Resilience vs. decline: Precipitation and atmospheric change drive contrasting responses in invertebrate communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Facey, Sarah L.

Invertebrates form the foundation of terrestrial ecosystems, far outnumbering their vertebrate counterparts in terms of abundance, biomass and diversity. As such, arthropod communities play vitally important roles in ecosystem processes ranging from pollination to soil fertility. Given the importance of invertebrates in ecosystems, predicting their responses - and those of the communities they form - to global change is one of the great challenges facing contemporary ecology. Our climate is changing as a result of the anthropogenic release of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), produced from burning fossil fuels and land use change. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere now exceeds the range the Earth has seen in the last 800,000 years. Through the effect of such gases on radiative forcing, sustained greenhouse gas emissions will continue to drive increases in global average temperatures. Additionally, precipitation patterns are likely to change across the world, with increases in the occurrence of extreme weather events, such as droughts, as well as alterations in the magnitude and frequency of rainfall events. Climate change is already causing measurable changes in the Earth's biotic environment. Past work has been heavily focused on the responses of plants to various climate change parameters, with most studies including invertebrates limited to highly controlled studies of pair-wise interactions between one arthropod species and its host plant. Relatively little work to date, however, has looked at the potential impacts of climatic and atmospheric change for invertebrate communities as a whole. The overarching goal of this project was to help remedy this research gap, specifically by investigating the effects of precipitation and atmospheric change on invertebrate communities in grassland and woodland habitat, respectively. Chapters 2 and 4 synthesised recent work on climate change-driven alterations in precipitation and atmospheric change impacts on invertebrates in grassland and woodland systems, respectively. These chapters both highlighted the need for more community-level studies looking at the effects of global change on invertebrates, coupled with greater geographical representation across ecosystems. Particularly for atmospheric change studies, there has been a strong bias toward Northern Hemisphere plantation systems in previous work. Empirical research chapters 3, 5 and 6 used two state-of-the-art field-scale experimental platforms to address the question of how climatic and atmospheric changes will impact invertebrate communities in two Southern Hemisphere systems. Specifically, chapter 3 investigated how a subtropical grassland invertebrate community will respond to five climate change precipitation scenarios, including alterations in the seasonality, frequency and magnitude of rainfall events. Chapters 5 and 6 determined the effects of elevated concentrations of CO2 gas on the overall invertebrate (chapter 5) and ant community (chapter 6) of a critically endangered Eucalyptus woodland. Taken together, these results present contrasting evidence for invertebrate community-level responses to climatic and atmospheric change. On the one hand, communities may be able to cope with future increases in precipitation variability, suggesting that the ecosystem processes underpinned by invertebrates may remain stable in this system. On the other hand, exposure to levels of CO2 not recently experienced within evolutionary timescales, could result in declines in the abundance of organisms that could play important roles in ecological processes. Avenues for future research are discussed, as well as the limitations and challenges inherent in field-scale, community-level climate change research. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).

The effects of climate-change-induced drought and freshwater wetlands

USGS Publications Warehouse

Middleton, B.A.; Kleinebecker, Till; Middleton, B.A.

2012-01-01

Drought cycles in wetlands may become more frequent and severe in the future, with consequences for wetland distribution and function. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC], Managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change adaptation, 2012. Online: http://ipcc-wg2.gov/SREX/images/uploads/SREX-All_FINAL.pdf, climate-change is likely to affect precipitation and evapotranspiration patterns so that the world’s wetlands may have more frequent episodes of extreme flooding and drought. This chapter contributes to a worldwide view of how wetland processes may be affected by these predicted changes in climate. Specifically, the occurrence of drought may increase, and that increase may affect the critical processes that sustain biodiversity in wetlands. We include specific examples that explore the effects of drought and other climate-change factors on wetland function in various parts of the world. In a concluding section we discuss management strategies for climate-change in wetlands. The synthesis of information in this chapter will contribute to a better understanding of how climate-change-induced drought may affect the function and distribution of wetlands in the future.

Chapter 14: The impacts of climate change on forestry

Treesearch

Linda A. Joyce

2007-01-01

The quantitative analysis of the impact of future climate change on forests and forestry began in the 1980s, motivated by research in the atmospheric sciences and concerns about the potential impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems. These analyses suggested that forest ecosystems would be seriously impacted by climate change, with consequent impacts on the...

77 FR 74175 - Solicitation of Review Editors for the Draft Report of the National Climate Assessment and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-13

... impacts of climate change upon the United States; and to provide advice and recommendations toward the... to produce a proposed National Climate Assessment that meets the requirements of the Global Change... Report Chapters: Our Changing Climate; Water Resources; Energy Supply and Use; Transportation...

Chapter 7: Developing climate-informed state-and-transition models

Treesearch

Miles A. Hemstrom; Jessica E. Halofsky; David R. Conklin; Joshua S. Halofsky; Dominique Bachelet; Becky K. Kerns

2014-01-01

Land managers and others need ways to understand the potential effects of climate change on local vegetation types and how management activities might be impacted by climate change. To date, climate change impact models have not included localized vegetation communities or the integrated effects of vegetation development dynamics, natural disturbances, and management...

Climate change, animal species, and habitats: Adaptation and issues (Chapter 5)

Treesearch

Deborah M. Finch; D. Max Smith; Olivia LeDee; Jean-Luc E. Cartron; Mark A. Rumble

2012-01-01

Because the rate of anthropogenic climate change exceeds the adaptive capacity of many animal and plant species, the scientific community anticipates negative consequences for ecosystems. Changes in climate have expanded, contracted, or shifted the climate niches of many species, often resulting in shifting geographic ranges. In the Great Basin, for example, projected...

Managing forest landscapes for climate change. Chapter 3.

Treesearch

Thomas R. Crow

2008-01-01

Climate change is the defining issue of the day and probably for many subsequent generations of resource managers. Although the public and therefore the policymakers have been slow in grasping the far-reaching consequences of climate change on our social and economic institutions, they are now desperately seeking options for dealing with novel climates, ecological...

Our Globally Changing Climate. Chapter 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wuebbles, D. J.; Easterling, D. R.; Hayhoe, K.; Knutson, T.; Kopp, R. E.; Kossin, J. P.; Kunkel, K. E.; LeGrande, A. N.; Mears, C.; Sweet, W. V.;

Studying the Causes of Recent Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santer, Benjamin D.

2011-11-01

This chapter describes progress in the field of "detection and attribution" (D&A) research, which seeks to identify certain "fingerprints," or patterns of climate change, and to correlate them with possible human factors influencing the climate. Such studies contributed to the scientific confidence with which the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was able to assert that anthropogenic greenhouse gases had had a discernible effect on global warming since the mid-20th century. D&A methods have greatly improved to incorporate many more climate variables and to include increasingly finer variations in space and time. The chapter also describes the intercomparison of global climate models and the comprehensive data base of model simulations now available to anyone free of charge. The following is the testimony given by Benjamin Santer to the U.S. House of Representative Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, on November 17, 2010. It is adapted from a chapter that Tom Wigley and Benjamin Santer published in a book edited by the late Stephen Schneider [1] and from previous testimony given by Dr. Santer to the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.[2

The Borderlands and climate change: Chapter 10 in United States-Mexican Borderlands: Facing tomorrow's challenges through USGS science

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fitzpatrick, Joan; Gray, Floyd; Dubiel, Russell; Langman, Jeff; Moring, J. Bruce; Norman, Laura M.; Page, William R.; Parcher, Jean W.

2013-01-01

The prediction of global climate change in response to both natural forces and human activity is one of the defining issues of our times. The unprecedented observational capacity of modern earth-orbiting satellites coupled with the development of robust computational representations (models) of the Earth’s weather and climate systems afford us the opportunity to observe and investigate how these systems work now, how they have worked in the past, and how they will work in the future when forced in specific ways. In the most recent report on global climate change by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC; Solomon and others, 2007), analyses using multiple climate models support recent observations that the Earth’s climate is changing in response to a combination of natural and human-induced causes. These changes will be significant in the United States–Mexican border region, where the process of climate change affects all of the Borderlands challenge themes discussed in the preceding chapters. The dual possibilities of both significantly-changed climate and increasing variability in climate make it challenging to take full measure of the potential effects because the Borderlands already experience a high degree of interannual variability and climatological extremes.

Adapting to the effects of climate change [Chapter 14

Treesearch

Jessica E. Halofsky

2018-01-01

Adapting to climate change, or adjusting to current or future climate and its effects (Noble et al. 2014), is critical to minimizing the risks associated with climate change impacts. Adaptation actions can vary from passive (e.g., a "wait and see" approach), to relatively simple (e.g., increasing harvest rotation age), to complex (e.g., managing forest...

Effects of climate change on cultural resources [Chapter 12

Treesearch

Tom H. Flanigan; Charmaine Thompson; William G. Reed

2018-01-01

As with all resources on public lands, cultural resources are subject to environmental forces such as climate change. Climate change can affect cultural resources directly (e.g., heat, precipitation) or indirectly (e.g., vegetation, wildfire, flooding). Cultural resources include archaeological sites, cultural landscapes, ethnohistoric and historic structures and...

Mangrove ecosystems under climate change

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jennerjahn, T.C.; Gilman, E.; Krauss, Ken W.; Lacerda, L.D.; Nordhaus, I.; Wolanski, E.

2017-01-01

This chapter assesses the response of mangrove ecosystems to possible outcomes of climate change, with regard to the following categories: (i) distribution, diversity, and community composition, (ii) physiology of flora and fauna, (iii) water budget, (iv) productivity and remineralization, (v) carbon storage in biomass and sediments, and (vi) the filter function for elements beneficial or harmful to life. These categories are then used to identify the regions most vulnerable to climate change. The four most important factors determining the response of mangrove ecosystems to climate change are sea level rise, an increase in frequency and/or intensity of storms, increases in temperature, and aridity. While these changes may be beneficial for some mangrove forests at latitudinal distribution limits, they will threaten forest structure and functions and related ecosystem services in most cases. The interaction of climate change with human interventions is discussed, as well as the effects on ecosystem services including possible adaptation and management options. The chapter closes with an outlook on knowledge gaps and priority research needed to fill these gaps.

Preliminary review of adaptation options for climate-sensitive ecosystems and resources. A report by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Change Research

USGS Publications Warehouse

Baron, Jill S.; Griffith, Brad; Joyce, Linda A.; Kareiva, Peter; Keller, Brian D.; Palmer, Margaret A.; Peterson, Charles H.; Scott, J. Michael; Julius, Susan Herrod; West, Jordan M.

2008-01-01

Climate variables are key determinants of geographic distributions and biophysical characteristics of ecosystems, communities, and species. Climate change is therefore affecting many species attributes, ecological interactions, and ecosystem processes. Because changes in the climate system will continue into the future regardless of emissions mitigation, strategies for protecting climate-sensitive ecosystems through management will be increasingly important. While there will always be uncertainties associated with the future path of climate change, the response of ecosystems to climate impacts, and the effects of management, it is both possible and essential for adaptation to proceed using the best available science. This report provides a preliminary review of adaptation options for climate-sensitive ecosystems and resources in the United States. The term “adaptation” in this document refers to adjustments in human social systems (e.g., management) in response to climate stimuli and their effects. Since management always occurs in the context of desired ecosystem conditions or natural resource management goals, it is instructive to examine particular goals and processes used by different organizations to fulfill their objectives. Such an examination allows for discussion of specific adaptation options as well as potential barriers and opportunities for implementation. Using this approach, this report presents a series of chapters on the following selected management systems: National Forests, National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, Wild and Scenic Rivers, National Estuaries, and Marine Protected Areas. For these chapters, the authors draw on the literature, their own expert opinion, and expert workshops composed of resource management scientists and representatives of managing agencies. The information drawn from across these chapters is then analyzed to develop the key synthetic messages presented below.

Chapter 3: Climate change and the relevance of historical forest conditions

Treesearch

H.D. Safford; M. North; M.D. Meyer

2012-01-01

Increasing human emissions of greenhouse gases are modifying the Earth's climate. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), "Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observation of increases in average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea...

Advanced Large Scale Cross Domain Temporal Topic Modeling Algorithms to Infer the Influence of Recent Research on IPCC Assessment Reports

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sleeman, J.; Halem, M.; Finin, T.; Cane, M. A.

2016-12-01

Approximately every five years dating back to 1989, thousands of climate scientists, research centers and government labs volunteer to prepare comprehensive Assessment Reports for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. These are highly curated reports distributed to 200 nation policy makers. There have been five IPCC Assessment Reports to date, the latest leading to a Paris Agreement in Dec. 2016 signed thus far by 172 nations to limit the amount of global Greenhouse gases emitted to producing no more than a 20 C warming of the atmosphere. These reports are a living evolving big data collection tracing 30 years of climate science research, observations, and model scenario intercomparisons. They contain more than 200,000 citations over a 30 year period that trace the evolution of the physical basis of climate science, the observed and predicted impact, risk and adaptation to increased greenhouse gases and mitigation approaches, pathways, policies for climate change. Document-topic and topic-term probability distributions are built from the vocabularies of the respective assessment report chapters and citations. Using Microsoft Bing, we retrieve 150,000 citations referenced across chapters and convert those citations to text. Using a word n-gram model based on a heterogeneous set of climate change terminology, lemmatization, noise filtering and stopword elimination, we calculate word frequencies for chapters and citations. Temporal document sets are built based on the assessment period. In addition to topic modeling, we employ cross domain correlation measures. Using the Jensen-Shannon divergence and Pearson correlation we build correlation matrices for chapter and citations topics. The shared vocabulary acts as the bridge between domains resulting in chapter-citation point pairs in space. Pairs are established based on a document-topic probability distribution. Each chapter and citation is associated with a vector of topics and based on the n most probable topics, we establish which chapter-citation pairs are most similar. We will perform posterior inferences based on Hastings -Metropolis simulated annealing MCMC algorithm to infer, from the evolution of topics starting from AR1 to AR4, assertions of topics for AR5 and potentially AR6.

Development of adaptive IWRM options for climate change mitigation and adaptation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flügel, W.-A.

2011-04-01

Adaptive Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) options related to the impacts of climate change in the twinning basins of the Upper Danube River Basin (UDRB) and the Upper Brahmaputra River Basin (UBRB) are developed based on the results obtained in the different work packages of the BRAHMATWINN project. They have been described and discussed in Chapter 2 till Chapter 9 and the paper is referring to and is integrating these findings with respect to their application and interpretation for the development of adaptive IWRM options addressing impacts of climate change in river basins. The data and information related to the results discussed in Chapter 2 till 8 have been input to the RBIS as a central component of the IWRMS (Chapter 9). Meanwhile the UDRB has been analysed with respect to IWRM and climate change impacts by various projects, i.e. the GLOWA-Danube BMBF funded project (GLOWA Danube, 2009; Mauser and Ludwig, 2002) the UBRB has not been studied so far in a similar way as it was done in the BRAHMATWINN project. Therefore the IWRM option development is focussing on the UBRB but the methodology presented can be applied for the UDRB and other river basins as well. Data presented and analysed in this chapter have been elaborated by the BRAHMATWINN project partners and are published in the project deliverable reports available from the project homepage http://www.brahmatwinn.uni-jena.de/index.php?id=5311&L=2.

A Review of Literature: Training and the Change Process.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olivier, Maurice

This document is a review of literature on the educational change process; it is designed to detail the role of training in the process of dissemination in a changing climate of education. To do this, it gives attention to defining educational change. The document is divided into five chapters. Chapter one, entitled "Defining the Change…

Integrating climate change into the state wildlife action plans: Biological responses to climate impacts with a focus on Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need (RSGCN)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Morelli, Toni Lyn; DeLuca, William; Ellison, Colton; Jane, Stephen F.; Matthews, Stephen

2015-01-01

This chapter reviews the responses to climate change on the 367 Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need (RSGCN) identified by the Northeast Fish and Wildlife Diversity Technical Committee (NEFWDTC), technical experts from states’ natural resource agencies (Appendix 3.1). These species were chosen based on their conservation status, listing in SWAPs, and the percentage of their range that occurs in the Northeast. The objectives of this chapter are to: summarize how regional biodiversity has already responded and is expected to respond to climate change; summarize information on specific RSGCN species responses to climate change to date and anticipated under future scenarios; characterize the greatest uncertainties about how biodiversity and RSGCN species will respond to climate change in the future; and highlight where other factors are expected to exacerbate the effects of climate change. This information was obtained through a systematic review of the peer-reviewed literature, primarily using the ISI Web of Knowledge to search for papers on each species related to “climate”, “temperature”, or “precipitation”. Although we undoubtedly missed some sources, the following allows us to review some of the ways climate change will affect regional species of conservation concern

The changing southwest

USGS Publications Warehouse

David M. Theobald,; William Travis,; Drummond, Mark A.; Eric Gordon,; Michelle Betsill,

2013-01-01

This chapter describes important geographical and socio-economic characteristics and trends in the Southwest—such as population and economic growth and changes in land ownership, land use, and land cover—that provide the context for how climate change will likely affect the Southwest. The chapter also describes key laws and institutions relevant to adaptive management of resources.

The impact of climate change on coastal ecosystems: chapter 6

USGS Publications Warehouse

Burkett, Virginia; Woodroffe, Colin D.; Nicholls, Robert J.; Forbes, Donald L.

2014-01-01

In this chapter we stress two important features of coasts and coastal ecosystems. First, these are dynamic systems which continually undergo adjustments, especially through erosion and re-deposition, in response to a range of processes. Many coastal ecosystems adjust naturally at a range of time scales and their potential for response is examined partly by reconstructing how such systems have coped with natural changes of climate and sea level in the geological past. Second, coasts have changed profoundly through the 20th Century due to the impacts of human development (such as urbanisation, port and industrial expansion, shore protection, and the draining and conversion of coastal wetlands), with these development-related drivers closely linked to a growing global population and economy. It remains a challenge to isolate the impacts of climate change and sea-level rise from either the natural trajectory of shoreline change, or the accelerated pathway resulting from other human-related stressors. There exists a danger of overstating the importance of climate change, or overlooking significant interactions of climate change with other drivers.

Effects of climate change on wildlife in the Northern Rockies [Chapter 8

Treesearch

Kevin S. McKelvey; Polly C. Buotte

2018-01-01

Few data exist on the direct effects of climatic variability and change on animal species. Therefore, projected climate change effects must be inferred from what is known about habitat characteristics and the autecology of each species. Habitat for mammals, including predators (Canada lynx, fisher, wolverine) and prey (snowshoe hare) that depend on high-elevation,...

Bromus response to climate and projected changes with climate change [Chapter 9

Treesearch

Bethany A. Bradley; Caroline A. Curtis; Jeanne C. Chambers

2016-01-01

A prominent goal of invasive plant management is to prevent or reduce the spread of invasive species into uninvaded landscapes and regions. Monitoring and control efforts often rely on scientific knowledge of suitable habitat for the invasive species. However, rising temperatures and altered precipitation projected with climate change are likely to shift the...

The impacts of climate change and belowground herbivory on aphids via primary metabolites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryalls, James M. W.

Global climate and atmospheric change (summarised as climate change for brevity) may alter patterns of crop damage by insect herbivores, but little is known about how multiple climate change factors, acting in tandem, shape such interactions. Crucially, the specific plant-mediated mechanisms underpinning these effects remain largely unknown. Moreover, research into the effects of climate change on leguminous plant species, which have the ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen (N2) via their association with root nodule-dwelling rhizobial bacteria, and their associated insect herbivores, is surprisingly scarce considering their increasing importance in terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. Using a model legume, lucerne, otherwise known as alfalfa, Medicago sativa (Fabaceae), and a model pest species, the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Hemiptera: Aphididae), this work addresses how predicted changes in carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations, temperature and rainfall patterns as well as interactions with other organisms, including the root-feeding weevil Sitona discoideus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), might shape legume-feeding aphid populations in the future. Recent literature on the impacts of climate change on aphids and the biology and trophic interactions of lucerne aphids specifically were synthesised in chapters one and two, respectively. These chapters highlighted the importance of the interactions between multiple abiotic and biotic variables in shaping aphid population dynamics. Empirical research chapters three to six, using up to five lucerne genotypes (i.e. cultivars) in glasshouse and field experiments, addressed how A. pisum responded to the isolated and combined effects of climate change and root herbivory. In particular, chapter three determined the effects of elevated temperatures (eT) and elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations (eCO2) on root-feeding S. discoideus larvae and their interaction with A. pisum. Chapter four addressed whether the effects of eT, eCO2 and simulated root damage on aphids could be explained by changes in plant amino acid concentrations. Chapter five built on the mechanistic findings from chapter four to determine whether specific groups of amino acids were responsible for driving the effects of eT and eCO2 on aphid fecundity, longevity and intrinsic rate of increase (rm). Chapter six extended this research to the field to determine the plant-mediated effects of water stress and root herbivory on aphids in a mixed grass-legume system. Lucerne demonstrated an over compensatory growth response to root herbivory by S. discoideus larvae by increasing net root biomass and nodulation by 31% and 45%, respectively. eT negated the positive effects of eCO2 on weevil larval development, as well as on a number of lucerne characteristics (e.g. nodulation and amino acid concentrations) and aphid performance parameters (e.g. population growth, fecundity and rm). Root herbivory by S. discoideus negatively impacted aphids in general, although effects were dependent on feeding duration and herbivore arrival sequence (i.e. whether aphids fed on the plant before or after root herbivory). While drought negatively impacted aphid abundance, potentially via reduced phloem turgor and sap viscosity, the effects of eT, eCO2 and root herbivory on aphids were often driven by concentrations of specific amino acid groups. Nitrogen (N) leached from lacerated lucerne root nodules by S. discoideus led to increased concentrations of N in a neighbouring grass, Phalaris aquatica (Poaceae), with knock-on effects on plant competition and community dynamics. The opposing effects of eT and eCO2 on plant characteristics and both aboveground and belowground herbivores demonstrates the importance of combining trophic complexity with multiple climatic factors as a means of gaining realistic insights into how insect and plant communities will respond under future conditions. Identifying the specific amino acid changes underpinning aphid responses to climate change and root herbivory offers the potential for breeding aphid resistance traits into lucerne cultivars and informing adaptation strategies against future threats. Changes in precipitation patterns and plant-mediated indirect aboveground-belowground herbivore interactions can alter the outcome of competition between N-fixing legumes and non-N-fixing grasses, with important implications for plant community structure and productivity. Avenues for future research are explored and other causal agents of changes in aphid performance are discussed, which may further elucidate the mechanisms underpinning climate change and belowground herbivory impacts on aphid pests.

