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Slides: Unido: Partner For Prosperity, Kandeh K. Yumkella

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Dr. Kandeh Yumkella, Chairman, UN Energy; Director General, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

16 slides

Utah Science Vol. 66

Utah Science

Utah Science, a publication of the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station at Utah State University

The Ross Sea: In A Sea Of Change, Walker O. Smith, Peter N. Sedwick, Kevin R. Arrigo, David G. Ainley, Alejandro H. Orsi

OES Faculty Publications

The Ross Sea, the most productive region in the Antarctic, reaches farther south than any body of water in the world. While its food web is relatively intact, its oceanography, biogeochemistry, and sea ice coverage have been changing dramatically, and likely will continue to do so in the future. Sea ice cover and persistence have been increasing, in contrast to the Amundsen-Bellingshausen sector, which has resulted in reduced open water duration for its biota. Models predict that as the ozone hole recovers, ice cover will begin to diminish. Currents on the continental shelf will likely change in the coming century, …

Avian Phenology, Climate, And Land-Use Conservation Assessed At Broad Spatial And Temporal Scales Using Interdisciplinary Approaches And Citizen Science, Jason Courter

All Dissertations

Current natural resource challenges include global alteration of land cover, loss of biodiversity, impacts from increasing demands for agricultural products, and climate change. Birds are often used to assess the effects of ecological stressors because they are sensitive to environmental changes, ubiquitous and charismatic, and long-term monitoring programs have been in place for more than a century. I demonstrate the effects of climate change on avian migration and nesting dates and the potential value of using interdisciplinary approaches and citizen science to address contemporary ecological challenges. I examine Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) migration in the eastern United States from 1880-2010 …

Land As A Renewable Resource: Integrating Climate, Energy, And Profitability Goals Using An Agent-Based Netlogo Model, Inocencio Rodriguez

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The objectives of this study center over the course of the beef production life cycle as a management strategy to optimize the financial and natural resource endowment on farms at the county level based on the data available. Although the application is to West Virginia, implications can be derived for other areas with similar resource endowments. The beef farms located in adjacent locations within a county are identified as suppliers of inputs to the farm of interest (or contracting farm) in order to provide the basic foundation for agglomeration economies.;Both an intertemporal component and a spatial component are involved since …

Agricultural Landuse Change Impacts On Bioenergy Production, Avifauna, And Water Use In Nebraska's Rainwater Basin, Daniel R. Uden

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Agriculture is an economically important form of landuse in the North American Great Plains. Since 19^th Century European settlement, conversion of grasslands to rowcrops has increased food and bioenergy production, but has decreased wildlife habitat. Future agricultural landuse changes may be driven by alternative energy demands and regional climatic changes. Landuse change and its drivers could affect bioenergy production, wildlife populations and natural resources, and considering the potential impacts of impending changes in advance could assist with preparations for an uncertain future.

This study addressed how the conversion of marginally productive agricultural lands in the Rainwater Basin region of …

Development And Dissemination Of Clean Cookstoves: A Model Law For Developing Countries, Lakshman Guruswamy Ed.

Drafting Model Laws on Indoor Pollution for Developing and Developed Nations (July 12-13)

24 pages.

"This model law was developed at a legislative drafting workshop on July 12-13, 2012, entitled Drafting Model Laws on Indoor Pollution for Developing and Developed Nations, which was sponsored by the Center for Energy & Environmental Security and the Colorado Natural Resources, Energy & Environmental Law Review at the University of Colorado Law School in Boulder, Colorado." Excerpted from 24 Colo. Nat. Resources, Energy & Envtl. L. Rev. 331 (2013).

Development And Dissemination Of Clean Cookstoves: A Model Law For Developed Countries, Scott Miller

Drafting Model Laws on Indoor Pollution for Developing and Developed Nations (July 12-13)

21 pages.

