Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Anthropogenic Impacts To Essential Habitats In The Gulf Of Maine: A Case Study Of The American Lobster, Homarus Americanus, And Its Fishery, Andrew Goode

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Gulf of Maine has been fundamentally altered by anthropogenic forcings for decades and offers an ideal study system to monitor response to change. Through complex interactions between ocean warming, altered demographic bottlenecks, and reduced top-down controls, the American lobster (Homarus americanus Milne Edwards) capitalized on favorable conditions and proliferated within the Gulf of Maine. These changes catalyzed the expansion of the lobster fishery, elevated its status as North America’s most valuable marine resource, and shifted coastal communities towards a virtual lobster monoculture. The same processes that facilitated lobster to capitalize on favorable conditions may come with unintended consequences …

Allostratigraphy Of The Lower Colorado Group (Cretaceous) In South-West Alberta, Slavena Galic

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Clastic, upper Albian-lower Cenomanian strata were deposited in a low-accommodation backbulge depozone of the Western Canada Foreland Basin in SW Alberta. These strata are lithologically very heterogeneous and encompass a spectrum of depositional environments along an alluvial to offshore transect. These rocks are assigned, in subsurface, to the Lower Colorado Group, and in outcrop to the upper Blairmore Group. Lithological heterogeneity, as a result of rapid lateral facies changes, resulted in diverse nomenclature that obscured genetic relationships between time-equivalent strata. The present study integrates wireline log, core, and outcrop data to establish a high-resolution allostratigraphic framework which allowed recognition of …

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 …

The Variability Of Seawater Carbonate Chemistry In Two Florida Urban Mangrove Ecosystems, Alexandrina R. Rangel

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions into the atmosphere are yielding serious impacts across the world’s ocean, including ocean acidification, sea level rise, and increasing seawater temperature. However, these changes are not occurring uniformly across all marine ecosystems. Coastal ecosystems, such as mangroves, already experience extreme and variable environmental conditions due to natural biogeochemical and physical processes. The goal of this study was to document small-scale variability in two urban mangrove ecosystems to gain insight into how ocean acidification will manifest within these systems. Using a stand-up paddleboard, a suite of sensors, and traditional bottle sampling techniques, we measured …

Understanding Potential Climate Change Impacts On Water Resources Within A Fractured Rock Watershed In Northern Togo, Mahawa-Essa Mabossani Akara

Dissertations

More than 72% of sub-Saharan Africa land surface is comprised of hard rock with fractured rock aquifers supplying water to an estimated 25% of the rural population. Given low porosity and storativity, fractured rock aquifers are particularly vulnerable to stresses such as projected population growth and climate variability. General circulation models of sub-Saharan Africa predict increases in temperature and in occurrences of extreme precipitation trends, such as flooding and drought. Adaptation strategies that promote optimal uses of water resources have emerged, although, most focus exclusively on surface water resources. This project investigates the potential impact of climate change on surface …

Physiological And Molecular Responses Of Eurythermal And Stenothermal Populations Of Zostera Marina L (Eelgrass) To Climate Change, Carmen C. Zayas-Santiago

OES Theses and Dissertations

As CO₂ levels in Earth’s atmosphere and oceans steadily rise, varying organismal responses may produce ecological losers and winners. Increased ocean CO₂ can enhance seagrass productivity and thermal tolerance, providing some compensation for climate warming. However, the consistency of this CO₂ effect across populations of cosmopolitan species such as Zostera marina L. (eelgrass) remains largely unknown. This study analyzed whole-plant performance metabolic profiles and gene expression patterns of distinct eelgrass populations in response to CO₂ enrichment. Populations were transplanted from Nisqually Landing and Dumas Bay, two cold water environments in Puget Sound, WA (USA) that rarely …

Improving Existing Methods For Calculating Embodied Carbon Emissions In Trade Through Feature Discovery: An Information Theoretic Approach, Sam Morton

