Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Commons^™

Climate Action Progress, 2013, Campus Sustainability Office

Campus Sustainability Office Publications, Reports and Presentations

In 2010, Portland State University (PSU) adopted the University’s first Climate Action Plan (CAP) as part of the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). The CAP calls for climate neutrality by 2040 and identifies emission reduction targets in the following areas: Buildings & Energy, Materials, Travel, Commuting, Education & Research, and EcoDistrict Development. This report serves as an assessment of progress to date and provides: an updated carbon emissions profile, a snapshot of progress on individual actions, a summary of efforts contributing to CAP goals, and suggestions regarding next steps.

Ecohydrology Effects Of An Invasive Grass (Phalaris Arundinacea) On Semi-Arid Riparian Zones, Adam D. Gebauer

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

"Riparian areas (floodplains) provide key ecological functions that are linked to the ecohydrology however; they are particularly susceptible to invasion by alien species. In much of the western United States, riparian zones are shifting from native woody and herbaceous species to invasive grass dominated ecosystems that may alter hydrology, including changes to stream flow. Compared to the woody species they often replace, dense grass stands may have higher rates of growth (productivity) and water loss through leaves (transpiration), yet may access shallower water sources and thus reduce stream flow. In eastern Washington, many streams experience low flow that degrades water …

Conservation Mooring Study, Urban Harbors Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Urban Harbors Institute Publications

Most boaters who moor their vessels in Massachusetts waters have traditionally employed free swinging moorings that use heavy bottom chain. In important sensitive habitats such as eelgrass beds, these types of moorings often have negative impacts on the benthic habitat – from the circular movement of the chain around the anchor point, and/or from the anchor itself.

This document objectively describes the different characteristics of conventional moorings versus conservation moorings designed to minimize disruption to the benthic habitat. This report includes discussions on the following topics:

• Technologies available
• Ecological impacts
• Functional differences
• Economical differences
• Regulatory issues

These comparisons, along with …

Can Education Improve The Environment? Applying The Pressure-State-Response Environmental Indicator Framework To Environmental Education Program Outcomes, Brian Johnson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the ways in which environmental education (EE) programs are contributing to environmental quality (EQ) improvement. The research applied the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) environmental indicator framework to the reported outcomes of 103 EE programs in order to 1) determine the extent to which existing EE programs are reporting EQ improvement outcomes; and 2) examine the extent to which these programs are impacting indicators in the three areas of the PSR framework. The study consisted of three research phases: evaluation synthesis, semi-structured interviews, and multiple-case study. The study found that 42 of 103 programs (41%) …

Cost Effectiveness Of Recycling: A Systems Model, David J. Tonjes, Sreekanth Mallikarjun

Technology & Society Faculty Publications

Financial analytical models of waste management systems have often found that recycling costs exceed direct benefits, and in order to economically justify recycling activities, externalities such as household expenses or environmental impacts must be invoked. Certain more empirically based studies have also found that recycling is more expensive than disposal. Other work, both through models and surveys, have found differently. Here we present an empirical systems model, largely drawn from a suburban Long Island municipality. The model accounts for changes in distribution of effort as recycling tonnages displace disposal tonnages, and the seven different cases examined all show that curbside …

Degradable Plastics And Solid Waste Management Systems, David J. Tonjes, Krista L. Thyberg

Technology & Society Faculty Publications

Plastics, which are woven into the fabric of modern life, have consequential impacts on the environment. Many of these are associated with end-of-lifetime processes, and include chemical contamination of the environment and effects from litter. Plastics also complicate waste management processes, causing contamination in composting operations, and having poor recovery rates through recycling. Plastics that are not as biologically recalcitrant, that decompose when use is done, have been perceived as solutions to at least some of these problems. The first generation of degradable plastics did not meet marketing claims; some of the more recent formulations, partly as a consequence of …

Municipal Waste Management: Suffolk County Municipal Systems, Services And Infrastructure, Krista L. Greene, Susan Lienau, David J. Tonjes

Technology & Society Faculty Publications

This report describes the municipal waste management systems used by local governments to manage solid waste in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. There are ten Towns that serve as the primary planners for waste systems in Suffolk County. Many of the 33 villages in Suffolk County have established their own waste management programs and policies. All programs tend to follow the same general plan of the approaches used by their respective Towns, however. All programs provide some degree of recycling services, although the scope of the services varies tremendously.

Decomposition Of Ireland’S Carbon Emissions From 1990-2010: An Extended Kaya Identity, Tadhg O'Mahony

Articles

In recent decades, Ireland has been an important example of a development pathway where rapid economic growth was accompanied by rising energy demand and increasing carbon emissions. Understanding the driving forces of carbon emissions is necessary for policy formulation and decomposition analysis is widely used for this purpose. This study uses an extended Kaya identity as the scheme and applies the log mean Divisia index (LMDI I) as the decomposition technique. Change in carbon emissions is decomposed from 1990 – 2010 and includes a measure of the effect of renewable energy penetration. Results illustrate that scale effects of affluence and …

Bacillus Thuringiensis: Transgenic Crops, Julie A. Peterson, John J. Obrycki, James D. Harwood

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops, genetically modified to express insecticidal toxins that target key pests of corn, cotton, rice, potato, and other crops, have been rapidly adopted and have become dominant fixtures in agroecosystems throughout the world. Due to the constitutive nature of Bt toxin expression, insecticidal proteins may be found in nearly all plant tissues, presenting multiple sources for Bt toxins to enter the environment, thus creating complex direct and indirect pathways for non-target organisms to be exposed to insecticidal proteins. The environmental impacts of Bt crops have been widely debated, although both benefits and risks do exist. Benefits of …

Barrow Island Ute Guide - Non-Indigenous Invertebrates, Frogs, Reptiles & Weeds, Mike Grimm, Kristofer Collett, Jessica Harrison, Peter Davis, Marc Widmer, Andras Szito, Rob Emery, Peter Mangano, John Botha, David Robinson, Brad Maryan

Biosecurity published reports

Barrow Island, the second largest island in Western Australia, is a Class A Nature Reserve and home to a variety of rare and endangered fauna and flora, some of which occur nowhere else. To protect fauna and flora it is essential workers and visitors to the island are aware of the risks that a non-indigenous species (NIS) poses to the ecological balance of Barrow Island.