Effects of climate change on snowpack, glaciers, and water resources in the Northern Rockies Region [Chapter 4

Treesearch

Charles H. Luce

2018-01-01

Water is critical to life, and the effects of climate change on ecosystems are mediated through changes in hydrology. Changes in how snow accumulates and melts are one of the more consistently noted climate-induced changes to water in the western United States (Barnett et al. 2005; Service 2004), and these changes affect when water will be available for forests and...

Interactive effects of climate and wildland fires on forests and other ecosystems—section III synthesis

Treesearch

Nancy E. Grulke

2009-01-01

The chapters in Section III of this book provide an overview of how components of climate change, including air pollution, are likely to interact with fire in modifying key ecosystem processes, whether those processes were demographic, successional, or elemental cycling. These chapters primarily  discuss increased temperature, reduced available soil moisture, and...

Northeast and Midwest regional species and habitats at greatest risk and most vulnerable to climate impacts

USGS Publications Warehouse

Staudinger, Michelle D.; Hilberg, Laura; Janowiak, Maria; Swanton, C.O.

2016-01-01

The objectives of this Chapter are to describe climate change vulnerability, it’s components, the range of assessment methods being implemented regionally, and examples of training resources and tools. Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments (CCVAs) have already been conducted for numerous Regional Species of Greatest Conservation Need and their dependent 5 habitats across the Northeast and Midwest. This chapter provides a synthesis of different assessment frameworks, information on the locations (e.g., States) where vulnerability assessments were conducted, lists of individual species and habitats with their respective vulnerability rankings, and a comparison of how vulnerability rankings were determined among studies.

Plant vulnerabilities and genetic adaptation (Chapter 4)

Treesearch

Bryce A. Richardson; Nancy L. Shaw; Rosemary L. Pendleton

2012-01-01

The biogeography of plant species and population genetic structure within species is principally governed by climate. The association between climate change and plant distributions has been well documented since the last ice age, and recent studies have shown contemporary climate changes can create landscape-scale die-offs or movement of plant taxa. Terrestrial...

Synthesis [Chapter 6

Treesearch

D. Schimel; A. C. Janetos; P. Backlund; J. Hatfield; D. P. Lettenmaier; M. G. Ryan

2008-01-01

The preceding chapters have focused on the observed and potential impacts of climate variability and change on U.S. agriculture, land resources, water resources, and biodiversity. This section synthesizes information from those sectoral chapters to address a series of questions that were posed by the CCSP agencies in the prospectus for this report and formulate a set...

Chapter 3: Climate change at multiple scales

Treesearch

Constance Millar; Ron Neilson; Dominique Bachelet; Ray Drapek; Jim Lenihan

2006-01-01

Concepts about the natural world influence approaches to forest management. In the popular press, climate change inevitably refers to global warming, greenhouse gas impacts, novel anthropogenic (human-induced) threats, and international politics. There is, however, a larger context that informs our understanding of changes that are occurring - that is, Earth’...

Chapter 2: Effects of climatic variability and change. In Effects of Climate Variability and Change on Forest Ecosystems: A Comprehensive Science Synthesis for the U.S. Forest Sector; General Technical Report PNW-GTR-870, Washington DC

EPA Science Inventory

Climate profoundly shapes forests. Forest species composition, productivity, availability of goods and services, disturbance regimes, and location on the landscape are all regulated by climate. Much research attention has focused on the problem of predicting the response of fores...

Textbooks of Doubt: Using Systemic Functional Analysis to Explore the Framing of Climate Change in Middle-School Science Textbooks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Román, Diego; Busch, K. C.

2016-01-01

Middle school students are learning about climate change in large part through textbooks used in their classes. Therefore, it is crucial to understand how the language employed in these materials frames this topic. To this end, we used systemic functional analysis to study the language of the chapters related to climate change in four sixth grade…

Climate change and special habitats in the Blue Mountains: Riparian areas, wetlands, and groundwater-dependent ecosystems [Chapter 7

Treesearch

Kathleen A. Dwire; Sabine Mellmann-Brown

2017-01-01

In the Blue Mountains, climate change is likely to have significant, long-term implications for freshwater resources, including riparian areas, wetlands (box 7.1), and groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs, box 7.2). Climate change is expected to cause a transition from snow to rain, resulting in diminished snowpack and shifts in streamflow to earlier in the season (...

Conclusions [Chapter 13

Treesearch

S. Karen Dante-Wood; Linh Hoang

2018-01-01

The Northern Rockies Adaptation Partnership (NRAP) provided significant contributions to assist climate change response in national forests and national parks of the Northern Rockies region. The effort synthesized the best available scientific information to assess climate change vulnerability, develop adaptation options, and catalyze a collaboration of land management...

Conclusions [Chapter 15

Treesearch

Joanne J. Ho; David L. Peterson; Natalie J. Little

2018-01-01

The Intermountain Adaptation Partnership (IAP) provided significant contributions to assist climate change response in national forests and national parks of the region. The effort synthesized the best available scientific information to assess climate change vulnerability, develop adaptation options, and catalyze a collaboration of land management agencies and...

Temperature Changes in the United States. Chapter 6

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vose, R. S.; Easterling, D. R.; Kunkel, K. E.; LeGrande, A. N.; Wehner, M. F.

2017-01-01

Temperature is among the most important climatic elements used in decision-making. For example, builders and insurers use temperature data for planning and risk management while energy companies and regulators use temperature data to predict demand and set utility rates. Temperature is also a key indicator of climate change: recent increases are apparent over the land, ocean, and troposphere, and substantial changes are expected for this century. This chapter summarizes the major observed and projected changes in near-surface air temperature over the United States, emphasizing new data sets and model projections since the Third National Climate Assessment (NCA3). Changes are depicted using a spectrum of observations, including surface weather stations, moored ocean buoys, polar-orbiting satellites, and temperature-sensitive proxies. Projections are based on global models and downscaled products from CMIP5 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5) using a suite of Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs; see Ch. 4: Projections for more on RCPs and future scenarios).

Effects of climate change on rangeland vegetation in the northern Rockies [Chapter 6

Treesearch

Matt C. Reeves; Mary E. Manning; Jeff P. DiBenedetto; Kyle A. Palmquist; William K. Lauenroth; John B. Bradford; Daniel R. Schlaepfer

2017-01-01

A longer growing season with climate change is expected to increase net primary productivity of many rangeland types, especially those dominated by grasses, although responses will depend on local climate and soil conditions. Elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide may increase water use efficiency and productivity of some species. In many cases, increasing wildfire...

Impacts of climate change on Oregon's coasts and estuaries: Chapter 6

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ruggiero,; Brown, Cheryl A.; Komar, Paul D.; Allan, Jonathan C.; Reusser, Deborah A.; Lee,

2010-01-01

In the following sections we attempt to summarize the most recent literature documenting historical changes as well as what may be expected to occur in response to climate change. Where little information is available we draw preliminary conclusions about the potential for specific impacts. When possible we highlight what research is needed to bridge knowledge gaps to improve our ability to identify climate change impacts more precisely, ultimately allowing for future projections.

Addressing uncertainty in vulnerability assessments [Chapter 5

Treesearch

Linda Joyce; Molly Cross; Evan Girvatz

2011-01-01

This chapter addresses issues and approaches for dealing with uncertainty specifically within the context of conducting climate change vulnerability assessments (i.e., uncertainties related to identifying and modeling the sensitivities, levels of exposure, and adaptive capacity of the assessment targets).

Forest processes [Chapter 3

Treesearch

Michael G. Ryan; James M. Vose; Paul J. Hanson; Louis R. Iverson; Chelcy F. Miniat; Charles H. Luce; Lawrence E. Band; Steven L. Klein; Don McKenzie; David N. Wear

2014-01-01

Some of the changes to U.S. forests will be directly caused by the effects of an altered climate, such as increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) temperature (T), and nitrogen (N) deposition on tree growth, mortality, and regeneration. Other changes will be indirectly caused by climate-induced changes in disturbances, such as droughts, fire, insect outbreaks,...

Unique challenges facing Southwestern tribes: Chapter 17

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hiza, Margaret; Chief, Karletta; Bemis, Kirk; Gautam, Mahesh; Middleton, Beth Rose; Tsosie, Rebecca

2013-01-01

•\tTribes are taking action to address climate change by instituting climate-change mitigation initiatives, including utility-scale, alternative-energy projects, and energy-conservation projects. Tribes are also evaluating their existing capacity to engage in effective adaptation planning, even though financial and social capital is limited.

How Should the Department of Defense Approach Environmental Security Implications of Climate Change

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-12-11

Atlanta: Army Environmental Policy Institute. Kleypas, J. A. 2005. Impacts of ocean acidification on coral reefs and other marine calcifiers. Report......literature review. This chapter includes an introduction to climate change, impacts to the population from sea-level rise, ocean acidification

Terrestrial ecosystems and their change

Treesearch

Anatoly Z. Shvidenko; Eric Gustafson; A. David McGuire; Vjacheslav I. Kharuk; Dmitry G. Schepaschenko; Herman H. Shugart; Nadezhda M. Tchebakova; Natalia N. Vygodskaya; Alexander A. Onuchin; Daniel J. Hayes; Ian McCallum; Shamil Maksyutov; Ludmila V. Mukhortova; Amber J. Soja; Luca Belelli-Marchesini; Julia A. Kurbatova; Alexander V. Oltchev; Elena I. Parfenova; Jacquelyn K. Shuman

2012-01-01

This chapter considers the current state of Siberian terrestrial ecosystems, their spatial distribution, and major biometric characteristics. Ongoing climate change and the dramatic increase of accompanying anthropogenic pressure provide different but mostly negative impacts on Siberian ecosystems. Future climates of the region may lead to substantial drying on large...

Climate Change: A Multidisciplinary Approach, Second Edition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirk-Davidoff, Daniel

2008-07-01

William Burroughs, who died in November 2007, was a wonderfully clear and evocative writer. Chapter 3 of his last work, Climate Change: A Multidisciplinary Approach, begins with the loveliest four-paragraph description of the general circulation of the Earth's atmosphere I have ever encountered. His writing also shines in his descriptions of the climate record of the past few thousand years, and in his introduction to the measurement of climate change. Unfortunately, the book is marred by inconsistencies in its treatment of climate dynamics, as well as by a number of idiosyncratic choices of emphasis that detract from the book's quality as a general introduction to the science of climate change.

Effects of climate change on hydrology, water resources, and soil [Chapter 4

Treesearch

Mark J. Muir; Charles H. Luce; Joseph T. Gurrieri; Marek Matyjasik; Jeffrey L. Bruggink; Stacey L. Weems; James C. Hurja; David B. Marr; Sarah D. Leahy

2018-01-01

Water is critical to life, and many of the effects of climate change on ecosystems are mediated through altered hydrology. Snow accumulation and melt are consistently cited as the most important changes to water in the western United States (Barnett et al. 2005; Service 2004), affecting when water will be available for forests, fish, and people. Changes in summer...

Climate change: overview of data sources, observed and predicted temperature changes, and impacts on public and environmental health

Treesearch

David H. Levinson; Christopher J. Fettig

2014-01-01

This chapter addresses the societal and the environmental impacts of climate change related to increasing surface temperatures on air quality and forest health. Increasing temperatures at and near the earth’s surface, due to both a warming climate and urban heat island effects, have been shown to increase ground-level ozone concentrations in cities across the U.S. In...

Mountain Weather and Climate, Third Edition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hastenrath, Stefan

2009-05-01

For colleagues with diverse interests in the atmosphere, glaciers, radiation, landforms, water resources, vegetation, human implications, and more, Mountain Weather and Climate can be a valuable source of guidance and literature references. The book is organized into seven chapters: 1, Mountains and their climatological study; 2,Geographical controls of mountain meteorological elements; 3, Circulation systems related to orography; 4, Climatic characteristics of mountains; 5, Regional case studies; 6, Mountain bioclimatology; and 7, Changes in mountain climates. These chapters are supported by l78 diagrams and photographs, 47 tables, and some 2000 literature references. The volume has an appendix of units and energy conversion factors and a subject index, but it lacks an author index.

Climate Change and Political Action: the Citizens' Climate Lobby

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nelson, P. H.; Secord, S.

2014-12-01

Recognizing the reality of global warming and its origin in greenhouse gas emissions, what does one do about it? Individual action is commendable, but inadequate. Collective action is necessary--Citizens' Climate Lobby proposes a "fee-and-dividend" approach in which a fee is imposed on carbon-based fuel at its sources of production. The fee increases annually in a predictable manner. The funds collected are paid out to consumers as monthly dividends. The approach is market-based, in that the cost of the fee to producers is passed on to consumers in the cost of carbon-based fuels. Downstream energy providers and consumers then make their choices regarding investments and purchases. Citizens' Climate Lobby (CCL) builds national consensus by growing local Chapters, led and populated by volunteers. The Chapters are charged with public education and presenting the fee-and-dividend proposal to their respective Representatives and Senators. CCL builds trust by its non-partisan approach, meeting with all members of Congress regardless of party affiliation and stance on climate-related issues. CCL also builds trust by a non-confrontational approach, seeking to understand rather than to oppose. CCL works both locally, through its local Chapters, and nationally, with an annual conference in Washington DC during which all Congressional offices are visited. CCL recognizes that a long-term, sustained effort is necessary to address climate change.

Risk assessment [Chapter 9

Treesearch

Dennis S. Ojima; Louis R. Iverson; Brent L. Sohngen; James M. Vose; Christopher W. Woodall; Grant M. Domke; David L. Peterson; Jeremy S. Littell; Stephen N. Matthews; Anantha M. Prasad; Matthew P. Peters; Gary W. Yohe; Megan M. Friggens

2014-01-01

What is "risk" in the context of climate change? How can a "risk-based framework" help assess the effects of climate change and develop adaptation priorities? Risk can be described by the likelihood of an impact occurring and the magnitude of the consequences of the impact (Yohe 2010) (Fig. 9.1). High-magnitude impacts are always...

Land resources: Forest and arid lands [Chapter 3

Treesearch

M. G. Ryan; S. R. Archer; R. A. Birdsey; C. N. Dahm; L. S. Heath; J. A. Hicke; D. Y. Hollinger; T. E. Huxman; G. S. Okin; R. Oren; J. T. Randerson; W. H. Schlesinger

2008-01-01

This synthesis and assessment report builds on an extensive scientific literature and series of recent assessments of the historical and potential impacts of climate change and climate variability on managed and unmanaged ecosystems and their constituent biota and processes. It identifies changes in resource conditions that are now being observed and examines whether...

Enabling Climate Science Investigations by Students Using Cryosphere Climate Data Records (CDRs)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ledley, T. S.; Youngman, B.; Meier, W.; Bardar, E.

2010-12-01

The polar regions are particularly sensitive to changes in the climate system, and as such changes can be recognized there first. Scientists make use of this to help them develop and execute research programs that will deepen and expand our understanding of the climate system. However, the same cryosphere CDRs collected by scientists are a useful and reliable resource for helping students investigate and discover the manifestations and implications of global climate change. We have developed a number of avenues to facilitate the use of cryosphere CDRs in educational contexts. These include the Earth Exploration Toolbook (EET, http://serc.carleton.edu/eet), DataSheets (http://serc.carleton.edu/usingdata/browse_sheets.html), and Cryosphere-EarthLabs (http://serc.carleton.edu/dev/earthlabs/cryosphere). The EET is an online resource comprised of “chapters”, each of which focuses on a specific Earth science dataset and data analysis tool. Chapters provide step-by-step instructions for accessing the dataset and analysis tool, putting the data into the tool, and conducting an analysis around a specific scientific concept or issue. There are a number of EET chapters that utilize cryosphere CDRs. The EET chapter “Whither Arctic Sea Ice?” uses ~30 years of Arctic sea ice extent images and image processing software to study changes in sea ice extent. “Is Greenland Melting?” uses ice thickness data, ice melting extents and weather station data to examine the changes in the Greenland Ice Sheet. Other EET chapters that utilize cryosphere CDRs include “Using NASA NEO and ImageJ to Explore the Role of Snow Cover in Shaping Climate” and “Envisioning Climate Change Using a Global Climate Model.” In addition to creating these activities to facilitate the use of cryosphere CDRs we have also created DataSheets for these CDRs. DataSheets are educationally relevant human readable metadata about a dataset that provide both the scientific background information about the dataset as well as the topics and skills that can be taught using the dataset. DataSheets enable an educator to make effective use of a dataset outside the context of an educational activity. A DataSheet created for the sea ice index used in the “Whither Arctic Sea Ice? EET chapter is “Exploring Sea Ice Data From Satellites.” An EarthLabs module is a suite of 7-9 labs intended to be the laboratory component of a high-school capstone Earth and Space Science course. The Cryosphere-EarthLabs module focuses on sea ice to help students deepen their understanding of change over time in the climate system on multiple and embedded time scales. The module contains hands-on activities and investigations using online cryosphere CDRs to help students understand the how sea ice forms and varies, how the cryosphere changes, and the causes of those changes on time scales ranging from the seasonal to ice age time scales. In this presentation we will examine the EET and EarthLabs resources that help educators and students explore climate change using cryosphere CDRs; examine the DataSheets for these datasets; and describe how your cryosphere CDRs can be made available through these resources.

Modeling and predicting vegetation response of western USA grasslands, shrublands, and deserts to climate change (Chapter 1)

Treesearch

Megan M. Friggens; Marcus V. Warwell; Jeanne C. Chambers; Stanley G. Kitchen

2012-01-01

Experimental research and species distribution modeling predict large changes in the distributions of species and vegetation types in the Interior West due to climate change. Species’ responses will depend not only on their physiological tolerances but also on their phenology, establishment properties, biotic interactions, and capacity to evolve and migrate. Because...

Climate of the past 2000 years in IPCC AR5 (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masson-Delmotte, V.

2013-12-01

Different aspects of the climate of the past 2000 years are covered in several chapters of the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, including information from paleoclimate archives, changes in the carbon and biogeochemical cycles, changes in sea level, climate model evaluation and detection and attribution. This presentation will summarize the main findings regarding pre-industrial changes in radiative forcings, reconstructed and simulated temperature variations at the hemispheric and regional scales, as well as global sea level for the past 2000 years, in the perspective of the current and earlier interglacial periods.

Using high-resolution satellite imagery to assess populations of animals in the Antarctic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LaRue, Michelle Ann

The Southern Ocean is one of the most rapidly-changing ecosystems on the planet due to the effects of climate change and commercial fishing for ecologically-important krill and fish. It is imperative that populations of indicator species, such as penguins and seals, be monitored at regional- to global scales to decouple the effects of climate and anthropogenic changes for appropriate ecosystem-based management of the Southern Ocean. Remotely monitoring populations through high-resolution satellite imagery is currently the only feasible way to gain information about population trends of penguins and seals in Antarctica. In my first chapter, I review the literature where high-resolution satellite imagery has been used to assess populations of animals in polar regions. Building on this literature, my second chapter focuses on estimating changes in abundance in the Weddell seal population in Erebus Bay. I found a strong correlation between ground and satellite counts, and this finding provides an alternate method for assessing populations of Weddell seals in areas where less is known about population status. My third chapter explores how size of the guano stain of Adelie penguins can be used to predict population size. Using high-resolution imagery and ground counts, I built a model to estimate the breeding population of Adelie penguins using a supervised classification to estimate guano size. These results suggest that the size of guano stain is an accurate predictor of population size, and can be applied to estimate remote Adelie penguin colonies. In my fourth chapter, I use air photos, satellite imagery, climate and mark-resight data to determine that climate change has positively impacted the population of Adelie penguins at Beaufort Island through a habitat release that ultimately affected the dynamics within the southern Ross Sea metapopulation. Finally, for my fifth chapter I combined the literature with observations from aerial surveys and satellite imagery to determine that emperor penguins are not philopatric. These results have implications for interpreting long-term modeling studies and I suggest that future research should account for metapopulation dynamics within emperor penguin populations. Combined, my dissertation provides resources and new insights for effective management of the Southern Ocean ecosystem.

Chapter 11: Tribal ecocultural resources and engagement

Treesearch

Jonathan Long; Frank K. Lake; Kathy Lynn; Carson Viles

2018-01-01

In this chapter, we review scientific information regarding the conservation and restoration of forest ecosystems on public lands within the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP, or Plan) area that harbor special value for American Indian tribes and individuals. We highlight advances in understanding how changes in climate, fire, hydrology, vegetation, and resource management...

