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Analysis And Mapping Of Climate Change Risk And Vulnerability In Central Rift Valley Of Ethiopia, L. Gizachew, A. Shiferaw

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Changing Forest Water Yields In Response To Climate Warming: Results From Long-Term Experimental Watershed Sites Across North America, Irena F. Creed, Adam T. Spargo, Julia A. Jones, Jim M. Buttle, Mary B. Adams, Fred D. Beall, Eric G. Booth, John L. Campbell, Dave Clow, Kelly Elder, Mark B. Green, Nancy B. Grimm, Chelcy Miniat, Patricia Ramlal, Amartya Saha, Stephen Sebestyen, Dave Spittlehouse, Shannon Sterling, Mark W. Williams, Rita Wrinkler, Huaxia Yao

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Climate warming is projected to affect forest water yields but the effects are expected to vary. We investigated how forest type and age affect water yield resilience to climate warming. To answer this question, we examined the variability in historical water yields at long-term experimental catchments across Canada and the United States over 5-year cool and warm periods. Using the theoretical framework of the Budyko curve, we calculated the effects of climate warming on the annual partitioning of precipitation (P) into evapotranspiration (ET) and water yield. Deviation (d) was defined as a catchment’s change in actual ET divided by P …

Urban Desertification And A Phenomenology Of Sustainability: The Case Of El Paso, Texas, Jules Simon

Departmental Papers (Philosophy)

p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 8.5px Times} My thesis is that current cities and the way that cities are beingdeveloped is unsustainable and poses global problems for the long-termflourishing of the world’s inter-related and interdependent economies, formatters of justice and happiness in socio-cultural relations between peoples,and for the health of our natural environments. I argue that ‘urbandesertification’ happens in the complex relationship between cities (both urbanand suburban) and rural environments that support them as both a natural andethical phenomenon that I study using a form of analysis calledphenomenological ethics. First, I briefly present sketches of phenomenologyand sustainability in …

On Target For People And Planet: Setting And Achieving Water-Related Sustainable Development Goals, Julie Van Der Bliek, Peter G. Mccornick, James Clarke

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Our specific focus in this book is on securing water for sustainable food production. This links to sustainable water resources management, delivering on the water supply and sanitation requirements and provisioning water for energy and the urban sector. A specific intent is to ensure that the realities in low- and middle-income countries in Africa and Asia are recognized and to provide practical pathways to change that fit these realities and the aspirations of those countries. This will help to prepare for the next step in the SDG [sustainable development goals] process: devolving the SDGs to the national level. It will …

Rising Waters: Local Implications And Actions, Laura Sorrentino, Angelo Spillo

Student-Faculty Research Projects

According to Mark Lowery, Climate Policy Analyst for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, climate change influences warmer water, causing the oceans to take up more space and causing a higher percentage of water vapor in the atmosphere, which creates more powerful storms. That being said, it is evident that climate change has contributed to rising sea levels and more intense storms so it is important to understand the dangers associated with this issue and what possible options exist to minimize its impacts.

Our research investigates the threat of rising waters in the lower New York coastal region …

Effects Of River Current Inflow On Dissolved Oxygen And Temperature Of Refuge Zones For Cisco In Lake Bemidji, Bryant C. Swenson

Journal of Earth and Life Science

The objectives of this study were to (1) determine if the inflow current from the Mississippi River affects temperature and dissolved oxygen in Lake Bemidji, (2) determine how the amount of suitable cisco Coregonus artedi habitat changes over the summer in Lake Bemidji, and (3) predict how much cisco habitat would be available under a climate warming scenario. Summer fish kill of cisco occurs in most years on Lake Bemidji resulting from low dissolved oxygen in the hypolimnion and high water temperatures in the epilimnion. Dissolved oxygen and temperature profiles provided evidence to suggest the north basin is more suitable …