"This model law was developed at a legislative drafting workshop on July 12-13, 2012, entitled Drafting Model Laws on Indoor Pollution for Developing and Developed Nations, which was sponsored by the Center for Energy & Environmental Security and the Colorado Natural Resources, Energy & Environmental Law Review at the University of Colorado Law School in Boulder, Colorado."-- Excerpted from 24 Colo. Nat. Resources, Energy & Envtl. L. Rev. 355 (2013).

"Scott Miller ed."

Foraging And Digestive Energetics In Montane And Lowland Salamanders, Cody Lund Barnes

Theses and Dissertations

Thermal physiology substantially limits the distributions of organisms across landscapes. Specifically, the thermal sensitivity of foraging and digestive energetics influence the quantity of energy available for allocating to specific life functions. I hypothesized that foraging and Specific Dynamic Action (SDA) performances would differ between montane endemic and lowland salamander species. I found that foraging energetics differed between the montane endemics, Plethodon ouachitae and P. caddoensis, in comparison to the lowland P. albagula. Differences in foraging energetics were particularly pronounced at the warmest temperature and the montane endemics were more thermally sensitive, suggesting that constraints in foraging energetics influence the elevational …

Old Dominion University Climate Change And Sea Level Rise Initiative, Summer 2012, Larry P. Atkinson (Editor)

CCSLRI Newsletters

Summer 2012 Newsletter of the Old Dominion University Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Intiative

Quantifying And Reducing Uncertainty In The Assessment Of Water-Related Risks In Southern Europe And Neighbouring Countries, Joachim Post, Günter Strunz, Franz Hummel, Sihem Benabdallah, Franz Prettenthaler, Ralf Ludwig

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The project CLIMB (Climate Induced Changes on the Hydrology of Mediterranean Basins – Reducing Uncertainty and Quantifying Risk through an Integrated Monitoring and Modelling System, www.climb-fp7.eu) aims to investigate present and future climate induced changes in the hydrological budgets and extremes for Mediterranean and neighbouring countries.We provide a concept for an integrated modelling and assessment set-up to tackle the challenge of quantifying parameter related uncertainties and associated risks with the water balance simulation model ETH (WaSiM-ETH) for the cultivation of tomatoes in Chiba basin, Tunisia, which is a test site within the CLIMB project.This study indicates that it is already …

Modelling And Simulating Social Vulnerability Under The Influence Of Climate Change In The Cordillera Blanca (Peru), Thaís López-Inojosa, Martina Neuburger, Sebastian Medina-Plascencia

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The objective of this research is to develop and simulate a model of theecosocial concept of populations’ vulnerability under the impact of environmentalchange in the Peruvian Cordillera Blanca, through a social vulnerability indicator.Numerous studies provide evidence for the impact of climate change on nature,water scarcity, and social problems; people living near glaciers are particularlyaffected by these natural hazards. The Peruvian Cordillera Blanca, an area withone fourth of the world’s tropical glaciers and its population are highly at risk. Theapplications of fuzzy algorithms to research works in this area, and even more tosocial and ecological aspects, is a new approach to …

Modelling The Impact Of Climate Change On Irrigation Area Demand In The Jordan River Region, J. Koch, Florian Wimmer, Ruediger Schaldach, J. Onigkeit, C. Folberth

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Changing climate conditions in the Jordan River Region are likely to have adverse effects on irrigated crop yields and, as a result, increase the demand for irrigation area. We apply a regional version of the dynamic land-use change model LandSHIFT to quantify the effect of climate change on the demand for irrigation area needed to maintain a constant production of irrigated crops. To evaluate uncertainties induced by climate projections, we use an ensemble of four regional climate datasets based on the IPCC emissions scenario A1B. In order to interpret the simulation results on additional irrigation area demands due to changing …

Risk-Based Water Quality Management In An Integrated Urban Wastewater System Under Climate Change And Urbanisation, Maryam Astaraie-Imani, Zoran Kapelan, David Butler

