Digital Commons Network^™

Taking The Lead On Climate Action And Sustainable Development: Recommendations For Strategic National Transition Planning At The Centre Of A Whole-Of-System Climate Response, Mark Manning, Riona Bowhay, Megan Bowman, Peter Knaack, Lisa E. Sachs, Agnieszka Smolenska, Fiona Stewart, Thomas Tayler, Perrine Toledano, Harald Walkate

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

As the global economy transitions to a just, low-emissions, climate-resilient, and nature-positive future, we can expect every sector to transform. However, systemic transformation requires strategic transition planning, effective coordination, and communication across the economy. To facilitate this, governments can play a decisive role by managing change and setting incentives and constraints for private actors. Similarly, private sector actors can enhance their corporate strategies and financing decisions to support this transition. Transition plans serve as a roadmap to transformation by outlining a strategic vision and identifying capital needs, external factors, and dependencies.

CCSI is collaborating with experts at CETEx, King’s College, …

Approximation Of Ice Phenology Of Maine Lakes Using Aqua Modis Surface Temperature Data, Sophia K. Skoglund, Abdou Rachid Bah, Hamidreza Norouzi, Kathleen C. Weathers, Holly Ewing, Bethel G. Steele, Linda C. Bacon

All Faculty Scholarship

Studies of lake ice phenology have historically relied on limited in situ data. Relatively few observations exist for ice out and fewer still for ice in, both of which are necessary to determine the temporal extent of ice cover. Satellite data provide an opportunity to better document patterns of ice phenology across landscapes and relate them to the climatological drivers behind changing ice phenology. We developed a model, the Cumulative Sum Method (CSM), that uses daytime and nighttime surface temperature observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on board the Earth-observing Aqua satellite to approximate ice in (the …

Understanding Climate Change Adaptation And Gentrification Through The Framework Of Uneven Coastal Development In Keansburg, New Jersey, Zachary Paganini

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examines the rapid acceleration of coastal development in the United States despite projections of climate change-induced sea level rise. Like no other developed country, the U.S. has transformed its fragile coastline into sites for leisure, consumption, and retirement. These spaces now face the prospect of more frequent and severe storms, as well as land loss and inundation, due to climate change. This dilemma has sparked debates around coastal resilience, adaptation, retreat, and climate gentrification.

While many studies seek to measure perceptions of climate change risk and vulnerability, this dissertation reverses the question by positioning risk perceptions as an …

Peat Fires And Legacy Toxic Metal Release: An Integrative Biogeochemical And Ecohydrological Conceptual Framework, Colin P.R. Mccarter, Gareth D. Clay, Sophie L. Wilkinson, Gabriel Sigmund, Scott J. Davidson, Muh Taufik, Susan Page, Emma L. Shuttleworth, David Mclagan, Grant Chenier, Alexandra Clark, James M. Waddington

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Peatlands are potent landscape sinks of natural and industrial toxic metals and metalloids (TMMs) but the long-term sequestration of TMMs in peatlands is at increasing risk due to climate change enhanced peatland fires. The ability of peatlands to retain TMMs results from a host of interacting hydrological, biological, geomorphological, and chemical feedbacks, which underpin peatland functionality in general. Fire is a transformative force that often disrupts these interactions and feedbacks, leading to the potential release of TMMs to our air, land, and water. Given that wildfire burned area and severity are increasing there is a need for a conceptual understanding …

Driving Green Investments To Address Climate Change, Baptiste Gibrat

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

The climate crisis is no longer news, and society needs to accelerate the transition to net zero emissions. Otherwise, the consequences of climate change will become increasingly catastrophic.