Aquatics [Chapter 6

Treesearch

F. A. Vertucci; M. A. Conrad

1994-01-01

Within the GLEES boundary there are three alpine lakes and several streams and ponds. The selection of GLEES as a research site for investigating of the effects of chemical and physical climate change was in part based on the accessibility of these low alkalinity "sensitive" aquatic ecosystems. This chapter provides a brief description of the physical,...

Earth System Monitoring, Introduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orcutt, John

This section provides sensing and data collection methodologies, as well as an understanding of Earth's climate parameters and natural and man-made phenomena, to support a scientific assessment of the Earth system as a whole, and its response to natural and human-induced changes. The coverage ranges from climate change factors and extreme weather and fires to oil spill tracking and volcanic eruptions. This serves as a basis to enable improved prediction and response to climate change, weather, and natural hazards as well as dissemination of the data and conclusions. The data collection systems include satellite remote sensing, aerial surveys, and land- and ocean-based monitoring stations. Our objective in this treatise is to provide a significant portion of the scientific and engineering basis of Earth system monitoring and to provide this in 17 detailed articles or chapters written at a level for use by university students through practicing professionals. The reader is also directed to the closely related sections on Ecological Systems, Introduction and also Climate Change Modeling Methodology, Introduction as well as Climate Change Remediation, Introduction to. For ease of use by students, each article begins with a glossary of terms, while at an average length of 25 print pages each, sufficient detail is presented for use by professionals in government, universities, and industries. The chapters are individually summarized below.

Climate change, fish, and aquatic habitat in the Blue Mountains [Chapter 5

Treesearch

Daniel J. Isaak; Katherine Ramsey; John C. Chatel; Deborah L. Konnoff; Robert A. Gecy; Dona Horan

2017-01-01

National Forest System lands in the Blue Mountains region support a diversity of important native aquatic species that will be affected by climate change. As part of the Blue Mountains Adaptation Partnership, four of these species (spring Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Walbaum in Artedi), bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus Suckley), summer steelhead (O....

Session overview: climate and landscape change over time

Treesearch

Constance I. Millar

2004-01-01

In this chapter, we strive for something different. Whereas a goal of the other sessions at the Sierra Nevada Science Symposium was to present new research on familiar themes, our goal in the session "Climate and Landscape Change Over Time" was to introduce a topic that itself is likely unfamiliar to many resource scientists and managers. The limited...

Chapter 7 - Climate effects on lichen indicators for nitrogen

Treesearch

Sarah Jovan

2014-01-01

The Lichen Communities Indicator is a sensitive indicator of forest health changes caused by air quality, climate change, and other stressors. To date, more than 8,000 epiphytic lichen surveys have been collected across the Nation by the Forest Inventory Analysis (FIA) and Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) Programs and their partners (table 7.1; Phelan and others 2012)....

Climate vulnerability of native cold-water salmonids in the Northern Rockies Region [Chapter 5

Treesearch

Michael K. Young; Daniel J. Isaak; Scott Spaulding; Cameron A. Thomas; Scott A. Barndt; Matthew C. Groce; Dona Horan; David E. Nagel

2018-01-01

During the 21st century, climate change is expected to alter aquatic habitats throughout the Northern Rocky Mountains, intermountain basins, and western Great Plains. Particularly in montane watersheds, direct changes are likely to include warmer water temperatures, earlier snowmelt-driven runoff, earlier declines to summer baseflow, downhill movement of perennial...

Introduction [Chapter 1

Treesearch

Peter Backlund; Anthony Janetos; David Schimel; J. Hatfield; M. Ryan; S. Archer; D. Lettenmaier

2008-01-01

This report is an assessment of the effects of climate change on U.S. land resources, water resources, agriculture, and biodiversity. It is based on extensive examination of the relevant scientific literature, and is one of a series of 21 Synthesis and Assessment Products that are being produced under the auspices of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP). The...

The Climate Science Special Report: Arctic Changes and their Effect on Alaska and the Rest of the United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, P. C.

2017-12-01

Rapid and visible climate change is happening across the Arctic, outpacing global change. Annual average near-surface air temperatures across the Arctic are increasing at more than twice the rate of global average surface temperature. In addition to surface temperature, all components of the Arctic climate system are responding in kind, including sea ice, mountain glaciers and the Greenland Ice sheet, snow cover, and permafrost. Many of these changes with a discernable anthropogenic imprint. While Arctic climate change may seem physically remote to those living in other regions of the planet, Arctic climate change can affect the global climate influencing sea level, the carbon cycle, and potentially atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns. As an Arctic nation, United States' adaptation, mitigation, and policy decisions depend on projections of future Alaskan and Arctic climate. This chapter of the Climate Science Special Report documents significant scientific progress and knowledge about how the Alaskan and Arctic climate has changed and will continue to change.

A supply chain approach to biochar systems [Chapter 2

Treesearch

Nathaniel M. Anderson; Richard D. Bergman; Deborah S. Page-Dumroese

2017-01-01

Biochar systems are designed to meet four related primary objectives: improve soils, manage waste, generate renewable energy, and mitigate climate change. Supply chain models provide a holistic framework for examining biochar systems with an emphasis on product life cycle and end use. Drawing on concepts in supply chain management and engineering, this chapter presents...

Effects of climate change on ecosystem services [Chapter 13

Treesearch

Travis W. Warziniack; Matthew J. Elmer; Chris J. Miller; S. Karen Dante-Wood; Christopher W. Woodall; Michael C. Nichols; Grant M. Domke; Keith D. Stockmann; John G. Proctor; Allison M. Borchers

2018-01-01

Ecosystem services are benefits to humans from the natural environment. These benefits that humans derive from ecosystems are the tangible connection between society and the natural environment. Some of these benefits are timber harvesting, rangeland grazing, municipal water use, carbon sequestration, and pollinators—all discussed in this chapter. The typology...

Maintenance of productive capacity of forest ecosystems

Treesearch

W. Keith Moser; Patrick D. Miles; Aimee Stephens; Dale D. Gormanson; Stephen R. Shifley; Dave Wear; Robert J. Huggett; Ruhong Li

2016-01-01

This chapter reports projected changes in forest area, age, volume, biomass, number of trees, and removals from 2010 to 2060 for alternative scenarios that bracket a range of possible future socioeconomic and climate conditions in the Northern United States, which consists of 20 central and northeastern States. As described in Chapter 2, the scenarios incorporate...

Abstracts and program proceedings of the 1994 meeting of the International Society for Ecological Modelling North American Chapter

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kercher, J.R.

1994-06-01

This document contains information about the 1994 meeting of the International Society for Ecological Modelling North American Chapter. The topics discussed include: extinction risk assessment modelling, ecological risk analysis of uranium mining, impacts of pesticides, demography, habitats, atmospheric deposition, and climate change.

Changes in climate extremes and their impacts on the natural physical environment: An overview of the IPCC SREX report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seneviratne, S. I.; Nicholls, N.; Easterling, D.; Goodess, C. M.; Kanae, S.; Kossin, J.; Luo, Y.; Marengo, J.; McInnes, K.; Rahimi, M.; Reichstein, M.; Sorteberg, A.; Vera, C.; Zhang, X.

2012-04-01

In April 2009, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) decided to prepare a new special report with involvement of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) on the topic "Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation" (SREX, http://ipcc-wg2.gov/SREX/). This special report reviews the scientific literature on past and projected changes in weather and climate extremes, and the relevance of such changes to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. The SREX Summary for Policymakers was approved at an IPCC Plenary session on November 14-18, 2011, and the full report is planned for release in February 2012. This presentation will provide an overview on the structure and contents of the SREX, focusing on Chapter 3: "Changes in climate extremes and their impacts on the natural physical environment" [1]. It will in particular present the main findings of the chapter, including differences between the SREX's conclusions and those of the IPCC Fourth Assessment of 2007, and the implications of this new assessment for disaster risk reduction. Finally, aspects relevant to impacts on the biogeochemical cycles will also be addressed. [1] Seneviratne, S.I., N. Nicholls, D. Easterling, C.M. Goodess, S. Kanae, J. Kossin, Y. Luo, J. Marengo, K. McInnes, M. Rahimi, M. Reichstein, A. Sorteberg, C. Vera, and X. Zhang, 2012: Changes in climate extremes and their impacts on the natural physical environment. In: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation [Field, C. B., Barros, V., Stocker, T.F., Qin, D., Dokken, D., Ebi, K.L., Mastrandrea, M. D., Mach, K. J., Plattner, G.-K., Allen, S. K., Tignor, M. and P. M. Midgley (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA

Moving forward with imperfect information: chapter 19

USGS Publications Warehouse

Averyt, Kristen; Brekke, Levi D.; Kaatz, Laurna; Welling, Leigh; Hartge, Eric H.; Iseman, Tom

2013-01-01

- Climate change is one of multiple stresses affecting the physical, biological, social, and economic systems of the Southwest, with population growth (and its related resource consumption, pollution, and land-sue changes) being particularly important.

Chapter 2: Climate, disturbance, and vulnerability to vegetation change in the Northwest Forest Plan Area

Treesearch

Matthew J. Reilly; Thomas A.  Spies; Ramona Butz Littell; John B. . Kim

2018-01-01

Climate change is expected to alter the composition, structure, and function of forested ecosystems in the United States (Vose et al. 2012). Increases in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases (e.g., carbon dioxide [CO2]) and temperature, as well as altered precipitation and disturbance regimes (e.g., fire, insects, pathogens, and windstorms), are expected to...

Fixing Climate: What Past Climate Changes Reveal About the Current Threat-And How to Counter It

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKinley, Galen A.

2008-10-01

The Earth's climate is changing due to human activities. Recent polls suggest that the U.S. public generally recognizes this fact, and the efforts that led the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and former U.S. vice president Al Gore to win the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize have played no small role in bringing most of the public to realize what scientists have been discussing for years. Yet aside from distorted Hollywood movie accounts such as The Day After Tomorrow, the public knows little about the potential for abrupt change in the climate system. With support from climate science philanthropist Gary Comer, climate scientist Wally Broecker has teamed with science writer Robert Kunzig in this book to bring abrupt climate change into public view. They do this elegantly and convincingly, making the first 12 chapters quite enjoyable.

Chapter 1. Impacts of the oceans on climate change.

PubMed

Reid, Philip C; Fischer, Astrid C; Lewis-Brown, Emily; Meredith, Michael P; Sparrow, Mike; Andersson, Andreas J; Antia, Avan; Bates, Nicholas R; Bathmann, Ulrich; Beaugrand, Gregory; Brix, Holger; Dye, Stephen; Edwards, Martin; Furevik, Tore; Gangstø, Reidun; Hátún, Hjálmar; Hopcroft, Russell R; Kendall, Mike; Kasten, Sabine; Keeling, Ralph; Le Quéré, Corinne; Mackenzie, Fred T; Malin, Gill; Mauritzen, Cecilie; Olafsson, Jón; Paull, Charlie; Rignot, Eric; Shimada, Koji; Vogt, Meike; Wallace, Craig; Wang, Zhaomin; Washington, Richard

2009-01-01

The oceans play a key role in climate regulation especially in part buffering (neutralising) the effects of increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and rising global temperatures. This chapter examines how the regulatory processes performed by the oceans alter as a response to climate change and assesses the extent to which positive feedbacks from the ocean may exacerbate climate change. There is clear evidence for rapid change in the oceans. As the main heat store for the world there has been an accelerating change in sea temperatures over the last few decades, which has contributed to rising sea-level. The oceans are also the main store of carbon dioxide (CO2), and are estimated to have taken up approximately 40% of anthropogenic-sourced CO2 from the atmosphere since the beginning of the industrial revolution. A proportion of the carbon uptake is exported via the four ocean 'carbon pumps' (Solubility, Biological, Continental Shelf and Carbonate Counter) to the deep ocean reservoir. Increases in sea temperature and changing planktonic systems and ocean currents may lead to a reduction in the uptake of CO2 by the ocean; some evidence suggests a suppression of parts of the marine carbon sink is already underway. While the oceans have buffered climate change through the uptake of CO2 produced by fossil fuel burning this has already had an impact on ocean chemistry through ocean acidification and will continue to do so. Feedbacks to climate change from acidification may result from expected impacts on marine organisms (especially corals and calcareous plankton), ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles. The polar regions of the world are showing the most rapid responses to climate change. As a result of a strong ice-ocean influence, small changes in temperature, salinity and ice cover may trigger large and sudden changes in regional climate with potential downstream feedbacks to the climate of the rest of the world. A warming Arctic Ocean may lead to further releases of the potent greenhouse gas methane from hydrates and permafrost. The Southern Ocean plays a critical role in driving, modifying and regulating global climate change via the carbon cycle and through its impact on adjacent Antarctica. The Antarctic Peninsula has shown some of the most rapid rises in atmospheric and oceanic temperature in the world, with an associated retreat of the majority of glaciers. Parts of the West Antarctic ice sheet are deflating rapidly, very likely due to a change in the flux of oceanic heat to the undersides of the floating ice shelves. The final section on modelling feedbacks from the ocean to climate change identifies limitations and priorities for model development and associated observations. Considering the importance of the oceans to climate change and our limited understanding of climate-related ocean processes, our ability to measure the changes that are taking place are conspicuously inadequate. The chapter highlights the need for a comprehensive, adequately funded and globally extensive ocean observing system to be implemented and sustained as a high priority. Unless feedbacks from the oceans to climate change are adequately included in climate change models, it is possible that the mitigation actions needed to stabilise CO2 and limit temperature rise over the next century will be underestimated.

Mirror Lake: Past, present and future: Chapter 6

USGS Publications Warehouse

Likens, Gene E.; LaBaugh, James W.; Winter, Thomas C.; Likens, Gene E.

2009-01-01

This chapter discusses the hydrological and biogeochemical characteristics of Mirror Lake and the changes that resulted from air-land-water interactions and human activities. Since the formation of Mirror Lake, both the watershed and the lake have undergone many changes, such as vegetation development and basin filling. These changes are ongoing, and Mirror Lake is continuing along an aging pathway and ultimately, it will fill with sediment and no longer be a lake. The chapter also identifies major factors that affected the hydrology and biogeochemistry of Mirror Lake: acid rain, atmospheric deposition of lead and other heavy metals, increased human settlement around the lake, the construction of an interstate highway through the watershed of the Northeast Tributary, the construction of an access road through the West and Northeast watersheds to the lake, and climate change. The chapter also offers future recommendations for management and protection of Mirror Lake.

Three empirical essays on consumer behavior related to climate change and energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacobsen, Grant Douglas

This dissertation consists of three essays. All of the chapters address a topic in the area of household and consumer behavior related to climate change or energy. The first chapter is titled "The Al Gore Effect: An Inconvenient Truth and Voluntary Carbon Offsets". This chapter examines the relationship between climate change awareness and household behavior by testing whether Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth caused an increase in the purchase of voluntary carbon offsets. The analysis shows that in the two months following the film's release, zip codes within a 10-mile radius of a zip code where the film was shown experienced a 50 percent relative increase in the purchase of voluntary carbon offsets. The second chapter is titled "Are Building Codes Effective at Saving Energy? Evidence from Residential Billing Data in Florida". The analysis shows that Florida's energy-code change that took effect in 2002 is associated with a 4-percent decrease in electricity consumption and a 6-percent decrease in natural-gas consumption in Gainesville, FL. The estimated private payback period for the average residence is 6.4 years and the social payback period ranges between 3.5 and 5.3 years. The third chapter in this dissertation is titled "Do Environmental Offsets Increase Demand for Dirty Goods? Evidence from Residential Electricity Demand". This study evaluates the relationship between green products and existing patterns of consumer behavior by examining the relationship between household enrollment in a green electricity program and consumption of residential electricity. The results suggest there are two different types of green consumers. One type makes a small monthly donation and partially views the donation as a substitute for a previously existing pattern of green behavior, in this case, energy conservation. The other type makes a larger monthly donation and views the donation as a way to make strictly additional improvements in environmental quality.

Effects of climate change on nonforest vegetation [Chapter 7

Treesearch

Wayne G. Padgett; Matthew C. Reeves; Stanley G. Kitchen; David L. Tart; Jeanne C. Chambers; Cheri Howell; Mary E. Manning; John G. Proctor

2018-01-01

Nonforest ecosystems, as they are addressed in this chapter, contain woodland, shrubland, herbaceous, wetland, or riparian vegetation types. They are estimated to occupy over 30 million acres and 50 percent of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USFS) Intermountain Region (table 7.1). These diverse ecosystems range in elevation from desert floors to...

An observational and modeling study of the regional impacts of climate variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horton, Radley M.

Climate variability has large impacts on humans and their agricultural systems. Farmers are at the center of this agricultural network, but it is often agricultural planners---regional planners, extension agents, commodity groups and cooperatives---that translate climate information for users. Global climate models (GCMs) are a leading tool for understanding and predicting climate and climate change. Armed with climate projections and forecasts, agricultural planners adapt their decision-making to optimize outcomes. This thesis explores what GCMs can, and cannot, tell us about climate variability and change at regional scales. The question is important, since high-quality regional climate projections could assist farmers and regional planners in key management decisions, contributing to better agricultural outcomes. To answer these questions, climate variability and its regional impacts are explored in observations and models for the current and future climate. The goals are to identify impacts of observed variability, assess model simulation of variability, and explore how climate variability and its impacts may change under enhanced greenhouse warming. Chapter One explores how well Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) atmospheric models, forced by historical sea surface temperatures (SST), simulate climatology and large-scale features during the exceptionally strong 1997--1999 El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle. Reasonable performance in this 'proof of concept' test is considered a minimum requirement for further study of variability in models. All model versions produce appropriate local changes with ENSO, indicating that with correct ocean temperatures these versions are capable of simulating the large-scale effects of ENSO around the globe. A high vertical resolution model (VHR) provides the best simulation. Evidence is also presented that SST anomalies outside the tropical Pacific may play a key role in generating remote teleconnections even during El Nino events. Based on the results from Chapter One, the analysis is expanded in several ways in Chapter Two. To gain a more complete and statistically meaningful understanding of ENSO, a 25 year time period is used instead of a single event. To gain a fuller understanding of climate variability, additional patterns are analyzed. Finally analysis is conducted at the regional scales that are of interest to farmers and agricultural planners. Key findings are that GISS ModelE can reproduce: (1) the spatial pattern associated with two additional related modes, the Arctic Oscillation (AO) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO); (2) rainfall patterns in Indonesia; and (3) dynamical features such as sea level pressure (SLP) gradients and wind in the study regions. When run in coupled mode, the same model reproduces similar modes spatially but with reduced variance and weak teleconnections. Since Chapter Two identified Western Indonesia as the region where GCMs hold the most promise for agricultural applications, in Chapter Three a finer spatial and temporal scale analysis of ENSO's effects is presented. Agricultural decision-making is also linked to ENSO's climate effects. Early rainy season precipitation and circulation, and same-season planting and harvesting dates, are shown to be sensitive to ENSO. The locus of ENSO convergence and rainfall anomalies is shown to be near the axis of rainy season establishment, defined as the 6--8 mm/day isohyet, an approximate threshold for irrigated rice cultivation. As the axis tracks south and east between October and January, so do ENSO anomalies. Circulation anomalies associated with ENSO are shown to be similar to those associated with rainfall anomalies, suggesting that long lead-time ENSO forecasts may allow more adaptation than 'wait and see' methods, with little loss of forecast skill. Additional findings include: (1) rice and corn yields are lower (higher) during dry (wet) trimesters and El Nino (La Nina) years; and (2) a statistically significant negative relationship exists between malaria cases and ENSO. The final chapter adds climate change to the climate variability story. Under high CO2, the model able to capture ENSO dynamics---an atmospheric model coupled to the Cane-Zebiak ocean model ('C4' here)---generates more El Nino-like mean conditions in the tropical Pacific. These changes produce a 4x larger increase in maximum precipitation with warming in C4 than an atmospheric model with a slab ocean (Q4), dramatically enhancing the Pacific Hadley and Walker circulations, and through positive feedbacks, increasing the global temperature. Near Nordeste warming alone (Q4) produces added rainfall, which in C4 is partially cancelled out by El Nino-like changes in the Walker Cell. Both Q4 and C4 produce small changes in Indonesia, although C4 generates large circulation and precipitation anomalies over the Western Indian Ocean. C4 changes in the midlatitudes produce a very strong Pacific North American pattern (PNA) response that dominates a small positive AO change associated with Q4. These PNA changes produce increased rainfall over the Southeastern United States (SEUS) in C4. AO and NAO-like variability are also found to increase with enhanced CO2. This thesis highlights how climate variability influences regional climate variability, with an emphasis on four regions: Nordeste, Brazil, Western Indonesia, the Southeastern United States (SEUS), and the Mediterranean. It links El Nino-driven delay in the onset of rainy season drivers in Western Indonesia to decision-making about when to plant the year's largest crop. In a coupled configuration, the GISS GCM produces strong El Nino-like changes with global warming. This result suggests that the impacts---climatological and agricultural---of climate change may ultimately exceed the impacts of current variability. Somewhat paradoxically, these results indicate that one of the central manifestations of climate change is likely to be changes in patterns of climate variability and their regional impacts.

Executive summary: Climate change in the northwest: Implications for our landscapes, waters, and communities

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dalton, Meghan M.; Bethel, Jeffrey; Capalbo, Susan M.; Cuhaciyan, J.E.; Eigenbrode, Sanford D.; Glick, Patty; Houston, Laurie L.; Littell, Jeremy S.; Lynn, Kathy; Mote, Philip W.; Raymondi, Rick R.; Reeder, W. Spencer; Shafer, Sarah L.; Snover, Amy K.

