Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

City On The Edge: New York In The Age Of Climate Change, Janelle Little

Capstones

By 2030, 70% of the world’s population will live in cities.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has singled out 2030, too - as a date of no return on climate change.

Our future quality of life in these adopted metropolises will depend on what we do to confront climate change now.

New York has always been a city of reinvention. City on the Edge examines how New York City is restructuring its urban landscape and policies to adapt to the realities of a changing climate and mounting existential threats, from sea level rise to escalating summer …

The Effects Of Climate On Suicide Rates In 36 Oregon Counties, Elshadai Hailu, Maria Hernandez

Student Scholarship - College of Business

This study looked at average temperature, amount of rainfall and amount of sunshine in all 36 Oregon counties and how they affect suicide rates. Climate information was gathered over the past 30 years and suicide rates were measured between the years 2013 and 2016. It was hypothesized that there would be a negative relationship between low temperature and suicide rates. It was also predicted that there would be a negative relationship between high temperatures and suicide rates. This study found that there was a negative relationship between average high temperature and sucide rates. It also found there is to be …

Unlocking Pre-1850 Instrumental Meteorological Records: A Global Inventory, Stefan Bronnimann, Rob Allan, Linden Ashcroft, Saba Baer, Mariano Barriendos, Fiona Williamson, Et Al

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

A global inventory of early instrumental meteorological measurements is compiled. It comprises thousands of series, many of which have not been digitized, pointing to the potential of weather data rescue.Instrumental meteorological measurements from periods prior to the start of national weather services are designated “early instrumental data”. They have played an important role in climate research as they allow daily-to-decadal variability and changes of temperature, pressure, and precipitation, including extremes, to be addressed. Early instrumental data can also help place 21st century climatic changes into a historical context such as to define pre-industrial climate and its variability. Until recently, the …

Water And War: The Potential For Perpetuation Of Conflict Due To Climate Change, Kaufman Butler

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Climate change has had a dramatic impact on the world’s weather for years, scientists can only make predictions about how global climate will continue to change going forward; but in all scenarios the circumstances are quite dire. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) will see some of the most severe effects of climate change, which will permanently alter the lives of millions of people in the region. In the MENA region, climate change is projected to result in extreme drought and temperatures which will lead to increased water scarcity, in what is already the most water poor region in …

Sociology Department Climate Survey, Emma Johnson

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This report highlights the key findings from a climate survey administered to Sociology majors in the Fall of 2019. 107 respondents took the anonymous survey via Qualtrics. Respondents were asked questions about resource access and insecurity, demographics, and the climate of the Sociology department. WWU students Emma Johnson and Brenda Martinez analyzed the results of the survey with the hope of better understanding student experiences in the Sociology department.

Which Factors Influence The Usage And Perceptions Of Medicinal Plants In Kizanda Village (Lushoto District) And Ushongo Village (Tanga District)?, Callie Smith

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The objective of this study was to compare and examine which factors impact usage and perceptions of traditional medicine in Ushongo Mtoni and Kizanda villages. More specifically, this study aimed to gain an understanding of the usages, with a specific focus on gendered usages of medicinal plants in Kizanda village and Ushongo Mtoni village and to try to examine the differences in perceptions towards traditional medicine usage in Kizanda and Ushongo. Additionally, this study aimed to determine if there are any major themes that are constant with medicinal plants in both Ushongo and Kizanda. In order to conduct this study …

Automation Of State Climate Office Processes & Products: Developing Efficient Approaches For Data Dissemination, Michael Shoop

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

State Climate Offices (SCO’s) in the United States are critical conduits for improving weather and climate data in local communities. Two states do not have a state-recognized SCO: Tennessee and Massachusetts. Efforts are underway at East Tennessee State University to develop the Tennessee Climate Office (TCO). Currently, climate services and products are severely lacking across Tennessee. This thesis provides an improved methodology for an existing TCO product and outlines the development of a new product using Python scripting. Daily storm reports within the monthly climate report are automated and a Weather Forecasts Hazard Index (WFHI) web application is developed. Both …

Subsistence Strategy Tradeoffs In Long-Term Population Stability Over The Past 6,000 Years, Darcy A. Bird