Dartmouth College Undergraduate Theses

The continued societal and ecological risks posed by climate change have spurred renewed interest in quantitative tools that can improve policy aimed at climate mitigation. In 2008, international trade accounted for up to 26\% of global anthropogenic emissions, and therefore trade has garnered increased attention from policymakers seeking carbon mitigation. The concept of embodied carbon emissions in trade (EET) quantifies overall carbon emitted in the production and transport of goods for the purposes of trade. EET in theory could prove an indispensable tool to climate-concerned policymakers, but current implementations and data availability limit EET calculation to annual snapshots that extend …

An Analysis Of The Impacts Of Climate Change On Food Security In The Albertine Rift Of East Africa, Malcolm Jacob

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

As one of the most densely populated regions on the continent of Africa, the Albertine Rift (consisting of parts of Rwanda, Uganda, and the eastern DRC) faces ongoing problems providing enough food for its people through crop production, livestock husbandry, and other forms of food production. Even more troubling for the future is that anthropogenic climate change is expected to significantly exacerbate food insecurity. This paper addresses one central question: how will climate change impact food security in the Albertine Rift? Based on an analysis of available data, this paper finds that policymakers should listen closely to local farmers and …

Urban Permaculture For Climate-Resilient Farming In Worcester, Massachusetts, Priyanka Shrestha

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Climate changes observed over the past several decades are associated with changes in the multiple components of hydrological systems, including changes in precipitation patterns, higher rates of evaporation and increasing soil erosion. In 2019, the city of Worcester declared a climate emergency, stating that climate change threatens the community’s environment. Permaculture can strengthen crucial relationships between nature and human beings, offering long-lasting solutions to protect our planet from risks associated with climate change. This paper focuses on the application of permaculture practices in urban agriculture, including techniques to address changes in hydrological systems. Use of perennial plants, creating swales, drip …

Three Essays On Climate Change Adaptation In Rural African Communities, Hannah Patnaik

Dissertations - ALL

Climate change is one of the defining challenges of the present era, bringing new risks and exacerbating existing vulnerabilities across the world. While there is a broad recognition that solutions around climate change will require coordination and support across borders and governments, a large body of scholarship has focused on the local-level realities of climate change and the disproportionate impacts on the most vulnerable populations. The climate vulnerable poor do not have the privilege of waiting for global policy and commitment to emission reduction targets. They need planned and proactive adaptation support to build resilience to the changing climate and …

Should Mangrove Forests Be Used As Coastal Protection For The Gulf Of Mexico From Future Climate Effects: A Look At The Houston Galveston Area., Benjamin L. Weldon

Master's Projects and Capstones

Climate change effects pose a major threat to coastal cities. Sea-level rise and an increase in hurricane intensity will increase the need for protection for these communities. Wetland ecosystems provide key protective services to the cities that lie behind them. Mangroves are a coastal wetland with benefits such as wave attenuation, carbon sequestration, and shoreline management. Mangrove’s habitat range will expand northward as climate change progresses. With a 2-4°C increase in winter temperature extremes black mangroves are projected to be able to inhabit the entire coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The viability of using mangrove forests as future protection …

Carbon Biogeochemical Cycling In The Sierra Nevada: How To Maintain The Sierra Nevada As Net Carbon Sink Over The Long-Term, Eric Canteenwala

Master's Projects and Capstones

The Sierra Nevada region is an important carbon sink, storing about 3500 MMTCO₂e or eight times the total amount of carbon emitted annually throughout California. However, recent climate-driven disturbances such as wildfires, drought and bark beetle infestations threaten the stability of this carbon pool over the long-term. The existing literature on how treatments impact carbon biogeochemical cycling in the Sierra Nevada was reviewed and interviews were used to identify the top barriers to increasing the pace and scale of treatments. Combinations of forest management treatments such as thinning, prescribed fire and reforestation can help maintain the Sierra Nevada …

The Potential Influence Of Abiotic Conditions On Mussel Species Abundance In San Francisco Bay, Alexandra G. Farrell, M. Christina Vasquez Dr.