2013-01-01

Climate Change in the Northwest: Implications for Our Landscapes, Waters, and Communities is aimed at assessing the state of knowledge about key climate impacts and consequences to various sectors and communities in the northwest United States. It draws on a wealth of peer-reviewed literature, earlier state-level assessment reports conducted for Washington (2009) and Oregon (2010), as well as a risk-framing workshop. As an assessment, it aims to be representative (though not exhaustive) of the key climate change issues as reflected in the growing body of Northwest climate change science, impacts, and adaptation literature now available. This report will serve as an updated resource for scientists, stakeholders, decision makers, students, and community members interested in understanding and preparing for climate change impacts on Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. This more detailed, foundational report is intended to support the key findings presented in the Northwest chapter of the Third National Climate Assessment.

Surface water quality in streams and rivers: introduction, scaling, and climate change: Chapter 5

USGS Publications Warehouse

Loperfido, John

2013-01-01

A variety of competing and complementary needs such as ecological health, human consumption, transportation, recreation, and economic value make management and protection of water resources in riverine environments essential. Thus, an understanding of the complex and interacting factors that dictate riverine water quality is essential in empowering stake-holders to make informed management decisions (see Chapter 1.15 for additional information on water resource management). Driven by natural and anthropogenic forcing factors, a variety of chemical, physical, and biological processes dictate riverine water quality, resulting in temporal and spatial patterns and cycling (see Chapter 1.2 for information describing how global change interacts with water resources). Furthermore, changes in climatic forcing factors may lead to long-term deviations in water quality outside the envelope of historical data. The goal of this chapter is to present fundamental concepts dictating the conditions of basic water quality parameters in rivers and streams (herein generally referred to as rivers unless discussing a specific system) in the context of temporal (diel (24 h) to decadal) longitudinal scaling. Understanding water quality scaling in rivers is imperative as water is continually reused and recycled (see also Chapters 3.1 and 3.15); upstream discharges from anthropogenic sources are incorporated into bulk riverine water quality that is used by downstream consumers. Water quality parameters reviewed here include temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), and suspended sediment and were selected given the abundance of data available for these parameters due to recent advances in water quality sensor technology (see Chapter 4.13 for use of hydrologic data in watershed management). General equations describing reactions affecting water temperature, pH, DO, and suspended sediment are included to convey the complexity of how simultaneously occurring reactions can affect water quality in rivers. Concepts presented in this chapter will provide a backdrop that other chapters in this book will explore further, including water quality in the following riverine systems: the Mississippi River (see Chapter 4.9), Hudson River (see Chapter 4.6), and rivers in India (see Chapter 4.10).

Water and water use in southern Nevada [Chapter 3] (Executive Summary)

Treesearch

Wayne R. Belcher; Michael J. Moran; Megan E. Rogers

2013-01-01

Water and water use in southern Nevada is an important issue. The scarcity of water resources for both human and biologic communities often leads to intense competition for both surface and ground waters. Anthropogenic and climate change impacts on scarce water resources need to be understood to assess human and ecosystem health for southern Nevada. Chapter 3 outlines...

Effects of climate change on ecosystem services in the Northern Rockies Region [Chapter 11

Treesearch

Travis Warziniack; Megan Lawson; S. Karen Dante-Wood

2018-01-01

In this chapter, we focus on the ecosystem services provided to people who visit, live adjacent to, or otherwise benefit from natural resources on public lands. Communities in the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USFS) Northern Region and the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA), hereafter called the Northern Rockies region, are highly dependent on ecosystem...

Effects of climate change on rangeland vegetation in the Northern Rockies Region [Chapter 7

Treesearch

Matt C. Reeves; Mary E. Manning; Jeff P. DiBenedetto; Kyle A. Palmquist; William K. Lauenroth; John B. Bradford; Daniel R. Schlaepfer

2018-01-01

Rangelands are dominated by grass, forb, or shrub species, but are usually not modified by using agronomic improvements such as fertilization or irrigation (Lund 2007; Reeves and Mitchell 2011) as these lands would normally be considered pastures. Rangeland includes grassland, shrubland, and desert ecosystems, alpine areas, and some woodlands (box 7.1). This chapter...

Impact of Urban Surfaces on Precipitation Processes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shepherd, J. M.

2004-01-01

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established in 1988 by two United Nations organizations, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to assess the "risk of human-induced climate change". Such reports are used by decision-makers around the world to assess how our climate is changing. Its reports are widely respected and cited and have been highly influential in forming national and international responses to climate change. The Fourth Assessment report includes a section on the effects of surface processes on climate. This sub-chapter provides an overview of recent developments related to the impact of cities on rainfall. It highlights the possible mechanisms that buildings, urban heat islands, urban aerosols or pollution, and other human factors in cities that can affect rainfall.

Radiative forcing of climate

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ramanswamy, V.; Shine, Keith; Leovy, Conway; Wang, Wei-Chyung; Rodhe, Henning; Wuebbles, Donald J.; Ding, M.; Lelieveld, Joseph; Edmonds, Jae A.; Mccormick, M. Patrick

1991-01-01

An update of the scientific discussions presented in Chapter 2 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report is presented. The update discusses the atmospheric radiative and chemical species of significance for climate change. There are two major objectives of the present update. The first is an extension of the discussion on the Global Warming Potentials (GWP's), including a reevaluation in view of the updates in the lifetimes of the radiatively active species. The second important objective is to underscore major developments in the radiative forcing of climate due to the observed stratospheric ozone losses occurring between 1979 and 1990.

How Well Do COP22 Attendees Understand Graphs on Climate Change Health Impacts from the Fifth IPCC Assessment Report?

PubMed

Fischer, Helen; Schütte, Stefanie; Depoux, Anneliese; Amelung, Dorothee; Sauerborn, Rainer

2018-04-27

Graphs are prevalent in the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), often depicting key points and major results. However, the popularity of graphs in the IPCC reports contrasts with a neglect of empirical tests of their understandability. Here we put the understandability of three graphs taken from the Health chapter of the Fifth Assessment Report to an empirical test. We present a pilot study where we evaluate objective understanding (mean accuracy in multiple-choice questions) and subjective understanding (self-assessed confidence in accuracy) in a sample of attendees of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Marrakesh, 2016 (COP22), and a student sample. Results show a mean objective understanding of M = 0.33 for the COP sample, and M = 0.38 for the student sample. Subjective and objective understanding were unrelated for the COP22 sample, but associated for the student sample. These results suggest that (i) understandability of the IPCC health chapter graphs is insufficient, and that (ii) particularly COP22 attendees lacked insight into which graphs they did, and which they did not understand. Implications for the construction of graphs to communicate health impacts of climate change to decision-makers are discussed.

Effects of climate change on infrastructure [Chapter 11

Treesearch

Michael J. Furniss; Natalie J. Little; David L. Peterson

2018-01-01

Climatic conditions, particularly extreme rainfall, snowmelt, and flooding, pose substantial risks to infrastructure in and near public lands in the Intermountain Adaptation Partnership (IAP) region (box 11.1). Minor floods happen frequently in the region, and large floods happen occasionally. These events can damage or destroy roads and other infrastructure and affect...

Whither Arctic Sea Ice? - An Earth Exploration Toolbook chapter on the climate's canary in a coal mine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meier, W. N.; Youngman, E.; Dahlman, L.

2007-12-01

Arctic sea ice is declining rapidly. Since 2002, summer Arctic sea ice extents have been at record or near-record lows; winter extents have also showed a marked decline. Even in comparison to the previous five extreme low years, the 2007 summer melt season has been stunning, with dramatically less ice than the previous record in 2005. This is further evidence that the Arctic sea ice may have already passed a tipping point toward a state without ice during the summer by 2050 or before. Such a change will have profound impacts on climate as well as human and wildlife activities in the region. The "Whither Arctic Sea Ice?" Earth Exploration Toolbook chapter (http://serc.carleton.edu/eet/seaice/index.html) exposes students to satellite-derived sea ice data and allows them to process and interpret the data to "discover" these sea ice changes for themselves. A sample case study in Hudson Bay has been developed that relates the physical changes occurring on the sea ice to peoples and wildlife that depend on the ice for their livelihood. This approach provides a personal connection for students and allows them to relate to the impacts of the changes. Suggestions are made for further case studies that can be developed using the same data relating to topical events in the Arctic. The EET chapter exposes students to climate change, scientific data, statistical concepts, and image processing software providing an avenue for the communication of IPY data and science to teachers and students.

Animal migration and risk of spread of viral infections: Chapter 9

USGS Publications Warehouse

Prosser, Diann J.; Nagel, Jessica; Takekawa, John Y.; Edited by Singh, Sunit K.

2013-01-01

The potential contribution of migration towards the spread of disease is as varied as the ecology of the pathogens themselves and their host populations. This chapter outlines multiple examples of viral diseases in animal populations and their mechanisms of viral spread. Many species of insects, mammals, fish, and birds exhibit migratory behavior and have the potential to disperse diseases over long distances. The majority of studies available on viral zoonoses have focused on birds and bats, due to their highly migratory life histories. A number of studies have reported evidence of changes in the timing of animal migrations in response to climate change. The majority indicate an advancement of spring migration, with few or inconclusive results for fall migration. Predicting the combined effects of climate change on migratory patterns of host species and epidemiology of viral pathogens is complex and not fully realistic.

Building of Environmental Literacy among Middle School Students: The Role of In-School, Out of School, and Psychological Factors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stevenson, Kathryn Tate

Solving environmental challenges will require an environmentally literate citizenry, equipped with ecological knowledge, pro-environmental attitudes, problem-solving skills, and motivation toward environmentally responsible behaviors. This dissertation addresses three approaches to building environmental literacy (EL) among middle school students: through schools (Chapter 1), through activities outside of school (Chapter 2), and through understanding psychological factors that affect environmental perceptions (Chapter 3). Chapter 1. This study examined school-wide EE programs among middle schools in North Carolina, including the use of published EE curricula and time outdoors while controlling for teacher education level and experience, student demographics, and school attributes. Our sample included an EE group selected from schools with registered schoolwide EE programs, and a control group randomly selected from NC middle schools that were not registered as EE schools. Students were given an EL survey at the beginning and end of the spring 2012 semester. Use of published EE curricula, time outdoors, and having teachers with advanced degrees and mid-level teaching experience (between 3 and 5 years) were positively related with EL whereas minority status (Hispanic and black) was negatively related with EL. Results suggest that though school-wide EE programs may vary in effectiveness, the use of published EE curricula paired with time outdoors represents a promising strategy. Further, investments in both new and veteran teachers to build and maintain enthusiasm for EE may help to boost student EL levels. Middle school represents a pivotal time for influencing EL, as improvement was slower among older students. Differences in EL levels based on gender suggest boys and girls may possess complementary skills sets when approaching environmental issues. Our findings suggest ethnicity related disparities in EL levels may be mitigated by time spent in nature, especially among black and Hispanic students. Chapter 2. Significant life experience (SLE) research suggests presence of role models, time outdoors, and nature-related media foster pro-environmental behavior, but most research is qualitative. Based on a random sample of middle school students in North Carolina, USA, we found limited positive associations between presence of a role model and time outdoors with behavior and a negative association between watching nature television and environmental knowledge. The strongest predictors of environmental knowledge and behavior were student/teacher ratio and county income levels, respectively. We also found that Native Americans engaged in environmental behaviors more than Caucasians, and that African American and Hispanic students had lower levels of environmental knowledge. Accordingly, life experiences appear less important than promoting small class sizes and addressing challenges associated with lower incomes in schools. Chapter 3. Though many climate literacy efforts attempt to communicate climate change as a risk, these strategies may be ineffective because among adults, worldview rather than scientific understanding largely drives climate change risk perceptions. Further, increased science literacy may polarize worldview-driven perceptions, making some climate literacy efforts counterproductive among skeptics. Because worldviews are still forming in the teenage years, adolescents may represent a more receptive audience. This study examined how worldview and climate change knowledge related to acceptance of anthropogenic global warming (AGW) and in turn, climate change risk perception among middle school students. We found respondents with individualistic worldviews were 16.1 percentage points less likely to accept AGW than communitarian respondents at median knowledge levels, mirroring findings in similar studies among adults. The interaction between knowledge and worldview, however, was opposite from previous studies among adults, because increased climate change knowledge was positively related to acceptance of AGW among both groups, and had a stronger positive relationship among individualists. Thus, education efforts specific to climate change may counteract divisions based on worldviews among adolescents, versus polarize them as among adults.

Responding to climate change: A toolbox of management strategies: Chapter 11

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cole, David; Stephenson, Nathan L.; Millar, Constance I.

2010-01-01

Climate change and its effects are writ large across the landscape and in the natural and cultural heritage of parks and wilderness. They always have been and always will be. The sculpted walls of Yosemite National Park and the jagged scenery of the Sierra Nevada wilderness would not be as spectacular if periods of glaciation had not been followed by periods of deglaciation. High biodiversity in forests of the Great Smoky Mountains reflects a legacy of climate change, migrating species, and isolated climatic refugia. Fossils unearthed at Dinosaur National Monument reflect a time when the climate was very different than it is today, as do ruins left by peoples who practiced agriculture in places in the American Southwest where food production is not possible today. Over eons, climate change has molded the diversity of life and landscape in areas now protected as parks and wilderness.

The Climate Response to the Astronomical Forcing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crucifix, M.; Loutre, M. F.; Berger, A.

2006-08-01

Links between climate and Earth’s orbit have been proposed for about 160 years. Two decisive advances towards an astronomical theory of palæoclimates were Milankovitch’s theory of insolation (1941) and independent findings, in 1976, of a double precession frequency peak in marine sediment data and from celestial mechanics calculations. The present chapter reviews three essential elements of any astronomical theory of climate: (1) to calculate the orbital elements, (2) to infer insolation changes from climatic precession, obliquity and eccentricity, and (3) to estimate the impact of these variations on climate. The Louvain-la-Neuve climate-ice sheet model has been an important instrument for confirming the relevance of Milankovitch’s theory, but it also evidences the critical role played by greenhouse gases during periods of low eccentricity. It is recognised today that climatic interactions at the global scale were involved in the processes of glacial inception and deglaciation. Three examples are given, related to the responses of the carbon cycle, hydrological cycle, and the terrestrial biosphere, respectively. The chapter concludes on an outlook on future research directions on this topic.

Managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change adaptation. Special report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Field, C.B.; Barros, V.; Stocker, T.F.

2012-07-01

This Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) has been jointly coordinated by Working Groups I (WGI) and II (WGII) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report focuses on the relationship between climate change and extreme weather and climate events, the impacts of such events, and the strategies to manage the associated risks. This Special Report, in particular, contributes to frame the challenge of dealing with extreme weather and climate events as an issue in decision making under uncertainty, analyzing response in the context of risk management.more » The report consists of nine chapters, covering risk management; observed and projected changes in extreme weather and climate events; exposure and vulnerability to as well as losses resulting from such events; adaptation options from the local to the international scale; the role of sustainable development in modulating risks; and insights from specific case studies. (LN)« less

Evaluating models of climate and forest vegetation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clark, James S.

1992-01-01

Understanding how the biosphere may respond to increasing trace gas concentrations in the atmosphere requires models that contain vegetation responses to regional climate. Most of the processes ecologists study in forests, including trophic interactions, nutrient cycling, and disturbance regimes, and vital components of the world economy, such as forest products and agriculture, will be influenced in potentially unexpected ways by changing climate. These vegetation changes affect climate in the following ways: changing C, N, and S pools; trace gases; albedo; and water balance. The complexity of the indirect interactions among variables that depend on climate, together with the range of different space/time scales that best describe these processes, make the problems of modeling and prediction enormously difficult. These problems of predicting vegetation response to climate warming and potential ways of testing model predictions are the subjects of this chapter.

Our Breaths We Take: Outdoor Air Quality, Health, and Climate Change Consequences of Household Heating and Cooking with Solid Fuels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chafe, Zoe Anna

Worldwide, nearly 3 billion people--40% of the global population--burn wood, coal, and other solid fuels every day to cook their food; this number is even larger when including those who heat their homes with solid fuels as well. Exposure to pollution from heating and cooking fires causes about 3 million deaths each year, making it one of the biggest environmental health problems the world faces. The harm from this smoke is not restricted to those who breathe it, however: it contains gases and particles that contribute to global climate change as well. Chapter 2 shows that household cooking with solid fuels caused an estimated 12% of population-weighted ambient PM2.5 worldwide in 2010. Exposure to this air pollution caused the loss of 370,000 lives and 9.9 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) globally in the same year. In Chapter 3 I demonstrate that household heating with solid fuels caused an estimated 21% of population-weighted ambient PM2.5 in 2010 in Central Europe, 13% in Eastern Europe, 12% in Western Europe, and 8% in North America. Exposure to this air pollution results caused approximately 60,000 premature deaths in Europe, and nearly 10,000 deaths in North America, as well as an estimated 1.0 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in Europe and 160,000 DALYs in North America. Chapter 4 addresses drivers of household wood combustion pollution in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the sector is the largest source of PM 2.5 and regulators recently introduced amendments to wood burning rules for the airshed. Fireplaces are the source of the vast majority (84%) of PM 2.5 from residential wood combustion in the San Francisco Bay Area, despite their use primarily as an aesthetic or recreational combustion activity. By evaluating hypothetical fuel and combustion device changeouts, I find that replacing fireplaces with gas would yield significant health and economic benefits. Specifically, retrofitting frequently used fireplaces (300,000 units) to gas inserts in the Bay Area's nine counties would reduce sector emissions by about 90%, avoiding approximately 140-310 premature deaths and 19,000 lost days of work each year, and creating upwards of $1 billion in annual financial benefits from improved public health. Chapter 5 explains methodological overlaps and differences between the previous chapters. In Chapter 6, I explore the current regulatory and policy mechanisms specific to household heating with solid fuels, and relate these to the climate change implications associated with the sector. In Chapter 7, I highlight the relative dearth of data on household heating with biomass and its nuanced climate implications. This leads to a series of recommendations for future research, including collection of better household heating data in China and further work to understand how household combustion of biomass interfaces with both local air quality policy and climate change mitigation, outlining areas where this topic is currently visible in California.

Statistical modeling to support power system planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Staid, Andrea

This dissertation focuses on data-analytic approaches that improve our understanding of power system applications to promote better decision-making. It tackles issues of risk analysis, uncertainty management, resource estimation, and the impacts of climate change. Tools of data mining and statistical modeling are used to bring new insight to a variety of complex problems facing today's power system. The overarching goal of this research is to improve the understanding of the power system risk environment for improved operation, investment, and planning decisions. The first chapter introduces some challenges faced in planning for a sustainable power system. Chapter 2 analyzes the driving factors behind the disparity in wind energy investments among states with a goal of determining the impact that state-level policies have on incentivizing wind energy. Findings show that policy differences do not explain the disparities; physical and geographical factors are more important. Chapter 3 extends conventional wind forecasting to a risk-based focus of predicting maximum wind speeds, which are dangerous for offshore operations. Statistical models are presented that issue probabilistic predictions for the highest wind speed expected in a three-hour interval. These models achieve a high degree of accuracy and their use can improve safety and reliability in practice. Chapter 4 examines the challenges of wind power estimation for onshore wind farms. Several methods for wind power resource assessment are compared, and the weaknesses of the Jensen model are demonstrated. For two onshore farms, statistical models outperform other methods, even when very little information is known about the wind farm. Lastly, chapter 5 focuses on the power system more broadly in the context of the risks expected from tropical cyclones in a changing climate. Risks to U.S. power system infrastructure are simulated under different scenarios of tropical cyclone behavior that may result from climate change. The scenario-based approach allows me to address the deep uncertainty present by quantifying the range of impacts, identifying the most critical parameters, and assessing the sensitivity of local areas to a changing risk. Overall, this body of work quantifies the uncertainties present in several operational and planning decisions for power system applications.

Influences of Regional Climate Change on Air Quality Across the Continental U.S. Projected from Downscaling IPCC AR5 Simulations. Chapter 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nolte, Christopher; Otte, Tanya; Pinder, Robert; Bowden, J.; Herwehe, J.; Faluvegi, Gregory; Shindell, Drew

2013-01-01

Projecting climate change scenarios to local scales is important for understanding, mitigating, and adapting to the effects of climate change on society and the environment. Many of the global climate models (GCMs) that are participating in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) do not fully resolve regional-scale processes and therefore cannot capture regional-scale changes in temperatures and precipitation. We use a regional climate model (RCM) to dynamically downscale the GCM's large-scale signal to investigate the changes in regional and local extremes of temperature and precipitation that may result from a changing climate. In this paper, we show preliminary results from downscaling the NASA/GISS ModelE IPCC AR5 Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 6.0 scenario. We use the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model as the RCM to downscale decadal time slices (1995-2005 and 2025-2035) and illustrate potential changes in regional climate for the continental U.S. that are projected by ModelE and WRF under RCP6.0. The regional climate change scenario is further processed using the Community Multiscale Air Quality modeling system to explore influences of regional climate change on air quality.

Red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) cold hardiness and freezing injury susceptibility. Chapter 18

Treesearch

Donald H. DeHayes; Paul G. Schaberg; G.Richard Strimbeck

2001-01-01

To survive subfreezing winter temperatmes, perennial plant species have evolved tissue-specific mechanisms to undergo changes in freezing tolerance that parallel seasonal variations in climate. As such, most northern temperate tree species, including conifers, are adapted to the habitat and climatic conditions within their natural ranges and suffer little or no...

