of Dyke Policies On Small-Scale Farmers In Ca Mau Province Of Vietnam, Nguyen Minh Quang, Nguyen Van Minh, Nguyen Vo Chau Ngan, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Low-lying deltas worldwide are extremely vulnerable to sea-level rise. As the risks of climate-induced flooding become increasingly clear, the thirst for infrastructure-driven adaptation increases. This highlights a patent need to understand the impacts of engineering adaptation solutions, especially those targeting built structures such as dykes and sluices, on farmers from a bottom-up, farmer-centred perspective. The study addresses this call by examining cases where dyke policies, while successful in some dimensions, have undermined small-scale farmer livelihoods in Ca Mau ― Vietnam’s southernmost rural province. It identifies areas in need of attention and adds empirical data related to this group of farmers. …


Identifying Intangible And Biocultural Heritage Elements Toward Environmental Understanding: Engaging Stakeholders Through Art, Martha B. Lerski Jan 2025

Identifying Intangible And Biocultural Heritage Elements Toward Environmental Understanding: Engaging Stakeholders Through Art, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Grounded in a case study in Barbuda in the Caribbean, this research examines sustainability from the perspective of what arts and heritage can contribute to community engagement and local and broader understandings about the environment. This article documents a growing body of literature recognizing the role of arts and culture, including local knowledge and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), in climate change endeavors. Art and TEK present expansive world views. Contextual information situates research done on the island of Barbuda pre- and post-Hurricane Irma. Visual arts workshops engaged community members in mixed methods research. Results documented cultural elements, particularly intangible and …


Renewable Energy Federalism 2.0, Danielle Stokes Jan 2025

Renewable Energy Federalism 2.0, Danielle Stokes

Law Faculty Publications

Much like climate change, the clean energy transition presents a “super wicked” problem that is further complicated by prioritizing justice. History has taught us that government regulation, industry innovation, and community engagement are the catalysts of effective transitions. Similarly, the just energy transition requires the support of these interconnected networks. This Essay offers sustainable collaborative governance as a theoretical framework through which decision-makers may filter their assessments, industry can model its metrics, and community can develop language to articulate its needs. Sustainable collaborative governance is also a means of navigating the complexities of renewable energy siting and regulation while fostering …


The Solar Maya: Resilience And Strength In The Face Of Climate Change, Anna Frances Paradise Jan 2025

The Solar Maya: Resilience And Strength In The Face Of Climate Change, Anna Frances Paradise

Pitzer Senior Theses

The solar maya of Yucatán, Mexico is an example of a sustainable agroecosystem that holds the potential to embed resilience in the livelihoods of those who utilize it. However, this traditional and indigenous system of agriculture is threatened by the immense forces of urbanization and modernization imposed on the area. I conducted research that included 14 different in-person and online interviews of academic and local personnel in Mérida and in nearby Yucatecan municipalities as well as visited seven different solares mayas, documenting my findings through audio recordings and photographs. With this collection of qualitative data, I found trends in the …


The Strategic And Governance Implications Of Solar Radiation Modification: Perspectives From Delegates Of International Climate Negotiations, Todd L. Cherry, Steffen Kallbekken, David M. Mcevoy, Wai Yan Siu Jan 2025

The Strategic And Governance Implications Of Solar Radiation Modification: Perspectives From Delegates Of International Climate Negotiations, Todd L. Cherry, Steffen Kallbekken, David M. Mcevoy, Wai Yan Siu

ODU Articles

The lack of progress in addressing climate change has led to increased interest in solar radiation modification (SRM)—a collection of large-scale interventions that cool the planet by managing the amount of solar radiation that reaches the earth. SRM complicates climate change governance because, in addition to advancing collective action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, governance needs to restrain unilateral SRM action while balancing diverging actor interests, ethical risks and scientific uncertainty. We survey international climate policy experts for their assessments of the potential for effective global governance of SRM and the likelihood of possible international responses to unilateral SRM scenarios. …


"Gen Z Climate Being": Podcast Series On Youth, Climate Emotions, And Affective Climate Justice, Rachel Wynne Moszkowicz Jan 2025

"Gen Z Climate Being": Podcast Series On Youth, Climate Emotions, And Affective Climate Justice, Rachel Wynne Moszkowicz

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

My project is a co-created 6 part podcast series with youth and the program lead from the Climate Mental Health Network’s Gen Z Advisory Board informed by affective climate justice, youth, mental health and education. This work foregrounds the embodied climate knowing and being of youth climate activists, offers ideas for a different relationship to climate change and climate education futures. In this podcast, Gen Zers speak to the youth mental health crisis as it relates to climate. My thesis project engages with and invites conversations that reflect the climate itself, which is non-linear, complex, porous, creative, expansive, and woven …


