Digital Commons Network^™

Applying Landscape Fragmentation Analysis To Icescape Environments: Potential Impacts For The Pacific Walrus (Odobenus Rosmarus Divergens), Anthony Himmelberger, K E. Frey, Florencia Sangermano

Geography

Sea-ice cover across the Arctic has declined rapidly over the past several decades owing to amplified climate warming. The Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) relies on sea-ice floes in the St. Lawrence Island (SLI) and Wainwright regions of the Bering and Chukchi seas surrounding Alaska as a platform for rest, feeding and reproduction. Lower concentrations of thick ice floes are generally associated with earlier seasonal fragmentation and shorter annual persistence of sea-ice cover, potentially affecting the life history of the Pacific walrus. In this study, 24 Landsat satellite images were classified into thick ice, thin ice or open water to …

Editorial: Coastal Flooding: Modeling, Monitoring, And Protection Systems, Valentina Prigiobbe, Clint Dawson, Yao Hu, Hatim O. Sharif, Navid Tahvildari

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Coastal flooding has received significant attention in recent years due to future sea-level rise (SLR) projections and intensification of precipitation, which will exacerbate frequent flooding, coastal erosion, and eventually create permanently inundated low-elevation land. Coastal governments will be forced to implement measures to manage risk on the population and infrastructure and build protection systems to mitigate or adapt to the negative impacts of flooding. Research in this area is required to establish holistic frameworks for timely and accurate flooding forecast and design of protection systems.

Evaluation Of Tidal Fresh Forest Distributions And Tropical Storm Impacts Using Sentinel-2 Msi Imagery, Galen Costomiris

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Situated in the transitional zone between non-tidal forests upstream and tidal fresh marshes downstream, tidal fresh forests occupy a unique and increasingly precarious habitat. The threat of intensifying anthropogenic climate change, compounded by the effects of historical logging and drainage alterations, could reduce the extent of this valuable ecosystem. The overall goals of this project were to identify forest communities present in the Altamaha tidal fresh forest; develop satellite imagery-based classifications of tidal fresh forest and tidal marsh vegetation along the Altamaha River, Georgia; and to quantify changes in vegetation distribution in the aftermath of hurricanes Matthew and Irma. Based …

Education In A Warming World: Trends, Opportunities And Pitfalls For Institutes Of Higher Education, Orla Kelly, Sam Illingworth, Fabrizio Butera, Vaille Dawson, Peta White, Mindy Blaise, Pim Martens, Geertje Schuitema, Maud Huynen, Susan Bailey, Sian Cowman

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Higher education institutes (HEI) face considerable challenges in navigating how to respond to the escalating and intertwined socio-ecological sustainability crises. Many dedicated individuals working in the sector are already driving meaningful action through rigorous research, teaching, knowledge sharing, and public engagement, while there is a growing consensus that sector-wide change is needed to ensure that aspirational declarations and positive individual actions translate into sustainable and transformative change. This article seeks to contribute to such efforts by illustrating a number of trends, examples, and reflections on how third-level educational institutes can act sustainably. We highlight the potential of five strategies HEI …

Drought, Tree Mortality, And Regeneration In Northen California, Sophia Lb Lemmo

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The 2012-2016 California drought was the most severe in the state’s recorded history, contributing to the death of millions of trees. While the effects of this drought on forests are relatively well studied in the central and southern Sierra Nevada, less is known about its effects on the heavily timbered and diverse forests of northern California. Through sampling 54 0.25 ha plots in northern California, this study compared tree mortality and regeneration patterns before, during, and after California’s most recent record-setting drought. This study evaluated 1) the influence of habitat and competitive covariates on mortality and regeneration trends using ridge …

Do Socio-Demographic Factors And Sources Of Information Relate To Climate Change Awareness? Evidence From Afrobarometer Round 7 Data, Ayodeji P. Ifegbesan, Razaq O. Azeez, Sesan Mabekoje

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

Climate change has been considered the most significant environmental catastrophe which is currently threatening human survival. Like the rest of other countries on the African continent, climate change in Nigeria has debilitating effects on both the people and the community due to vulnerability and poor coping capability of the people. Numerous studies related to the problem of rising temperatures in Africa are now being carried out and documented. However, only a little research evidence is available, particularly from Nigeria, regarding the way socio-demographic factors and sources of information are related to climate change awareness. The Afrobarometer Round 7 data for …