Integrated Remote Sensing And Forecasting Of Regional Terrestrial Precipitation With Global Nonlinear And Nonstationary Teleconnection Signals Using Wavelet Analysis, Lee Mullon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Global sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies have a demonstrable effect on terrestrial climate dynamics throughout the continental U.S. SST variations have been correlated with greenness (vegetation densities) and precipitation via ocean-atmospheric interactions known as climate teleconnections. Prior research has demonstrated that teleconnections can be used for climate prediction across a wide region at sub-continental scales. Yet these studies tend to have large uncertainties in estimates by utilizing simple linear analyses to examine chaotic teleconnection relationships. Still, non-stationary signals exist, making teleconnection identification difficult at the local scale. Part 1 of this research establishes short-term (10-year), linear and non-stationary teleconnection signals …

Defining The Physiochemical, Biological And Habitat Requirements For The Upper Extant Of Oncorhynchus Mykiss Distribution, Emily Powers

Journal of Earth and Life Science

The distribution of rainbow trout is strongly influenced by their habitat. As climatic conditions change, the distribution of rainbow trout populations will change along with them. The objective of this study was to identify the particular habitat parameters that rainbow trout select for in this lotic system and to specifically assess how this relates to the upper extant of their distribution. By assessing the distribution of the upper extant specifically, future research may be conducted to better assess climatic changes on a small and/or large scale basis. A 9,000 m section of the Clearwater River was used as the study …

Carbon Farming In Relation To Western Australian Agriculture, Robert Sudmeyer, Jackson Parker, Tanmoy Nath, Ananda Ghose

Bulletins 4000 -

Carbon farming activities need to return multiple economic and environmental co-benefits to be attractive to land managers. This bulletin summarises concepts underlying carbon farming, how Australia accounts for greenhouse gas emissions and the potential for Western Australian land managers to participate in, and benefit from, carbon farming.

The Role Of Politics And Proximity In Sea Level Rise Policy Salience: A Study Of Virginia Legislators’ Perceptions, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Burton St. John Iii, Ivan K. Ash

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

The acceleration of sea level rise (SLR) has become a threat to the stability of nation-states worldwide and associated with risks to environmental sustainability, economic infrastructure, and public health. However, from both an international and U.S. perspective, there is a lack of research examining legislative decision makers’ perceptions about policies regarding SLR. This study addresses that gap by examining how politics and proximity affects Virginia state legislators’ perceptions of the saliency of SLR. A survey of these legislators reveals their perceptions of credible sources of information, SLR-related risk, and who should take the lead to address SLR. While this study …

Changing The Climate Narrative: How A Long-Term Climate Change Might Save Our Lives, Natalie P. Harreld

CMC Senior Theses

The goal of this paper is to offer new insights into the climate change debate by shifting away from the heated anthropologic arguments that dominate politics, media, and popular science. Instead, I choose to rely on the long-term impacts of a changing climate on our planet. The paper begins with a break down of key processes involved in short-term and long-term climate change, using the latest research. After a foundational understanding of climate sciences is established, we will discuss the failure of the climate change debate in educating the general public about the facts of a changing climate. Finally, the …

Krill, Climate, And Contrasting Future Scenarios For Arctic And Antarctic Fisheries, Margaret M. Mcbride, Padmini Dalpadado, Kenneth F. Drinkwater, Olav Rune Godø, Alistair J. Hobday, Anne B. Hollowed, Trond Kristiansen, Eugene J. Murphy, Patrick H. Ressler, Sam Subbey, Eileen E. Hofmann, Harald Loeng

CCPO Publications

Arctic and Antarcticmarine systems have incommon high latitudes, large seasonal changes in light levels, cold air and sea temperatures, and sea ice. In other ways, however, they are strikingly different, including their: age, extent, geological structure, ice stability, and foodweb structure. Both regions contain very rapidly warming areas and climate impacts have been reported, as have dramatic future projections. However, the combined effects of a changing climate on oceanographic processes and foodweb dynamics are likely to influence their future fisheries in very different ways. Differences in the life-history strategies of the key zooplankton species (Antarctic krill in the Southern Ocean …

Global Stratospheric Fluorine Inventory For 2004-2009 From Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (Ace-Fts) Measurements And Slimcat Model Simulations, A. T. Brown, M. P. Chipperfield, N. A. D. Richards, C. Boone, P. F. Bernath

