Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Removing Development Incentives In Risky Areas Promotes Climate Adaptation, Hannah Druckenmiller, Yanjun (Penny) Liao, Sophie Pesek, Margaret Walls, Shan Zhang

Economics Faculty Publications

As natural disasters grow in frequency and intensity with climate change, limiting the populations and properties in harm’s way will be key to adaptation. This study evaluates one approach to discouraging development in risky areas—eliminating public incentives for development, such as infrastructure investments, disaster assistance and federal flood insurance. Using machine learning and matching techniques, we examine the Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS), a set of lands where these federal incentives have been removed. We find that the policy leads to lower development densities inside designated areas, increases development in neighbouring areas, reduces flood damages and alters local demographics. Our …

Bayesian Integrated Species Distribution Models For Hierarchical Resource Selection By A Soaring Bird, Ryo Ogawa, Guiming Wang, L. Wes Burger, Bronson Strickland, J. Brian Davis, Fred L. Cunningham

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Migratory birds exhibit seasonal geographic range (hereafter, range) dynamics during the annual cycle. Few studies have examined how migratory birds select their habitats for range occupancy at the species level and space use at the individual level simultaneously. We hypothesized that environmental variables directly related to fitness components would affect the range occupancy probabilities of migrants, whereas environment variables related to movements and flights would affect the space use intensities of migrants. We built Bayesian integrated species distribution models (ISDMs) to evaluate the effects of climate conditions, wind conditions, and landcover compositions on the seasonal range dynamics of American white …

Differential Impacts Of Weather Anomalies On Household Energy Expenditure Shares: A Comparison Of Clustered Panel Analysis Methods, Jordan Champion

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

Recent emphasis on environmental justice has highlighted deficiencies in our energy system that produce disparities in accessibility and affordability for the most vulnerable. Meanwhile, the realities of a gradually warming climate and the onset of a global energy crisis (IEA 2022) have coincidently contributed to spikes in both energy prices and demand. These implications threaten to further exacerbate existing disparities for income-constrained and vulnerable populations, enhancing their risk of falling into prolonged insecurity. To ensure our transition to a just, sustainable future, we must first ensure equitable access to affordable and reliable energy for everyone. Combining household-level panel and state-level …

Carbon Neutral By 2030 - Katanning Research Station, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Climate Science Published Reports

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development's (DPIRD) Katanning Research Station (KRS) is developing practical techniques and methods for mitigating carbon emissions from the livestock industry.

This research will help the livestock industry in Western Australia (WA) access anticipated future markets for carbon neutral food and fibre products.

The Role Of Atmospheric And Oceanic Feedbacks In Orbital And Millennial Timescale Variability Of The Coupled Climate-Carbon System, Fangze Zhu

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

An intriguing mechanism of the Pleistocene glacial-interglacial cycles is the phase locking of internal climate oscillations to external forcings, suggesting the leading role of the natural climate variability in the past climate changes on orbital timescales. Similarly, the millennial-scale variability over the last glacial period may be attributed to unforced climate dynamics. One of the central themes of the climate sciences is to acquire a fundamental understanding of climate feedbacks over a broad range of timescales. The main objective of this thesis is to identify the characteristic natural variability in a fully coupled climate-carbon model from orbital to millennial timescales, …

The Legal Crisis Within The Climate Crisis, Mark P. Nevitt

Faculty Articles

Climate change creates a difficult choice for property owners and governmental officials alike: Should they invest in costly climate adaptation measures or retreat from climate-exposed areas? Either decision is fraught with legal uncertainty, running headfirst into antiquated legal doctrines designed for a more stable world. Climate impacts to the coastline are forcing policymakers to consider four adaptation tools: (1) resisting climate impacts by building sea walls and armoring the shoreline; (2) accommodating those impacts by elevating existing structures; (3) managed retreat such as systematically and preemptively moving people out of harm’s way; and (4) reactively moving people to new locations …

Climate Risk, Insurance Retreat, And State Response, Mark P. Nevitt, Michael Pappas

Faculty Articles

Climate change is fundamentally destabilizing the private insurance industry, with many high-profile insurance companies exiting states in the face of catastrophic, climate-­induced risk. This rapid "insurance retreat" represents a major market signal in response to climate-exacerbated risks. Private businesses are making actuarial decisions, assessing that some locations are just too vulnerable to insure. At the same time, this insurance retreat also poses a policy challenge for states as they react to the mounting insurance gaps left by exiting private insurers.