The Potential Impacts Of Climate Change On Avitourism To Islands: The Example Of Fair Isle, Scotland, Richard W. Butler Professor

International Journal of Islands Research

This paper discusses the potential impact of climate change upon a specific form of tourism, avitourism (birdwatching), and the resulting effects upon islands dependent upon this form of tourism. Bird populations, distributions and migratory patterns are all vulnerable to the impacts of global warming, extreme weather events and changes in the marine environment, as are the islands which provide their habitat. Avitourism is a lucrative and non-consumptive form of tourism that is of major importance to some small islands, particularly those that have unique indigenous breeding species and/or are visited by migrating species on a regular basis. A number of …

Responses To Environmental Change, Lisa Reyes Mason, Susan P. Kemp, Lawrence A. Palinkas, Amy Krings

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

Communities worldwide are facing environmental crises such as air pollution, water shortages, climate change, and other forms of environmental change and degradation. While technical solutions for environmental change are essential, so too are solutions that consider social acceptability, value cultural relevance, and prioritize equity and social justice. Social work has a critical and urgent role in creating and implementing macrolevel social responses to environmental change. The key concepts of environmental change, environmental and ecological justice, social vulnerability, and social responses are discussed. A description of the roles and skills unique to macro social workers for this effort is given, followed …

Understanding Coralline Algal Responses To Ocean Acidification: Meta‐Analysis And Synthesis, Ce Cornwall, Ben P. Harvey, Steeve Comeau, Dl Cornwall, Jason Hall‐Spencer, Viviana Peña, Shigeki Wada, Lucia Porzio

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Ocean acidification (OA) is a major threat to the persistence of biogenic reefs throughout the world's ocean. Coralline algae are comprised of high magnesium calcite and have long been considered one of the most susceptible taxa to the negative impacts of OA. We summarize these impacts and explore the causes of variability in coralline algal responses using a review/qualitative assessment of all relevant literature, meta-analysis, quantitative assessment of critical responses, and a discussion of physiological mechanisms and directions for future research. We find that most coralline algae experienced reduced abundance, calcification rates, recruitment rates, and declines in pH within the …

Tightening The Legal ‘Net’: The Constitution’S Supremacy Clause Straddle Of The Power Divide, Steven Ferrey

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

This article analyzes Constitutional Supremacy Clause tensions in preempting state law that addresses climate change and the rapid warming of the Planet. Net metering laws, enacted in 80% of U.S. states, are a primary legal mechanism to control and mitigate climate warming. This article analyzes three recent federal court decisions creating a preemptive Supremacy Clause stand-off between federal and state law and presents a detailed state-by-state analysis of which those 80% of states’ laws could be preempted by legal challenge.

If state net metering laws affected only ordinary technologies, this issue would not be front and center with global warming. …

Influence Of High Road Labor Policies And Practices On Renewable Energy Costs, Decarbonization Pathways, And Labor Outcomes, Erin Mayfield, Jesse Jenkins

Dartmouth Scholarship

Achieving an economy-wide net-zero greenhouse gas emissions goal by mid-century in the United States entails transforming the energy workforce. In this study, we focus on the influence of increased labor compensation and domestic manufacturing shares on (a) renewable energy technology costs, (b) the costs of transitioning the U.S. economy to net-zero emissions, and (c) labor outcomes, including total employment and wage benefits, associated with the deployment of utility-scale solar photovoltaics (PV) and land based and offshore wind power. We find that manufacturing and installation labor cost premiums as well as increases in domestic content shares across wind and utility-scale solar …

Coastal Adaptation To Climate Change Through Zonation: A Review Of Coastal Change Management Areas (Ccmas) In England, J. A. Kirby, G. Masselink, S. Essex, T. Poate, T. Scott

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Climate change and accelerated rates in sea-level rise are expected to increase flooding and erosion on the world's coastlines. Coastal managers and planners face the challenge of helping communities to adapt to the changing coast. Traditionally hard engineering has been used to defend communities on the coast, but as this option becomes unsustainable and financially unviable, coastal managers are increasingly employing planning policy to mitigate the risk posed by coastal change. Zonation of coastal change areas and delineation of erosion extents, such as set-back lines, are used globally to restrict development in the coastal zone. In England there is policy …

Essays On The Impacts Of Extreme Natural Events On Health, Moumita Ghorai

Dissertations

This dissertation comprises three chapters that examine how extreme events impact health outcomes such as short-term illness, body mass index, probability of pre-term birth, and mortality. The study reveals the severe consequences of these events and shows that certain groups within a particular country are affected disproportionately.

