Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Commons^™

Droughtscape, Summer 2011, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

New NDMC Website

Drought May Improve in Southeast and Southwest

Impacts Summary: Fire, Crop Loss and More

International Activities

NDMC Launches Ranch Planning Tool

Serving Data to Order

Workshop Builds Drought Planning Community

Variable Renewable Energy In Modeling Climate Change Mitigation Scenarios, Falko Ueckerdt, Robert J. Brecha, Gunnar Luderer, Patrick Sullivan, Eva Schmid, Nico Bauer, Diana Böttger

Physics Faculty Publications

This paper addresses the issue of how to account for short‐term temporal variability of renewable energy sources and power demand in long‐term climate change mitigation scenarios in energy‐economic models. An approach that captures in a stylized way the major challenges to the integration of variable renewable energy sources into power systems has been developed. As a first application this approach has been introduced to REMIND‐D, a hybrid energy‐economy model of Germany. An approximation of the residual load duration curve is implemented. The approximating function endogenously changes depending on the penetration and mix of variable renewable power. The approach can thus …

Report To The Commissioner Of Soil Conservation On The Condition Of The Western Australian Pastoral Resource Base 2011, Paul Novelly, Philip Thomas

Natural resources published reports

Western Australia's rangelands cover 87% of the state and include all but the south west. Pastoral leases, used for grazing livestock on native vegetation, cover 35% (874,000 km2) of the rangelands, with the balance consisting of Unallocated Crown Land (UCL) and land vested for conservation and Indigenous purposes. There are currently 459 registered pastoral stations (comprised of 51 O pastoral leases) in Western Australia; 159 stations are in the Northern Rangelands (Kimberley and Pilbara - 92 in the Kimberley and the remainder in the Pilbara), 291 stations in the Southern Rangelands, and nine stations in the South West Land Division. …

Building A Sustainable Network Of Drought Communities, Deborah J. Bathke, Nicole Wall, Jeff Nothwehr, Kelly Helm Smith, Donna L. Woudenberg, Tonya K. Bernadt, Crystal Bergman, Joseph P. Robine, Michael Hayes, Mark Svoboda, Lisa Darby, Roger S. Pulwarty, The National Drought Mitigation Center, The National Integrated Drought Information System Program Office

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

The first step in managing large-scale (national) collaborations and networks is to consider and address how a group and a potential partnership may match up (Luther, 2005). To explore this concept and many other collaborative concepts, the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) hosted a workshop, “Building a Sustainable Network of Drought Communities,” which was facilitated by the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC) in Chicago, IL, June 8-9, 2011.

The workshop explored current examples of good communication and lessons learned within the realm of drought planning in order to address a future NIDIS Engaging Preparedness Communities (EPC) working group that …

Logistic Curves, Extraction Costs And The Effective Size Of Oil Resources, Robert J. Brecha

Physics Faculty Publications

The size of potential fossil fuel resources is an issue of perennial interest and controversy. Fundamentally, there appears to be a conflict in interpretation of available data for both past and future extraction histories. As fossil-fuel prices rose dramatically over the past several years, the question of resources once again became acute. In this paper we concentrate on conventional and non-conventional oil resources and make four main points, with the overarching theme that one can determine an effective oil resource that represents significantly less availability for consumption than usually posited by tallying resources in place.

First, looking at oil production …

National Park Service Cave And Karst Resources Management Case Study: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Daniel C. Nolfi

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

As discussed in the National Parks Service’s (NPS) Directors Orders/Natural Resources Management Reference Manual #77 and the 2006 NPS Management Policy Handbook, implementing a management plan specifically for cave and karst resources within a national park is paramount to afford these resources appropriate protection. With support from the Federal Cave Resources Protection Act and the National Park Service Organic Act of 1906, management actions protecting caves has begun to place significant importance outside the traditional cave environment onto a broader karst landscape. The need to understand and protect the karst environment and caves as a karst resource has taken a …

Ecotourism In Costa Rica: Environmental Impacts And Management, Emily Mckeone

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Globally we are witnessing growing environmental destruction, particularly to the natural resource bases of underdeveloped countries. If ecotourism can generate profits for local economies, while protecting and conserving the natural resource base of that community, it could be a strong alternative for numerous countries. Evidence suggests that the ecotourism industry has been expanding at a rapid rate in recent decades (Dasenbrock 2002). It is important to understand the positive and negative ecological impacts of the industry as this rapid growth rate continues.