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Climate change and urbanisation are key factors potentially affecting thefuture of water quality and quantity in urbanised catchments and are associatedwith significant degrees of uncertainty. Maintaining or even improving urbanrecipient water quality under this uncertain future will be a major challenge. Thestudy reported in this paper explores the potential for managing water quality withina novel risk-based framework in the context of an Integrated Urban WastewaterSystem (IUWS) comprised of a sewer system, wastewater treatment plant and therecipient. In the study, we explore the potential for managing water quality failurerisk by optimising the operational control and/or design of the wastewater system.Water quality …

Risk-Based Water Quality Management In An Integrated Urban Wastewater System Under Climate Change And Urbanisation, Maryam Astaraie-Imani, Zoran Kapelan, David Butler

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Climate change and urbanisation are key factors potentially affecting thefuture of water quality and quantity in urbanised catchments and are associatedwith significant degrees of uncertainty. Maintaining or even improving urbanrecipient water quality under this uncertain future will be a major challenge. Thestudy reported in this paper explores the potential for managing water quality withina novel risk-based framework in the context of an Integrated Urban WastewaterSystem (IUWS) comprised of a sewer system, wastewater treatment plant and therecipient. In the study, we explore the potential for managing water quality failurerisk by optimising the operational control and/or design of the wastewater system.Water quality …

Regional Impacts Of Climate Change On Water Resources: The Jucar Basin, Spain, Chirivella Osma

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The Spanish Agency of Metereology (AEMET) released in 2008 a set ofdownscaled climate change scenarios over Spain that are the reference to betaken by other public bodies implicated in the development of adaptationstrategies. In this paper AEMET scenarios are analysed for the control period(1960-1990), for the period 2010-2040, and their impact on water resources isassessed by means of a rainfall-runoff model. It is found that over the controlperiod, where the simulated scenarios can be compared against historical records,these scenarios honour temperature records. However, there are significantdifferences for rainfall. AEMET scenarios yield average precipitations that arelower (by 20%) than historical records. …

Agent-Based Modeling Of Agricultural Adaptation To Climate Change In A Mountainous Area Of Southwest Germany, Christian Troost, G. Calberto, Thomas Berger, J. Ingwersen, E. Priesack, K. Warrach-Sagi, T. Walter

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

We present an agent-based model of climate change adaptation for the agricultural sector of the Central Swabian Alps, a mountainous area in South Western Germany. Apart from climate effects on crop yields, the model also captures effects on crop rotation options, available time for fieldwork and exogenous price effects as potential pathways of climate change impact. First results underline the capacity of the model to simulate short-term adaptation and point to the importance of capturing future price developments to predict land-use effects of adaptation. For full dynamic simulations of the process of adaptation, the model will be extended with realistic …

Using A Fuzzy-Logic Approach To Model A Reservoir And Transfer System Under Climate Change Conditions, Josef Schmid, Ralf Ludwig, Markus Muerth

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Embedded in an international project, a management model is developed for assessing climate change impacts on the Water Transfer System in Franconia, Germany. Based on expert knowledge, standard rules operating this system are defined and implemented in a fuzzy-based modelling system. Demands of stakeholders are identified as being core functionalities in the model. First climate change impact assessments were done, driving the management model with outputs from a hydrological model forced by dynamical climate model data

A Eu27 Database Of Daily Weather Data Derived From Climate Change Scenarios For Use With Crop Simulation Models, Marcello Donatelli, Davide Fumagalli, A. Zucchini, G. Duveiller, R. L. Nelson, B. Baruth

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Global Circulation Models (GCM) estimate future climate under scenarios of greenhouse gases emissions. Such estimates include several meteorological parameters but the two direct outputs are air temperature at earth surface and precipitation. The estimates are spatially downscaled using different methodologies, but it is accepted that such data require further processing for use with simulation models. Daily values of solar radiation, wind, air humidity, and at times rainfall may have absolute values which are not realistic, and/or the daily record of data may prove not to be consistent across meteorological variables. The final problem is related to the fact that GCM …