The first chapter examines whether National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), India’s flagship workfare program, mitigates adverse health outcomes of a drought. This paper contributes to a growing area of research on adaptations to climate change. Using Indian Human Development Survey (2004-2005 and 2010-2011), a nationally representative panel data set, and high resolution …

Participatory Management Of Rangeland Hydrology – A New Socio-Ecological Technology To Effectively Adapt To And Mitigate Climate Change: Case From Morocco, Lhoussaine Bouchaou, El Hassane El Mahdad, El Hassan Beraaouz, Abdelfettah Sifeddine, Alessandro Rizzo, Mohamed Hssaisoune, Hanane Reddad, Abdelghani Chehbouni, Elisabeth Huber-Sannwald

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Morocco’s drylands cover over 90% of the land area; low and irregular rainfall and high potential evaporation contribute to extremely high-water deficits. These phenomena have greatly impacted rangeland hydrology and nomadic and transhumant pastoralism. To adapt to this predominant water deficit, the inhabitants of these areas have developed two forms of lifestyles, which include household and livestock mobility: (i) a pendulum movement for seasonal transhumance between the mountains and their bordering plains; and (ii) random nomadic mobility regulated by the sporadic frequency of rains and thus water availability. In both cases, this mobility is controlled by the degree of development …

Producing Useful Knowledge For Sustainable Development, K. A. Galvin

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Africa makes a relatively minor contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions compared with developed nations, yet the African continent will be increasingly vulnerable to climate change processes in the coming decades. Critical challenges include meeting basic needs for food, water, shelter, and other necessities without undermining biodiversity and ecosystem services. Coordination efforts to address multiple global change related stressors has generally occurred at the national level and taken an external approach, with national governments favoring collaboration with foreign-based NGOs and other international institutions. However, the involvement of actors at the local level correlates with decisions that are better adapted to …

Project Earthrise: Proceedings Of The Ninth Annual Conference Of Invivo Planetary Health, Susan L. Prescott, Ganesa Wegienka, Remco Kort, David H. Nelson, Sabine Gabrysch, Trevor Hancock, Anita Kozyrskyj, Christopher A. Lowry, Nicole Redvers, Blake Poland, Jake Robinson, Jean-Claude Moubarac, Sara Warber, Janet Jansson, Aki Sinkkonen, John Penders, Susan Erdman, Ralph Nanan, Matilda Van Den Bosch, Kirk Schneider, Nicholas J. Schroeck, Tanja Sobko, Jamie Harvie, George A. Kaplan, Rob Moodie, Laura Lengnick, Isaac Prilleltensky, Yuria Celidwen, Susan H. Berman, Alan C. Logan, Brian Berman

Public Health Sciences Articles

The "Earthrise" photograph, taken on the 1968 Apollo 8 mission, became one of the most significant images of the 20th Century. It triggered a profound shift in environmental awareness and the potential for human unity-inspiring the first Earth Day in 1970. Taking inspiration from these events 50 years later, we initiated

What Kind Of Information Does The Era Of Climate Change Require?, Jo Guldi

History Faculty Publications

This article explores the promise of institutions and infrastructures associated with democ- racy to limit the worst consequences of climate change. The article highlights the appar- ent conflict between expert governance on the one hand, and, on the other hand, calls for democratization that reflect the diverse perspectives of groups whose rights and labor have been exploited over historical timescales. Drawing on the history of bureaucracy and governance, this article argues that the apparent contradiction between the two poles of discourse can be reconciled by a system of information infrastructure designed to cre- ate a robust, accountable system of environmental …

Food Insecurity, Climate Change And Role Of Physicians, Joe Bhagratie, Bashyam Iyengar

Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk

Food insecurity is a growing concern both locally and globally. Food insecurity has a number of causative factors. The food delivery system is laden with many inequities and fragilities. We will outline a framework of the food delivery system and the areas where inequities exist.

Climate change is an equally expansive topic. Changes to our climate have a myriad of impacts on our food delivery systems and in turn can exacerbate our already tenuous delivery system. Continued impacts on our environment creates even more imbalance and can subsequently exacerbate food inequities further.