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Fluorine-containing species can be extremely effective atmospheric greenhouse gases. We present fluorine budgets using organic and inorganic species retrieved by the ACE-FTS satellite instrument supplemented with output from the SLIMCAT 3-D chemical transport model. The budgets are calculated between 2004 and 2009 for a number of latitude bands: 70-30 °N, 30-00 °N, 00 °N-30 °S, and 30-70°S. At lower altitudes total fluorine profiles are dominated by the contribution from CFC-12, up to an altitude of 20 km in the extra-tropics and 29 km in the tropics; above these altitudes the profiles are dominated by hydrogen fluoride (HF). Our data show …

The Influences Of Poultry Litter Biochar And Water Source On Radish Growth And Nutrition, Julia Allen, David E. Longer, Edward E. Gbur, Lichen Hao

Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Many row-crop fields today have declined in soil fertility due to poor management practices and overuse of pesticides. Under these conditions, plant nutrient uptake can be sub-optimal. There are several soil amendments that can be used to improve soil quality and plant growth. This study focused on the addition of biochar to the soil and the use of structured water to enhance plant growth. Biochar is produced by pyrolysis of organic feedstocks. Previous studies which focused on biochar have shown an increase in plant yield, nutrient availability in the soil, and soil water holding capacity. Structured water is the liquid …

Warmer Temperatures Increase Disease Transmission And Outbreak Intensity In A Host-Pathogen System, Bret D. Elderd, James R. Reilly

Faculty Publications

Summary: While rising global temperatures are increasingly affecting both species and their biotic interactions, the debate about whether global warming will increase or decrease disease transmission between individuals remains far from resolved. This may stem from the lack of empirical data. Using a tractable and easily manipulated insect host-pathogen system, we conducted a series of field and laboratory experiments to examine how increased temperatures affect disease transmission using the crop-defoliating pest, the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) and its species-specific baculovirus, which causes a fatal infection. To examine the effects of temperature on disease transmission in the field, we manipulated baculovirus …

Ecology And Physiology Of Antarctic Macrophytes Under The Influence Of Abiotic And Biotic Stressors., Kathryn M. Schoenrock

All ETDs from UAB

The physiology of many species of Antarctic marine algae was evaluated under a variety of biotic and abiotic factors found or predicted for the western Antarctic Peninsula. The potential biological stressors, filamentous algal endophytes, had few effects on their macrophyte host's physiology which may be the cause for their persistence in this marine community. Adversely impacted hosts include Pachymenia sp. and Iridaea cordata. In areas of high endophyte infection Pachymenia sp. was significantly less resistant to forces that could penetrate their thalli. Maximum quantum yield near endophyte infection was significantly lower in I. cordata. Endophyte abundance is significantly lower in …

Egg Cannibalism In A Gull Colony Increases With Sea Surface Temperature, Lynelle M. Weldon, Shandelle M. Henson, James Hayward, Brianna G. Payne, Libby C. Megna, Andre E. Moncrieff

Faculty Publications

Cannibalism occurs regularly across a broad range of taxa with a variety of ecological and evolutionary consequences. Rises in sea surface temperature (SST) have been linked to increased cannibalism in some species, including polar bears (Ursus maritimus), Peruvian anchovy (Engraulis ringens), and Peruvian hake (Merluccius gayi peruanus), and might be expected in birds that depend on marine food webs for sustenance. Increased SSTs are associated with lowered ocean thermoclines and weakened upwellings. These changes, in turn, lead to decreased productivity in surface water and movement of surviving forage fish to deeper water, thereby food-stressing surface feeders such as gulls, diminishing …

Comparison Of Instrumentation To Measure Air And Soil-Surface Temperature Variability In Northern Alaska, Katrina Keleher