Regional Impacts Of Climate Change On Water Resources: The Jucar Basin, Spain, Chirivella Osma

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The Spanish Agency of Metereology (AEMET) released in 2008 a set ofdownscaled climate change scenarios over Spain that are the reference to betaken by other public bodies implicated in the development of adaptationstrategies. In this paper AEMET scenarios are analysed for the control period(1960-1990), for the period 2010-2040, and their impact on water resources isassessed by means of a rainfall-runoff model. It is found that over the controlperiod, where the simulated scenarios can be compared against historical records,these scenarios honour temperature records. However, there are significantdifferences for rainfall. AEMET scenarios yield average precipitations that arelower (by 20%) than historical records. …

Sensitivity Of Circumpolar Deep Water Transport And Ice Shelf Basal Melt Along The West Antarctic Peninsula To Changes In The Winds, Michael S. Dinniman, John M. Klinck, Eileen E. Hofmann

CCPO Publications

Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) can be found near the continental shelf break around most of Antarctica. Advection of this relatively warm water (up to 2 degrees C) across the continental shelf to the base of floating ice shelves is thought to be a critical source of heat for basal melting in some locations. A high-resolution (4 km) regional ocean-sea ice-ice shelf model of the west Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) coastal ocean was used to examine the effects of changes in the winds on across-shelf CDW transport and ice shelf basal melt. Increases and decreases in the strength of the wind fields …

Summer 2012: Beautiful To Behold, St. Norbert College

St. Norbert College Magazine 2007-2012

An understanding of loveliness

St. Augustine saw beauty as a life-saving force in our lives, “a plank amid the waves of the sea.” It is his rule – the Rule of Augustine – that St. Norbert adopted for his order, so it seems especially fitting to reflect upon his words as we explore, in this issue, the nature of the beautiful.

On the cover: Faithful stewardship is a cornerstone of Norbertine practice and it’s a responsibility that the college community has taken very much to its communal heart. One of the many blessings that we reap is our collective ownership …

Fluvial Landscapes Of The Harappan Civilization, Liviu Giosan, Peter D. Clift, Mark G. Macklin, Dorian Q. Fuller, Stefan Constantinescu, Julie A. Durcan, Thomas Stevens, Geoff A.T. Duller, Ali R. Tabrez, Kavita Gangal, Ronojoy Adhikari, Anwar Alizai, Florin Filip, Sam Vanlaningham, James P.M. Syvitski

Faculty Publications

The collapse of the Bronze Age Harappan, one of the earliest urban civilizations, remains an enigma. Urbanism flourished in the western region of the Indo-Gangetic Plain for approximately 600 y, but since approximately 3,900 y ago, the total settled area and settlement sizes declined, many sites were abandoned, and a significant shift in site numbers and density towards the east is recorded. We report morphologic and chronologic evidence indicating that fluvial landscapes in Harappan territory became remarkably stable during the late Holocene as aridification intensified in the region after approximately 5,000 BP. Upstream on the alluvial plain, the large Himalayan …

Carbon Sequestration And Sediment Accretion In San Francisco Bay Tidal Wetlands, John C. Callaway, Evyan L. Borgnis, R. Eugene Turner, Charles S. Milan

Faculty Publications

Tidal wetlands play an important role with respect to climate change because of both their sensitivity to sea-level rise and their ability to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Policy-based interest in carbon sequestration has increased recently, and wetland restoration projects have potential for carbon credits through soil carbon sequestration. We measured sediment accretion, mineral and organic matter accumulation, and carbon sequestration rates using 137Cs and 210Pb downcore distributions at six natural tidal wetlands in the San Francisco Bay Estuary. The accretion rates were, in general, 0.2–0.5 cm year−1, indicating that local wetlands are keeping pace with recent rates of …