The role climate change has is significant when …

A Case Study Using 2019 Pre-Monsoon Snow And Stream Chemistry In The Khumbu Region, Nepal, Heather M. Clifford, Mariusz Potocki, Inka Koch, Tenzing Sherpa, Mike Handley, Elena Korotkikh, Douglas Introne, Susan Kaspari, Kimberley Miner, Tom Matthews, Baker Perry, Heather Guy, Ananta Gajurel, Praveen Kumar Singh, Sandra Elvin, Aurora C. Elmore, Alex Tait, Paul A. Mayewski

Geological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

This case study provides a framework for future monitoring and evidence for human source pollution in the Khumbu region, Nepal. We analyzed the chemical composition (major ions, major/trace elements, black carbon, and stable water isotopes) of pre-monsoon stream water (4300–5250 m) and snow (5200–6665 m) samples collected from Mt. Everest, Mt. Lobuche, and the Imja Valley during the 2019 pre-monsoon season, in addition to a shallow ice core recovered from the Khumbu Glacier (5300 m). In agreement with previous work, pre-monsoon aerosol deposition is dominated by dust originating from western sources and less frequently by transport from southerly air mass …

When Fast-Tracking Slows You Down: Reconsidering Nationwide Permit 12 Use For Large-Scale Oil Pipelines, Megan Rulli

Dickinson Law Review (2017-Present)

The consumption of oil pervades everyday life in America. The network of pipelines transporting oil from field to consumer is largely invisible. Until a major news event bursts pipelines onto headlines, this indispensable and invisible system fuels the country without fanfare. At the same time, concern over global climate change has made new large-scale projects for fossil fuel extraction and consumption highly controversial. The Keystone XL (“KXL”) pipeline was originally designed to transport crude oil extracted from oil sands in Canada to the Gulf of Mexico for international export. After more than a decade of false starts, the project currently …

Consensus Revisited: Quantifying Scientific Agreement On Climate Change And Climate Expertise Among Earth Scientists 10 Years Later, Krista F. Myers, Peter T. Doran, John Cook, John E. Kotcher, Teresa A. Myers

Faculty Publications

The scientific consensus on human-caused global warming has been a topic of intense interest in recent decades. This is in part due to the important role of public perception of expert consensus, which has downstream impacts on public opinion and support for mitigation policies. Numerous studies, using diverse methodologies and measures of climate expertise, have quantified the scientific consensus, finding between 90% and 100% agreement on human-caused global warming with multiple studies converging on 97% agreement. This study revisits the consensus among geoscientists ten years after an initial survey of experts, while exploring different ways to define expertise and the …

Satellite-Detected Ammonia Changes In The United States: Natural Or Anthropogenic Impacts, Yaqian He, Rongting Xu, Stephen A. Prior, Di Yang, Anni Yang, Jian Chen

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Ammonia (NH3) is the most abundant alkaline component and can react with atmospheric acidic species to form aerosols that can lead to numerous environmental and health issues. Increasing atmospheric NH3 over agricultural regions in the US has been documented. However, spatiotemporal changes of NH3 concentrations over the entire US are still not thoroughly understood, and the factors that drive these changes remain unknown. Herein, we applied the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) monthly NH3 dataset to explore spatiotemporal changes in atmospheric NH3 and the empirical relationships with synthetic N fertilizer application, livestock manure production, and climate factors across the entire US …

Land, Racial Formations, And Power: Exploring The Network Of Power Relationships During Climate Change Planning In Coastal South Carolina, Teresa Norman

Theses and Dissertations

Climate change projections for the coastline of South Carolina predict that by mid-century there will be around 1.2 feet of sea level rise, and potentially up to 4 feet of rise by 2100. Additionally, climate change is linked to intensified hurricanes, a hazard for the South Carolina coastline every year. Both of these scenarios result in increases in the regularity and severity of coastal flooding, making the threat of permanent or temporary displacement (relocation) from coastal lands a reality. This is a particularly pressing matter for African American communities already made vulnerable by the long history of racial discrimination in …

Vulnerability Of Street Trees In Upper Midwest Cities To Climate Change, Leslie A. Brandt, Gary R. Johnson, Eric A. North, Jack Faje, Annamarie Rutledge

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Urban trees play an important role in helping cities adapt to climate change, but also are vulnerable to changes in climate themselves. We developed an approach for assessing vulnerability of urban tree species and cultivars commonly planted in cities in the United States Upper Midwest to current and projected climate change through the end of the 21st century. One hundred seventy-eight tree species were evaluated for their adaptive capacity to a suite of current and future-projected climate and urban stressors using a weighted scoring system based on an extensive literature review. These scores were then evaluated and adjusted by leading …