Effects of climate change on ecological disturbance in the northern Rockies

USGS Publications Warehouse

Loehman, Rachel A.; Bentz, Barbara J.; DeNitto, Gregg A.; Keane, Robert E.; Manning, Mary E.; Duncan, Jacob P.; Egan, Joel M.; Jackson, Marcus B.; Kegley, Sandra; Lockman, I. Blakey; Pearson, Dean E.; Powell, James A.; Shelly, Steve; Steed, Brytten E.; Zambino, Paul J.; Halofsky, Jessica E.; Peterson, David L.

2018-01-01

Disturbances alter ecosystem, community, or population structure and change elements of the biological and/or physical environment. Climate changes can alter the timing, magnitude, frequency, and duration of disturbance events, as well as the interactions of disturbances on a landscape, and climate change may already be affecting disturbance events and regimes. Interactions among disturbance regimes, such as the cooccurrence in space and time of bark beetle outbreaks and wildfires, can result in highly visible, rapidly occurring, and persistent changes in landscape composition and structure. Understanding how altered disturbance patterns and multiple disturbance interactions might result in novel and emergent landscape behaviors is critical for addressing climate change impacts and for designing land management strategies that are appropriate for future climates This chapter describes the ecology of important disturbance regimes in the Northern Rockies region, and potential shifts in these regimes as a consequence of observed and projected climate change. We summarize five disturbance types present in the Northern Rockies that are sensitive to a changing climate--wildfires, bark beetles, white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola), other forest diseases, and nonnative plant invasions—and provide information that can help managers anticipate how, when, where, and why climate changes may alter the characteristics of disturbance regimes.

Effects of Climatic Variability and Change on Upland Vegetation in the Blue Mountains [Chapter 6].

Treesearch

Becky K. Kerns; David C. Powell; Sabine Mellmann-Brown; Gunnar Carnwath; John Kim

2017-01-01

The Blue Mountains ecoregion (BME) extends from the Ochoco Mountains in central Oregon to Hells Canyon of the Snake River in extreme northeastern Oregon and adjacent Idaho, and then north to the deeply carved canyons and basalt rimrock of southeastern Washington (see fig. 1.1 in chapter 1). The BME consists of a series of mountain ranges occurring in a southwest to...

IPCC Climate Change 2013: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability: Key findings and lessons learned

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giorgi, Filippo; Field, Christopher; Barros, Vicente

2014-05-01

The Working Group II contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergivernmental Panel on Climate Change, Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, will be completed and approved in March 2014. It includes two parts, Part A covering Global and Sectoral Aspects, and Part B, covering Regional Aspects. The WGII report spans a very broad range of topics which are approached in a strong interdisciplinary context. It highlights how observed impacts of climate change are now widespread and consequential, particularly for natural systems, and can be observed on all continents and across the oceans. Vulnerability to climate change depends on interactions with non-climatic stressors and inequalities, resulting in highly differential risks associated with climate change. It is also found that adaptation is already occurring across scales and is embedded in many planning processes. Continued sustained warming thrughout the 21st century will exacerbate risks and vulnerabilities across multiple sectors, such as freshwater resources, terrestrial and inland water systems, coastal and marine systems, food production, human health, security and livelihood. The report stresses how risks and vulnerabilities need to be assessed within a multi-stressor and regionally specific context, and can be reduced and managed by adopting climate-resilient pathwyas combining suitable adaptation and mitigation options with synergies and tradeoffs occurring both within and across regions. The Working group II report includes a large number of Chapters (30) and contributors (310 including authors and review editors), with expertise in a broad range of disciplines, from the physical science to the impact and socio-economic sciences. The communication across chapters and disciplines has been a challenge, and will continue to be one as the Global Change problem will increasingly require a fully integrated and holistic approach. Note that text on this abstract is not approved at the time its submission, but it will be discussed in the report.

Climate change and hydrology in the Blue Mountains [Chapter 3

Treesearch

Caty F. Clifton; Kate T. Day; Kathie Dello; Gordon E. Grant; Jessica E. Halofsky; Daniel J. Isaak; Charles H. Luce; Mohammad Safeeq; Brian P. Staab; John Stevenson

2017-01-01

The dominant influences on climatic patterns in the Pacific Northwest are the Pacific Ocean and the Cascade Range. The diurnal temperature range is higher east of the Cascade crest, further inland from the Pacific Ocean. More precipitation falls west of the Cascade Mountains crest, and a strong rain shadow greatly reduces precipitation east of the crest. The southern...

Climate Informatics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Monteleoni, Claire; Schmidt, Gavin A.; Alexander, Francis J.; Niculescu-Mizil, Alexandru; Steinhaeuser, Karsten; Tippett, Michael; Banerjee, Arindam; Blumenthal, M. Benno; Ganguly, Auroop R.; Smerdon, Jason E.;

42 CFR 483.70 - Physical environment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... any changes in this edition of the Code are incorporated by reference, CMS will publish notice in the Federal Register to announce the changes. (ii) Chapter 19.3.6.3.2, exception number 2 of the adopted... resident; (ii) A clean, comfortable mattress; (iii) Bedding appropriate to the weather and climate; and (iv...

Chapter 9: Carbon fluxes across regions.

Treesearch

Beverly E. Law; Dave Turner; John Campbell; Michael Lefsky; Michael Guzy; Osbert Sun; Steve Van Tuyl; Warren Cohen

2006-01-01

Scaling biogeochemical processes to regions, continents, and the globe is critical for understanding feedbacks between the biosphere and atmosphere in the analysis of global change. This includes the effects of changing atmospheric carbon dioxide, climate, disturbances, and increasing nitrogen deposition from air pollution (Ehleringer and Field 1993, Vitousek et al....

AgMIP Climate Data and Scenarios for Integrated Assessment. Chapter 3

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ruane, Alexander C.; Winter, Jonathan M.; McDermid, Sonali P.; Hudson, Nicholas I.

2015-01-01

Climate change presents a great challenge to the agricultural sector as changes in precipitation, temperature, humidity, and circulation patterns alter the climatic conditions upon which many agricultural systems rely. Projections of future climate conditions are inherently uncertain owing to a lack of clarity on how society will develop, policies that may be implemented to reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, and complexities in modeling the atmosphere, ocean, land, cryosphere, and biosphere components of the climate system. Global climate models (GCMs) are based on well-established physics of each climate component that enable the models to project climate responses to changing GHG concentration scenarios (Stocker et al., 2013).The most recent iteration of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5; Taylor et al., 2012) utilized representative concentration pathways (RCPs) to cover the range of plausible GHG concentrations out past the year 2100, with RCP8.5 representing an extreme scenario and RCP4.5 representing a lower concentrations scenario (Moss et al., 2010).

Scenarios for coastal vulnerability assessment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nicholls, Robert J.; Woodroffe, Colin D.; Burkett, Virginia; Hay, John; Wong, Poh Poh; Nurse, Leonard; Wolanski, Eric; McLusky, Donald S.

2011-01-01

Coastal vulnerability assessments tend to focus mainly on climate change and especially on sea-level rise. Assessment of the influence of nonclimatic environmental change or socioeconomic change is less well developed and these drivers are often completely ignored. Given that the most profound coastal changes of the twentieth century due to nonclimate drivers are likely to continue through the twenty-first century, this is a major omission. It may result in not only overstating the importance of climate change but also overlooking significant interactions of climate change and other drivers. To support the development of policies relating to climate change and coastal management, integrated assessments of climatic change in coastal areas are required, including the effects of all the relevant drivers. This chapter explores the development of scenarios (or "plausible futures") of relevant climate and nonclimate drivers that can be used for coastal analysis, with an emphasis on the nonclimate drivers. It shows the importance of analyzing the impacts of climate change and sea-level rise in a broader context of coastal change and all its drivers. This will improve the analysis of impacts, key vulnerabilities, and adaptation needs and, hence, inform climate and coastal policy. Stakeholder engagement is important in the development of scenarios, and the underlying assumptions need to be explicit, transparent, and open to scientific debate concerning their uncertainties/realism and likelihood.

Forest ecosystems: Vegetation, disturbance, and economics: Chapter 5

USGS Publications Warehouse

Littell, Jeremy S.; Hicke, Jeffrey A.; Shafer, Sarah L.; Capalbo, Susan M.; Houston, Laurie L.; Glick, Patty

2013-01-01

Forests cover about 47% of the Northwest (NW–Washington, Oregon, and Idaho) (Smith et al. 2009, fig. 5.1, table 5.1). The impacts of current and future climate change on NW forest ecosystems are a product of the sensitivities of ecosystem processes to climate and the degree to which humans depend on and interact with those systems. Forest ecosystem structure and function, particularly in relatively unmanaged forests where timber harvest and other land use have smaller effects, is sensitive to climate change because climate has a strong influence on ecosystem processes. Climate can affect forest structure directly through its control of plan physiology and life history (establishment, individual growth, productivity, and morality) or indirectly through its control of disturbance (fire, insects, disease). As climate changes, many forest processes will be affected, altering ecosystem services such as timber production and recreation. These changes have socioeconomic implications (e.g. for timber economies) and will require changes to current management of forests. Climate and management will interact to determine the forests of the future, and the scientific basis for adaptation to climate change in forests thus depends significantly on how forests will be affected.

Effects of climate change on forest vegetation in the northern Rockies [Chapter 5

Treesearch

Robert E. Keane; Mary Frances Mahalovich; Barry L. Bollenbacher; Mary E. Manning; Rachel A. Loehman; Terrie B. Jain; Lisa M. Holsinger; Andrew J. Larson

2018-01-01

Increasing air temperature, through its influence on soil moisture, is expected to cause gradual changes in the abundance and distribution of tree, shrub, and grass species throughout the Northern Rockies, with drought tolerant species becoming more competitive. The earliest changes will be at ecotones between lifeforms (e.g., upper and lower treelines). Ecological...

Chapter 3. Effects of climate change and commercial fishing on Atlantic cod Gadus morhua.

PubMed

Mieszkowska, Nova; Genner, Martin J; Hawkins, Stephen J; Sims, David W

2009-01-01

During the course of the last century, populations of Atlantic cod Gadus morhua L. have undergone dramatic declines in abundance across their biogeographic range, leading to debate about the relative roles of climatic warming and overfishing in driving these changes. In this chapter, we describe the geographic distributions of this important predator of North Atlantic ecosystems and document extensive evidence for limitations of spatial movement and local adaptation from population genetic markers and electronic tagging. Taken together, this evidence demonstrates that knowledge of spatial population ecology is critical for evaluating the effects of climate change and commercial harvesting. To explore the possible effects of climate change on cod, we first describe thermal influences on individual physiology, growth, activity and maturation. We then evaluate evidence that temperature has influenced population-level processes including direct effects on recruitment through enhanced growth and activity, and indirect effects through changes to larval food resources. Although thermal regimes clearly define the biogeographic range of the species, and strongly influence many aspects of cod biology, the evidence that population declines across the North Atlantic are strongly linked to fishing activity is now overwhelming. Although there is considerable concern about low spawning stock biomasses, high levels of fishing activity continues in many areas. Even with reduced fishing effort, the potential for recovery from low abundance may be compromised by unfavourable climate and Allee effects. Current stock assessment and management approaches are reviewed, alongside newly advocated methods for monitoring stock status and recovery. However, it remains uncertain whether the rebuilding of cod to historic population sizes and demographic structures will be possible in a warmer North Atlantic.

Helena Chum | NREL

Science.gov Websites

systems, and international renewable energy activities including agriculture, forestry, bioenergy : Lead author of the Energy Systems Chapter and contributing author of the Agriculture, Forestry and , addressing climate change, sustainability certification of bioenergy and biomass, and integrated systems

42 CFR 483.470 - Condition of participation: Physical environment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... climate; and (iv) Functional furniture appropriate to the client's needs, and individual closet space in... Fire Protection Association, 1 Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02269. If any changes in this edition of... the changes. (ii) Chapter 19.3.6.3.2, exception number 2 of the adopted LSC does not apply to a...

42 CFR 483.470 - Condition of participation: Physical environment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

..., comfortable, mattress; (iii) Bedding appropriate to the weather and climate; and (iv) Functional furniture... changes in this edition of the Code are incorporated by reference, CMS will publish notice in the Federal Register to announce the changes. (ii) Chapter 19.3.6.3.2, exception number 2 of the adopted LSC does not...

42 CFR 483.470 - Condition of participation: Physical environment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... climate; and (iv) Functional furniture appropriate to the client's needs, and individual closet space in... Fire Protection Association, 1 Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02269. If any changes in this edition of... the changes. (ii) Chapter 19.3.6.3.2, exception number 2 of the adopted LSC does not apply to a...

42 CFR 483.70 - Physical environment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... changes in this edition of the Code are incorporated by reference, CMS will publish notice in the Federal Register to announce the changes. (ii) Chapter 19.3.6.3.2, exception number 2 of the adopted edition of the... resident; (ii) A clean, comfortable mattress; (iii) Bedding appropriate to the weather and climate; and (iv...

42 CFR 483.70 - Physical environment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... changes in this edition of the Code are incorporated by reference, CMS will publish notice in the Federal Register to announce the changes. (ii) Chapter 19.3.6.3.2, exception number 2 of the adopted edition of the... resident; (ii) A clean, comfortable mattress; (iii) Bedding appropriate to the weather and climate; and (iv...

42 CFR 483.70 - Physical environment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... changes in this edition of the Code are incorporated by reference, CMS will publish notice in the Federal Register to announce the changes. (ii) Chapter 19.3.6.3.2, exception number 2 of the adopted edition of the... resident; (ii) A clean, comfortable mattress; (iii) Bedding appropriate to the weather and climate; and (iv...

42 CFR 483.470 - Condition of participation: Physical environment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... climate; and (iv) Functional furniture appropriate to the client's needs, and individual closet space in... Fire Protection Association, 1 Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02269. If any changes in this edition of... the changes. (ii) Chapter 19.3.6.3.2, exception number 2 of the adopted LSC does not apply to a...

Ecological consequences of the MPB epidemic for habitats and populations of wildlife [Chapter 5

Treesearch

Beth Hahn; Vicki Saab; Barbara Bentz; Rachel Loehman; Bob Keane

2014-01-01

Wildlife biologists must balance a diverse array of ecological and social considerations in managing species and habitats. The challenges of managing species and habitats in dynamic landscapes are influenced by diverse factors, including natural disturbances, vegetation development, and anthropogenic-mediated changes, such as climate change, management activities, and...

42 CFR 483.70 - Physical environment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... changes in this edition of the Code are incorporated by reference, CMS will publish notice in the Federal Register to announce the changes. (ii) Chapter 19.3.6.3.2, exception number 2 of the adopted edition of the... resident; (ii) A clean, comfortable mattress; (iii) Bedding appropriate to the weather and climate; and (iv...

42 CFR 483.470 - Condition of participation: Physical environment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

..., comfortable, mattress; (iii) Bedding appropriate to the weather and climate; and (iv) Functional furniture... changes in this edition of the Code are incorporated by reference, CMS will publish notice in the Federal Register to announce the changes. (ii) Chapter 19.3.6.3.2, exception number 2 of the adopted LSC does not...

Chapter 1: Overview of the integrated landscape assessment project

Treesearch

Miles A. Hemstrom; Jessica E. Halofsky; F. Jack Triepke; R. James Barbour; Janine Salwasser

2014-01-01

Fire suppression, vegetation management activities, wildfires, grazing, climate change, and other factors result in constantly changing vegetation and habitat conditions across millions of hectares in the Western United States. In recent years, the size and number of large wildfires has grown, threatening lives, property, and ecosystem integrity. At the same time,...

Human Health Impacts of and Public Health Adaptation to Climate Variability and Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ebi, K. L.

2007-12-01

Weather and climate are among the factors that determine the geographic range and incidence of several major causes of ill health, including undernutrition, diarrheal diseases and other conditions due to unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation, and malaria. The Human Health chapter in the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that climate change has begun to negatively affect human health, and that projected climate change will increase the risks of climate-sensitive health outcomes, particularly in lower-income populations, predominantly within tropical/subtropical countries. Those at greatest risk include the urban poor, older adults, children, traditional societies, subsistence farmers, and coastal populations, particularly in low income countries. The cause-and-effect chain from climate change to changing patterns of health determinants and outcomes is complex and includes socioeconomic, institutional, and other factors. The severity of future impacts will be determined by changes in climate as well as by concurrent changes in nonclimatic factors and by the adaptation measures implemented to reduce negative impacts. Public health has a long history of effectively intervening to reduce risks to the health of individuals and communities. Lessons learned from more than 150 years of research and intervention can provide insights to guide the design and implementation of effective and efficient interventions to reduce the current and projected impacts of climate variability and change.

The Greenhouse Effect and Climate Feedbacks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Covey, C.; Haberle, R. M.; McKay, C. P.; Titov, D. V.

This chapter reviews the theory of the greenhouse effect and climate feedback. It also compares the theory with observations, using examples taken from all four known terrestrial worlds with substantial atmospheres: Venus, Earth, Mars, and Titan. The greenhouse effect traps infrared radiation in the atmosphere, thereby increasing surface temperature. It is one of many factors that affect a world's climate. (Others include solar luminosity and the atmospheric scattering and absorption of solar radiation.) A change in these factors — defined as climate forcing — may change the climate in a way that brings other processes — defined as feedbacks — into play. For example, when Earth's atmospheric carbon dioxide increases, warming the surface, the water vapor content of the atmosphere increases. This is a positive feedback on global warming because water vapor is itself a potent greenhouse gas. Many positive and negative feedback processes are significant in determining Earth's climate, and probably the climates of our terrestrial neighbors.

A Comprehensive Climate Science and Solutions Education Curriculum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Byrne, J. M.; Cook, J.; Little, L. J.; Peacock, K.; Sinclair, P.; Zeller, C.

2016-12-01

We are creating a broadly based curriculum for a multidisciplinary University/College course on climate change science and solutions. Climate change is a critical topic for all members of society and certainly for all students in postsecondary education. The curriculum will feature a wide range of topic presentations on the (i) science of climate change; and (ii) multidisciplinary solutions to climate change challenges. The end result will be an online textbook featuring short contributions from session participants and other invited specialists. First authors in this AGU Education Session will provide a 20-minute comprehensive lecture that will be recorded and shared as part of the online textbook. The recorded talks will be merged with author provided PowerPoint slides and appropriate high definition video footage to support the discussion, where possible. Authors will be asked to sign a waiver allowing the video recording to be part of the online textbook. Access to the videos and textbook chapters will be provided online to students registered in recognized university classes on climate change science and solutions for a modest fee.

ARC3.2 Summary for City Leaders Climate Change and Cities: Second Assessment Report of the Urban Climate Change Research Network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rosenzweig, C.; Solecki, W.; Romero-Lankao, P.; Mehrotra, S.; Dhakal, S.; Bowman, T.; Ibrahim, S. Ali

2015-01-01

ARC3.2 presents a broad synthesis of the latest scientific research on climate change and cities. Mitigation and adaptation climate actions of 100 cities are documented throughout the 16 chapters, as well as online through the ARC3.2 Case Study Docking Station. Pathways to Urban Transformation, Major Findings, and Key Messages are highlighted here in the ARC3.2 Summary for City Leaders. These sections lay out what cities need to do achieve their potential as leaders of climate change solutions. UCCRN Regional Hubs in Europe, Latin America, Africa, Australia and Asia will share ARC3.2 findings with local city leaders and researchers. The ARC3.2 Summary for City Leaders synthesizes Major Findings and Key Messages on urban climate science, disasters and risks, urban planning and design, mitigation and adaptation, equity and environmental justice, economics and finance, the private sector, urban ecosystems, urban coastal zones, public health, housing and informal settlements, energy, water, transportation, solid waste, and governance. These were based on climate trends and future projections for 100 cities around the world.

Climate change and biometeorology, the International Society of Biometeorology and its journal: a perspective on the past and a framework for the future.

PubMed

Beggs, Paul John

2014-01-01

Anthropogenic climate change is inherently a biometeorological issue. As such, it would be reasonably expected that the International Society of Biometeorology (ISB) and its journal, International Journal of Biometeorology (IJB), would have had climate change feature prominently in their activities, articles etc., and to therefore have made a substantial and valuable contribution to the science of the issue. This article presents an analysis of climate change science in ISB and IJB. The analysis focusses on climate-change-related publications by ISB Presidents found through searches of Thomson Reuters Web of Science; contributions to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC's) Working Group II (WGII) by ISB Presidents; and climate change-related publications in IJB found through searches of Thomson Reuters Web of Science. The results demonstrate that the ISB, as represented by its recent, current, and future Presidents, is actively engaged in climate change research and the production of scholarly climate change publications. For example, ISB Presidents have contributed as authors to all four IPCC WGII Assessment Reports, with some Presidents having contributed to more than one Assessment Report or several chapters of the one report. Similarly, it is evident that the IJB is increasingly attracting and publishing climate-change-related articles, with such articles generally having greater impact (as indicated by citations) than other IJB articles. Opportunities for the ISB to provide an internal framework for, and showcase, its climate change work are described. Such opportunities, if enacted, would complement the recent creation of two IJB climate change Field Editor positions.