The main objective of this study is to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the ecotourism industry in …

Educating Young Adults About Sustainable Development, Meghan Lewis

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This qualitative study on the types of environmental education on different age groups was conducted in Lincoln, Nebraska. The purpose of this thesis is to identify what age group and educational methods would be most effective to educate Lincoln citizens on the importance and benefits of sustainable development. Environmental education is an important aspect in implementation of new, environmentally friendly ideas.

Lincoln environmentalists are working to improve the city’s sustainability. Finding a way to consistently educate Lincoln residents on the importance and benefits of sustainable development will increase the public’s awareness of their efforts, leading to a greater interest in …

Effectiveness Of Earthtec ® On Killing Invasive Quagga Mussels (Dreissena Rostriformis Bugenis) And Preventing Their Colonization In The Western U.S., Ashlie Watters

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Dreissena rostriformis bugensis, an invasive species, also known as the quagga mussel, was discovered in Lake Mead, NV in January of 2007. In the four years since detection, quagga mussels have created tremendous economical, ecological, and human health impacts. The mussels clog pipes, ruin boat motors, and damage recreational equipment, and once established in the lake, routine maintenance is necessary to avoid further damage. Because of quagga mussels' high fecundity, planktonic veliger stage, and ability to attach to substrates with byssal threads, they have easily and swiftly spread to other lakes and reservoirs in the Lower Colorado River Basin. …

How Much Do U.S. University Students Know, And Want To Know, About Sustainability And Green Building? The Findings Of A Survey, And Possible Implications For General Elective Curriculum., Jeremy R. Farner

Purdue Polytechnic Masters Theses

Using the survey approach, this investigation examined the attitudes and interest of college students at two universities in different geographic locations within the United States.  Approximately 24,000 students from all disciplines and majors at Weber State University (WSU) in Utah, and 4,000 at Purdue University in Indiana, were invited to participate in a study to determine current knowledge, familiarity, and interest in topics within the sustainability and Green Building educational arena. The goal of this study was to determine what students already know, would like to know, and how much interest there would be in developing …

Embodied Emissions Abatement: A Policy Assessment Using Stochastic Analysis, Adolf Acquaye, Aidan Duffy, Biswajit Basu

Articles

Policymakers traditionally focus on regulating operational energy use in buildings, ignoring other life cycle components such as embodied energy even though this may account for a significant portion of life cycle emissions. Data relating to embodied energy and emissions in buildings is limited. However, stochastic techniques can be used to estimate the distribution of such emissions from buildings. This helps policymakers identify which instruments are appropriate for achieving emissions reductions. A primary aim of this paper is to demonstrate this approach using a sample of apartment buildings in Ireland. A Monte-Carlo simulation suggests that the average probability distribution of embodied …

Wood Usage In Rural Tanzania: An Investigation Into The Sources And Accessibility Of Fuelwood And Polewood For The Residents Of Kizanda Village, West Usambara Mountains, James Ray

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study was conducted over the course of 16 days between April 8^th and 28^th in Kizanda village, which borders the protected Baga Government Forest Reserve, in the West Usambara Mountains in Northern Tanzania. The goals of this study were to investigate the actual sources of fuelwood and polewood reported by the people of Kizanda village, to determine if these sources offer a sufficient amount of fuelwood and polewood, and to identify possible sustainable alternatives to wood products from the Baga Government Forest Reserve and other protected forest areas near Kizanda village. Key informant interviews (n = 9) …