This Article analyzes insurance retreat, its attendant policy challenges, and the lessons that can be drawn from state responses. It …

Climatizing National Security, Mark P. Nevitt

Faculty Articles

Is climate change a national security issue? Human security? Ecological security? This Article addresses the growing nexus between climate change and various conceptions of security with a particular emphasis on climate change's national security impacts. This Article argues that there is a growing connection between national security and climate change and a corresponding need to address the normative implications of "climatizing national security." This connection can be observed through three lenses: mitigation (reducing greenhouse gas emissions from military and national security sources); adaptation (investing in climate resilient infrastructure in an effort to prepare for climate impacts), and response (addressing climate-exacerbated …

It’S Giving Genocide: What Feminist Theory, Indigenous Thought, And Queer Theory Have To Say About Climate Change, Owen George

MS in Environmental Studies Master's Theses

Climate change is having profound impacts on communities around the world. In some cases, and with time, more and more, the impacts of climate change are happening on a level that constitutes genocide. Raphaël Lemkin’s and Claudia Card’s definitions of genocide are most applicable to climate change as they have broader understandings of victim groups and social death, and they recognize that inaction to prevent reasonably foreseeable harm constitutes genocidal intent. The UN’s more rigid definition does, to a lesser extent, also apply to climate change. Across the three definitions examined here, the argument of climate change as genocide is …

Youth Resilience Toward Climate Smart Agriculture Technology Adoption In Brunei Darussalam, Rosita Hassan, Wida S. Suhaili, Beston F. Nore, Mohamad A. Basuni

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

Climate change and food security are critical issues to be addressed, nationally and globally, to reach sustainable agricultural development goals to feed the growing human population. The great challenge is to adapt to the climate change and in the meantime increase food production with sustainable farming practices that require farmers to have a paradigm shift toward climate smart agricultural technology (CSAT). Encouraging farmers to adopt and implement CSAT have become a priority for governmental policy making programmes. The question is what are the measures that can be taken for Brunei to leapfrog into this technology bandwagon to revitalise farmers for …

Pices At 32: An External Review, Eileen E. Hofmann, David Checkley, Fangli Qiao, Jörn Schmidt, Sinjae Yoo

CCPO Publications

[Introduction] The North Pacific Marine Science Organization (Pacific ICES, PICES) has been an effective voice and proponent for North Pacific marine science for more than 30 years. During this time, PICES has provided a safe and active venue for the open exchange of science, developed an international science network that includes participants from academic and government institutions, and non- and inter-governmental organizations, and has taken on leadership roles in studying North Pacific ecosystems.

Divergent Responses Of Nitrogen-Species Loadings To Future Climate Change In The Chesapeake Bay Watershed, Zihao Bian, Shufen Pan, Raymond G. Najjar, Marjorie A.M. Friedrichs, Eileen E. Hofmann, Maria Herrmann, Kyle E. Hinson, Pierre St.-Laurent, Hanqin Tian

CCPO Publications

Study region: Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Study focus: Climate plays a critical role in regulating N loading from terrestrial ecosystems to coastal waters and further affecting the health and functioning of coastal ecosystems. However, the sensitivities of riverine exports of different N species to climate change have rarely been investigated. This study examines the response of riverine exports of ammonia (NH₄⁺), nitrate (NO₃^-), dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), and particulate organic nitrogen (PON) to future changes in precipitation and temperature. A suite of climate forcings was used to drive a processbased terrestrial-aquatic model, DLEM (Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model), …

When And Where Can Coastal Wetland Restoration Increase Carbon Sequestration As A Natural Climate Solution, Scott F. Jones, Ariane Arias-Ortiz, Dennis Baldocchi, Meagan Eagle, Daniel A. Friess, Catrina Gore, Greg Noe, Stefanie Nolte, Patty Oikawa, Adina Paytan, Jacqueline L. Raw, Brian J. Roberts, Kerrylee Rogers, Charles Schutte, Camille L. Stagg, Karen M. Thorne, Eric J. Ward, Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Erik S. Yando