Honors Thesis

Climate change has negatively altered seawater conditions, which may have severe implications for marine ecosystems. Mussels are susceptible to environmental changes since they are primary consumers and filter-feeding bivalves. Two species of particular interest to the West Coast of the U.S. are Mytilus galloprovincialis and M. trossulus. M. trossulus is native to the California Coast and was historically prevalent from Southern California to Washington. However, with increased shipping and rising seawater temperature, M. galloprovincialis, an invasive species from the Mediterranean, pushed the species range of M. trossulus poleward. M. trossulus is more tolerant of cold seawater with variable salinity while …

International Migration From The Latin American-Caribbean Region: Taking Environmental Indicators Into Consideration, Chelsea Wepy

Student Theses and Dissertations

International migration, the act of leaving one’s country to permanently settle in another country, is driven by many socio economic/political factors, such as lack of economic opportunity, access to education, governmental corruption, and violence. These factors have proven to be the reason that many citizens within the Latin American-Caribbean region either choose or are forced to relocate internationally. While these factors are important to consider independently; these issues are often exacerbated by changes in the natural environment. The objective of my paper is to highlight the importance of considering changes in the natural environment. In doing so, I hope to …

Climate-Driven Impacts On Himalayan Aquatic Biodiversity: A Case Study Involving Snowtrout (Cyprinidae: Schizothorax), Riri Wiyanti Retnaningtyas

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Monitoring biodiversity, to include its relative dispersal and contraction, has become a conservation task of great importance, particularly given the catastrophic and ongoing loss of habitat due to climate change. However, the timing, direction, and magnitude of these rates vary across taxa and ecosystems. Predicting specific impacts of climate change can thus be difficult and this, in turn, hampers management action. Metrics are needed to not only quantify contemporary requirements of species, but also predict potential distributions that fluctuate in lockstep with climate.

Montane ecosystems in the Himalayas are highly impacted by climate change, yet remain largely understudied due to …

When It Rains, It Pours: A Case Study Of Spatio-Temporal Variations In High-Intensity Precipitation Events In Arkansas, Deanna Mantooth-Hendrix

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Climate change is having an impact on weather systems and ecosystems worldwide. Glaciers are receding, oceans are acidifying, hurricanes are stronger, and extreme precipitation is increasing in frequency. Even with the wealth of data and knowledge about the threat of climate change, some places are slow to adapt because they think that the impact to their ecosystem will not be severe. The goal of this project was to determine if climate change is having an impact on extreme precipitation in the top urban areas of Arkansas. The major concern with an increase in extreme events in urban areas is flooding. …

Diversity – Independent Factors Predict Elevated Extinction Rates, Dustin Perriguey, Corinne Myers, Jason Moore, Louis Scuderi

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Multiple linear regression was used to determine the relationships between diversity-independent factors (i.e., abiotic, climatic) 2, 5, and 10 Myrs-prior to the most elevated Phanerozoic extinctions. We constructed five abiotic variables from Phanerozoic proxy records1–5 to compare to extinction rates: mean temperature, temperature instability, carbon cycle instability, continental weathering rates, and habitat instability. All three models were statistically significant (P < 0.05) and explained > 70% of the variation in Alroy’s6 three-timer generic extinction rates. However, the 2 Myr-prior model explained the most variance in extinction rates and had the most predictive power, based on adjusted and predictive R2 (~ 72% and 41%, respectively). Carbon …

Stability Of Low Crested And Submerged Breakwaters: A Reanalysis And Model Development, Christopher P. Burgess

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Low-crested and submerged structures (LCS) play an integral part in the stabilization of shorelines for recreational purposes, yet there are a plethora of empirical models and gaps in the understanding of their stability and damage progression. The objectives were: i) to evaluate the present formulae, ii) explore variable importance, iii) formulate a stability model, iv) extend the current datasets and v) explore a new model for LCS. The literature points to an increasing understanding of the initiation of damage of LCS and recent exploration of the shear stress-induced erosion (van Rijn, 2019). Assessment of two existing models (Kramer, 2006 and …