Competitive Advantage Of Geosmithia Morbida In Low-Moisture Wood May Explain Historical Outbreaks Of Thousand Cankers Disease And Predict The Future Fate Of Juglans Nigra Within Its Native Range, Geoffrey M. Williams, Matthew D. Ginzel

Purdue University Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund

Bark beetles vector symbiotic fungi and the success of these mutualisms may be limited by competition from other microbes. The outcome of fungal competition is strongly influenced by the physical and chemical conditions of the wood they inhabit. These conditions are in turn subject to climatic variation. In particular, wood moisture content (MC) influences fungal competition and, therefore, could help determine environmental suitability for thousand cankers disease (TCD) caused by Geosmithia morbida and its vector Pityophthorus juglandis. We conducted competition experiments in Juglans nigra wood that was naturally or artificially colonized by G. morbida and other fungi over a range …

Access To Drinking Water And The Empowerment Of Women In The Southwest Coast Of Bangladesh: Intersections Of Gender, Class, And Space, Sunehra Subah

The Yale Undergraduate Research Journal

The low-lying southwest coast in Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable areas to the effects of climate change, with great water scarcity and high levels of arsenic and salinity. Women are the main accessors and users of water in this area due to their restriction to work in domestic spaces. Their gendered relationships to water in this area play a role in their empowerment and powerlessness. These relationships can be looked at through four examples of power: power over the body, power over mobility, power over decisions, and power over finances. It’s critical to consider the intersections of gender, …

The Impact Of Climate Change On Security In The Middle East: A Review Of The Literature, Yara El-Khatib

The Yale Undergraduate Research Journal

The Middle East, which is already plagued by a series of security threats–such as terrorism, religious conflict, political instability, and more–is also an increasingly water-scarce and climate-vulnerable region. In this review, I examine the most recent and relevant literature on the debate of: how will, and how has climate change affected security in the Middle East? I examine five articles and one book that tackle this question, and I organize these sources based on the extent to which they argue that climate change is a determinant of insecurity in the region. While a few authors argue that climate change has …

Is The Life History Flexibility Of Cold Desert Annuals Broad Enough To Cope With Predicted Climate Change? The Case Of Erodium Oxyrhinchum In Central Asia, Huiliang Liu, Yanfeng Chen, Lingwei Zhang, Jerry M. Baskin, Carol C. Baskin, Lan Zhang, Yan Liu, Daoyuan Zhang, Yuanming Zhang

Biology Faculty Publications

Interannual seasonal variability in precipitation may strongly affect the life history and growth of desert annual plants. We compared the effects of dry and wet springs and dry and wet autumns on growth and F2 seed dormancy of plants from spring (SG)- and autumn (AG)-germinated seeds of the cold desert annual Erodium oxyrhinchum. Vegetative and reproductive growth and F2 seed dormancy and germination were monitored from September 2016 to November 2020 in the sandy Gurbantunggut Desert in NW China in Central Asia. Dry autumns decreased the density of AG plants, and dry springs decreased the density of SG plants …

Pervasive Changes In Stream Intermittency Across The United States, Kendra E. Kaiser

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Non-perennial streams are widespread, critical to ecosystems and society, and the subject of ongoing policy debate. Prior large-scale research on stream intermittency has been based on long-term averages, generally using annually aggregated data to characterize a highly variable process. As a result, it is not well understood if, how, or why the hydrology of non-perennial streams is changing. Here, we investigate trends and drivers of three intermittency signatures that describe the duration, timing, and dry-down period of stream intermittency across the continental United States (CONUS). Half of gages exhibited a significant trend through time in at least one of the …

Understanding Climate Change Impacts And Adaptation Potentials At Utah Ski Resorts, Rachel Hager

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Increasing temperature and shifting precipitation regimes due to climate change are a significant threat to winter recreation. Some businesses such as high-elevation ski resorts are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. However, ski resorts may be able mitigate the impacts of climate change by proactively implementing adaptation strategies. The overall goal of this study was to investigate the impact of climate change on Utah ski resorts, and to understand adaptation perception, barriers, and strategies for different resorts across the state.

To meet that goal, we used a mixed-methods approach including examining temperature shifts at all Utah ski resorts …