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

The Circumpolar Active Layer Monitoring (CALM) project has been observing permafrost (perennially frozen ground) and its overlaying active layer (which freezes and thaws annually) in northern Alaska’s Kuparuk River watershed and throughout the polar regions since the mid 1990’s to detect long-term responses to climatic change. The soil-surface temperature data is collected by thermistors that were positioned immediately below the surface of the ground at nine locations within a transect of 1-ha plots arranged from north to south across the region. Locations within each plot were individually selected to represent a full range of microsite conditions, with distinctions in vegetation, …

Finding Them Before They Find Us: Informatics, Parasites, And Environments In Accelerating Climate Change, Daniel R. Brooks, Eric P. Hoberg, Walter A. Boeger, Scott Lyell Gardner, Kurt E. Galbreath, David Herczeg, Hugo H. Mejía-Madrid, S. Elizabeth Rácz, Altangerel Tsogtsaikhan Dursahinhan

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Parasites are agents of disease in humans, livestock, crops, and wildlife and are powerful representations of the ecological and historical context of the diseases they cause. Recognizing a nexus of professional opportunities and global public need, we gathered at the Cedar Point Biological Station of the University of Nebraska in September 2012 to formulate a cooperative and broad platform for providing essential information about the evolution, ecology, and epidemiology of parasites across host groups, parasite groups, geographical regions, and ecosystem types. A general protocol, documentation–assessment–monitoring–action (DAMA), suggests an integrated proposal to build a proactive capacity to understand, anticipate, and respond …

Ecotypes Of An Ecologically Dominant Prairie Grass (Andropogon Gerardii) Exhibit Genetic Divergence Across The U.S. Midwest Grasslands’ Environmental Gradient, Miranda M. Grey, Paul St. Amand, Nora M. Bello, Matthew B. Galliart, Mary Knapp, Karen A. Garrett, Theodore J. Morgan, Sarah G. Baer, Brian R. Maricle, Eduard D. Akhunov, Loretta C. Johnson

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) is an ecologically dominant grass with wide distribution across the environmental gradient of U.S. Midwest grasslands. This system offers an ideal natural laboratory to study population divergence and adaptation in spatially varying climates.

Objectives were to: (i) characterize neutral genetic diversity and structure within and among three regional ecotypes derived from 11 prairies across the U.S. Midwest environmental gradient, (ii) distinguish between the relative roles of isolation by distance (IBD) vs. isolation by environment (IBE) on ecotype divergence, (iii) identify outlier loci under selection and (iv) assess the association between outlier loci and climate.

Using two …

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

Pomona Senior Theses

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

Climate Change: The Proof And The Process, Richard Snow, Mary Snow

Publications

Since what we call civilization began some 12,000 years ago, the mean temperature of Earth has not varied more than 1°C from the average. The forecast change in temperature of from 1.5 to 4°C (2.7 to 7°F) by 2100 has no equal in the recent history of the planet. Changes in the energy output of the sun, changes in the relative position of the sun and Earth, shifting locations of the continents, mountain building, volcanic eruptions, and changes in atmospheric composition all combine to cause our climate to change. Most of the changes in climate of the past can be …

From Alarm To Action: Closing The Gap Between Belief And Behavior In Response To Climate Change, Kathryn Laing Doherty

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The degree to which the climate continues to change will largely be determined by choices made by individuals and nations regarding greenhouse gas emissions. Many Americans engage in energy conservation actions. But, the political will in the United States to adopt emissions reduction policies is unlikely to exist without public demand. Therefore, public mitigation actions of individuals (e.g., contacting elected officials in support of emissions reduction) are critical to induce legislative response. The majority of individuals who are most concerned about climate change (the “Alarmed” segment) do not engage in public mitigation actions, but some do. The purpose of this …

Lineage-Specific Transcriptional Profiles Of Symbiodinium Spp. Unaltered By Heat Stress In A Coral Host, Daniel J. Barshis, Jason T. Ladner, Thomas A. Oliver, Stephen R. Palumbi

