Environmental Policy Commons^™

Reducing Urban Overheating Risks Through Climate-Resilient Development In The Warming Tropics, Winston T. L. Chow

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

More frequent heat extremes, combined with rapidly developing settlements in the tropics, result in complex climate-driven risks emerging in cities within these regions. Urban policymakers can successfully manage these urban heat risks via climate resilient development, in which sustainability is aligned with current climate adaptation and mitigation goals.

Experimental Evaluation Of Thermal Adaptation And Transient Thermal Comfort In A Tropical Mixed-Mode Ventilation Context, Yue Lei, Duygu Zeynep Tekler, Sicheng Zhan, Clayton Miller, Adrian Chong

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Mixed-mode ventilation offers a promising solution for achieving comfortable indoor environments in an energy-efficient manner. However, in the tropics, characterized by a year-round hot and humid climate, opportunities for natural ventilation (NV) are typically limited to specific hours, necessitating operational mode switches on an intraday basis. Much of the thermal comfort research on mixed-mode ventilation relies either on cross-sectional data collected from different subjects or longitudinal data spanning a few seasons. This raises an open question: Can occupants thermally adapt when switching between NV and air-conditioning (AC) modes within a single day? To address the gap, our experimental study engaged …

Improving Risk Governance Strategies Via Learning: A Comparative Analysis Of Solar Radiation Modification And Gene Drives, Khara Grieger, Jonathan B. Wiener, Jennifer Kuzma

Faculty Scholarship

Stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) and gene drive organisms (GDOs) have been proposed as technological responses to complex entrenched environmental challenges. They also share several characteristics of emerging risks, including extensive uncertainties, systemic interdependencies, and risk profiles intertwined with societal contexts. This Perspective conducts a comparative analysis of the two technologies, and identifies ways in which their research and policy communities may learn from each other to inform future risk governance strategies. We find that SAI and GDOs share common features of aiming to improve or restore a public good, are characterized by numerous potential ecological, societal, and ethical risks associated …

Integrating Western Science And Indigenous Knowledge For Just Practices In Conservation, Cierra Lea Keith

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

An Institutional And Policy Analysis Of Adaptive Capacity To Climate Change Of The Agricultural Sector Of Bangladesh, Calvin Wood Martin

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis evaluates the adaptive capacity of Bangladesh’s agricultural sector in the context of climate change, focusing on policy and institutional capacities. An analytic framework is applied to assess policy coherence, resources, and implementation effectiveness of key national and international policies. The study also examines aspects of institutional capacity, such as administration, technological innovation, protective infrastructure, and access to benefits and resources. Through expert interviews and a comprehensive literature review, the research identifies both strengths and challenges in current efforts to enhance climate resilience. The findings highlight areas for improvement, particularly in strengthening policy coherence, resource needs, and institutional support …

Climate Change, Policy Paralysis, And A Nuclear Waste Island? Exploring Perceptions Of Risk, Trust, And Community Agency In Navigating Uncertain Futures Facing Humboldt Bay's Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Site, Alexander Brown

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Climate and coastal hazards threaten the long-term viability of indefinite in-situ nuclear waste storage in the U.S., especially at vulnerable “stranded” sites like Humboldt Bay, California. The national policy framework is fundamentally incompatible with emergent climate realities and does not adequately accommodate uncertainty, localized hazard conditions, and the sociocultural and political dynamics that manifest in diverse and contested public arenas. I interviewed 21 community-experts working at the intersection of climate change and nuclear waste, and co-facilitated three scenario planning workshops to gather insights on how to responsibly manage Humboldt Bay’s nuclear waste in a climate-altered world. Qualitative findings indicate variation …

Analyzing Stakeholder Perceptions On Biogas Production Incentives Under California’S Low Carbon Fuel Standard, Emily Read

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Accounting for more than half of California’s methane emissions, the dairy and livestock sector has become a central focus for the state’s emission reduction efforts. As a leader in climate policy, California’s approach to addressing agricultural methane emissions has the potential to shape the future of livestock agriculture on a national and global scale. The state has prioritized anaerobic digesters as the primary strategy for addressing livestock methane, a decision that has been both widely contested and strongly supported by stakeholders. This thesis investigates stakeholder perceptions on livestock biogas under California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) using interview and survey …

A Neutrosophic Approach To Study Agnotology: A Case Study On Climate Change Beliefs, Florentin Smarandache, Maikel Leyva Vázquez

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

Misinformation and biased information significantly impact public perception and political decisions, especially on critical issues such as climate change and environmental conservation. This study aims to understand how indeterminacy and contradiction influence public perception and policy formulation by applying neutrosophic theory to model the complexity and multi-dimensionality of ignorance. Using neutrosophic Likert scales, we capture a nuanced spectrum of opinions on the scientific certainty of human impact on climate change. The results are analyzed through a k-means clustering algorithm to identify patterns and segment participants into groups based on their levels of truth, indeterminacy, and falsehood. This approach reveals deeper …

Annual Report: Fy 2024 Quality Of Kerosene And Motor Fuel In Tennessee, Tennessee. Department Of Agriculture

Annual Reports on Kerosene & Motor Fuel Quality

The annual report provides data on the effectiveness of the 1989 Kerosene and Motor Fuels Quality Inspection Act, consumer complaints, inspection data, and summary of enforcement.