Climate change and biometeorology, the International Society of Biometeorology and its journal: a perspective on the past and a framework for the future

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beggs, Paul John

2014-01-01

Anthropogenic climate change is inherently a biometeorological issue. As such, it would be reasonably expected that the International Society of Biometeorology (ISB) and its journal, International Journal of Biometeorology ( IJB), would have had climate change feature prominently in their activities, articles etc., and to therefore have made a substantial and valuable contribution to the science of the issue. This article presents an analysis of climate change science in ISB and IJB. The analysis focusses on climate-change-related publications by ISB Presidents found through searches of Thomson Reuters Web of Science; contributions to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC's) Working Group II (WGII) by ISB Presidents; and climate change-related publications in IJB found through searches of Thomson Reuters Web of Science. The results demonstrate that the ISB, as represented by its recent, current, and future Presidents, is actively engaged in climate change research and the production of scholarly climate change publications. For example, ISB Presidents have contributed as authors to all four IPCC WGII Assessment Reports, with some Presidents having contributed to more than one Assessment Report or several chapters of the one report. Similarly, it is evident that the IJB is increasingly attracting and publishing climate-change-related articles, with such articles generally having greater impact (as indicated by citations) than other IJB articles. Opportunities for the ISB to provide an internal framework for, and showcase, its climate change work are described. Such opportunities, if enacted, would complement the recent creation of two IJB climate change Field Editor positions.

Complexity in Climatic Controls on Plant Species Distribution: Satellite Data Reveal Unique Climate for Giant Sequoia in the California Sierra Nevada

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waller, Eric Kindseth

A better understanding of the environmental controls on current plant species distribution is essential if the impacts of such diverse challenges as invasive species, changing fire regimes, and global climate change are to be predicted and important diversity conserved. Climate, soil, hydrology, various biotic factors fire, history, and chance can all play a role, but disentangling these factors is a daunting task. Increasingly sophisticated statistical models relying on existing distributions and mapped climatic variables, among others, have been developed to try to answer these questions. Any failure to explain pattern with existing mapped climatic variables is often taken as a referendum on climate as a whole, rather than on the limitations of the particular maps or models. Every location has a unique and constantly changing climate so that any distribution could be explained by some aspect of climate. Chapter 1 of this dissertation reviews some of the major flaws in species distribution modeling and addresses concerns that climate may therefore not be predictive of, or even relevant to, species distributions. Despite problems with climate-based models, climate and climate-derived variables still have substantial merit for explaining species distribution patterns. Additional generation of relevant climate variables and improvements in other climate and climate-derived variables are still needed to demonstrate this more effectively. Satellite data have a long history of being used for vegetation mapping and even species distribution mapping. They have great potential for being used for additional climatic information, and for improved mapping of other climate and climate-derived variables. Improving the characterization of cloud cover frequency with satellite data is one way in which the mapping of important climate and climate-derived variables can be improved. An important input to water balance models, solar radiation maps could be vastly improved with a better mapping of spatial and temporal patterns in cloud cover. Chapter 2 of this dissertation describes the generation of custom daily cloud cover maps from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) satellite data from 1981-1999 at ~5 km resolution and Moderate Resolution Imagine Spectroradiomter (MODIS) satellite reflectance data at ~500 meter resolution for much of the western U.S., from 2000 to 2012. Intensive comparisons of reflectance spectra from a variety of cloud and snow-covered scenes from the southwestern United States allowed the generation of new rules for the classification of clouds and snow in both the AVHRR and MODIS data. The resulting products avoid many of the problems that plague other cloud mapping efforts, such as the tendency for snow cover and bright desert soils to be mapped as cloud. This consistency in classification across cover types is critically important for any distribution modeling of a plant species that might be dependent on cloud cover. In Chapter 3, monthly cloud frequencies derived from the daily classifications were used directly in species distribution models for giant sequoia and were found to be the strongest predictors of giant sequoia distribution. A high frequency of cloud cover, especially in the spring, differentiated the climate of the west slope of the southern Sierra Nevada, where giant sequoia are prolific, from central and northern parts of the range, where the tree is rare and generally absent. Other mapped cloud products, contaminated by confusion with high elevation snow, would likely not have found this important result. The result illustrates the importance of accuracy in mapping as well as the importance of previously overlooked aspects of climate for species distribution modeling. But it also raises new questions about why the clouds form where they do and whether they might be associated with other aspects of climate important to giant sequoia distribution. What are the exact climatic mechanisms governing the distribution? Detailed aspects of the local climate warranted more investigation. Chapter 4 investigates the climate associated with the frequent cloud formation over the western slopes of the southern Sierra Nevada: the "sequoia belt". This region is climatically distinct in a number of ways, all of which could be factors in influencing the distribution of giant sequoia and other species. Satellite and micrometeorological flux tower data reveal characteristics of the sequoia belt that were not evident with surface climate measurements and maps derived from them. Results have implications for species distributions everywhere, but especially in rugged mountains, where climates are complex and poorly mapped. Chapter 5 summarizes some of the main conclusions from the work and suggests directions for related future research. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).

Changes in Land Cover and Terrestrial Biogeochemistry in the US: Key Findings from the Climate Science Special Report (CSSR)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hibbard, K. A.; Hoffman, F. M.; Huntzinger, D. N.; West, T. O.

2017-12-01

The continual increase in annual average temperatures (1.0°C for the period 1901-2016 for the contiguous US), growing number of high temperature records, increasing intensity and frequency of heavy precipitation events in most parts of the US, and rising global mean sea level are among the key findings from the forthcoming Climate Science Special Report (CSSR) produced by the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). A chapter new to the climate science assessments directly addresses the feedbacks between climate change, land use and land cover change, and the carbon cycle. While the terrestrial biosphere is presently a net carbon sink, which has steadily increased since 1980, the future sign and magnitude of biosphere uptake cannot be determined because of uncertainties in the future trajectory of land cover and land use. Citing recent research, the chapter highlights that the combined effects of land use and land cover changes due to human activities account for 40% ± 16% of the human-caused global radiative forcing from 1850 to present. Moverover, plant community structure has already been altered by climate change and changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme events. Changes in temperature also have direct effects on the land surface as well as feedbacks to the atmosphere. For example, the number of consecutive frost-free days and the length of the growing season have increased across all regions in the contiguous US; however, overall plant productivity has been limited by biotic factors and seasonal limitations in water and nutrient availability. Within cities, the urban heat island (UHI) effect results in daytime temperatures 0.5°C-4.0°C higher and nighttime temperatures 1.0°C-2.5°C higher in urban areas than surrounding rural areas. We discuss terrestrial and biogeochemical forcings and feedbacks that can serve as critical evaluation and paramaterization datasets for Earth system modeling approaches with implications for management of agriculture, forestry, and urban environments.

Summary and synthesis: past and future changes in the Alaskan Boreal Forest.

Treesearch

F. Stuart Chapin; David McGuire; Roger W. Ruess; Marilyn W. Walker; Richard D. Boone; Mary E. Edwards; Bruce P. Finney; Larry D. Hinzman; Jeremy B. Jones; Glenn P. Juday; Eric S. Kasischke; Knut Kielland; Andrea H. Lloyd; Mark W. Oswood; Chien-Lu Ping; Eric Rexstad; Vladimir E. Romanovsky; Joshua P. Schimel; Elena B. Sparrow; Bjartmar Sveinbjörnsson; David W. Valentine; Keith Van Cleve; David L. Verbyla; Leslie A. Viereck; Richard A. Werner; Tricia L. Wurtz; John Yarie

2006-01-01

Historically the boreal forest has experienced major changes, and it remains a highly dynamic biome today. During cold phases of Quaternary climate cycles, forests were virtually absent from Alaska, and since the postglacial re-establishment of forests ca 13,000 years ago, here have been periods of both relative stability and rapid change (Chapter 5). Today, the...

The story of rising voices: Facilitating collaboration between indigenous and western ways of knowing

USGS Publications Warehouse

Maldonado, Julie; Lazrus, Heather; Bennett, Shiloh-Kay; Chief, Karletta; Dhillon, Carla May; Gough, Bob; Kruger, Linda; Morisette, Jeffrey T.; Petrovic, Stefan; Whyte, Kyle P.; Companion, Michele; Chaiken, Miriam S.

2016-01-01

Indigenous community self-determination, cultures, and ways of life are at high risk from climate change impacts and ecological dispossession. Partnerships between experts with backgrounds in Indigenous and western knowledge may be productive and effective ways to reduce vulnerability and foster resilience. This chapter examines collaborations among scientific and Native American, Alaska Native, and Pacific Island communities to support climate solutions. We draw examples from the "Rising Voices: Collaborative Science with Indigenous Knowledge for Climate Solutions" program (Rising Voices) to examine how boundary organizations function cross-culturally to increase communities' adaptive capacity through knowledge exchange, as well as building the decision-making capacity needed to exercise sovereignty and make adaptive decisions in a changing climate.

State of the Earth’s cryosphere at the beginning of the 21st century : glaciers, global snow cover, floating ice, and permafrost and periglacial environments: Chapter A in Satellite image atlas of glaciers of the world

USGS Publications Warehouse

Williams, Richard S.; Ferrigno, Jane G.; Williams, Richard S.; Ferrigno, Jane G.

2012-01-01

This chapter is the tenth in a series of 11 book-length chapters, collectively referred to as “this volume,” in the series U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1386, Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers of the World. In the other 10 chapters, each of which concerns a specific glacierized region of Earth, the authors used remotely sensed images, primarily from the Landsat 1, 2, and 3 series of spacecraft, in order to analyze that glacierized region and to monitor changes in its glaciers. Landsat images, acquired primarily during the period 1972 through 1981, were used by an international team of glaciologists and other scientists to study the various glacierized regions and (or) to discuss related glaciological topics. In each glacierized region, the present distribution of glaciers within its geographic area is compared, wherever possible, with historical information about their past areal extent. The atlas provides an accurate regional inventory of the areal extent of glacier ice on our planet during the 1970s as part of an expanding international scientific effort to measure global environmental change on the Earth’s surface. However, this chapter differs from the other 10 in its discussion of observed changes in all four elements of the Earth’s cryosphere (glaciers, snow cover, floating ice, and permafrost) in the context of documented changes in all components of the Earth System. Human impact on the planet at the beginning of the 21st century is pervasive. The focus of Chapter A is on changes in the cryosphere and the importance of long-term monitoring by a variety of sensors carried on Earth-orbiting satellites or by a ground-based network of observatories in the case of permafrost. The chapter consists of five parts. The first part provides an introduction to the Earth System, including the interrelationships of the geosphere (cryosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and atmosphere), the biosphere, climate processes, biogeochemical cycles, and the critically important hydrologic cycle, in which glacier ice is the second largest reservoir of water after the oceans. The second part assesses the state of glaciers in all of the glacierized regions of the planet, primarily as drawn in the other 10 chapters. It includes sections on ice cores and the climate record they contain, volumetric changes in glaciers, harnessing spaceborne sensors to measure changes in glaciers, and related topics. The third part summarizes trends in global snow cover. The fourth part summarizes long-term changes in area and thickness of floating ice, including polar sea ice and freshwater (lake and river) ice. The fifth part assesses the loss of permafrost and changes in periglacial environments at high latitudes and high altitudes.

Global Change and the Function and Distribution of Wetlands

USGS Publications Warehouse

Middleton, Beth A.

2012-01-01

The Global Change Ecology and Wetlands book series will highlight the latest research from the world leaders in the field of climate change in wetlands. Global Change and the Function and Distribution of Wetlands highlights information of importance to wetland ecologists.  The chapters include syntheses of international studies on the effects of drought on function and regeneration in wetlands, sea level rise and the distribution of mangrove swamps, former distributions of swamp species and future lessons from paleoecology, and shifts in atmospheric emissions across geographical regions in wetlands.  Overall, the book will contribute to a better understanding of the potential effects of climate change on world wetland distribution and function.

Long-term analysis and appropriate metrics of climate change in Mongolia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jamiyansharav, Khishigbayar

This study addresses three important issues related to long-term climate change study in Mongolia. Mongolia is one of the biggest land-locked countries in Asia and 75--80 percent of the land is rangeland, which is highly vulnerable to climate change. Climate will affect many sectors critical to the country's economic, social, and ecological welfare. Therefore, it is regionally and globally important to evaluate climate change in Mongolia. Chapter 1 discusses the qualitative and descriptive study on exposure characteristics of the 17 Mongolian meteorological stations, which are part of the Global Climate Observing Network (GCON). The global average temperature anomalies are based in part on the GCON stations' meteorological data. To document the possible exposures surrounding the weather stations, the Mongolian meteorological stations were surveyed during July--August 2005. From the total 17 stations, 47 percent were determined strongly influenced by urban character landscape, 41 percent received some anthropogenic influences, and 12 percent had very little to no anthropogenic influences. Even though the Mongolian meteorological stations' exposure characteristics are better than the European and North American stations' the strict adherence in following WMO guidelines is important and urgently needed. Chapter 2 evaluates the long-term (1961--2005) trends in seasonal and annual surface mean, maximum, minimum temperatures and precipitation. Furthermore, this study compares the long-term mean temperature trends with decadal (1998--2007) trends. This chapter also discusses the extreme climate indices on spatial and temporal scales. According to the results, the long-term linear temperature trends show a clear increasing trend whereas the decadal trends show the decreasing trend mostly in winter and spring. The analysis of extreme indices (1961--2001) indicate that most of the stations frost and icing days are decreased and summer days, tropical nights, monthly maximum value of daily minimum, maximum temperatures and growing season length are increased. Precipitation indices varied substantially and there were no unified temporal and spatial pattern. In addition to that, I am suggesting effective temperature as an appropriate metric to evaluate surface heat change because it counts not only air temperature but also surface humidity. Chapter 3 discusses a case study of grazing intensity on surface energy budgets. To evaluate the land atmospheric interactions over the grassland area depending on the different grazing intensity I conducted the case study over the Shortgrass Steppe Long-Term Ecological Research site on Northern Great Plains of US to imply the findings in semiarid shortgrass steppe of Mongolia. The study site has much of similarities with Mongolian shortgrass steppe and has more frequent, high quality data. This study evaluates the impact of grazing on microclimate and energy budgets in a dry (163 mm) and two near-normal (262 and 260 mm) precipitation years based on continuously measured 20 minute interval data. This study helps to describe surface energy partitioning in semi-arid grasslands that has long history of grazing. The main finding of the study is grazing has a potential impact on the energy partitioning under conditions of higher water availability, but not during dry conditions.

Education in Austerity: Options for Planners. Fundamentals for Planning 36.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewin, Keith M.

This book explores the issues raised by the changing climate within which educational planning will take place in the final years of the 20th century. The volume focuses on the problems faced by countries hardest hit by economic recession and the need for adjustment to a changing economic environment. Organized into six chapters, the book…

Landscape fire and wildlife habitat [chapter 9

Treesearch

Samuel A. Cushman; Tzeidle N. Wasserman; Kevin McGarigal

2011-01-01

Global climate is expected to change rapidly over the next century (Thompson et al. 1998; Houghton et al. 2001; IPCC 2008). This will affect forest ecosystems both directly by altering biophysical conditions (Neilson 1995; Neilson and Drapek 1998; Bachelet et al. 2001) and indirectly through changing disturbance regimes (Baker 1995; McKenzie et al. 1996; Keane et al....

Water Availability in a Warming World

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aminzade, Jennifer

As climate warms during the 21st century, the resultant changes in water availability are a vital issue for society, perhaps even more important than the magnitude of warming itself. Yet our climate models disagree in their forecasts of water availability, limiting our ability to plan accordingly. This thesis investigates future water availability projections from Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere General Circulation Models (GCMs), primarily using two water availability measures: soil moisture and the Supply Demand Drought Index (SDDI). Chapter One introduces methods of measuring water availability and explores some of the fundamental differences between soil moisture, SDDI and the Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI). SDDI and PDSI tend to predict more severe future drought conditions than soil moisture; 21st century projections of SDDI show conditions rivaling North American historic mega-droughts. We compare multiple potential evapotranspiration (EP) methods in New York using input from the GISS Model ER GCM and local station data from Rochester, NY, and find that they compare favorably with local pan evaporation measurements. We calculate SDDI and PDSI values using various EP methods, and show that changes in future projections are largest when using EP methods most sensitive to global warming, not necessarily methods producing EP values with the largest magnitudes. Chapter Two explores the characteristics and biases of the five GCMs and their 20th and 21st century climate projections. We compare atmospheric variables that drive water availability changes globally, zonally, and geographically among models. All models show increases in both dry and wet extremes for SDDI and soil moisture, but increases are largest for extreme drying conditions using SDDI. The percentage of gridboxes that agree on the sign of change of soil moisture and SDDI between models is very low, but does increase in the 21st century. Still, differences between models are smaller than differences between SDDI and soil moisture projections. Chapter Three addresses the three major differences between SDDI and soil moisture calculations that shed light on why their future projections diverge: evaporation approximations, dependence on previous months' conditions, and the inclusion of additional variables such as runoff. We implement various changes in SDDI and a GCM vegetation scheme to test the sensitivity of each measure and to evaluate which alterations increase the similarity between SDDI and soil moisture. In addition to deconstructing the differences between SDDI and soil moisture, we analyze their projections regionally in Chapter Four. In seven regions (the southwest U.S., southern Europe, eastern China, eastern Siberia, Australia, Uruguay and Colombia), we (1) assess the forecasts of future water availability changes, (2) compare the atmospheric dynamical processes that produce rainfall and drought in the real world to the way it occurs in individual GCMs, (3) determine how these processes change as global temperatures increase, and (4) identify the most likely scenarios for future regional water availability. Chapter Five summarizes key findings by chapter, enumerating this dissertation's contributions to the field. It then discusses the limitations of existing models and measures, and suggests potential solutions for overcoming their predictive shortfalls. Finally, the chapter concludes with a proposal for future research to expand upon this dissertation work. This thesis highlights the global and zonal differences between two water availability measures, SDDI and soil moisture and identifies regions where they agree and disagree in 21st century modeled scenarios. It provides an explanation for differing projections in soil moisture and SDDI and proves that it is possible to bring convergence to their future projections, which is also applicable to PDSI. Finally, a detailed analysis of climatic changes from five GCMs made it possible to present the most likely scenarios for 21st century water availability in seven regions.

Climate Change and the Neglected Tropical Diseases.

PubMed

Booth, Mark

2018-01-01

Climate change is expected to impact across every domain of society, including health. The majority of the world's population is susceptible to pathological, infectious disease whose life cycles are sensitive to environmental factors across different physical phases including air, water and soil. Nearly all so-called neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) fall into this category, meaning that future geographic patterns of transmission of dozens of infections are likely to be affected by climate change over the short (seasonal), medium (annual) and long (decadal) term. This review offers an introduction into the terms and processes deployed in modelling climate change and reviews the state of the art in terms of research into how climate change may affect future transmission of NTDs. The 34 infections included in this chapter are drawn from the WHO NTD list and the WHO blueprint list of priority diseases. For the majority of infections, some evidence is available of which environmental factors contribute to the population biology of parasites, vectors and zoonotic hosts. There is a general paucity of published research on the potential effects of decadal climate change, with some exceptions, mainly in vector-borne diseases. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.

Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Climate change threatens human health and well-being in the United States. To address this growing threat, the Interagency Group on Climate Change and Human Health (CCHHG), a working group of the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s (USGCRP), has developed this assessment as part of the ongoing efforts of the USGCRP’s National Climate Assessment (NCA) and as called for under the President’s Climate Action Plan. The authors of this assessment have compiled and assessed current research on human health impacts of climate change and summarized the current “state of the science” for a number of key impact areas. This assessment provides a comprehensive update to the most recent detailed technical assessment for the health impacts of climate change, 2008 Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.6 (SAP 4.6) Analyses of the Effects of Global Change on Human Health and Welfare and Human Systems (CCSP 2008). It also updates and builds upon the health chapter of the third NCA (Melillo et al. 2014). The lead and coordinating Federal agencies for the USGCRP Climate and Health Assessment are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Institute of Health (NIH), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Available at https://health2016.globalchange.gov/ The interagency U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) has developed this assessment as part of the ongoing efforts of their National C

Climate Watch and Spoonbill Watch: Engaging Communities in Climate Science and Bird Conservation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michel, N. L.; Baker, R.; Bergstrom, E.; Cox, D.; Cox, G.; Dale, K.; Jensen, C.; Langham, G.; LeBaron, G.; Loftus, W.; Rowden, J.; Slavin, Z.; Smithson-Stanley, L.; Wilsey, C.

2016-12-01

Climate change poses serious challenges for conservation scientists and policymakers. Yet with these challenges come equally great opportunities to engage communities of concerned citizens in climate science and conservation. National Audubon Society's 2014 Birds and Climate Change report found that 314 North American bird species could lose over half their breeding or wintering ranges by 2080 due to climate change. Consequently, in 2016 Audubon developed two new crowd-sourced science programs that mobilized existing birding communities (i.e., Audubon Society chapters) in partnership with scientists to evaluate climate change effects on birds, and take action to protect vulnerable populations. Climate Watch expands upon traditional monitoring programs by involving citizen scientists in hypothesis-driven science, testing predictions of climate-driven range expansion in bluebirds developed by National Audubon Society scientists. Spoonbill Watch is a partnership between an Audubon research scientist and the Pelican Island Audubon Society community, in which citizen scientists monitor a Roseate Spoonbill colony recently established in response to changing habitat and climatic conditions. Additionally, Spoonbill Watch participants and leaders have moved beyond monitoring to take action to protect the colony, by working with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission towards getting the site declared as a Critical Wildlife Area and by conducting local outreach and education efforts. We will present overviews, lessons learned, and conservation goals and opportunities achieved during the pilot year of Climate Watch and Spoonbill Watch. Scientific - community partnerships such as these are essential to confront the threats posed by climate change.