Shorebird Response To Human-Induced Changes At Three Pinellas County Beaches, Rebecca J. Ruthberg-Campagna

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Worldwide, shorebird habitat is being destroyed and degraded by development and sea level rise. Shorebirds depend on availability of pristine, undisturbed coastal habitats for resting and feeding during migration as well as for reproduction. Migratory shorebirds using the East Atlantic Flyway visit the Gulf of Mexico Beaches of Pinellas County, Florida as a stopover site during Fall and Spring migration. In addition to hosting migratory species, Pinellas County beaches are home to several year-round resident species that breed during Summer. Pinellas County is the most densely populated county in Florida, and its Gulf Coast is heavily developed with commercial and …

Improving Airfield Pavement Degradation Prediction Skill With Local Climate And Traffic, Evan M. Fortney

Theses and Dissertations

Airfield pavements are a critical component of the global transportation network that provide a platform for national defense. Preventative and corrective maintenance activities are founded upon accurate expectations of degradation. The leading pavement management software creates degradation predictions from pavement groups using age as the IV and current state conditions as the DV. For this work, a framework is created and implemented that utilizes a PCR model to build upon accepted practices for degradation modeling to enhance and possibly augment future prediction capabilities. The model was applied to pairs of location and pavement family and reveals several findings: the selected …

The Role Of Vegetative Cover In Enhancing Resilience To Climate Change And Improving Public Health, Anastasia D. Ivanova

Masters Theses

Changing temperature and precipitation patterns are causing degraded soil, water, and air quality which is negatively affecting the safety and health of people, and the productivity of urban and rural communities. However, research shows that implementing urban forests and cover crops into urban and rural landscapes, respectively, can mitigate these effects by providing ecosystem services. As extreme precipitation and heat events continue to intensify, there is a need for comprehensively assessing these ecosystem services under changing climates and for this information to be easily accessible by communities for rapid land-use decision making. Therefore, I investigated the role of urban forests …

The Origins Of Manufactured Dissent And The Efficacy Of Climate Change Narratives, Emma Elisabeth Giering

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The year of 2020 revealed many things about the fragility of socially constructed institutions and the public trust which grants such entities legitimacy, which is perhaps what reinvigorated social discourse surrounding the existential threat posed by climate change. Amid a pandemic, Americans watched wildfires engulf much of the west coast, environmental regulations unravel in the hands of the Trump administration, and Wall Street begin trading futures contracts on the U.S.’s water supply. Given the ever-expanding record of environmental travesties, how are citizens to respond, and from where should they derive their inspiration for response?

This thesis answers the above question …

Quantifying The Impacts Of Land Use, Management And Climate Change On Water Resources In Missouri River Basin, Arun Bawa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A location-specific evaluation of hydrological landscape responses concerning past and projected climate and land use land cover (LULC) changes can provide a powerful intellectual basis for developing efficient and profitable agroecosystems, and overcoming uncertain and detrimental consequences of LULC and climate shifts. This dissertation assessed the impacts of land use, management, and climate change on water resources in the Missouri River Basin (MRB) through four specific studies that included: (i) to study the responses of leached nutrient concentrations and soil health to winter rye cover crop (CC) under no-till corn (Zea mays L.)-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotation, (ii) to …

The Ecological Resilience Of A Tropical Montane Pine Forest To Droughts, Fire, And Hurricane Disturbance, Daniel Erland Brugger Swann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Owing to the geographic isolation and unique climatic conditions which occur in tropical montane forests (TMFs), these systems are highly sensitive to changes in both climate and disturbance. Therefore, as ongoing climate change alters disturbance regimes – potentially facilitating multiple disturbance interactions much greater than that of isolated disturbances – TMFs may be shifted to alternate stable states. However, study of TMF resilience is essentially unknown given the lack of long-term studies in these systems. We address the resiliency of the tropical montane pine forests of the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic using long-term climate records, remeasured vegetation data, and reconstructed …