Climate Change And Parenthood: Impact On Family Size Decision-Making, Minha Hossain, Jennifer Lai, Mindy Engle-Friedman Jan 2025

Climate Change And Parenthood: Impact On Family Size Decision-Making, Minha Hossain, Jennifer Lai, Mindy Engle-Friedman

Publications and Research

This study explores how parental status relates to childbearing decisions in the context of climate change and builds on prior research linking climate anxiety to reduced family size intentions. A survey of 114 participants revealed that non-parents were significantly more likely than parents to plan to have fewer children and to express concerns about climate change. These findings underscore differences in how parents and non-parents approach future reproductive decisions and highlight the role of climate-related concerns in shaping family planning intentions.


Frozen Green Leaves As Potential Nutrient Subsidies In North American Mangrove Ecosystems, Katelyn Overstreet, Emily M. Dangremond, Ilka C. Feller Jan 2025

Frozen Green Leaves As Potential Nutrient Subsidies In North American Mangrove Ecosystems, Katelyn Overstreet, Emily M. Dangremond, Ilka C. Feller

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Avicennia germinans, the black mangrove, has shifted its range limit northward, and increased in abundance in the Southeastern United States. In January 2018, a 3-day freeze event caused substantial defoliation of green leaves in A. germinans near its northernmost range limit in St. Augustine, FL. During their recovery, plants that lost their leaves grew similarly to plants fertilized with nitrogen, leading to the hypothesis that freeze-killed green leaves (frozen green) may have acted as a fertilizer. To assess the value of frozen green litter as a nutrient subsidy, we performed an experiment in which A. germinans seedlings were grown …


Exploring Coupled Land Use -- Climate Change Impacts In The Northeast United States From 2020-2025 With Implications For Bombus Habitat Suitability, Archana Prasad Jan 2025

Exploring Coupled Land Use -- Climate Change Impacts In The Northeast United States From 2020-2025 With Implications For Bombus Habitat Suitability, Archana Prasad

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The combined impacts of land use and climate change pose significant challenges to bumblebee populations in the Northeast United States (NEUS), a region characterized by dense urbanization, diverse landscapes, and exposure to climate extremes. As urban and suburban areas expand, the loss of agricultural lands and open spaces alters habitat availability for bumblebees, which rely on grasslands, meadows, and forest edges for nesting and foraging. Simultaneously, the NEUS is experiencing an increase in extreme climate events, including prolonged heatwaves, heavy precipitation, and shifts in temperature patterns. Using CMIP6 climate model projections, we analyzed trends in nine climate indices. Our results …


Ai Fetishism And Perverse Climate Disavowal: Why Denying Destructiveness Facilitates Our Ecological Collapse, Alexander M. Stoner, Alexander M. Stoner, Anthony J. Knowles Jan 2025

Ai Fetishism And Perverse Climate Disavowal: Why Denying Destructiveness Facilitates Our Ecological Collapse, Alexander M. Stoner, Alexander M. Stoner, Anthony J. Knowles

Journal Articles

As ecological crises intensify, scholars and activists increasingly question the sustainability of economic growth. Yet, the dominant growth-oriented paradigm remains foundational to advanced capitalist societies and cannot be altered without significant social disruption. The resulting tension between ecological limits and the imperative for continuous growth generates “climate anxiety.” This article advances the concept of perverse climate disavowal: a mode of climate denial that acknowledges climate threats while maintaining faith in the illusion of infinite economic expansion. This disavowal functions as a psychological defense mechanism, enabling individuals and institutions to avoid confronting structural contradictions. The article examines the increasing use of …


Canary In The Alpine: Shifts In Snowbed Plant Communities Over Time In The Adirondack Mountains Of New York, Katie Rhodes Jan 2025

Canary In The Alpine: Shifts In Snowbed Plant Communities Over Time In The Adirondack Mountains Of New York, Katie Rhodes

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Due to their unique species diversity and vulnerability, alpine snowbed communities have the potential to serve as early detection or ‘canary’ communities that can inform scientific understanding of the timing and physical manifestation of a changing alpine ecosystem. In the summer of 2008, fifteen alpine snowbed vegetation community transects over 5 mountain summits were established and studied in the High Peaks Wilderness Complex within the Adirondack State Park by the New York Natural Heritage Program. Each transect was 5 meters long and encompassed five 1x1 meter subplots. These transects were relocated and surveyed again in the summer of 2024 in …