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Coastal wetlands are hotspots of carbon sequestration, and their conservation and restoration can help to mitigate climate change. However, there remains uncertainty on when and where coastal wetland restoration can most effectively act as natural climate solutions (NCS). Here, we synthesize current understanding to illustrate the requirements for coastal wetland restoration to benefit climate, and discuss potential paths forward that address key uncertainties impeding implementation. To be effective as NCS, coastal wetland restoration projects will accrue climate cooling benefits that would not occur without management action (additionality), will be implementable (feasibility) and will persist over management-relevant timeframes (permanence). Several issues …

Response Of Helenium Amarum To Environmental Stressors In The Presence Of Mycorrhizal Fungi And Its Role As A Pollinator Resource, Austin Jameson, Lisa Horth

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Globally, climate change is causing shifts in precipitation patterns. Shifting precipitation patterns can be a stressor for many species. One species that is experiencing such stress is Helenium amarum Raf (H. Rock). H. amarum, thrives in dry upland pastures and low-lying grassy and sandy habitat in the mid-Atlantic (USA), where it persists despite storm-driven standing water. Helenium amarum is a species that is toxic to livestock and has been found outside its native range. Temperature and light impacts on germination are already known, but the role of water availability and potential ameliorating effects of mycorrhizae during water stress have …

Abalones At Risk: A Global Red List Assessment Of Haliotis In A Changing Climate, Howard Peters, Gina M. Ralph, Laura Rogers-Bennett

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

There is increasing awareness that marine invertebrates such as abalones are at risk from the combined stressors of fishing and climate change. Abalones are an important marine fishery resource and of cultural importance to Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. A highly priced marine delicacy, they are inherently vulnerable: individuals are slow-growing and long-lived and successful reproduction requires dense assemblages. However, their global conservation status is poorly understood. Using IUCN Red List methodology, we assessed the extinction risk to all 54 species of abalone (genus Haliotis). Of the 21 fished commercially for human consumption either now and/or in the past, 15 …

Last Millennium Hurricane Activity Linked To Endogenous Climate Variability, Wenchang Yang, Elizabeth Wallace, Gabriel A. Vecchi, Jeffrey P. Donnelly, Julien Emile-Geay, Gregory J. Hakim, Larry W. Horowitz, Richard M. Sullivan, Robert Tardif, Peter J. Van Hengstum, Tyler S. Winkler

OES Faculty Publications

Despite increased Atlantic hurricane risk, projected trends in hurricane frequency in the warming climate are still highly uncertain, mainly due to short instrumental record that limits our understanding of hurricane activity and its relationship to climate. Here we extend the record to the last millennium using two independent estimates: a reconstruction from sedimentary paleohurricane records and a statistical model of hurricane activity using sea surface temperatures (SSTs). We find statistically significant agreement between the two estimates and the late 20th century hurricane frequency is within the range seen over the past millennium. Numerical simulations using a hurricane-permitting climate model suggest …

The Impacts Of Anthropogenic Activity And Climate Change On The Formation Of Harmful Algal Blooms (Habs) And Its Ecological Consequence, Zhangxi Hu, Aifeng Li, Zhun Li, Margaret R. Mulholland

OES Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Understanding How Indigenous Knowledge Contributes To Climate Change Adaptation And Resilience: A Systematic Literature Review, Tashi Dorji, Kinley Rinchen, Angus Morrison-Saunders, David Blake, Vicki Banham, Sonam Pelden

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing the world today threatening societies and the future of the planet. The impacts of climate change are more severe in poor and marginalised populations like Indigenous communities where people rely heavily on their Indigenous Knowledge (IK) to adapt to the changing environment. Climate change adaptation and resilience are critical for the survival of Indigenous communities under the threat of climate change. This systematic literature review seeks to understand how IK contributes to climate change adaptation and resilience. A total of 71 papers from Scopus were analysed using the Preferred Reporting Items …

The Effect Of Solvent Identity And Hydride-Donor On The Reduction Of Co2 Into Useful Fuels, Abigail Mcentire

Honors Theses

One possible strategy for decreasing CO2 emissions is through electrocatalytic reduction reactions to convert the CO2 back into combustible fuels , such as methane or methanol. However, it can be challenging to control the reaction to select one of these useful fuels as opposed to carbon monoxide or formate. Our strategy is to investigate a specific hydride donor and solvent combinations for which the reaction favors conversion to methanol. It was found that in acetonitrile , several hydride donors were capable of selective reduction of CO2 to the methanol oxidation state.