Droughtscape, Spring 2011, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Register Now

Forecasters Say Dryness in TX and SW to Continue

Drought Planning, The Game: Coming Soon

Ding Takes New Post

South and Southwest Lose Crops, Fight Fires

Drought Monitor Authors Review Enhanced GIS Tools and New Processes

Macroinvertebrate Community Analysis On Lower Hood River Before And During The Removal Of Powerdale Dam: A Baseline Study, Howard Jay Patterson

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

Powerdale Dam was an 87-year-old hydroelectric complex on lower Hood River in northern Oregon which was decommissioned in 2010. Macroinvertebrate samples were collected in 2009, before the removal process began, and in 2010, near the end of the demolition project, at one site upstream and three sites downstream of the dam. Macroinvertebrate communities were analyzed using both multi-metric (Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity [B-IBI]) and multivariate (Predictive Assessment Tool for Oregon [PREDATOR]) approaches, as well as EPT and Functional Feeding Group (FFG) analysis. All analytical approaches indicated declines in habitat quality in 2010 relative to 2009, and showed increasing impairment …

Stochastic Hybrid Embodied Co2-Eq Analysis: An Application To The Irish Apartment Building Sector, Adolf Acquaye, Aidan Duffy, Biswajit Basu

Articles

Although embodiedCO2-eq analysis has seen recent developments as evident in the establishment of the ISO14040 and 14044 LCA standards, it is recognized that due to weaknesses in gathering data on product-related emissions,embodiedCO2-eq values are probabilistic. This paper presents a stochastic analysis of hybrid embodied CO2-eq in buildings to account for this weakness in traditional methods and, by way of example, applies it to an Irish construction-sector case study. Using seven apartment buildings, 70,000 results are simulated with Monte Carlo analysis and used to derive probabilistic and cumulative embodied CO2-eq intensity distributions for apartment buildings in Ireland. A Wakeby distribution with …

Lake Mead National Recreation Area Monitoring And Evaluation Of Sensitive Wildlife: Final Project Report, Margaret N. Rees, Jef R. Jaeger Ph.D.

Wildlife Monitoring

This task agreement was originally awarded by the National Park Service (NPS), Lake Mead National Recreation Area (LMNRA) to the Public Lands Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on September 30, 2006, and was amended to run through March 31, 2011. This agreement covered several project elements focused on:

• Monitoring and conservation actions for the relict leopard frog
• Coordinating and conducting annual bald eagle counts on Lakes Mead and Mohave
• Development and assessment of a habitat map for wintering bald eagles based on observations data collected during winter counts

• Monitoring of breeding peregrine falcons and assessment of reproductive …

Hydrological Impacts Of Integrated Oil Mallee Farming Systems, D L. Bennett, John Andrew Simons, Russell Speed

Resource management technical reports

This study reports on the results from investigations at four sites into the effect of commercial-scale oil mallee systems on localised groundwater systems over seven years. It also reports the results of the use of a numerical model to forecast potential longer term impacts.

Slides: Environmental Water In Australia, Chris Arnott

Conversation with Water Management Reps from Colorado and Australia: "Adapting to Climate Change: Lessons Learned from Australia" (February 14)

Presenter: Chris Arnott, Managing Director, Alluvium Consulting

30 slides

Slides: Adapting To Climate Change: Lessons Learnt From The Australian Water Experience, Will Fargher

Conversation with Water Management Reps from Colorado and Australia: "Adapting to Climate Change: Lessons Learned from Australia" (February 14)

Presenter: Will Fargher, National Water Commission, Australian Government

18 slides [4 have titles only and are missing images]

Mapping Acid Groundwater In Western Australia’S Wheatbelt, Karen Holmes, Adam Lillicrap

Resource management technical reports

The extent of the area affected by deep drains in Western Australia (more than 11 000 km of drains installed as of 2002: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2002) and their continuing installation by land managers make understanding the distribution of naturally occurring acid groundwater a priority for land managers working toward sustainable agricultural production in the wheatbelt. This report describes development of a map of the likelihood of acid groundwater occurrence. It is meant to guide state agencies, natural resource management groups, landholders, and community stakeholders on where acid groundwater may occur.