Book Review: Regional Hydrological Response to Climate Change

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Koster, Randal

1998-01-01

The book being reviewed, Regional Hydrological Response to Climate Change, addresses the effects of global climate change, particularly global warming induced by greenhouse gas emissions, on hydrological budgets at the regional scale. As noted in its preface, the book consists of peer-reviewed papers delivered at scientific meetings held by the International Geographical Union Working Group on Regional Hydrological Response to Climate Change and Global Warming, supplemented with some additional chapters that round out coverage of the topic. The editors hope that this book will serve as "not only a record of current achievements, but also a stimulus to further hydrological research as the detail and spatial resolution of Global Climate Models improves". The reviewer found the background material on regional climatology to be valuable and the methodologies presented to be of interest. The value of the book is significantly diminished, however by the dated nature of some of the material and by large uncertainties in the predictions of regional precipitation change. The book would have been improved by a much more extensive documentation of the uncertainty associated with each step of the prediction process.

Assessment of Climate Change and Vector-borne Diseases in the United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monaghan, A. J.; Beard, C. B.; Eisen, R. J.; Barker, C. M.; Garofalo, J.; Hahn, M.; Hayden, M.; Ogden, N.; Schramm, P.

2016-12-01

Vector-borne diseases are illnesses that are transmitted by vectors, which include mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas. The seasonality, distribution, and prevalence of vector-borne diseases are influenced significantly by climate factors, primarily high and low temperature extremes and precipitation patterns. In this presentation we summarize key findings from Chapter 5 ("Vector-borne Diseases") of the recently published USGCRP Scientific Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States. Climate change is expected to alter geographic and seasonal distributions of vectors and vector-borne diseases, leading to earlier activity and northward range expansion of ticks capable of carrying the bacteria that cause Lyme disease and other pathogens, and influencing the distribution, abundance and prevalence of infection in mosquitoes that transmit West Nile virus and other pathogens. The emergence or reemergence of vector-borne pathogens is also likely.

Effects of climate change on forest vegetation in the Northern Rockies Region [Chapter 6

USGS Publications Warehouse

Keane, Robert E.; Mahalovich, Mary Frances; Bollenbacher, Barry L.; Manning, Mary E.; Loehman, Rachel A.; Jain, Terrie B.; Holsinger, Lisa M.; Larson, Andrew J.; Webster, Meredith M.

2018-01-01

The projected rapid changes in climate will affect the unique vegetation assemblages of the Northern Rockies region in myriad ways, both directly through shifts in vegetation growth, mortality, and regeneration, and indirectly through changes in disturbance regimes and interactions with changes in other ecosystem processes, such as hydrology, snow dynamics, and exotic invasions (Bonan 2008; Hansen and Phillips 2015; Hansen et al. 2001; Notaro et al. 2007). These impacts, taken collectively, could change the way vegetation is managed by public land agencies in this area. Some species may be in danger of rapid decreases in abundance, while others may undergo range expansion (Landhäusser et al. 2010). New vegetation communities may form, while historical vegetation complexes may simply shift to other areas of the landscape or become rare. Juxtaposed with climate change concerns are the consequences of other land management policies and past activities, such as fire exclusion, fuels treatments, and grazing. A thorough assessment of the responses of vegetation to projected climate change is needed, along with an evaluation of the vulnerability of important species, communities, and vegetation-related resources that may be influenced by the effects, both direct and indirect, of climate change. This assessment must also account for past management actions and current vegetation conditions and their interactions with future climates.

Global warming and climate change in Amazonia: Climate-vegetation feedback and impacts on water resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marengo, José; Nobre, Carlos A.; Betts, Richard A.; Cox, Peter M.; Sampaio, Gilvan; Salazar, Luis

This chapter constitutes an updated review of long-term climate variability and change in the Amazon region, based on observational data spanning more than 50 years of records and on climate-change modeling studies. We start with the early experiments on Amazon deforestation in the late 1970s, and the evolution of these experiments to the latest studies on greenhouse gases emission scenarios and land use changes until the end of the twenty-first century. The "Amazon dieback" simulated by the HadCM3 model occurs after a "tipping point" of CO2 concentration and warming. Experiments on Amazon deforestation and change of climate suggest that once a critical deforestation threshold (or tipping point) of 40-50% forest loss is reached in eastern Amazonia, climate would change in a way which is dangerous for the remaining forest. This may favor a collapse of the tropical forest, with a substitution of the forest by savanna-type vegetation. The concept of "dangerous climate change," as a climate change, which induces positive feedback, which accelerate the change, is strongly linked to the occurrence of tipping points, and it can be explained as the presence of feedback between climate change and the carbon cycle, particularly involving a weakening of the current terrestrial carbon sink and a possible reversal from a sink (as in present climate) to a source by the year 2050. We must, therefore, currently consider the drying simulated by the Hadley Centre model(s) as having a finite probability under global warming, with a potentially enormous impact, but with some degree of uncertainty.

AASHE Digest. A Review of Campus Sustainability 2005

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dautremont-Smith, Julian, Comp.

2006-01-01

This paper includes almost 250 stories about higher education institutions that are leading the way to a sustainable future. It is organized into 8 chapters covering: Institutional Change; Education & Outreach; Social Responsibility; Green Building; Energy & Climate; Food & Agriculture; Transportation; Waste, Water, Procurement, and Landscaping.…

The Climate Science Special Report (CSSR) of the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wuebbles, D. J.; Fahey, D. W.; Hibbard, K. A.

2016-12-01

The Climate Science Special Report (CSSR) will provide key input into the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4). The report was initiated in 2016 under the guidance of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) as a new, stand-alone report of the state-of-science relating to climate change and its physical impacts. The report is undergoing peer and public review in late 2016 with the aim for final publication in the fourth quarter of 2017. CSSR will provide a comprehensive assessment of the science underlying the changes occurring in the Earth's climate system, with a special focus on the United States. CSSR will serve several purposes for NCA4, including 1) providing an updated detailed analysis of the findings of how climate change is affecting weather and climate across the United States, 2) providing an executive summary that will be used as the basis for the climate science discussion in NCA4, and 3) providing foundational information and projections for climate change, including extremes, to improve "end-to-end" consistency in sectoral, regional, and resilience analyses for NCA4. We will present a summary of the origins and development of CSSR, the writing team, the chapter topics and the relation of CSSR content to NCA4, other assessments and relevance to policy and research communities.

ESD and the Rio Conventions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sarabhai, Kartikeya V.; Ravindranath, Shailaja; Schwarz, Rixa; Vyas, Purvi

2012-01-01

Chapter 36 of Agenda 21, a key document of the 1992 Earth Summit, emphasised reorienting education towards sustainable development. While two of the Rio conventions, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), developed communication, education and public awareness (CEPA)…

Clouds across the Arctic: A spatial perspective uniting surface observations of downwelling infrared radiation, reanalyses and education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cox, Christopher J.

The polar regions serve an important role in the Earth's energy balance by acting as a heat sink for the global climate system. In the Arctic, a complex distribution of continental and oceanic features support large spatial variability in environmental parameters important for climate. Additionally, feedbacks that are unique to the cryosphere cause the region to be very sensitive to climate perturbations. Environmental changes are being observed, including increasing temperatures, reductions in sea ice extent and thickness, melting permafrost, changing atmospheric circulation patterns and changing cloud properties, which may be signaling a shift in climate. Despite these changes, the Arctic remains an understudied region, including with respect to the atmosphere and clouds. A better understanding of cloud properties and their geographical variability is needed to better understand observed changes and to forecast the future state of the system, to support adaptation and mitigation strategies, and understand how Arctic change impacts other regions of the globe. Surface-based observations of the atmosphere are critical measurements in this effort because they are high quality and have high temporal resolution, but there are few atmospheric observatories in the Arctic and the period of record is short. Reanalyses combine assimilated observations with models to fill in spatial and temporal data gaps, and also provide additional model-derived parameters. Reanalyses are spatially comprehensive, but are limited by large uncertainties and biases, in particular with respect to derived parameters. Infrared radiation is a large component of the surface energy budget. Infrared emission from clouds is closely tied to cloud properties, so measurements of the infrared spectrum can be used to retrieve information about clouds and can also be used to investigate the influence clouds have on the surface radiation balance. In this dissertation, spectral infrared radiances and other observations obtained between 2006 and 2012 at three Arctic observatories are used to investigate the spatial and temporal characteristics of cloud properties in the Arctic. The observatory locations are Barrow, Alaska; Eureka, Nunavut, Canada; and Summit Station, Greenland. Additional spatial information is inferred from reanalysis data. Therefore, to establish confidence in analysis results and context for interpretation, the reanalyses are validated using the surface observations in a mutually informative validation-analysis approach. In Chapter 1, a method is developed to convert spectral infrared radiances to downwelling infrared flux. These measurements are used to compare Barrow and Eureka. These sites are then situated in the context of the greater Arctic using the reanalyses. In Chapter 2, spectral infrared radiances are used to obtain a baseline data set of cloud microphysical and optical properties from Eureka. In Chapter 3, downwelling infrared fluxes are obtained from Summit Station using the method from Chapter 1 and are used to develop a new method for reanalysis validation. Comparisons are made between Summit, Barrow and Eureka. Spatial comparisons of cloud infrared influence are made across the Greenland ice sheet using the reanalyses. Chapter 4 reports on an effort to conduct timely and engaging educational programs for high school students in the Arctic, thereby helping to extend the reach of Arctic cloud science beyond research community.

Maintaining resilience in the face of climate change: Chapter 8

USGS Publications Warehouse

Camacho, Alejandro E.; Beard, T. Douglas

2014-01-01

Climate change, when combined with more conventional stress from human exploitation, calls into question the capacity of both existing ecological communities and resource management institutions to experience disturbances while substantially retaining their same functions and identities (Zellmer and Gunderson 2009; Ruhl 2011). In other words, the physical and biological effects of climate change raise fundamental challenges to the resilience of natural ecosystems (Gunderson and Holling 2002). Perhaps more importantly, the projected scope of ecological shifts from global climate change-and uncertainty about such changes-significantly stresses the capacity of legal institutions to manage ecosystem change (Camacho 2009). Existing governmental institutions lack the adaptive capacity to manage such substantial changes to ecological and legal systems. In particular, regulators and managers lack information about ecological effects and alternative management strategies for managing the effects of climate change (Karkkainen 2008; Camacho 2009), as well as the institutional infrastructure for obtaining such information (Peters 2008).A number of recent initiatives have been proposed to address the effects of climate change on ecological systems. However, these nascent programs do not fully meet the needs for developing adaptive capacity. A federal, publicly accessible, and system-wide portal and clearinghouse will help regulators at all levels of government manage the effects and uncertainty from climate change (DiMento and Ingram 2005; Farber 2007). Such an information infrastructure, combined with a range of incentives that encourage regulators to engage in adaptive management and programmatic adjustment over time (Baron et al. 2009), will help governmental and private institutions become more resilient and capable of managing the physical and human institutional effects of changing climate (Camacho 2009).

Communicating the Needs of Climate Change Policy Makers to Scientists

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, Molly E.; Escobar, Vanessa M.; Lovell, Heather

2012-01-01

This chapter will describe the challenges that earth scientists face in developing science data products relevant to decision maker and policy needs, and will describe strategies that can improve the two-way communication between the scientist and the policy maker. Climate change policy and decision making happens at a variety of scales - from local government implementing solar homes policies to international negotiations through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Scientists can work to provide data at these different scales, but if they are not aware of the needs of decision makers or understand what challenges the policy maker is facing, they are likely to be less successful in influencing policy makers as they wished. This is because the science questions they are addressing may be compelling, but not relevant to the challenges that are at the forefront of policy concerns. In this chapter we examine case studies of science-policy partnerships, and the strategies each partnership uses to engage the scientist at a variety of scales. We examine three case studies: the global Carbon Monitoring System pilot project developed by NASA, a forest biomass mapping effort for Silvacarbon project, and a forest canopy cover project being conducted for forest management in Maryland. In each of these case studies, relationships between scientists and policy makers were critical for ensuring the focus of the science as well as the success of the decision-making.

Decision support: Vulnerability, conservation, and restoration (Chapter 8)

Treesearch

Megan M. Friggens; Jeremiah R. Pinto; R. Kasten Dumroese; Nancy L. Shaw

2012-01-01

Current predictive tools, management options, restoration paradigms, and conservation programs are insufficient to meet the challenges of climate change in western North America. Scientific and management capabilities and resources will be sapped trying to identify risks to genetic resources and ecosystems and determine new approaches for mitigating and managing...

Biological corridors and connectivity [Chapter 21

Treesearch

Samuel A. Cushman; Brad McRae; Frank Adriaensen; Paul Beier; Mark Shirley; Kathy Zeller

2013-01-01

The ability of individual animals to move across complex landscapes is critical for maintaining regional populations in the short term (Fahrig 2003; Cushman 2006), and for species to shift their geographic range in response to climate change (Heller & Zavaleta 2009). As organisms move through spatially complex landscapes, they respond to multiple...

Chapter 7: Impact of Nitrogen and Climate Change Interactions on Ambient Air Pollution and Human Health

EPA Science Inventory

Nitrogen oxides (NOX) are important components of ambient and indoor air pollution and are emitted from a range of combustion sources, including on-road mobile sources, electric power generators, and non-road mobile sources. While anthropogenic sources dominate, NOX is also forme...

Chapter 11: Integrated Technology for Biobased Composites

Treesearch

Zhiyong Cai; Alan W. Rudie; Theodore H. Wegner

2013-01-01

Forests play a major role in the ecosystem sustainability and general health of our planet. The biomass contained in our forests and other green vegetations affects the carbon cycle, climate change, habitat protection, clean water supplies, and sustainable economy. Exciting new opportunities are emerging for sustainably meeting global energy needs and simultaneously...

Effects of climate change on terrestrial animals [Chapter 9

Treesearch

Megan M. Friggens; Mary I. Williams; Karen E. Bagne; Tosha T. Wixom; Samuel A. Cushman

2018-01-01

The Intermountain Adaptation Partnership (IAP) region encompasses a high diversity of grassland, shrubland, and forest habitats across a broad range of elevational gradients, supporting high biodiversity in the interior western United States. Terrestrial species comprise a wide range of life forms, each expressing varying levels of habitat specialization and life...

Impacts of a Changing Climate and Land Use on Reindeer Pastoralism: Indigenous Knowledge and Remote Sensing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maynard, N. G.; Oskal, A.; Turi, A.; Mathiesen, J. M.; Eira, S. D.; Yurchak, I. M. G.; Etylin, B.; Gebelein, J.

2009-01-01

The Arctic is home to many indigenous peoples, including those who depend on reindeer herding for their livelihood, in one of the harshest environments in the world. For the largely nomadic peoples, reindeer not only form a substantial part of the Arctic food base and economy, but they are also culturally important, shaping their way of life, mythologies, festivals and ceremonies. Reindeer pastoralism or husbandry has been practiced by numerous peoples all across Eurasia for thousands of years and involves moving herds of reindeer, which are very docile animals, from pasture to pasture depending on the season. Thus, herders must adapt on a daily basis to find optimal conditions for their herds according to the constantly changing conditions. Climate change and variability plus rapid development are increasingly creating major changes in the physical environment, ecology, and cultures of these indigenous reindeer herder communities in the North, and climate changes are occurring significantly faster in the Arctic than the rest of the globe, with correspondingly dramatic impacts (Oskal, 2008). In response to these changes, Eurasian reindeer herders have created the EALAT project, a comprehensive new initiative to study these impacts and to develop local adaptation strategies based upon their traditional knowledge of the land and its uses - in targeted partnership with the science and remote sensing community - involving extensive collaborations and coproduction of knowledge to minimize the impacts of the various changes. This chapter provides background on climate and development challenges to reindeer husbandry across the Arctic and an overview of the EALAT initiative, with an emphasis on indigenous knowledge, remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and other scientific data to 'co-produce' datasets for use by herders for improved decision-making and herd management. It also provides a description of the EALAT monitoring data integration and sharing system and portal being developed for reindeer pastoralism. In addition, the chapter provides some preliminary results from the EALAT Project, including some early remote sensing research results.

Dynamic hydrologic economic modeling of tradeoffs in hydroelectric systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kern, Jordan D.

Hydropower producers face a future beset by unprecedented changes in the electric power industry, including the rapid growth of installed wind power capacity and a vastly increased supply of natural gas due to horizontal hydraulic fracturing (or "fracking"). There is also increased concern surrounding the potential for climate change to impact the magnitude and frequency of droughts. These developments may significantly alter the financial landscape for hydropower producers and have important ramifications for the environmental impacts of dams. Incorporating wind energy into electric power systems has the potential to affect price dynamics in electricity markets and, in so doing, alter the short-term financial signals on which dam operators rely to schedule reservoir releases. Chapter 1 of this doctoral dissertation develops an integrated reservoir-power system model for assessing the impact of large scale wind power integration of hydropower resources. Chapter 2 explores how efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of electric power systems by using wind energy to displace fossil fuel-based generation may inadvertently yield further impacts to river ecosystems by disrupting downstream flow patterns. Increased concern about the potential for climate change to alter the frequency and magnitude of droughts has led to growing interest in "index insurance" that compensates hydropower producers when values of an environmental variable (or index), such as reservoir inflows, crosses an agreed upon threshold (e.g., low flow conditions). Chapter 3 demonstrates the need for such index insurance contracts to also account for changes in natural gas prices in order to be cost-effective. Chapter 4 of this dissertation analyzes how recent low natural gas prices (partly attributable to fracking) have reduced the cost of implementing ramp rate restrictions at dams, which help restore sub-daily variability in river flows by limiting the flexibility of dam operators in scheduling reservoir releases concurrent with peak electricity demand.

Ground-water recharge in the arid and semiarid southwestern United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stonestrom, David A.; Constantz, Jim; Ferré, Ty P.A.; Leake, Stanley A.

2007-01-01

Ground-water recharge in the arid and semiarid southwestern United States results from the complex interplay of climate, geology, and vegetation across widely ranging spatial and temporal scales. Present-day recharge tends to be narrowly focused in time and space. Widespread water-table declines accompanied agricultural development during the twentieth century, demonstrating that sustainable ground-water supplies are not guaranteed when part of the extracted resource represents paleorecharge. Climatic controls on ground-water recharge range from seasonal cycles of summer monsoonal and winter frontal storms to multimillennial cycles of glacial and interglacial periods. Precipitation patterns reflect global-scale interactions among the oceans, atmosphere, and continents. Large-scale climatic influences associated with El Niño and Pacific Decadal Oscillations strongly, but irregularly, control weather in the study area, so that year-to-year variations in precipitation and ground-water recharge are large and difficult to predict. Proxy data indicate geologically recent periods of naturally occurring multidecadal droughts unlike any in the modern instrumental record. Any anthropogenically induced climate change will likely reduce ground-water recharge through diminished snowpack at higher elevations. Future changes in El Niño and monsoonal patterns, both crucial to precipitation in the study area, are highly uncertain in current models. Current land-use modifications influence ground-water recharge through vegetation, irrigation, and impermeable area. High mountain ranges bounding the study area—the San Bernadino Mountains and Sierra Nevada to the west, and the Wasatch and southern Colorado Rocky Mountains to the east—provide external geologic controls on ground-water recharge. Internal geologic controls stem from tectonic processes that led to numerous, variably connected alluvial-filled basins, exposure of extensive Paleozoic aquifers in mountainous recharge areas, and distinct modes of recharge in the Colorado Plateau and Basin and Range subregions.The chapters in this professional paper present (first) an overview of climatic and hydrogeologic framework (chapter A), followed by a regional analysis of ground-water recharge across the entire study area (chapter B). These are followed by an overview of site-specific case studies representing different subareas of the geographically diverse arid and semiarid southwestern United States (chapter C); the case studies themselves follow in chapters D–K. The regional analysis includes detailed hydrologic modeling within the framework of a high-resolution geographic-information system (GIS). Results from the regional analysis are used to explore both the distribution of ground-water recharge for mean climatic conditions as well as the influence of two climatic patterns—the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and Pacific Decadal Oscillation—that impart a high degree of variability to the hydrologic cycle. Individual case studies employ a variety of geophysical and geochemical techniques to investigate recharge processes and relate the processes to local geologic and climatic conditions. All of the case studies made use of naturally occurring tracers to quantify recharge. Thermal and geophysical techniques that were developed in the course of the studies are presented in appendices.The quantification of ground-water recharge in arid settings is inherently difficult due to the generally low amount of recharge, its spatially and temporally spotty nature, and the absence of techniques for directly measuring fluxes entering the saturated zone from the unsaturated zone. Deep water tables in arid alluvial basins correspond to thick unsaturated zones that produce up to millennial time lags between changes in hydrologic conditions at the land surface and subsequent changes in recharge to underlying ground water. Recent advances in physical, chemical, isotopic, and modeling techniques have fostered new types of recharge assessments. Chemical and isotopic techniques include an increasing variety of environmental tracers that are useful and robust. Physically based techniques include the use of heat as a tracer and computationally intensive geophysical imaging tools for characterizing hydrologic conditions in the unsaturated zone. Modeling-based techniques include spatially distributed water-budget computations using high-resolution remotely sensed and ground-based geographic data. Application of these techniques to arid and semiarid settings in the southwestern United States reveals distinct patterns of recharge corresponding to geologic setting, climatic and vegetative history, and land use. Analysis of recharge patterns shows that large expanses of alluvial basin floors are drying out under current climatic conditions, with little to no recharge to underlying ground water. Ground-water recharge occurs mainly beneath upland catchments in which thin soils overlie permeable bedrock, ephemeral channels in which flow may average only several hours per year, and active agricultural areas. The chapters in this professional paper represent a coordinated attempt to develop a better understanding of one of the Nation's most critical yet difficult-to-quantify renewable resources.

