Sustainability Commons^™

“The New Normal”: California’S Escalating Wildfire Crisis, Alexandra Vasquez

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper addresses the current state of California's wildfire epidemic and how the increasing effects of climate change have worsened the fires, harming residents' health and the state's economy. The wildfires are shaped by factors such as climate change, land-use choices, and policy designs. California wildfires have worsened substantially in the 21st century, with the worst burns in the 2020 season setting a record of 4.2 to 4.5 million acres destroyed. Given current policies and the administration's disinterest in combating climate change, understanding wildfire history and data is essential to improving California's wildfire resilience, creating sustainable land management practices, and …

Barriers To Climate Change And Sustainability Action: Nursing Education And Practice, Dawn Marie Smith

Dissertations

Climate change is one of the most pressing public health emergencies of our time and nurses can have a great impact in their current practice and in the education of future nurses (The Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, n.d.; American Nurses Association, 2023; Health Care without Harm, 2025). Deaths due to rising temperatures, vector-borne illness, and food insecurity related to drought and extreme weather are on the rise (WHO, 2024). It has been estimated that globally over 250,000 additional deaths will be attributed to climate related effects between 2030 and 2050 (Watts et al., 2020; WHO, 2023).

A primary …

The Willow Who Kept The Secrets Of The Heart, Ana Suarez

Speak for the Trees!

This digital museum exhibit features the climate change fairy tale The Willow Who Kept the Secrets of the Heart, presented as a written narrative and recorded reading that explores the symbolic relationship between the Weeping Willow, water, and ecological care in the face of climate change. It also includes an infographic highlighting the Weeping Willow’s habitat, characteristics, and environmental challenges in Texas, along with a curator’s talk and curator’s board. The exhibit features an artifact entry using a half-filled vial of water to represent climate instability and the often-overlooked resources that sustain life, as well as a persuasive essay, …

Exploring The Efficacy Of Storytelling In Education About Climate Change, Nina Adjanin, Srijana Katuwal, Heidi Sevestre, Gordon Brooks

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

From bedtime tales to digital narratives, stories wield unparalleled influence, shaping perceptions, and fostering empathy. Through mediums like social media and digital platforms, storytelling becomes a tool for advocacy, amplifying voices, and catalyzing social change. In this qualitative study, 107 higher education students from diverse backgrounds participated. The purpose of this study was to uncover salient beliefs about climate change stories on popular social media platforms among full-time college students. The results are based on three key components of the theory of planned behavior (TPB): affective beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs. The respondents expressed both positive and negative attitudes …

Understanding Climate Change And Wellbeing Through Bhutan's Pursuit Of Gross National Happiness, Tashi Dorji

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Climate change has evolved into one of the biggest global challenges of the twenty first century reshaping ecological systems and social conditions with wide-ranging implications for human wellbeing. Bhutan offers a distinct context to explore interactions between climate change and wellbeing as it remains guided by its wellbeing-centred development philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH). At the same time, it remains highly vulnerable to climate change despite being the only carbon negative country in the world. Nonetheless, the intersections between climate change and GNH have not been systematically explored.

This research aims to explore the relationship between climate change and …

The Price Of Priorities: How Human Choices Fuel Climate And Ecological Decline, Keisha Hickman

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the ways in which human priorities and behaviors contribute to the escalating climate crisis and ecological systems. We will first analyze the role of social media in shaping public discourse on climate change and critically evaluate the priorities of institutions that have the means to assist in wildlife conservation. Both speak to the current behaviors of humankind prioritizing their own entertainment over meaningful efforts to mitigate climate change and preserve biodiversity. We will then shift to exploring the profound impact of human population growth and its associated activities on other species and ecosystems. Finally, the thesis will …

Exploring The Interactions Between Mining And Climate Change: A Bibliometric Analysis, Artatrana Mishra, Sarat Chandra Sahu, Manish Yadav, Nitin Kumar Singh

Journal of Sustainable Mining

The increasing demand for minerals has placed huge pressure on the mining industry to increase production, which consequently affects the environment, and, thus, contributes to climate change. Coal extraction has been reported to be a major contributor to global CO₂ emissions, mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels. As a consequence, the frequency and severity of extreme climatic events have also increased throughout the world. Mining is essential for the development of society but contributes to climate change. On the contrary, extreme weather events and rising temperatures associated with climate change affect the overall productivity of mining companies. …