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Dinoflagellates of the genus Symbiodinium form an endosymbiosis with reef building corals, in which photosynthetically derived nutrients comprise the majority of the coral energy budget. An extraordinary amount of functional and genetic diversity is contained within the coral-associated Symbiodinium, with some phylotypes (i.e., genotypic groupings), conferring enhanced stress tolerance to host corals. Recent advances in DNA sequencing technologies have enabled transcriptome-wide profiling of the stress response of the cnidarian coral host; however, a comprehensive understanding of the molecular response to stress of coral-associated Symbiodinium, as well as differences among physiologically susceptible and tolerant types, remains largely unexplored. Here, …

The Grand Thaw: Our Vanishing Cryosphere, Richard Snow, Mary Snow

Publications

Records reveal that beginning in the 1950s there has been an accelerated reduction in ice and snow across most mountain glaciers and ice caps. The glaciers of the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayan Mountains are the main source of water for the Ganges and the Indus Rivers. During the summer higher temperatures are causing these glaciers to melt at an increasing rate while during the winter the warmer temperature are yielding a dearth of snowfall, which in turn leads to drought. Along the equator in Africa, glaciers are faced with a similar same situation. In Uganda, 80 percent of the …

Can We Predict The Future: Juvenile Finfish And Their Seagrass Nurseries In The Chesapeake Bay, Cynthia M. Jones

OES Faculty Publications

The importance of estuarine seagrass beds as nurseries for juvenile fish has become a universal paradigm, especially for estuaries that are as important as the Chesapeake Bay. Yet, scientific tests of this hypothesis were equivocal depending on species, location, and metrics. Moreover, seagrasses themselves are under threat and one-third of seagrasses have disappeared worldwide with 65 of their losses occurring in estuaries. Although there have been extensive studies of seagrasses in the Chesapeake Bay, surprisingly few studies have quantified the relationship between seagrass as nurseries for finfish in the Bay. Of the few studies that have directly evaluated the use …

Energy Saving Developments In Lighting, Kevin Kelly

Books/Book chapters

Recent developments in artificial lighting design, lamp technology and control options provide potential for significant energy savings going forward. Historically, equal illuminance across the whole working plane was the goal of lighting designers, however this is now considered wasteful of energy. For example, in an office setting the working plane was interpreted as the whole plan area of the room at desk height; 300 to 500 lux was specified, depending on whether work was mainly PC based or paper based. This resulted in arrays of lights that provided high levels of lighting throughout the space, whether needed or not, and …

Teaching Climate Literacy Using Geospatial Tools, Steven L. Babcock

LSU Master's Theses

Antarctica is the world’s coldest, driest and windiest continent. It is a harsh environment that few people will ever see but it is a very important part of our Earth system. Over the past 34 million years the climate in Antarctica has deteriorated from one that supported lush vegetation to the conditions observed today. By studying this trend and the associated changes to ice and vegetation we can gain critical insight into climate changes taking place today. This thesis presents three pieces of curricula that will help students and the general public understand some of the research currently underway in …

Ambientalismos De La Vida Cotidiana: Políticas De Coalición, Reproducción Social Y Justicia Ambiental, Giovanna Di Chiro

Environmental Studies Faculty Works

This paper examines the intersectional, coalition politics forged by activists in US environmental justice and women's rights organisations. This coalitional politics articulates environmental and feminist concerns and rejects the limitations of a narrow-focused politics in favour of a more strategic, relational vision of social and environmental change. Framed by the Marxist-feminist concept of “social reproduction”, the analysis addresses the complex ways that globalised capitalism has transformed state and corporate responsibilities for social reproduction. The neoliberal policies of privatisation and deregulation have eroded the assurance of a liveable wage, affordable healthcare, decent education, breathable air, and clean water. Drawing on several …

How Does Climate Change Affect Coral Reefs?, Rachel Goff

Honors Theses

Climate change is a very real phenomenon that currently affects many of the ecosystems on Earth. Climate change occurs on a global scale and can be very detrimental to different environments. This occurrence can cause ocean warming, sea level rise, ocean acidification, and increased storm intensity. According to the EPA, the ocean's temperature has increased 1.4°F over the past century, and sea levels have risen 3.2 millimeters through the past 20 years. These changes to the oceans can greatly affect many of the ecosystems that reside in them. One of the main ecosystems that are being affected by climate change …