Workers and visitors to Barrow Island need to be aware and keep their eyes open for any unusual fauna and flora that might be in accommodation units, recreation areas or the work place. Reports from …

Annual Patterns Of Atmospheric Pollutions And Episodes Over Cairo Egypt, Y. Aboel Fetouh, Hesham El-Askary, Mohamed El Raey, Mohamed Allali, W. A. Sprigg, Menas Kafatos

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

The Nile Delta major cities, particularly Cairo, experienced stagnant air pollution episodes, known as Black Cloud, every year over the past decade during autumn. Low-elevated thermal inversion layers play a crucial role in intensifying pollution impacts. Carbon monoxide, ozone, atmospheric temperature, water vapor, and methane measurements from the tropospheric emission spectrometer (TES) on board the Aura have been used to assess the dominant component below the inversion layer. In this study, time series analysis, autocorrelations, and cross correlations are performed to gain a better understanding of the connections between those parameters and their local effect. Satellite-based data were obtained for …

Carbon Farming In Wa, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Western Australia, Department Of Regional Development And Lands, Western Australia

Natural resources published reports

Fact sheets:

1. Applying biochar to improve soil quality and crop productivity

2. Reducing methane emissions from cattle using feed additives

3. Cattle breeding for lower greenhouse gas emissions

4. Managing genetic codes to reduce methane emissions from cattle

5. Managing pastures and stocking rate to reduce methane emissions from cattle

6. Claying as a method of increasing soil carbon content

7. Green and brown manuring as part of carbon farming

8. Permanent environmental plantings to earn carbon credits

9. Nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils

10. Sheep genetics in methane reduction

11. Managing sheep pastures to reduce methane production …

[Introduction To] Global Climate Change: Turning Knowledge Into Action, David E. Kitchen

Bookshelf

The science of climate change is a complex subject that balances the physical record and scientific fact with politics, policy, and ethics—and is of particular importance to the geosciences. This thoughtfully crafted new text and accompanying media encourage non-science majors to practice critical thinking, analysis, and discourse about climate change themes. Taking a cross-disciplinary approach, acclaimed educator and researcher, David Kitchen, examines not only the physical science, but the social, economic, political, energy, and environmental issues surrounding climate change. His goal: to turn knowledge into action, equipping students with the knowledge and critical skills to make informed decisions, separate facts …

U.S. Drought Monitor, December 25, 2012, Richard R. Heim Jr.

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of the United States for December 25, 2012 (12/25/12) plus: United States crop areas experiencing drought (map), an approximate percentage of crop located in drought by state (bar graph), and the percentage of crop area located in drought during the past 52 weeks (line graph) for hay, cattle, and winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, December 18, 2012, David Simeral

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for December 18, 2012 (12/18/12) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Geomorphologic Evolution Of A Rapidly Deteriorating Barrier Island System With Multiple Sediment Sources: Eastern Isles Dernieres, Louisiana, 1887 To 2006, Benjamin T. Kirkland

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Trinity, East, and Wine Islands make up the eastern half of the Isles Dernieres barrier arc in south-central Louisiana. Formed following the abandonment of the Lafourche delta complex, subsidence and storm erosion have led to rapid deterioration of the system. Since 1887, the land area of the islands has decreased seventy-seven percent, and the gulf shoreline has retreated landward more than a kilometer. Wave ravinement on the shoreface of the islands is responsible for the most sediment loss; liberated sediment travels longshore to tidal inlets. The dominant ebb tidal currents then transport the sediment to where it is deposited in …

U.S. Drought Monitor, December 11, 2012, Rich Tinker

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for December 11, 2012 (12/11/12) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

U.S. Drought Monitor, December 4, 2012, Rich Tinker

United States Agricultural Commodities in Drought Archive

Drought map of U.S. for December 4, 2012 (12/4/12) plus: U.S. crop areas experiencing drought (map), Approximate percentage of crop located in drought, by state (bar graph), Percent of crop area located in drought, past 52 weeks (line graph) for: Hay, Cattle, Winter wheat.

Phosphorus Transport And Distribution In Kentucky Soils Prepared Using Various Biochar Types, Anvesh Reddy

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Conserving the environment is an issue that is gaining popularity day by day. Phosphorus transfer from agricultural soils is an important environmental issue that is being closely observed as the transport of phosphorous to water bodies is adversely affecting water quality due to accelerated eutrophication. It is important to establish phosphorous models that accurately account for soil test phosphorous. Standard models like SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) and EPIC (Environmental Policy Integrated Climate) were designed for serving this purpose. They are now used as the basis for developing new models that can more accurately account for the phosphorus transport, …

Logistic Curves, Extraction Costs And Peak Oil, Robert J. Brecha

Physics Faculty Publications

Debates about the possibility of a near-term maximum in world oil production have become increasingly prominent over the past decade, with the focus often being on the quantification of geologically available and technologically recoverable amounts of oil in the ground. Economically, the important parameter is not a physical limit to resources in the ground, but whether market price signals and costs of extraction will indicate the efficiency of extracting conventional or nonconventional resources as opposed to making substitutions over time for other fuels and technologies. We present a hybrid approach to the peak-oil question with two models in which the …