Arts-Based Sustainability: From New York To Malawi, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Recognizing that libraries serve multiple constituencies and subject areas, this chapter documents and advocates for development of transdisciplinary arts-based research (ABR) and culture-related projects linked to environmental challenges. Libraries contribute collections and spaces, as well as the research of library and information scientists. Libraries are currently among invisible contributors to sustainability planning and services. The chapter will link this invisibility to the value of what visual arts refer to as negative space elements in subjects ranging from traditional ecological knowledge to environmental science. Library collections, projects, and research contribute to education for sustainable development (ESD) as required to achieve the …

Rebuilding Consent: Fear, Trust, And The Future Of Nuclear Energy, Austin Dunham

University Honors Theses

This thesis traces the cultural and emotional roots of nuclear fear in the United States and explores how those inherited anxieties continue to shape public resistance to nuclear energy in the face of a worsening climate crisis. Drawing on personal narrative, risk perception theory, and the history of nuclear discourse - from Hiroshima to Chernobyl to today - the research examines how trust, rather than technology, remains the largest barrier to progress. By analyzing the stories we tell about energy, disaster, control, and overall perceived risk, this work asks what it would take for Americans to imagine nuclear energy not …

Enhancing Water Supply Resilience & Sustainability: Potential Solutions To Address Water Scarcity In Bogotá, Colombia, Sophia Alvarez Wong

Master's Projects and Capstones

Municipal water utilities are in urgent need of adapting to the intensifying impacts of climate change and population growth—key drivers of urban water scarcity worldwide. In rapidly expanding cities like Bogota, Colombia, these pressures have contributed to a severe water crisis driven by prolonged droughts, ecosystem degradation, increasing water demands, and overdependence on limited water sources. This study explores potential adaptation and management strategies that utilities can implement to sustainably strengthen supply system resilience and enhance water security, in the context of low- to middle-income regions. A series of comparative and case study analyses were conducted to assess the feasibility …

Climate Change Impacts On Drinking Water Security: A Comparative Study In Australia’S Remote Central Australia And Torres Strait Islands, Nina Lansbury, Julia Bradford, Sandra J. Creamer, Geoffrey Evans

Journal of the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are well adapted to the many different environments in which they have lived for thousands of years. However, their environments and communities are highly vulnerable to impacts of anthropogenic climate change, including increasing threats to the security of drinking water supplies. Climate change is intensifying the significant social and economic disadvantage Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities face from poverty, poor housing, and poor health including high exposure to infectious and other diseases. Lack of sufficient safe, clean, drinking water could force Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to leave their homelands, adding …

The Petm: A Window Into Earth's Future Climate, Jacalyn M. Wittmer Malinowski

Climate Change and the Individual, 2025-26

The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is not just an event that occurred in Earth’s distant past (~55 million years ago) but is a crucial lesson for today’s meteoric climate change. The PETM offers a historical parallel of rapid flux of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere that caused global warming, ocean acidification, dramatic changes in weather, and extinctions. This global warming event was the result of 20,000 years of “rapid” warming (in geological terms) however, we are experiencing rates of warming that are 5-10x higher than PETM levels. We are not experiencing rapid warming today, in comparison to the past, we …

The Human Legacy: Agriculture, Civilizations, Strife, And Pandemics Changing Our Climate, Jacalyn M. Wittmer Malinowski

Climate Change and the Individual, 2025-26

For most of human history, climate has shaped our lives, while our influence on it remained minimal. However, the notion that early humans had no measurable impact on the climate before industrialization is inaccurate. Early in human history, activities – such as the rise of agriculture, the growth of civilizations, periods of conflict, and pandemics – altered greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere. These changes contributed to significant periods of climate change long before the burning of fossil fuels set us on the path to today’s global climate crisis.