This thesis develops a framework to drive green investments, which reduce society’s dependance on fossil fuels. Initially, the research provides a comprehensive examination of these investments, followed by an exploration of three strategies to enhance their adoption: leveraging financial instruments and capital markets, implementing regulatory frameworks, and harnessing the power of technologies. To integrate these elements within a comprehensive framework, the study employs market research, reviews relevant literature, and includes interviews with …

Integrated Modeling Of Nature’S Role In Human Well-Being: A Research Agenda, Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer, Stephen Polasky, Rob Alkemade, Neil D. Burgess, William W.L. Cheung, Ingo Fetzer, Mike Harfoot, Thomas W. Hertel, Samantha L.L. Hill, Justin Andrew Johnson, Jan H. Janse, Patrick José V. Jeetze, Hyejin Kim, Jan J. Kuiper, Eric Lonsdorf, David Leclère, Mark Mulligan, Garry D. Peterson, Alexander Popp, Stephanie Roe, Aafke M. Schipper, Tord Snäll, Arnout Van Soesbergen, Aline C. Soterroni, Elke Stehfest, Detlef P. Van Vuuren, Piero Visconti, Lan Wang-Erlandsson, Geoff Wells, Henrique M. Pereira

Department of Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Integrated assessment models that incorporate biodiversity and ecosystem services could be an important tool for improving our understanding of interconnected social-economic-ecological systems, and for analyzing how policy alternatives can shift future trajectories towards more sustainable development. Despite recent scientific and technological advances, key gaps remain in the scientific community’s ability to deliver information to decision-makers at the pace and scale needed to address sustainability challenges. We identify five research frontiers for integrated social-economic-ecological modeling (primarily focused on terrestrial systems) to

incorporate biodiversity and ecosystem services: 1) downscaling impacts of direct and indirect drivers on eco- systems; 2) incorporating feedbacks in …

Projected Climate Change Impacts On The Number Of Dry And Very Heavy Precipitation Days By Century’S End: A Case Study Of Iran’S Metropolises, Rasoul Asfari, Mohammad Nazari-Sharabian, Ali Hosseini, Moses Karakouzian

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

This study explores the impacts of climate change on the number of dry days and very heavy precipitation days within Iran’s metropolises. Focusing on Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Karaj, Shiraz, and Tabriz, the research utilizes the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) Global Circulation Models (GCMs) to predict future precipitation conditions under various Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) from 2025 to 2100. The study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how climate change will affect precipitation patterns in these major cities. Findings indicate that the SSP126 scenario typically results in the highest number of dry days, suggesting that …

Dengue And Climate Change: Assessing Potential Future Areas Of Concern For Transmission In The United States, Matthew Beer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Global climate change severely impacts human life, particularly health, as rising temperatures and extreme weather affect physical and mental well-being. Climate change can also alter the risk factors and epidemiology of infectious diseases, notably vector-borne diseases (VBDs), including those transmitted by mosquitoes. The Aedes mosquito, responsible for dengue, poses a significant threat due to its prevalence vector. Dengue prevention lacks effective methods beyond vector control, and the current vaccine has limitations, emphasizing the need for intensified research and prevention strategies to mitigate the expanding dengue burden worldwide. The goal of these studies was to establish a novel risk index …

Cultural Theory And Climate Change Risk Perceptions: Factors That Affect Support For Climate Change Mitigation Policy In Arkansas, Benjamin Galloway

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the intricate interplay between climate change perceptions, policy preferences, and the role of Cultural Theory in shaping public opinion. It begins by acknowledging the multifaceted impact of the climate crisis and emphasizing the critical importance of policy responses to mitigate its effects. Recognizing the diverse perspectives within the general public, the dissertation adopts a nuanced approach, leveraging Cultural Theory to investigate climate change risk perceptions and policy preferences. First, I examine disparities in fracking policy preferences between the general public and policy elites, employing Narrative Policy Framework-style narrative treatments. It reveals divergent responses to narrative elements, signaling …