Reducing The Uncertainty In Estimating Soil Microbial-Derived Carbon Storage, Han Hu, Chao Qian, Ke Xue, Rainer Georg Jörgensen, Marco Keiluweit, Chao Liang, Xuefeng Zhu, Ji Chen, Yishen Sun, Haowei Ni, Jixian Ding, Weigen Huang, Jingdong Mao, Rong-Xi Tan, Jizhong Zhou, Thomas W. Crowther, Zhi-Hua Zhou, Jiabao Zhang, Yuting Liang

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the largest carbon pool in terrestrial ecosystems and plays a crucial role in mitigating climate change and enhancing soil productivity. Microbial-derived carbon (MDC) is the main component of the persistent SOC pool. However, current formulas used to estimate the proportional contribution of MDC are plagued by uncertainties due to limited sample sizes and the neglect of bacterial group composition effects. Here, we compiled the comprehensive global dataset and employed machine learning approaches to refine our quantitative understanding of MDC contributions to total carbon storage. Our efforts resulted in a reduction in the relative standard errors …

State Of Coastal And Marine Resources: Lian, Batangas, Joseph Benedict T. Garcia, Mary Joyce P. Velos, Jemelyn Grace P. Baldisimo, Joey P. Cabasan, Ma Celina J. Añonuevo, Denmark B. Recamara, Hazel O. Arceo

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

[Introduction] Lian (13.9852° N, 120.6545° E) is a third-class municipality in the northwestern part of the province of Batangas. It is bounded on the north by the municipality of Nasugbu, on the east by the municipalities of Tuy and Balayan, on the west by the WPS, and on the south by the municipality of Catatagan (Figure 2.7-1). It has a total land area of 76.80km² that is divided into 19 barangays, six of which are coastal and two are integrated coastal barangays (LGU-Lian 2013). Its total population is 56,280 individuals in 15,991 households as of 2020 (PSA 2020).

The main …

State Of Coastal And Marine Resources: Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, Ma Celina J. Añonuevo, Jemelyn Grace P. Baldisimo, Denmark B. Racamara, Mary Joyce P. Velos, Joseph Benedict T. Garcia, Frederico B. Sabban, Joey P. Cabasan, Rhea Mae Luciano, Darryl Anthony Valiño, Lovely Joy Heyres, Hazel O. Arceo

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

[Introduction] Sablayan, situated on the western side of Mindoro Island facing the WPS (12.8564° N, 120.9101° E), is a first-class municipality in the province of Occidental Mindoro with a total land area of 2,188.8km² that is divided into 22 barangays, nine of which are along the coast. The coastline stretches for 115 km, with municipal waters covering approximately 750,000 km² (LGU-Sablayan 2008).

The Apo Reef Natural Park, one of its most prominent features, is located approximately 33 km off the coast (Figure 2.9-1) The Apo Reef Natural Park is a protected coral reef system under presidential proclamation 868 (1996) encompassing …

Deconstructing The Mangrove Carbon Cycle: Gains, Transformation, And Losses, M. F. Adame, N. Cormier, P. Taillardat, N. Iram, A. Rovai, T. M. Sloey, E. S. Yando, J. F. Blanco-Libreros, M. Arnaud, T. Jennerjahn, C. E. Lovelock, D. Friess, G. M. S. Reithmaier, C. A. Buelow, S. M. Muhammad-Nor, R. R. Twilley, R. A. Ribeiro

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Mangroves are one of the most carbon-dense forests on the Earth and have been highlighted as key ecosystems for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Hundreds of studies have investigated how mangroves fix, transform, store, and export carbon. Here, we review and synthesize the previously known and emerging carbon pathways in mangroves, including gains (woody biomass accumulation, deadwood accumulation, soil carbon sequestration, root and litterfall production), transformations (food web transfer through herbivory, decomposition), and losses (respiration as CO₂ and CH₄, litterfall export, particulate and dissolved carbon export). We then review the technologies available to measure carbon fluxes in …

Climate Change's Effect On Flow Regime, Alexander Ialenti

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will test to see if there is a percent increase in non-perennial streams sampled from 2003-2021. Using data provided by The Cleveland Metroparks, sampling events will be separated by date, flow regime classification, and rain data. Current literature supports the claim that many perennial streams, streams that flow year-round, will become non-perennial streams over time. This shift is predicted to be caused by a change in rain patterns. Both the interval between rain events and the intensity of rainfall per event are predicted to increase. My hypothesis is that there will be an increase in the percentage of …