Coastal Erosion In Ireland, Brian Nguyen, Jeanne Sumrall

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Ireland's approach to managing its coastlines focuses more on a short-term solution method rather than long-term, eco-friendly solutions. Their coastal defenses are created upon an immediate need without clear policies and sufficient research. As a result, beach ecosystems are frequently damaged, and the erosion is only reduced to a certain extent. To reduce erosion and protect both the environment and Irish culture, this study suggests that Ireland should implement national policies focused on regularly monitoring coastal erosion, researching nature-based solutions, and implementing them to address the problem. Moving forward, it’s important for research to focus on understanding the overall impact …

Transcriptional Profiles Reveal Physiological Mechanisms For Compensation During A Simulated Marine Heatwave In Yellowtail Kingfish (Seriola Lalandi), Sharon E. Hook, Ryan J. Farr, Jenny Su, Alistair J. Hobday, Catherine Wingate, Lindsey Woolley, Luke Pilmer

Fisheries Research Articles

Background

Changing ocean temperatures are already causing declines in populations of marine organisms. Predicting the capacity of organisms to adjust to the pressures posed by climate change is a topic of much current research effort, particularly for species we farm or harvest. To explore one measure of phenotypic plasticity, the physiological compensations in response to heat stress as might be experienced in a marine heatwave, we exposed Yellowtail Kingfish (Seriola lalandi) to sublethal heat stress, and used the transcriptome in gill and muscle, benchmarked against heat shock proteins and oxidative stress indicators, to characterise the acute heat stress …

Urban Heat Dynamics In Pune: The Influence Of Land Cover And Local Climate, Arpit Tiwari, Preethi Nanjundan, Ravi Ranjan Kumar, Ananya Karmakar, Satyaban Bishoyi Ratna

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

Urban areas with high population density and extensive infrastructure development have been experiencing an increasing strain on the local heat budget, leading to a surge in heat-related illnesses and discomfort. This study examined the impact of climate and land use as heat islands in Pune, India, from 2012 to 2023 at six different locations representing varying degree of urbanization. Satellite land cover observations revealed that 55.17% of the total area was urbanized in the city itself, which was limited to 44.8% in 2012. This urbanization has significantly impacted the increasing tendency of maximum temperature (T_max; 0.13℃ to 1.63℃ …

Mind The Green Skills Gap, Panchali Guha

Asian Management Insights

The need to build tomorrow’s sustainable green economy today. Climate change and the shift towards a net zero economy pose significant risks to jobs globally unless workers are equipped with green skills and competencies. There is already a green skills gap in the labour market that will only widen over time if it is not addressed. Comprehensive and coordinated policies must be developed to define and measure green jobs and skills, enhance educational offerings, and provide support for workers and employers during the transition.

What Do Utahns Think About Global Warming And Climate Change?, Scott Hotaling, Kendall Becker, Lendel K. Narine, Jessica Ulrich-Schad, Roslynn Mccann, Peter D. Howe

All Current Publications

In Utah, there is widespread consensus that global warming is happening, and the strength of this consensus has been steadily rising since 2010. Over the last 14 years, some public opinion metrics have risen dramatically while others have been largely stable. The degree of climate impacts in Utah will depend on residents’ perceptions of climate change and support for implementing policies to help the state adapt to warmer temperatures, more extreme weather events, and other associated changes. In this fact sheet, we integrate multiple data sources to summarize the status and trends of Utahns’ opinions on climate change.

Identifying Intangible And Biocultural Heritage Elements Toward Environmental Understanding: Engaging Stakeholders Through Art, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Grounded in a case study in Barbuda in the Caribbean, this research examines sustainability from the perspective of what arts and heritage can contribute to community engagement and local and broader understandings about the environment. This article documents a growing body of literature recognizing the role of arts and culture, including local knowledge and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), in climate change endeavors. Art and TEK present expansive world views. Contextual information situates research done on the island of Barbuda pre- and post-Hurricane Irma. Visual arts workshops engaged community members in mixed methods research. Results documented cultural elements, particularly intangible and …

The Pluralistic Natural Capital Values Of A Tropical City, Adrienne Grêt-Regamey, Justine Saunders, Peter Edwards, Daniel Richards, Jahson I. Alemu, Natasha Bhatia, Roman Carrasco, Zuzana Drillet, Tze Kwan Fung, Yan Feng Leon Gaw, Wanggi Jaung, Andrea Law, Rachel Ai Ting Leong, Aikeen Youu Ming Lim, Mahyar Masoudi, Yudhishthra Nathan, Rachel Rui Ying Oh, Wen Ting Ooi, Fairul Edros Ahmad Shaikh Shaikh, Xiao Ping Song, Claudia L.Y. Tan, Puay Yok Tan, Sergio Wicki, Lynn-Wei Wong, Yanyun Yan, Erik Yando, Alex Thiam Koon Yee, Jingyuan Zhang, Daniel A. Friess