Integrating Biodiversity Protection And Climate Mitigation In Nature-Based Climate Solutions: An Indicator Analysis, Tatyana Feiner

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Climate change and biodiversity loss have been recognized as complex, interconnected issues that require synergistic and mutually reinforcing policy solutions. Given the ambitious commitments by the Canadian government to abate the two “wicked problems”, this study investigates whether the government has constructed a policy framework that synthesizes climate and biodiversity concerns through policy integration and mainstreaming processes. Through a semi-systematic and comprehensive content analysis approach, this study assesses the degree to which biodiversity protection and climate mitigation have been effectively mainstreamed into federal policies, programs, and instruments. Specifically, the study constructs an evaluative framework based on established “best practices” of …

Circular Economy: The 4rs Reduce-Reuse-Recycle-Recover, Kevin Hom

Publications and Research

This article summarizes the lecture presented at the Net Built 2024 conference. The lecture addresses the unsustainability of the current linear economy, characterized by the "take, make, dispose" model, in light of environmental challenges. The inefficiencies of this system lead to increased energy consumption, elevated CO2 emissions, and the exacerbation of climate change. It examines the current state of design and construction with respect to climate change and sustainable resource management. Additionally, the lecture introduces a methodology that integrates technologies and design philosophies capable of driving significant positive change. By advocating for a transformative approach to the expected lifetime of …

A Cross-Cultural Analysis On The Practice Of Sustainable University Initiatives, David Efendi, Alim Bubu Swarga, Moh. Mudzakkir, Mohammad Reevany Bustami, Ellisha Nasruddin

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

Climate change and other environmental problems have become a global concern. Intrinsically, this creates higher education institutions such as Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) taking part in various green campus measurements to address this problem. This study analyzes the factors of how higher education institutions such as UMY and USM initiate green campuses and sustainable universities. It assumes these two universities align with the implementation of green campus initiation despite their different university status. This research is qualitative research using a comparative study between UMY and USM. This research data uses interviews from the university website, …

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Opportunities And Challenges In Monitoring Cultivated Land Red Line In Big Data Era, Jinwei Dong, Yifeng Cui, Yuanyuan Di, Xuan Gao, Xi Chen, Linsheng Yang, Yumei Cai, Jia Ning, Jiyuan Liu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

The demographic reality of a large population and limited land resources in China necessitates the implementation of the world’s most stringent cultivated land protection system. Effective, timely, and accurate monitoring of the status of cultivated land protection red line is essential to ensuring cultivated land protection and food security. The development of cutting-edge technologies such as remote sensing big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence has provided new opportunities for cultivated land control and monitoring. This article systematically elaborates on the current research status and challenges in the field of cultivated land protection redline control and monitoring, including the establishment …

Conception On Asian Elephant Ecological Corridor Planning With Implications For Conservation, Xueyou Li, Qiupeng Yu, Zhechang Hu, Xuelong Jiang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

In order to practice the concept of coordinated development of “Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains are Invaluable Assets” and “mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands and deserts are part of the community of life”, this study takes “pursuing green development and promoting harmony between humanity and nature” proposed in the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China as the theoretical guidance. With the goal of enhancing ecosystem integrity and connectivity, enhancing population communication, enhancing population viability, and providing a model for the construction of ecological corridors for flagship species, based on the current distribution and …

Effectiveness And Challenges Of Aquatic Ecological Restoration Of Chishui River In Upper Yangtze River, Fei Liu, Huanzhang Liu

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

“To set an example of green development and strength ecological environmental protection in the Chishui River basin” is an important proposal listed in the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021--2025) for National Economic and Social Development and Vision 2035 of the People’s Republic of China. Strengthening eco-environmental protection in the Chishui River will play an exemplary and leading role in maintaining fish diversity of the upper Yangtze River, promoting regional high-quality development, and creating a new situation of ecological civilization and Beautiful China. This study interprets the ecological functions of the Chishui River in the upper Yangtze River, expounds …

Editorial

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

No abstract provided.

Develop Sciences And Technologies To Support The Building Of A Beautiful China In All Respects—Preface On Special Issue “Efforts From Science And Technology To Promote The Building Of A Beautiful China In All Respects”, Quansheng Ge

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

No abstract provided.

Scenario Simulation Of “35 Goals” And “50 Vision” For Beautiful China Initiative, Huiyi Zhu, Linsheng Yang, Wei Qi, Erqi Xu, Jiewei Chen, Quansheng Ge

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Realizing the Beautiful China Initiative is the general goal of China’s ecological civilization construction in the next 30 years. The overall goal includes two phased goals: “35 goals” and “50 vision”. This study first expounds the understanding of the goal from the aspects of ecosystem elements, structure, process, and function, and then constructs an index system to describe the goal and simulates the “35 goals” and “50 vision” under the trend of climate change, population decline and economic growth. The results show that, by 2035, China will have a population of 1.44 billion (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) and …

Ecological Operation In Yangtze River Basin With Yangtze River Simulator, Jun Xia, Zhonghui Lin, Chesheng Zhan, Wenjuan Gao, Yunliang Li, Jing Yao, Sidong Zeng, Renyong Huang, Hongzhu Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Ecological protection and green development in the Yangtze River basin are critical to the ecological construction of a Beautiful China. This study analyzes the current situation and main problems of the water ecology in the Yangtze River basin, and introduces the development of the Yangtze River Simulator, and the design for the ecological operation of the Three Gorges Reservoir, the main river, and the lakes connected to the river. Through the simulation of the main stream water ecology and lake water ecology by the Yangtze River Simulator, the optimization plan for the ecological regulation of the Three Gorges Reservoir was …