Drought As An Emergent Driver Of Ecological Transformation In The Twenty-First Century, Wynne E. Moss, Shelley D. Crausbay, Imtiaz Rangwala, Jay W. Wason, Clay Trauernicht, Camille S. Stevens-Rumann, Anna Sala, Caitlin M. Rottler, Gregory T. Pederson, Brian W. Miller, Dawn R. Magness, Jeremy S. Littell, Lee E. Frelich, Abby Frazier, Kimberly T. Davis, Jonathan D. Coop, Jennifer M. Cartwright, Robert K. Booth

Geography

Under climate change, ecosystems are experiencing novel drought regimes, often in combination with stressors that reduce resilience and amplify drought's impacts. Consequently, drought appears increasingly likely to push systems beyond important physiological and ecological thresholds, resulting in substantial changes in ecosystem characteristics persisting long after drought ends (i.e., ecological transformation). In the present article, we clarify how drought can lead to transformation across a wide variety of ecosystems including forests, woodlands, and grasslands. Specifically, we describe how climate change alters drought regimes and how this translates to impacts on plant population growth, either directly or through drought's interactions with factors …

Assessment In The Potential Of Sustainable Community Development, Syifa Hanifa, Djati Mardiatno, Dina Ruslanjari

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

Global warming causes extreme weather and seawater levels to rise. Long-term climate change prediction has been done in various fields, including disaster management. It forced people to adapt to the consequences of climate change in coastal areas. Mitigation and adaptation are complementing each other in addressing climate change risks. Climate change mitigation supports essential aspects of sustainable development, specifically related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals on climate action (SDG13) and disaster risk reduction (SDG11). Making the community sustainable in a disaster is one of the ways to do this. Community sustainable development can be used to mitigate and adapt …

Just Academic Mobilities In An Unjust World, Farhana Sultana

Geography and the Environment - All Scholarship

Addressing academic mobilities in a time of climate breakdown requires a transformation in social values, behaviors, and systems. Our related task is twofold. First, scholars must foster knowledge production and circulation that 1) challenge a status quo that stems from colonial, capitalist, and racist histories and 2) are consistent with an inclusive, equitable, and low-impact academy. Second, we must strive for just geographies in an unjust world of climate, socioecological, and academic disparities. Such goals necessitate working for far-reaching changes within academic institutions as well as for systemic change in the broader world.

Perceived Effects Of Climate Change On Aquaculture Production In Zambia: Status, Vulnerability Factors, And Adaptation Strategies, Sahya Maulu, Oliver J. Hasimuna, Moses Chibesa, Ian Bbole, Joseph Mphande, Mazuba Mwanachingwala, Kundananji Nawanzi, Doubt Chibeya, Sillah Siavwapa, Joyce Mbewe, Lucy Namukonda, Friday Balungu, Inyambo Mumbula, Mwangala Kabika, Shimbetu Mweemba, Mwaanda Sikanyenyene, Enock Siankwilimba, Imikendu Imbwae, Hansel M. Mweetwa

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Aquaculture plays a critical role in Zambia's food and nutrition security. However, aquaculture is highly vulnerable to the effects of a changing climate which can lead to economic losses, and food and nutrition insecurity. In this study, we investigated the perceived effects of climate change on aquaculture production in Zambia, vulnerability factors, and adaptation strategies. We used semi-structured and structured questionnaires to collect data from aquaculture producers in all provinces across the country. Results revealed high (over 80%) awareness of climate change, primarily attributed to literacy levels and access to media. Producers perceived occurrence of climate-related changes such as rising …

How Can Geomorphology Facilitate A Better Understanding Of Glacier And Ice Sheet Behaviour?, Matt Westoby, Richard Jones, Lauren Miller

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Glaciers and ice sheets are an integral part of Earth’s system, advancing and retreating in response to changes in climate. Clues about the past, present, and future behaviour of these ice masses are found throughout current and former glaciated landscapes. In this commentary, we outline recent scientific advances from a collection of articles in which geomorphological evidence is used to inform us about the behaviour of glaciers and ice sheets across a range of spatial (landform to continent) and temporal (seasons to millennia) scales. Through a diversity of approaches including field measurements, remote sensing and numerical modelling, these studies build …