Interannual Growth-Climate Relationships Of Western Larch After Wildfire In The Northwest, Junior Burks

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Montane and mixed-conifer forests in the northwestern United States are burning at rates greater than any time in recent decades, due to the combined impacts of global warming and historical and contemporary land use and land management. Western larch (Larix occidentalis) is a tree of high regional significance, exhibiting a variety of traits that make it resistant and resilient to fire. Because seedlings are more sensitive to environmental stressors than adults, the impacts of climate change are expected to be detectable first in juvenile trees. Recent research shows that the natural regeneration of western larch after wildfires has …

It Is Normal: The Probability Distribution Of Temperature Extremes, Nir Y. Krakauer

Publications and Research

The probability of heat extremes is often estimated using the non-stationary generalized extreme value distribution (GEVD) applied to time series of annual maximum temperature. Here, this practice was assessed using a global sample of temperature time series, from reanalysis (both at the grid point and the region scale) as well as station observations. This assessment used forecast negative log-likelihood as the main performance measure, which is particularly sensitive to the most extreme heat waves. It was found that the computationally simpler normal distribution outperforms the GEVD in providing probabilistic year-ahead forecasts of temperature extremes. Given these findings, it is suggested …

Hydrogeomorphic Response Of Fluvial Systems To Climate Change - An Example From James River, Missouri, Afrida Aranya

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Climate change has led to unpredictable hydrological patterns, significantly altering the fluvial environment and their flow regime. Despite extensive research, our knowledge about the impacts of climate change on flow regimes in the US Midwest is limited, particularly in karst-dominated fluvial landscapes. This research addresses this gap by investigating the effects of climatic change on the hydrogeomorphology of the James River, located in the karst-dominated Ozark Highlands in southwest Missouri, USA. The study focuses on two ~1.5 km stream segments—one relatively active and one stable in the context of geomorphology—near Springfield, Missouri. The research aims to (i) understand the changing …

4500-Year Paleohurricane Record From The Western Gulf Of Mexico, Coastal Central Tx, Usa, Sarah B. Monica, Davin J. Wallace, Elizabeth J. Wallace, Xiaojing Du, Sylvia G. Dee, John B. Anderson

OES Faculty Publications

Texas receives the second-highest number of tropical cyclone (TC) landfalls per year in the United States. At present, long-term TC projections from climate models remain uncertain due to the short and biased nature of Atlantic TC observations. Sediment archives of past storms can help extend the observational record of TC strikes over the past few millennia. When a TC makes landfall along the central Texas coast, coastal downwelling channels and storm currents transport and deposit coarse sediment to a zone of rapid accumulation along the shelf, known as the Texas Mud Blanket (TMB). This “backwash” process results in expansive storm …

An Inconsistent Enso Response To Northern Hemisphere Stadials Over The Last Deglaciation, Ryan H. Glaubke, Matthew W. Schmidt, Jennifer E. Hertzberg, Lenzie G. Ward, Franco Marcantonio, Danielle Schimmenti, Kaustubh Thirumalai

OES Faculty Publications

The dynamics shaping the El Niño-Southern Oscillation's (ENSO) response to present and future climate change remain unclear, partly due to limited paleo-ENSO records spanning past abrupt climate events. Here, we measure Mg/Ca ratios on individual foraminifera to reconstruct east Pacific subsurface temperature variability, a proxy for ENSO variability, across the last 25,000 years, including the millennial-scale events of the last deglaciation. Combining these data with proxy system model output reveals divergent ENSO responses to Northern Hemisphere stadials: enhanced variability during Heinrich Stadial 1 (H1) and reduced variability during the Younger Dryas (YD), relative to the Holocene. H1 ENSO likely intensified …

Greta Thunberg (2021) By Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara, Maughn Rollins Gregory

Picture Books

Greta Thunberg learned about climate change in school at the age of eight, when she persuaded her parents to make lifestyle changes to reduce their carbon footprint. At fifteen, after winning a writing competition about the environment, she came up with the idea of a school strike, inspired by student walkouts in the United States to protest legislative inaction on gun control. Though she couldn’t interest anyone else in the idea, her one-child strikes soon gained international attention. Greta’s story demonstrates some of the challenges and gifts that neurodiverse children bring to activism. This book also prods adults to think …