Carbon Sequestration On Utah Rangelands: A Landowner Perspective, Seth Cook

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Carbon sequestration is the removal of carbon dioxide from the air and storing it in plants and soil through natural processes. Rangelands can be managed to sequester carbon and mitigate climate change. Supported by the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, this study assessed Utah rangeland owners’ perceptions of carbon sequestration and explored factors influencing their likelihood of participation in relevant programs. Data were collected through interviews and a statewide survey of Utah rangeland owners. Over two-thirds of respondents were aware of carbon sequestration and viewed it positively. Those who thought the climate had been changing over the past 30 years tended …

Long-Term Changes To The Frost-Free Season As A Function Of Climatic Continentality, Ian Blaylock

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The beginning, end, and length of the annual frost-free season vary considerably both spatially and temporally. The continentality of the climate of a given area has a close connection with the magnitude and nature of these variations. Long term changes in the frost-free season can be divided into three distinct phases: a lengthening of the frost-free season in the early 20^th century, a shortening in the mid-20^th century, and a renewed, intensified lengthening from 1970 to today. While oceanic and ultraoceanic climates experience decreased incidence of frosts relative to their continental counterparts, analysis has shown that overall 20 …

Students' Conceptions About Climate Change: Using Critical Evaluation To Influence Plausibility Reappraisals And Knowledge Reconstruction, Doug Lombardi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007) reported a greater than 90% chance that human activities are responsible for global temperature increases over the last 50 years, as well as other climatic changes. The scientific report also states that alternative explanations (e.g., increasing energy received from the Sun) are less plausible than human-induced climate change. These climate scientists have made their plausibility judgment--which I define as the relative potential truthfulness of alternative explanations--based on the evaluation and coordination of multiple lines evidence with competing theoretical perspectives.

Climate change is a highly relevant and gravely serious topic; in an educational setting, …

Permafrost Settlement Caused By Climate Warming In Alaska And The Estimation Of Its Damage Costs For Public Infrastructure, Eunkyoung Hong

Engineering

Climate models and studies indicate that the changes in the northern latitudes will be serious and accelerated. Climate warming may impact structures in the northern latitudes through permafrost settlement affecting the performance of infrastructure and increasing costs for maintenance. The material presented is organized in three main chapters. Chapter 1 describes the motivation for the research. Chapter 2 addresses the permafrost settlement hazard in Alaska. I developed the Permafrost Settlement Hazard Index, which considered anticipated climate warming and ecological characteristics which regulate permafrost settlement. I found that the discontinuous permafrost region is at more risk due to permafrost settlement than …

Reversability Of Arctic Sea Ice Retreat - A Conceptual Multi-Scale Modeling Approach, Marc Mueller-Stoffels

Physics

The ice-albedo feedback has been identified as an important factor in the decay of the Arctic sea ice cover in a warming climate. Mechanisms of transition from perennial ice cover to seasonal ice cover are discussed in the literature; the existence of a tipping point is disputed. A newly developed regular network model for energy exchange and phase transition of an ice covered ocean mixed layer is introduced. The existence of bistability, a key ingredient for irreversibility, on local and regional scales is explored. It is shown in a spatially confined model that the asymptotic behavior and the existence of …

Climate-Induced Community Relocations: Creating An Adaptive Governance Framework Based In Human Rights, Robin Bronen

Biological Sciences

The specter of millions of people fleeing their homes because of climate change has sparked an international debate about creating human rights protections for climate refugees. Though scholars and journalists have focused on the southern hemisphere, this crisis is occurring with unprecedented rapidity in the Arctic. In Alaska, temperatures have increased at twice the rate of the global average. Arctic sea ice is decreasing and permafrost is thawing, which is accelerating flooding and erosion. These environmental phenomena are threatening dozens of the 200 indigenous tribes that have inhabited the Alaskan Arctic for millennia. The traditional responses of hazard prevention and …