A Comparative Review Of Soil Carbon Sequestration Methods In Brazil’S Agriculture, Skylar Cheng

Discussions

Brazil is under unique pressure to adopt sustainable agricultural practices due to its intricate biodiversity and globally dominant agricultural sector. Increasing soil degradation, agricultural land expansion, and rising levels of atmospheric carbon are nationwide concerns that require multifaceted solutions. Integrated agricultural systems, which rehabilitate soils through crop, forage, and livestock rotation as well as biochar—a carbon-rich soil amendment—can address such concerns. These sustainable farming practices improve carbon sequestration and soil fertility; however, uptake remains minimal due to environmental, economic, and policy barriers. Accordingly, this paper proposes a comprehensive model of integrated systems and biochar, in which the benefits of one …

Socio-Economic And Climate Change In Mongolia - Effects On Grassland Ecosystems, C Opp

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In Mongolia, in combination with strong changes of the whole society during the past 76 years, from the feudal system to socialism and from the socialist system of planned development to the market economy, there are a lot of changes in the use of natural resources all over the country. In consequence of this a lot of effects on grassland ecosystems, caused by socio-economic and climate driving factors, were observed and studied in different scales: zonal, regional, local.

Technological Challenges And Development Directions Of Ecological Security Barrier Construction In Yun-Gui-Chuan-Yu Region, Peng Cui, Yongping Yang, Genxu Wang, Bo Zhu, Xuyang Lu, Geng Sun, Xiaoyong Bai, Sirui Zhang, Yonggang Ge, Jiao Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The Yun-Gui-Chuan-Yu Ecological Security Barrier is situated in Southwest China, encompassing the provinces of Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, and Yunnan. It serves as a vital water source conservation area and a core zone for biodiversity protection for the Yangtze, Yellow, and Pearl River basins, playing a crucial role in China’s national ecological security. Since the 18th National Congress of Communist Party of China, under the guidance of Xi Jinping’s Thought on Ecological Civilization, the region has made significant strides in water resource protection, soil erosion and mountain disaster control, biodiversity conservation, and ecosystem restoration, resulting in noticeable improvements in environmental quality …

Scientific And Technological Measures To Support Sustainability Of Water Resources In Western China, Jun Xia, Xi Chen, Qiuhong Tang, Hongwei Lu, Shaofeng Jia, Genxu Wang, Jingjie Yu, Jinzhu Ma, Xingcai Liu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Under the combined impacts of climate change and human activities, the ecological barrier regions of western China exhibit significant reductions in solid water storage, increases in liquid water, declining water resource stability and non-steady-state characteristics in hydrological systems. Water allocation risks have increased, making it exponentially more difficult to ensure water security. Transboundary water resource development can lead to spillover risks, requiring urgent research on sustainable water resource use and adaptation strategies. The water cycle in western China is driven by both natural and anthropogenic factors, yet fundamental research on water cycle dynamics and resource management under changing environments remains …

Farmland And Forestland In An Era Of Climate Change: Hurricane Michael And Opportunities To Advance Rural Resilience, John Travis Marshall

Georgia Law Review

Catastrophic disasters fundamentally destabilize and reshape communities. They often cause loss of life and invariably inflict extensive property damage. Disabled individuals, the elderly, chronically ill persons, and families struggling to make ends meet are almost always left more vulnerable. Affected communities frequently experience population loss, a declining property tax base, and economic contraction. Over the last three decades, a string of major disasters has focused scholarly attention on their far-reaching impacts on large cities. Storms and earthquakes have reshaped urban landscapes and forced communities to reckon with their futures from San Francisco to Northridge, Houston to New Orleans, and Miami …

Repurposing Fossil Infrastructure, Heather E. Payne

San Diego Journal of Climate & Energy Law

Our built environment includes infrastructure dedicated to fossil fuels: wells, pipelines, compressor stations, refineries, fossil gas storage caverns, gas stations. One challenge as we decarbonize is how we will repurpose these locations and networks as we move toward a decarbonized world.