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

I conduct the first comparative analysis of long term human population stability in North America. Questions regarding population stability among animals and plants are fundamental to population ecology, yet no anthropological research has addressed human population stability. This is an important knowledge gap, because a species’ population stability can have implications for its risk of extinction and for the stability of the ecological community in which it lives. I use archaeological and paleoclimatological data to compare long term population stability with subsistence strategy and climate stability over 6,000 years. I conduct my analysis on a large scale to better understand …

Local Environmental Quality And Inter-Jurisdictional Spillovers, John W. Hatfield, Katrina Kosec

Katrina Kosec

A Review Of Emission Trading Systems, Aaron Matthew Gorski

Major Papers

This paper serves as a review of emission trading systems as a means to achieve reductions in the level of greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants around the world. The review begins with the history of emission trading, beginning with early theoretical frameworks developed by economists in the 1960s and 1970s, followed by early implementations of permit markets similar to modern day emission trading systems. International negotiations related to emission reductions such as the Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement are discussed. Next, the economic mechanisms of emission trading systems are discussed, including a brief comparison to carbon taxes as an …

Using Remote Sensing And Gis Techniques Combined With Weather And Climate Data To Create A Deeper Understanding The Wildfire Campfire In California, Lucas Farmer

Student Symposium

Wildfires have devastated the West Coast time and time again. This project takes on multiple approaches to help understand different aspects of these fires, focusing on the wildfire Campfire. The Campfire started and ended in November of 2018 in Butte County California. The first portion of the project focuses on the weather and climate of this region in California. By understanding the weather and climate of a particular area and the time at which a wildfire starts you can start to identify optimal conditions where a fire could potentially breakout. Local weather data will be gathered to look at temperature, …

The Paris Climate Agreement: Harbinger Of A New Global Order, Shana R. Herman

Swarthmore International Relations Journal

No abstract provided.

1901 - Soil Survey Of The Lower Salinas Valley California, Macy H. Lapham And W. H. Heileman

Miscellaneous Monterey and San Luis Obispo County Documents and Reports

Prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Soils, this report addresses the conditions found in the Lower Salinas Valley of Monterey County, California in 1901, including the development of agriculture, climate, geology, soil types, cultivation, irrigation. groundwater, and alkali found in the soil.

1901 - Soil Survey Of The Lower Salinas Valley California, Macy H. Lapham And W. H. Heileman

Miscellaneous Documents and Reports

Prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Soils, this report addresses the conditions found in the Lower Salinas Valley of Monterey County, California in 1901, including the development of agriculture, climate, geology, soil types, cultivation, irrigation. groundwater, and alkali found in the soil.

Climate Governance In Egypt / الحوكمة المناخية في مصر, Hamsa Hefny, Mahmoud Elmekkawe, Manar Moustafa Ramadan

Papers, Posters, and Presentations

This paper attempts to understand the issue of climate change adaptation in Egypt by focusing on governance as the main umbrella under which all players and actors tend to operate and interact. The paper presents a detailed introduction to the contexts in which climate change takes place, discussing the different settings, interventions, and factors that might be relevant to the issue.

Sa Climate Ready: A Pathway For Climate Action & Adaptation, Sa Climate Ready, Alfred Montoya

Sociology & Anthropology Faculty Research

San Antonio is one of the fasted growing cities in the nation. Every day, we are working to plan for and accommodate the estimated one million additional residents that will arrive in San Antonio by 2040. In much the same way, it’s our collective responsibility to prepare for a future that is projected to have hotter temperatures, longer droughts and more intense rain events, as a result of our changing climate. That is why working with the City Council, one of my first acts as your Mayor was to sign the Paris Climate Agreement.

Throughout the SA Climate Ready process, …

Unsustainable Sustainability: Do Policies That Increase Environmental Quality Exacerbate Income Inequality?, Haley K. Skinner

Gettysburg Economic Review

International pressure to meet climate and sustainability goals are mounting. Countries attempting to industrialize in the age of sustainability are tasked with industrializing using low-carbon practices. The transition to a “green” economy requires elimination of some jobs and skillsets that may upset social equality. This paper empirically examines the hypothesis that policies aimed at increased environmental performance promote increased income inequality in developing countries. Because existing literature firmly supports the hypothesis that lower income inequality leads to higher environmental performance, this paper develops a simultaneous equations model (SEM) to estimate the hypothesized endogenous relationship using two stage least squares (2SLS) …