We All Want To Change The World: How Behavioral Insights Can Help Reduce Carbon Emissions, Thomas C. Gifford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The world is in the midst of an unprecedented environmental crisis driven primarily by human behavior. As the world has globalized, countries have developed, and standards of living have improved, global pollution has skyrocketed and has resulted in a wide range of environmentally destructive outcomes. All paths to environmentally sustainable development involve a dramatic cut in carbon emissions from current day levels. In this thesis, I explore how the omission of behavioral factors from mainstream neoclassical models has contributed to, and can aid in reducing unsustainably high levels of carbon emissions. Throughout the history of economic thought, classical economists such …

Recent Flooding Events On The Chagrin And Cuyahoga Rivers, Ohio, Kayley Martin

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

From the 1910s through the 1980s, the number of intense daily precipitation events in the United States remained constant, however, since the 1980s there has been an increasing trend in intense single-day precipitation events (U.S Environmental Protection Agency, 2016). One outcome of intense precipitation events is river flooding, particularly in the upper Midwest region where floods have increased in magnitude and frequency (U.S Environmental Protection Agency, 2016). In this thesis project, recent flooding history on the Chagrin and Cuyahoga Rivers in Ohio was studied to expand on previous research that observed an abrupt increase in high magnitude flood events on …

Trends In Observed And Simulated Radar Reflectivity For The 21st Century, Christopher Michael Battisto

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The effects of climate change may influence the prevalence of regional atmospheric conditions supportive of hazardous convective weather (HCW). As a result, the possibility of an increase in the frequency, strength, and/or variability of thunderstorms and their high-impact hazards—including tornadoes, damaging winds, hail, and flash flood-producing downpours—has garnered much scientific and public interest. Radar reflectivity, which remotely assesses precipitation intensity, may be used to detect, track, catalog, and appraise HCW and their parent storms over broad spatiotemporal scales. Reflectivity may also be simulated with regional climate models, and recent, but limited, efforts using these simulation output have identified the potential …

Policy Analysis Of Emissions Cap And Trade: The United State And The European Union, Drew Bealby

Master's Theses

Effects of climate change are appearing each day therefore proactive steps need to be made to reduce these effects. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) notes that humans producing greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane, and nitrous oxide are the main reason the Earth’s overall temperature is rising (NASA 2019). A policy analysis was done on the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) along with comparisons to the United States’ emissions policies that are in place currently. The European Union (E.U.) itself is both an economic and political union of 27 countries in …

Carbon Policy Implementation: A Country-Level Analysis Of Carbon Tax Vs. Cap And Trade, Paris Mccaw

CMC Senior Theses

Climate change is arguably the greatest issue faced by this generation. Mitigation requires an informed and motivated global effort in order to be effective. This paper examines the relationship between emissions from 1980-2020 along with relevant covariates, and carbon policy status, specifically a carbon tax and a cap and trade. An analysis of how the implementation of carbon policies impacts emissions helps to determine the most effective and efficient way to combat climate change. I first run a regression of covariates with emissions and find statistically significant factors that influence emissions: meat production, population, intellectual property charges, and infant deaths. …

Elucidating Peatland Disturbance Ecology And Carbon Dynamics Through The Lens Of Soil Using Infrared Spectrometry, Dominic Uhelski

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

We sought to quantify the fire regimes of peatlands in the hemi-boreal zone of North America, and to understand the qualities of their peat. We used infrared spectrometry to accomplish both goals by gathering spectral information about the organic matter in each sample. We used a series of mixtures of natural peat and natural peat charcoal to isolate the spectral components associated with charcoal concentration. We built a multiple linear regression model which predicts the charcoal concentration in peat samples. We validated our data using nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry. As a result, we can accurately predict the charcoal concentration of …