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Nature in cities is essential for human well-being. Quantifying and valuing the goods and services provided by nature to city dwellers is missing in tropical contexts. Yet, as cities worldwide face similar challenges, understanding the services provided by tropical urban ecosystems becomes imperative for effective management. Here, we present the first Natural Capital Assessment of a tropical city, unveiling three critical insights. Firstly, we demonstrate the vital reliance of a developed tropical city on nature, particularly for climate change mitigation through regulating services. Secondly, we identify intact natural areas as Singapore’s most valuable assets, stressing the significance of the quality …

Future-Oriented Coastal Protection: The Utility Of Living Shorelines Under Changing Climatic Conditions, Gabriella R. Dipetto, Donna Marie Bilkovic, Taylor M. Sloey, Erik S. Yando, Erik L. Walters

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

An accumulation of novel nature-based shoreline management techniques have developed over the past two decades out of the continued need to protect waterfront land combined with an awareness of the relationship between healthy coastal ecosystems and human societies. Shoreline protection strategies such as living shorelines incorporate these nature-based approaches to simultaneously enhance ecosystem functioning while providing shoreline stabilization benefits. The continued role of these approaches into the future, however, will be challenged by a rapidly changing coastal environment. While living shorelines have received global attention and integration into climate policy and governance frameworks, the ability of shoreline systems to withstand …

Complexity, Polycentricity, And Climate Change: An Embedded, Multi-Level Case Study Of A Climate Meta-Network, Timothy Staub

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The earth is in crisis, and without urgent, systemic, and collective global action to address the emerging threat of climate change, we will continue to see catastrophic events impacting humanity, threatening our very survival in many regions of the world. Temperatures will rise, ice shelves will melt, seas will rise, crops will fail, water scarcity from drought and new weather patterns will increase and spread, wildfires will accelerate, and food and water insecurity, violence, and the largest human migration in history will ensue. These climate crises will displace over 1.2 billion people by 2050 at a rate currently exceeding 21.5 …

Australians Support Multi-Pronged Action To Build Ecosystem Resilience In The Great Barrier Reef, Stewart Lockie, Henry Bartelet, Brent Ritchie, Csilla Demeter, Bruce Taylor, Lintje Sie

Quantitative Methods and Information Technology Faculty Publications

The scale and pace of global environmental change calls for a dramatic upscaling of ecosystem restoration and for actions that build the resilience of ecosystems to future environmental change. This research aimed to quantify public perceptions of threats to the health of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, and their support for strategies to address those threats including large-scale restoration and resilience-building actions. We examine how these perceptions change over time and across social cohorts including people living closer to the Reef (n = 2621) and the general Australian population (n = 5825). Respondents were concerned about both …

Environmental Justice And Social Work: A Study Across Practice Settings In Three U.S. States, Lisa Reyes Mason, Sierra Roach Coye, Smitha Rao, Amy Krings, Julia Santucci

Graduate School of Social Work: Faculty Scholarship

Environmental justice is essential for improved quality of life and sustainable wellbeing. This study examines how environmental issues and related injustices are surfacing in U.S. social work practice and social work readiness to respond, and what resources social workers are most interested in. Data are from an online survey of U.S. social workers (N = 337) in Colorado, Ohio, and Tennessee. Participants answered questions about their social work background, current job, environmental issues in practice, resources, and demographics. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics. For nine issues, at least 30% of participants reported these as surfacing sometimes or often, with …

Contribution Of Biosphere Reserves To Global Biodiversity Conservation And Climate Change, Zhiyun Ouyang, Yunong Yao, Jun Tang, Weihua Xu, Xiaosong Li, Li Zhu, Lei Cao, Mingli Lin, Yueyu Zou

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Biosphere Reserves are areas recognized by UNESCO that represent key terrestrial, coastal, and marine ecosystems. These areas are strictly protected and designed to fulfill three primary functions: conserving biodiversity, promoting sustainable development, and supporting scientific research and education. As of now, 759 biosphere reserves have been established in 136 countries and regions worldwide, supporting the livelihoods of approximately 236 million people. The total area of biosphere reserves covers 7.67 million km2, accounting for 4.10% of global terrestrial area, 5.08% of freshwater surface, and 0.21% of marine areas. The reserves encompass diverse ecosystems, including 2.22 million km2 of forests, 2.24 million …