Evaluation Of The Sensitivity Of Inventory And Monitoring National Parks To Nutrient Enrichment Effects From Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition Northern Great Plains Network (Ngpn), T. J. Sullivan, T. C. Mcdonnell, G. T. Mcpherson, S. D. Mackey, D. Moore

United States National Park Service: Publications

Northern Great Plains Network (NGPN)

National maps of atmospheric N emissions and deposition are provided in Maps A and B as context for subsequent network data presentations. Map A shows county level emissions of total N for the year 2002. Map B shows total N deposition, again for the year 2002.

There are three parks in the Northern Great Plains Network that are larger than 100 square miles: Badlands (BADL), Missouri (MNRR), and Theodore Roosevelt (THRO). In addition, there are 10 other smaller parks.

Total annual N emissions, by county, are shown in Map C for lands in and surrounding …

2011 Nebraska Water Monitoring Programs Report, Marty Link

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality: Reports

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) is charged with monitoring, assessing, and to the extent possible, managing the state’s water resources. The purpose of this work is to protect and maintain good quality water and encourage or execute activities to improve poor water quality. Monitoring is done on the over 18,000 miles of flowing rivers and streams, our greater than 280,000 acres of surface water in lakes and reservoirs, and the vast storage of groundwater in Nebraska’s aquifers.

Droughtscape, Winter 2011, Kelly Smith

DroughtScape: Quarterly Newsletter of the National Drought Mitigation Center (2007–2023)

Register for the U.S. Drought Monitor Forum

La Niña Brings Southeast, Southwest Drought

International Efforts

Drought Returns in 2010

Impacts Emerge “Before” Summer Drought in East

October-December Quarterly Impacts Summary

Climate Adaptation for Local Government

NDMC Elicits Missouri River Basin Recollections

Woudenberg Coordinates Educational Booklet

Influence Of Karst Landscape On Planetary Boundary Layer Atmosphere: A Weather Research And Forecasting (Wrf) Model–Based Investigation, Ronnie Leeper, Rezaul Mamood, Arturo I. Quintanar

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Karst hydrology provides a unique set of surface and subsurface hydrological components that affect soil moisture variability. Over karst topography, surface moisture moves rapidly below ground via sink holes, vertical shafts, and sinking streams, reducing surface runoff and moisture infiltration into the soil. In addition, subsurface cave blockage or rapid snowmelt over karst can lead to surface flooding. Moreover, regions dominated by karst may exhibit either drier or wetter soils when compared to nonkarst landscape. However, because of the lack of both observational soil moisture datasets to initialize simulations and regional land surface models (LSMs) that include explicit karst hydrological …

Human Sanitary Wastes And Waste Treatment In New York City, David J. Tonjes, Christine O'Connell, Omkar Aphale, R. Lawrence Swanson

Technology & Society Faculty Publications

Henry Hudson first sailed toNew Yorkharbor 400 years ago. Since then,New York Cityhas both affected and been affected by water quality in greaterNew YorkHarbor. In this paper, we focus on sewers, sewerage, and sewage treatment inManhattanand their effects on theHudson River. It is clear that feedbacks among drinking water quality and quantity, population, public perceptions, regulations, and estuarine water quality exist, although their strength and character have varied over time. Early land uses damaged local water supplies found on ManhattanIsland. New Yorkthen began to exploit the large fresh water resources available to its north, which helped the City to expand …