Citizen Social Science For More Integrative And Effective Climate Action: A Science-Policy Perspective, Andrew Kythreotis, Chrystal Mantyka-Pringle, Theresa Mercer, Lorraine Whitmarsh, Adam Corner, Jouni Paavola, Christopher D. Chambers, Byron Miller, Noel Castree

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Governments are struggling to limit global temperatures below the 2°C Paris target with existing climate change policy approaches. This is because conventional climate policies have been predominantly (inter)nationally top-down, which limits citizen agency in driving policy change and influencing citizen behavior. Here we propose elevating Citizen Social Science (CSS) to a new level across governments as an advanced collaborative approach of accelerating climate action and policies that moves beyond conventional citizen science and participatory approaches. Moving beyond the traditional science-policy model of the democratization of science in enabling more inclusive climate policy change, we present examples of how CSS can …

Performance Simulation And Evaluation Of Net Zero Energy Buildings In An Australian Coastal Climate, Joel Anderson, Duane A. Robinson, Zhenjun Ma

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Net zero energy buildings (NZEB) are becoming more common, and as new energy saving designs and technologies become available, the ability to estimate overall energy use and understand the impact on operation of building appliances will become important. This paper outlines simulation results of performance improvements achieved by modifying various components (glazing, lighting, thermal comfort settings) of two tertiary education NZEBs and a typical modern commercial building. The DesignBuilder models' thermal performance and energy consumption were validated using real data from case study buildings. The work shows validating models of smaller, less conven-tional, buildings is more difficult than for larger …

Secondary Students' Ideas About Scientific Concepts Underlying Climate Change, Lorna E. Jarrett, George J. Takacs

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

We present ideas about concepts underlying climate change, held by students in years 9 and 10. Misconceptions about climate change are common among students, and may be due to misconceptions about underlying concepts. To investigate this, we developed the Climate Change Concept Inventory (CCCI), and trialed it with 229 students; corroborating findings through focus group interviews. Our interview method and data analysis methods are described. Findings included overestimation of human contributions to atmospheric carbon inputs, ultra violet radiation in sunlight, and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Students were unaware that CO2 dissolves in water, and of the role of oceans …

Residential Household Yard Care Practices Along Urban-Exurban Gradients In Six Climatically-Diverse U.S. Metropolitan Areas, Dexter H. Locke, Colin Polsky, J. Morgan Grove, Peter M. Groffman, Kristen C. Nelson, Kelli L. Larson, Jeannine Cavender-Bares, James B. Heffernan, Rinku Roy Chowdhury, Sarah E. Hobbie, Neil D. Bettez, Sharon J. Hall, Christopher Neill, Laura Ogden, Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne

Geography

Residential land is expanding in the United States, and lawn now covers more area than the country’s leading irrigated crop by area. Given that lawns are widespread across diverse climatic regions and there is rising concern about the environmental impacts associated with their management, there is a clear need to understand the geographic variation, drivers, and outcomes of common yard care practices. We hypothesized that 1) income, age, and the number of neighbors known by name will be positively associated with the odds of having irrigated, fertilized, or applied pesticides in the last year, 2) irrigation, fertilization, and pesticide application …

Earth Alienation And Space Exploration: Uncharted Territory For Sociology, Sam Arroyo

Senior Projects Spring 2019

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Russian Climate Politics In 2019: Concessions And Trade Offs, Nikita O. Minin

Senior Projects Spring 2019

In the paper of this project the Russia’s political justifications for the signing of the Kyoto Protocol and the refusal to sign the Paris Accord are analyzed. Russia’s current adaptive strategies and trajectory towards creating a potentially devastating future for the planet are assessed in terms of their economic justifications. Overall this paper argues that the Paris Accord needs to be amended to be economically and politically fair for all signing countries. Currently Russia could lose GDP if they signed the accord, and this is presented as the primary reason for Russia’s refusal to sign. The thesis of the paper …

Atoms For Peace: Revisiting The Promise Of Nuclear Power On The Cusp Of Climate Catastrophe, Amelia Louise Tiemann

Senior Projects Spring 2019

When people think about nuclear power, they typically identify with one of two binary positions: either they believe nuclear power is an important part of the solution to climate change, and favor its expansion; or they believe its risks far outweigh any benefits it may provide. Those in the latter group might picture vast areas of uninhabitable land, massive evacuations of people from their homes, or the famous three-eyed fish from The Simpsons. Those in the former might view nuclear power as an often overlooked clean energy source with enormous potential to perform in the midst of uncertain climate …