Innovative Pathways And Perspectives For Construction Of Ecological Barriers On Loess Plateau, Zhisheng An, Weijian Zhou, Yansui Liu, Zhao Jin, Yunqiang Wang, Baoyuan Liu, Guobin Liu, Zhouping Shangguan, Yihe Lü, Fei Wang, Wanquan Ta, Wenke Wang, Houyuan Lü, Haibin Wu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The ecological barriers on Loess Plateau are crucial components of ecological security strategy framed as a pattern of “Three Zones and Four Belts” in China, and serve as a vital safeguard to reduce the flooding risks of the Yellow River and the safety of the North China Plain. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the construction of the ecological barriers on the Loess Plateau has already gained some remarkable achievements, nevertheless, there are still some challenges upon us, such as intensified risks of extreme climate events and natural disasters, proper threshold of balance between ecological construction and …

Technological Challenges And Development Directions Of Ecological Security Barrier Construction In Yun-Gui-Chuan-Yu Region, Peng Cui, Yongping Yang, Genxu Wang, Bo Zhu, Xuyang Lu, Geng Sun, Xiaoyong Bai, Sirui Zhang, Yonggang Ge, Jiao Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The Yun-Gui-Chuan-Yu Ecological Security Barrier is situated in Southwest China, encompassing the provinces of Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, and Yunnan. It serves as a vital water source conservation area and a core zone for biodiversity protection for the Yangtze, Yellow, and Pearl River basins, playing a crucial role in China’s national ecological security. Since the 18th National Congress of Communist Party of China, under the guidance of Xi Jinping’s Thought on Ecological Civilization, the region has made significant strides in water resource protection, soil erosion and mountain disaster control, biodiversity conservation, and ecosystem restoration, resulting in noticeable improvements in environmental quality …

Scientific And Technological Measures To Support Sustainability Of Water Resources In Western China, Jun Xia, Xi Chen, Qiuhong Tang, Hongwei Lu, Shaofeng Jia, Genxu Wang, Jingjie Yu, Jinzhu Ma, Xingcai Liu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Under the combined impacts of climate change and human activities, the ecological barrier regions of western China exhibit significant reductions in solid water storage, increases in liquid water, declining water resource stability and non-steady-state characteristics in hydrological systems. Water allocation risks have increased, making it exponentially more difficult to ensure water security. Transboundary water resource development can lead to spillover risks, requiring urgent research on sustainable water resource use and adaptation strategies. The water cycle in western China is driven by both natural and anthropogenic factors, yet fundamental research on water cycle dynamics and resource management under changing environments remains …

Enhancing Integrated Observation Network Of Multi-Spherical Interaction In Zoige Wetland And Source Area Of Yellow River Supports Protection Of Yellow River Water Tower, Xianhong Meng, Lunyu Shang, Zhaoguo Li, Shaoying Wang, Lele Shu, Hao Chen, Lin Zhao, Peixi Su, Yu Zhang, Shihua Lyu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

An integrated observation network for the energy-water-carbon cycle, with the Zoige wetland and grassland as the focus and covering the source area of the Yellow River (YRSR), has been established, which systematically revealed the characteristics of ecosystem evolution and carbon cycle in grassland and wetland ecosystems of the Zoige Plateau from the leaf-community-ecosystem-regional scales and its response mechanism to climate change, and accordingly, the ecological monitoring and restoration techniques for different types of degraded grassland based on the degradation of the alpine grass mattic epipedon were established, which significantly reduced the cost and enhanced the sustainability of the ecological management. …

The Effect Of Carbon Pricing On Firm Performance: Worldwide Evidence, Tinghua Duan, Frank Weikai Li, Hong Zhang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Economists recommend combating climate change with carbon pricing; however, a major block to pricing emissions is concerns about economic costs. This paper examines the impacts of carbon pricing initiatives on the operating performance and market value of publicly listed firms around the world. Using the staggered enactment of carbon pricing initiatives across jurisdictions and a triple difference approach, we find a significant reduction in the profitability and value of carbon-intensive firms relative to low-emission firms after the enactment of carbon pricing policies. The reduction in firm profits is driven by both a decrease in sales growth and an increase in …