This Article imagines the outcomes for three distinct pieces of our fossil fuel infrastructure and how each could be a part of our decarbonized future. First, given the challenges seen building long distance transmission, local sources of renewable electricity will become even more critical. In many places, the most plentiful of these is rooftop solar, but it faces a …

The Influence Of Sediment-Supply On River Recovery From Reach To Watershed-Scales, Jordan Fields

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Alluvial channels are always amidst cycles of disturbance and response, continually arcing towards, or back to, a dynamic equilibrium where the channel is subtly adjusted so that it is just able to transport the sediment load supplied from reaches above. As the landscape, and now the climate, have been altered by human activity, channels have been subjected to a changing balance of external forcings. Increasingly large and frequent floods, dam construction/removal, land use change, artisanal gold and sand mining all have drastically perturbed river channels’ delicate adjustment – how will they respond? Here, I consider the question from the grain …

Tree Rings Reveal The Transient Risk Of Extinction Hidden Inside Climate Envelope Forecasts, Margaret E. K. Evans, Sharmila M. N. Dey, Kelly A. Heilman, John R. Tipton, R. Justin Derose, Stefan Klesse, Emily L. Schultz, John D. Shaw

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Given the importance of climate in shaping species' geographic distributions, climate change poses an existential threat to biodiversity. Climate envelope modeling, the predominant approach used to quantify this threat, presumes that individuals in populations respond to climate variability and change according to species-level responses inferred from spatial occurrence data—such that individuals at the cool edge of a species' distribution should benefit from warming (the "leading edge"), whereas individuals at the warm edge should suffer (the "trailing edge"). Using 1,558 tree-ring time series of an aridland pine (Pinus edulis) collected at 977 locations across the species' distribution, we found …

Small Island Risks: Research Reflections For Disaster Anthropologists And Climate Ethnographers, Crystal A. Felima

UK CARES Faculty Publications

Disasters and climate-related events, including tropical storms, droughts, coastal erosion, and ocean acidification, threaten small island nations. Given the urgency of reducing disaster risks and the effects of climate change on vulnerable populations, this reflection essay pursues three objectives. First, it highlights the role of anthropology, ethnography, and multi-sited research in exploring disaster impacts, climate crises, and public policy in island communities. It then highlights national planning and inter-regional activities to build awareness of various risk reduction efforts by island nations and multi-governmental organizations. This article concludes with discussion prompts to engage researchers, scholars, students, and practitioners studying and working …

Soil Saturation Limits Early Oak Establishment In Upland Pastures For Restoration Of Atlantic Oak Woodlands, Thomas R. Murphy, Mick E. Hanley, Jon S. Ellis, Paul H. Lunt

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

With woodland expansion providing a nature-based solution to help tackle anthropogenic climate change, the persistence and regeneration of fragmented Atlantic oak woodland is a critical feature of the wilding of uplands and conservation of Temperate Rainforests in Western Europe. Predicted shifts in precipitation with climate change are likely to be a major determinant of tree recruitment here, yet our understanding of the threshold effects of high soil moisture on oak establishment is limited, particularly at early-life-history stages when trees are most vulnerable. We address this gap in knowledge by investigating the effect of soil saturation states on; 1) the capacity …

Carbon Sequestration In Peatlands: Using Environmental Proxies To Understand The Impact Of A Changing Climate On Global Carbon Storage, Sarah Schuller, Don Sullivan

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Peatlands are a type of terrestrial wetland ecosystem in which consistently waterlogged conditions prevent the decomposition of organic matter. These conditions allow for sequestered carbon in plant matter to remain stored in the soil to such a great degree that peatlands store more carbon than all other vegetation types in the world combined. By inhibiting decomposition, the composition of water-rich peat soil remains representative of the environmental conditions during the period in which the peat was formed. The collected peat samples can then be utilized as environmental proxies to determine historical temperature, moisture, and carbon content and extrapolated to predict …