Renewable Energy In The Context Of Sustainable Development, Jayant Sathaye, Oswaldo Lucon, Atiq Rahman, John Christensen, Fatima Denton, Junichi Fujino, Garvin Heath, Monirul Mirza, Hugh Rudnick, August Schlaepfer, Andrey Shmakin, Gerhard Angerer, Christian Bauer, Morgan Bazilian, Robert J. Brecha, Peter Burgherr, Leon Clarke, Felix Creutzig, James Edmonds, Christian Hagelüken, Gerrit Hansen, Nathan Hultman, Michael Jakob, Susanne Kadner, Manfred Lenzen, Jordan Macknick, Eric Masanet, Yu Nagai, Anne Olhoff, Karen Olsen, Michael Pahle, Ari Rabl, Richard Richels, Joyashree Roy, Tormod Schei, Christoph Von Stechow, Jan Christoph Steckel, Ethan Warner, Tom Wilbanks, Yimin Zhang

Physics Faculty Publications

Historically, economic development has been strongly correlated with increasing energy use and growth of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Renewable energy (RE) can help decouple that correlation, contributing to sustainable development (SD). In addition, RE offers the opportunity to improve access to modern energy services for the poorest members of society, which is crucial for the achievement of any single of the eight Millennium Development Goals.

Theoretical concepts of SD can provide useful frameworks to assess the interactions between SD and RE. SD addresses concerns about relationships between human society and nature. Traditionally, SD has been framed in the three-pillar model—Economy, …

A Tale Of Two Carbon Sinks: Can Forest Carbon Management Serve As A Framework To Implement Ocean Iron Fertilization As A Climate Change Treaty Compliance Mechanism?, Randall S. Abate

Journal Publications

Any post-Kyoto climate change treaty regime must seek to fully engage the use of carbon sinks to complement emissions reduction measures in order to comply with the treaty's mandates. The Kyoto Protocol did not include avoided deforestation as a mechanism for earning emission reduction credits. However, reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) quickly gained popularity as a viable climate change compliance strategy in the period immediately preceding the negotiations at the Fifteenth Conference of the Parties (COP 15) in Copenhagen in 2009. The Copenhagen Accord is replete with references to REDD as a focus for the international community's progression …

Collaboration And Climate Action At The Local Scale, Linda Lyshall

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation encompasses a case study and a Participatory Action Research project. The case study focuses on climate change mitigation activities within King County, Washington and its 39 cities and towns and discusses progress and challenges related to transportation issues, efficiency measures, and sustainability planning. The findings indicate there is a high level of activity in waste reduction, environmental outreach and education, bicycle and pedestrian promotion, tree canopy protection, sustainability policies, and green building. Other categories, such as energy efficiency, electric vehicle infrastructure, and greenhouse gas emission inventories and goal setting are on the rise. Twelve of the cities were …

Revegetating Burned Arid Lands: Identifying Successful Native Species Using Trait And Competition Analysis: Final Report, Scott R. Abella

Fire Science

Species selection can make the difference between successful revegetation projects and costly failures. Candidate native species for revegetating burned arid lands in the southwestern United States must meet at least two criteria. These species must: (1) be competitive in postfire environments typically dominated by exotic grasses, and (2) be able to become established reliably by seeding or planting. In response to Manager’s Request Task 3 (reestablishment of native vegetation after fires on arid lands) in the 2006 JFS announcement for proposals, this research tackled the problem of selecting native species with the greatest chance of revegetation success by conducting synergistic …

Recent Legislation To Promote Wind Energy In Nebraska, Ryan Lemke

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Nebraska is currently ranked 4th in the nation for wind energy potential, but ranks low in actual wind power production. The lack of wind energy production could be the result of Nebraska’s unique public power districts that have eminent domain of distribution and retail sales of electricity in the State. Public Power districts are prohibited from receiving benefits of state and federal tax incentives for the development of wind farms, however some Nebraska power districts still pursue wind energy as a renewable source of energy.

Recent legislation changes, including the passing of laws LB629 and LB1048, have provided the State …