Climate Commons^™

Impact Of Climate Variations On Soybean Yield In Eastern Arkansas: 1960-2014, J. W. Magugu, S. Feng, Q. Huang, K. Luthra

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Climate is the major factor affecting crop production; therefore, various agro-meteorological indicators have been frequently used to evaluate the impact of climate on crop production. In this study, we examined the temporal variations of agrometeorological indicators (growing degree days, total precipitation, dry spells and drought indices) during 1960-2014 and their impact on soybean yields in East Arkansas. Results show an increasing trend in growing degree days (GDDs) and dry spells, though the total precipitation during the soybean growing season remained nearly unchanged during the study period. Generally, GDDs and dry spells show a strong correlation with yields. We also evaluated …

Disaggregating The Effect Of Drought And Heat Stress During Flowering On Spikelet Fertility In Rice, Lisa Straussberger

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Due to rice’s wide geographic distribution, extending from 50°N to 35°S, rice is

forecasted to be the most vulnerable crop to warming global climates. Previous studies have

predicted lower rice yields and increasing rice yield variability due to higher frequencies of heat

stress events, and a higher variability in precipitation patterns due to global warming. As such,

understanding the effects of drought and heat stress intensity and frequency on rice yields is of

upmost importance to feeding the growing global population.

Given that drought and high-temperature stress often occur together, it is essential to

disaggregate the two individual stressors and …

Modifying A Cow-Calf Biophysical Simulation Model For Analyses Of Alternative Enterprises, Jennifer L. Lutes

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cow-calf producers in the United States, tasked with providing beef calves for the beef industry, have had a multitude of difficulties to overcome in recent years. Producers in northwest Arkansas were negatively impacted by high hay prices coupled with low beef cattle market prices due to severe drought experienced in portions of 2010, 2011, and 2012. During this time they also faced high grain prices, due to a record low harvest, combined with portions of the corn harvest diverted from human and animal feed to ethanol production. Tight lending policies of this time, reminiscent of the housing market crash in …

Modeling Scenarios Of Sea-Level Rise And Human Migration: Rita Village, The Republic Of The Marshall Islands, Donna Davis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the relationship between sea-level rise and human migration from Rita Village in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). As one of only four low-lying atoll countries at the forefront of risks associated with climate change, examining the extent to which sea level will rise and displace residents in the Marshall Islands is of timely importance. The approach to this research is a scenario-based, case study and it examines loss of home, human displacement and subsequent migration in Rita Village as a result of varying levels of sea level rise. The scenario-based approach is based on the …

The Economic Viability Of Cocoa Crop Insurance In Ghana, Justin D. Mckinley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was motivated by the fact that Ghanaian cocoa producers face lower yields than other main cocoa producing counties which in turn increases food insecurity for smallholder producers. In addition, low yields experienced by Ghanaian producers is a driving factor for forest degradation and deforestation as cocoa producers encroach further into previously undisturbed forests in efforts to increase their incomes. There are currently production methods to achieve higher yields readily available in Ghana; however, many producers choose not to adopt these methods because they are seen as too risky, or simply cannot adopt them due to financial/credit constraints. A …

Prehistoric Human Ecodynamics In The Rub Al-Khali Desert: Results Of Remote Sensing And Excavations In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Jason T. Herrmann

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Archaeological investigations in the Emirate of Dubai, UAE conducted by the Dubai Department of Archaeology and the University of Arkansas demonstrate that the desert inland of the Oman Peninsula was occupied not only during the Arabian Neolithic (8000-4400 BC), when the region experienced a moist period referred to as the Holocene Climatic Optimum (HCO), but also during the more arid millennia following the decline of the HCO into the Christian Era. During this period, desert settlement clustered near a band of oases, in contrast to the more widespread spatial distribution of remains of nomadic pastoralists from the Neolithic. Excavations at …

A Daily Temperature Record For Central Texas, 1896-2011, Matthew Kain Taylor

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A continuous record of 882,693 daily maximum, minimum, and mean temperature measurements for seven weather stations in central Texas dating from August 1, 1896, to August 31, 2011, were screened and corrected for missing values and inhomogeneities. The resulting data were averaged to create a 115-year unbroken regional record of daily temperature for central Texas. This record indicates warming in daily, seasonal, and annual temperatures. Winter warm temperature extremes have increased over the period of record while warm temperature extremes during the summer months have remained largely unchanged. Summer heat wave days and the length of heat waves have increased …

Statistical Analysis Of Climatic Variables In The Arkansas-Red River Basin, Felix Tendeku

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Surface meteorological data for the Arkansas-Red River basin are analyzed in order to provide statistical data for modeling and simulation of climatic trends within the basin. The variables studied are the ambient temperature, temperature range and precipitation. Daily and monthly mean values, spatial and seasonal variations, and frequency distributions are determined.

Effect Of Aerosols On Climate Change, Haiyin Sun, Malay K. Mazumder

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

A modified two-stream approximation is presented, which includes the effect of solar zenith angle and is applicable to study the effect of aerosols on both regional and global climate changes. More realistic results are derived. A reasonable critical value of 0.8 for aerosol single scattering albedo to determine whether the aerosols will heat or cool the climate is derived

Photoacoustic Detection Of Carbonaceous Atmospheric Aerosols, Duane Jackson

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The role of carbonaceous aerosols in the atmosphere as a risk factor in climatic changes and health effects and state-of-the-art monitoring processes are briefly presented here. In particular, development of a photoacoustic technique for measuring the concentration of carbonaceous particles is discussed. The photoacoustic measurement is based upon detection of pressure waves generated by localized time-dependent heating of air inside the photoacoustic chamber. Heating of air inside the chamber is due to absorption of visible laser radiation by carbon particles present inside the chamber. The laser radiation is chopped, and the resultant pressure signal produced by subsequent heating and cooling …