Climate Grief And Dance Movement Therapy: A Literature Review, Elisabeth Lovin

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Research is starting to focus on the effects of climate change on mental health, especially future-oriented anxieties and uncertainty about our planet’s liveability. Less commonly discussed are feelings of grief for the climate-related losses we have already sustained. This thesis organizes current literature about climate grief and data about the psychosomatic effects of climate-related losses and examines general grief counseling research, as well as presenting applications of dance movement therapy for grief and loss. Cultural and historical gestures and movements of grieving bodies and portrayals of grief in dance history support the proposal that dance movement therapists are capable of …

Land Use Intensification And Bio-Resource Utilisation In The South Pacific Islands, David Lopez Cornelio

International Journal of Islands Research

The long and gradual colonisation of the Pacific islands created settlements of cohesive social networks that fused or were displaced by western ways of life, trade and governance through the centuries. In this paper, a historical review of the processes of island discovery, plants domestication, and of land use practices are discussed alongside the main socioeconomic drivers of land cover change. The native trees of the South Pacific constitute an invaluable resource for sustainable development; they were used and domesticated for thousands of years but logging, commercial agriculture, mining, the introduction of exotic species and urban expansion are threatening them …

Conceptualising And Enacting Pathways To Transformative Climate Justice: Examples From The Philippines, Justin See, Anne Shangrila Fuentes, Emma Porio, Brooke Wilmsen

Sociology & Anthropology Department Faculty Publications

Scholarship on climate change adaptation is increasingly moving from incremental responses to climate injustice towards transformative approaches that deliberately change systems to achieve just and equitable outcomes. A transformative understanding of climate justice is relatively new and evidence of how this could be achieved is in its infancy. In this paper, we conceptualise transformative climate justice as comprised of three subcomponents: (1) inclusive justice (seeking to ensure that no one, especially the most vulnerable, is left behind), (2) epistemological justice (drawing upon diverse knowledges and worldviews), and (3) restorative justice (healing and restoration of communities and the environment). We then …

Precipitation Seasonality Amplifies As Earth Warms, Xiaoyu Wang, Ming Luo, Fengfei Song, Sijia Wu, Yongqin David Chen, Wei Zhang

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Precipitation exhibits a pronounced seasonal cycle, of which the phase and amplitude are closely associated with water resource management. While previous studies suggested an emerged delaying phase in the past decades, whether the amplified amplitude has emerged is controversial. Using multiple observational data sets and climate simulations, here we show that the amplification of precipitation annual cycle has emerged in most global land areas since the 1980s, especially in the tropics. These amplifications are mainly driven by anthropogenic emissions, and will be further intensified by 17.6% in the future (2081–2100) under high emission scenario (Shared Socioeconomic Pathways, SSP585), and limited …

Trophic Stability And Change Across A Sea Ice Cover Gradient On The Western Antarctic Peninsula, A. W. Galloway, Julie Schram, A. T. Lowe, R. Whippo, S. Heiser, K. Iken, J. B. Mcclintock, A. G. Klein, M. O. Amsler, C. D. Amsler

Faculty, Staff, and Students

The western Antarctic Peninsula (AP) is experiencing significant changes to sea ice cover, altering the macroalgal cover and potentially affecting the foundation of benthic food webs. We used fatty acid signatures as dietary and physiological trophic biomarkers to test the hypothesis that a gradient of 36-88% mean annual ice cover would affect the trophic ecology of fleshy macroalgae and diverse benthic invertebrate consumers along the western AP. We used SCUBA to collect organisms from benthic rocky nearshore habitats, 5-35 m depth, at 15 study sites during April-May of 2019. There were no consistent ecosystem-scale differences in the nutritionally important polyunsaturated …