Challenges to Sierra Nevada forests and their local communities: An observational and modeling perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmidt, Cynthia L.

Global forests are experiencing dramatic changes due to changes in climate as well as anthropogenic activities. Increased warming is causing the advancement of some species upslope and northward, while it is also causing widespread mortality due to increased drought conditions. In addition, increasing human population in mountain regions is resulting in elevated risk of human life and property loss due to larger and more severe wildfires. My research focuses on assessing the current vulnerability of forests and their communities in the Sierra Nevada, and how forests are projected to change in the future based on different climate change scenarios. In the first chapter I use Landsat satellite imagery to identify and attribute cause of forest disturbance between 1985 and 2011, primarily focusing on disturbances due to insect, diseases and drought. The change-detection algorithm, Landtrendr, was successfully used to identify forest disturbance, but identifying cause of disturbance was challenging due to the spectral similarities between disturbance types. Landtrendr was most successful in identifying disturbance due to insect, disease and drought in the San Bernardino National Forest, where there is little forest management activity. In the second chapter, I assess whether state or local land use policies in high-fire prone regions exist to reduce the vulnerability of residential developments to wildfire. Three specific land-use tools associated with reducing wildfire vulnerability are identified: (1) buffers around developments; (2) clustered developments; (3) restricting construction on slopes greater than 25%. The study also determines whether demographic and physical characteristics of selected California counties were related to implementing land use policies related to reducing wildfire vulnerability. Results indicate that land use policies related to preventing wildfire-related losses focus on building materials, road access, water availability and vegetation management, not the three identified land-use tools. San Diego County, the county that has experienced the most devastating fires, had the highest percentage of residential developments with both clustering and buffering. The third chapter focuses on future forest conditions. I used a Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (DGVM) to assess future vegetation dynamics and productivity under changing climate and atmospheric CO2 concentrations in the Sierra Nevada. Model results suggest that Temperate Broadleaved Evergreen Plant Functional Types (PFTs) will move upslope and eastward, replacing Temperate Needleleaved PFTs. Boreal Needleleaved Evergreen PFTs, found primarily at higher elevations, will decline dramatically as temperatures continue to increase. Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) will increase as atmospheric CO2 concentration increases, due primarily to the increase in the more productive broadleaved PFTs. Forest ecosystems play an important role in maintaining climate stability at the regional and global scales as a vital carbon sink, so understanding the role of disturbance and climate change will be vital to both scientists and policy makers in the future.

Determing Credibility of Regional Simulations of Future Climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mearns, L. O.

2009-12-01

Climate models have been evaluated or validated ever since they were first developed. Establishing that a climate model can reproduce (some) aspects of the current climate of the earth on various spatial and temporal scales has long been a standard procedure for providing confidence in the model's ability to simulate future climate. However, direct links between the successes and failures of models in reproducing the current climate with regard to what future climates the models simulate has been largely lacking. This is to say that the model evaluation process has been largely divorced from the projections of future climate that the models produce. This is evidenced in the separation in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) WG1 report of the chapter on evaluation of models from the chapter on future climate projections. There has also been the assumption of 'one model, one vote, that is, that each model projection is given equal weight in any multi-model ensemble presentation of the projections of future climate. There have been various attempts at determing measures of credibility that would avoid the 'ultrademocratic' assumption of the IPCC. Simple distinctions between models were made by research such as in Giorgi and Mearns (2002), Tebaldi et al., (2005), and Greene et al., (2006). But the metrics used were rather simplistic. More ambitous means of discriminating among the quality of model simulations have been made through the production of complex multivariate metrics, but insufficent work has been produced to verify that the metrics successfully discriminate in meaningful ways. Indeed it has been suggested that we really don't know what a model must successfully model to establish confidence in its regional-scale projections (Gleckler et al., 2008). Perhaps a more process oriented regional expert judgment approach is needed to understand which errors in climate models really matter for the model's response to future forcing. Such an approach is being attempted in the North American Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP) whereby multiple global models are used to drive multiple regional models for the current period and the mid-21st century over the continent. Progress in this endeavor will be reported.

Essays on Energy Technology Innovation Policy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chan, Gabriel Angelo Sherak

Motivated by global climate change, enhancing innovation systems for energy technologies is seen as one of the largest public policy challenges of the near future. The role of policy in enhancing energy innovation systems takes several forms: public provision of research and develop funding, facilitating the private sector's capability to develop new technologies, and creating incentives for private actors to adopt innovative and appropriate technologies. This dissertation explores research questions that span this range of policies to develop insights in how energy technology innovation policy can be reformed in the face of climate change. The first chapter of this dissertation explores how decision making to allocate public research and development funding could be improved through the integration of expert technology forecasts. I present a framework to evaluate and optimize the U.S. Department of Energy's research and development portfolio of applied energy projects, accounting for spillovers from technical complimentary and competition for the same market share. This project integrates one of the largest and most comprehensive sets of expert elicitations on energy technologies (Anadon et al., 2014b) in a benefit evaluation framework. This work entailed developing a new method for probability distribution sampling that accommodates the information that can be provided by expert elicitations. The results of this project show that public research and development in energy storage and solar photovoltaic technologies has the greatest marginal returns to economic surplus, but the methodology developed in this chapter is broadly applicable to other public and private R&D-sponsoring organizations. The second chapter of this dissertation explores how policies to transfer technologies from federally funded research laboratories to commercialization partners, largely private firms, create knowledge spillovers that lead to further innovation. In this chapter, I study the U.S. Department of Energy's National Laboratories, and provide the first quantitative evidence that technology transfer agreements at the Labs lead to greatly increased rates of innovation spillovers. This chapter also makes a key methodological contribution by introducing a technique to utilize automated text analysis in an empirical matching design that is broadly applicable to other types of social science studies. This work has important implications for how policies should be designed to maximize the social benefits of the $125 billion in annual federal funding allocated to research and development and the extent to which private firms can benefit from technology partnerships with the government. The final chapter of this dissertation explores the effectiveness of international policy to facilitate the deployment of low-emitting energy technologies in developing countries. Together with Joern Huenteler, I examine wind energy deployment in China supported through international climate finance flows under the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism. Utilizing a project-level financial model of wind energy projects parameterized with high-resolution observations of Chinese wind speeds, we find that the environmental benefits of projects financed under the Clean Development Mechanism are substantially lower than reported, as many Chinese wind projects would have been built without the Mechanism's support, and thus do not represent additional clean energy generation. Together, the essays in this dissertation suggest several limitations of energy technology innovation policy and areas for reform. Public funds for energy research and development could be made more effective if decision making approaches were better grounded in available technical expertise and developed in framework that captures the important interactions of technologies in a research and development portfolio. The first chapter of this dissertation suggests a politically feasible path towards this type of reform. Policies to "unlock" publicly sponsored inventions from the organizations that develop them have broad impact on private sector innovation. These policies multiply the effect of public research and development funds, but should be strengthened to more rapidly advance the scientific frontier. The second chapter of this dissertation provides some of the first quantitative evidence to support reform in this area. Finally, international policies to facilitate the deployment of climate-friendly technologies in developing countries face serious implementation challenges. The current paradigm of utilizing carbon markets to fund individual projects that would not have otherwise occurred has failed to encourage energy technology deployment in one of the sectors with the greatest experience with such policies. The third chapter of this dissertation suggests that this failure has been largely due to poorly designed procedural rules, but options for reform are available. Mitigation of global climate change will require broad policy response across the full range of scales, sectors, and policy spheres. Undoubtedly, climate mitigation will result in widespread transformation of energy systems. This dissertation focuses on the role of innovation policy in accelerating the transformation of these systems. The range of policies studied in this dissertation can make climate change mitigation more politically feasible and more cost effective by expanding the set of technological choices available to public and private actors faced with incentives and requirements to lower their greenhouse gas emissions to collectively safe levels.

The National Climate Assessment: A Treasure Trove for Education, Communications and Outreach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McCaffrey, M.; Berbeco, M.; Connolly, R.; Niepold, F., III; Poppleton, K. L. I.; Cloyd, E.; Ledley, T. S.

2014-12-01

Required by Congress under the Global Change Act of 1990 to inform the nation on the findings of current climate research, the Third U.S. National Climate Assessment (NCA), released in May 2014, is a rich resource for climate change education, communications and outreach (ECO). Using a website design with mobile applications in mind, NCA takes advantage of mobile learning technology which is revolutionizing how, when and where learning occurs. In an effort to maximize the "teachable moments" inherent in the assessment, a community of experts from the National Center for Science Education and the CLEAN Network, working under the auspices of the National Climate Assessment Network (NCAnet) Education Affinity Group, have developed a series of NCA Learning Pathways that match key NCA messages and resources with reviewed educational materials and trusted online information sources, thereby adding pedagogical depth to the assessment. The NCA Learning Pathways, which focus on the regional chapters of the report, are designed make climate change science more local, human, relevant and, if properly framed by educators and communicators, hopeful for learners. This paper touches on the challenges and opportunities of infusing climate education, communications and outreach into curriculum and society, and details the development and content of NCA Learning Pathways, which are available online through NOAA's Climate.gov website: http://www.climate.gov/teaching

Effects of climate change on ecological disturbance in the Northern Rockies Region [Chapter 8

USGS Publications Warehouse

Loehman, Rachel A.; Bentz, Barbara J.; DeNitto, Gregg A.; Keane, Robert E.; Manning, Mary E.; Duncan, Jacob P.; Egan, Joel M.; Jackson, Marcus B.; Kegley, Sandra; Lockman, I. Blakey; Pearson, Dean E.; Powell, James A.; Shelly, Steve; Steed, Brytten E.; Zambino, Paul J.

2018-01-01

This chapter describes the ecology of important disturbance regimes in the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USFS) Northern Region and the Greater Yellowstone Area, hereafter called the Northern Rockies region, and potential shifts in these regimes as a consequence of observed and projected climate change. The term disturbance regime describes the general temporal and spatial characteristics of a disturbance agent - insect, disease, fire, weather, even human activity - and the effects of that agent on the landscape (table 8.1). More specifically, a disturbance regime is the cumulative effect of multiple disturbance events over space and time (Keane 2013). Disturbances disrupt an ecosystem, community, or population structure and change elements of the biological environment, physical environment, or both (White and Pickett 1985). The resulting shifting mosaic of diverse ecological patterns and structures in turn affects future patterns of disturbance, in a reciprocal, linked relationship that shapes the fundamental character of landscapes and ecosystems. Disturbance creates and maintains biological diversity in the form of shifting, heterogeneous mosaics of diverse communities and habitats across a landscape (McKinney and Drake 1998), and biodiversity is generally highest when disturbance is neither too rare nor too frequent on the landscape (Grime 1973).

Foreword

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boutron, Claude

2006-12-01

This book is the seventh volume in the series of books published within the framework of the European Research Course on Atmospheres (“ERCA"), the advanced international research course organized every year in Grenoble, France. This course was initiated in 1993 by the University Joseph Fourier of Grenoble, in order to provide PhD students and more senior scientists from Europe and the rest of the world with a multidisciplinary course which covers: the physics and chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere; the climate system and climate change; human dimensions of environmental change; and the physics and chemistry of other planets and satellites in the solar system and beyond. Since 1993, fourteen sessions have been attended by more than 700 participants from 50 countries, selected from a very large number of applications. The fifteenth session will take place from 8 January to 10 February 2007. Each session lasts five weeks, which is considerably longer than most other research courses at this level. The first four weeks are devoted to a comprehensive programme of lectures (about 120 hours), seminars, panel discussions, poster sessions and visits to research institutes. The fifth week takes place at Observatoire de Haute Provence, South of Grenoble, where the participants learn about various instruments used for atmospheric measurements and Astronomy, as well as visiting the Cadarache Research Center of the French Atomic Energy Commission (International Themonuclear Experimental Reactor programme). There are fifty lecturers per session, amongst them many renowned specialists from Europe and North America, including Nobel Laureate Paul Crutzen. This new volume contains twenty-six chapters dealing with a truly wide range of topics. After an introductory chapter on Earth System Science written by the Director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, Kevin Noone, the following subjects are covered: the exploration of Venus and the other planets of the solar system; water in the Earth's atmosphere; the West African monsoon; regional climate modelling; forcings and feedbacks by land ecosystem changes on climate change; atmospheric electricity and climate change; solar magnetic activity; the contribution of the Antarctic ice sheet to global sea level change; climate and atmospheric records from ice cores; biogeochemical processes in the ocean and at the ocean-atmosphere interface; novel organic pollutants in the marine environment; inorganic aerosol formation in the Earth's lower and upper atmosphere; Asian dust events; elemental speciation analysis; the use of aircraft for atmospheric measurements; Rayleigh temperature lidars; DIAL lidars for ozone measurements; optical telescopes; sustainable health in a globalised world; adaptation and mitigation to climate change in agriculture; and the communication of air pollution science to the public and politicians. I wish to thank again the authors for kindly agreeing to write the chapters of this new volume. I am also very grateful to Michele Poinsot for her major contribution to the success of ERCA, and Isabelle Houlbert for editing the ERCA book series (with the help of “éclairs au café, à la vanille et au chocolat"). Claude Boutron Professor at the University Joseph Fourier of Grenoble Director of ERCA

Strategic directions for U.S. Geological Survey water science, 2012-2022 - Observing, understanding, predicting, and delivering water science to the Nation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Evenson, Eric J.; Orndorff, Randall C.; Blome, Charles D.; Böhlke, John Karl; Hershberger, Paul K.; Langenheim, V.E.; McCabe, Gregory J.; Morlock, Scott E.; Reeves, Howard W.; Verdin, James P.; Weyers, Holly S.; Wood, Tamara M.

2012-01-01

This report concludes with a chapter devoted to the crosscutting science issues of the Water Mission Area with the other USGS Mission Areas: Climate and Land Use Change, Core Science Systems, Ecosystems, Energy and Minerals, Environmental Health Science, and Natural Hazards. Not one of these Mission Areas stands alone—all must work together and integrate their actions to fulfill the USGS science mission for the future. This final chapter identifies the important linkages that must be realized and maintained for this integration to occur.

Program MAMO: Models for avian management optimization-user guide

USGS Publications Warehouse

Guillaumet, Alban; Paxton, Eben H.

2017-01-01

The following chapters describe the structure and code of MAMO, and walk the reader through running the different components of the program with sample data. This manual should be used alongside a computer running R, so that the reader can copy and paste code into R, observe the output, and follow along interactively. Taken together, chapters 2–4 will allow the user to replicate a simulation study investigating the consequences of climate change and two potential management actions on the population dynamics of a vulnerable and iconic Hawaiian forest bird, the ‘I‘iwi (Drepanis coccinea; hereafter IIWI).

Field Guide to Academic Leadership: A Publication of the National Academy for Academic Leadership.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diamond, Robert M., Ed.

This "Field Guide" is designed to help academic leaders in the current climate of change. It provides information and suggestions for action and administrative practice around a range of issues. The first section, "Basis," contains these chapters: (1) "Pressures for Fundamental Reform: Creating a Viable Academic…

Chapter 11: Dinkey north and south project

Treesearch

M North; R. Rojas

2012-01-01

Designing and implementing vegetation treatments that can move a forest landscape toward a desired future condition is often challenging. Faced with diverse stakeholder interests and the unknown effects of changing climate conditions, managers need to engage and build collaborative projects. One such effort is the Dinkey project designed to help restore a healthy,...

Chapter 3: Climate Change

Treesearch

Steve McNulty; Jennifer Moore Myers; Peter Caldwell; Ge Sun

2011-01-01

Since 1960, all but two southern capital cities (Montgomery, AL and Oklahoma City, OK) have experienced a statistically significant increase in average annual temperature (approximately 0.016 °C), but none has experienced significant trends in precipitation. The South is forecasted to experience warmer temperatures for the duration of the 21st century; forecasts are...

Characterization of information requirements for studies of CO/sub 2/ effects: water resources, agriculture, fisheries, forests and human health

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

White, M R

1985-12-01

The report discusses how climate change and vegetative response will affect selected areas of our way of life as a result of increased carbon dioxide concentrations. Needs for future research are identified. Separate abstracts have been prepared for individual chapters. (ACR)

Effects of climate change on outdoor recreation [Chapter 10

Treesearch

Michael S. Hand; Jordan W. Smith; David L. Peterson; Nancy A. Brunswick; Carol P. Brown

2018-01-01

Federal agencies and other public land management agencies in Utah, Nevada, and southern Idaho provide and manage for numerous outdoor recreation opportunities. National forests in the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USFS) Intermountain Region have nearly 19 million visits per year (table 10.1); adjacent National Park System units account for an...

Restoring and managing cold desert shrublands for climate change mitigation (Chapter 2)

Treesearch

Susan E. Meyer

2012-01-01

The equation for slowing global warming includes decreasing carbon emissions into the atmosphere as well as increasing carbon sequestration in the biosphere. Many proposed schemes for increasing carbon sequestration, such as afforestation of nonforested lands, involve tradeoffs with other resource values, including water availability. An alternative idea is to restore...

Invasive species and climate change (Chapter 7)

Treesearch

Justin B. Runyon; Jack L. Butler; Megan M. Friggens; Susan E. Meyer; Sharlene E. Sing

2012-01-01

Invasive species present one of the greatest threats to the health and sustainability of ecosystems worldwide. Invasive plants, animals, and diseases are known to have significant negative effects on biological diversity and the ecological structure and functions of native ecosystems. Moreover, the economic cost imposed by invasive species is enormous—the damage...

Summary for Policymakers IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, WorkingGroup III

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barker, Terry; Bashmakov, Igor; Bernstein, Lenny

2007-04-30

A. Introduction 1. The Working Group III contribution to theIPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) focuses on new literature on thescientific, technological, environmental, economic and social aspects ofmitigation of climate change, published since the IPCC Third AssessmentReport (TAR) and the Special Reports on COB2B Capture and Storage (SRCCS)and on Safeguarding the Ozone Layer and the Global Climate System (SROC).The following summary is organised into six sections after thisintroduction: - Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission trends, - Mitigation in theshort and medium term, across different economic sectors (until 2030), -Mitigation in the long-term (beyond 2030), - Policies, measures andinstruments to mitigate climate change,more » - Sustainable development andclimate change mitigation, - Gaps in knowledge. References to thecorresponding chapter sections are indicated at each paragraph in squarebrackets. An explanation of terms, acronyms and chemical symbols used inthis SPM can be found in the glossary to the main report.« less

Multiscale Drivers of Global Environmental Health

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Desai, Manish Anil

In this dissertation, I motivate, develop, and demonstrate three such approaches for investigating multiscale drivers of global environmental health: (1) a metric for analyzing contributions and responses to climate change from global to sectoral scales, (2) a framework for unraveling the influence of environmental change on infectious diseases at regional to local scales, and (3) a model for informing the design and evaluation of clean cooking interventions at community to household scales. The full utility of climate debt as an analytical perspective will remain untapped without tools that can be manipulated by a wide range of analysts, including global environmental health researchers. Chapter 2 explains how international natural debt (IND) apportions global radiative forcing from fossil fuel carbon dioxide and methane, the two most significant climate altering pollutants, to individual entities -- primarily countries but also subnational states and economic sectors, with even finer scales possible -- as a function of unique trajectories of historical emissions, taking into account the quite different radiative efficiencies and atmospheric lifetimes of each pollutant. Owing to its straightforward and transparent derivation, IND can readily operationalize climate debt to consider issues of equity and efficiency and drive scenario exercises that explore the response to climate change at multiple scales. Collectively, the analyses presented in this chapter demonstrate how IND can inform a range of key question on climate change mitigation at multiple scales, compelling environmental health towards an appraisal of the causes and not just the consequences of climate change. The environmental change and infectious disease (EnvID) conceptual framework of Chapter 3 builds on a rich history of prior efforts in epidemiologic theory, environmental science, and mathematical modeling by: (1) articulating a flexible and logical system specification; (2) incorporating transmission groupings linked to public health intervention strategies; (3) emphasizing the intersection of proximal environmental characteristics and transmission cycles; (4) incorporating a matrix formulation to identify knowledge gaps and facilitate an integration of research; and (5) highlighting hypothesis generation amidst dynamic processes. A systems based approach leverages the reality that studies relevant to environmental change and infectious disease are embedded within a wider web of interactions. As scientific understanding advances, the EnvID framework can help integrate the various factors at play in determining environment-disease relationships and the connections between intrinsically multiscale causal networks. In Chapter 4, the coverage effect model functions primarily as a "proof of concept" analysis to address whether the efficacy of a clean cooking technology may be determined by the extent of not only household level use but also community level coverage. Such coverage dependent efficacy, or a "coverage effect," would transform how interventions are studied and deployed. Ensemble results are consistent with the concept that an appreciable coverage effect from clean cooking interventions can manifest within moderately dense communities. Benefits for users derive largely from direct effects; initially, at low coverage levels, almost exclusively so. Yet, as coverage expands within a user's community, a coverage effect becomes increasingly beneficial. In contrast, non users, despite also experiencing comparable exposure reductions from community-level intervention use, cannot proportionately benefit because their exposures remain overwhelmingly dominated by household-level use of traditional solid fuel cookstoves. The coverage effect model strengthens the rationale for public health programs and policies to encourage clean cooking technologies with an added incentive to realize high coverage within contiguous areas. The implications of the modeling exercise extend to priorities for data collection, underscoring the importance of outdoor pollution concentrations during, as well as before and/or after, community cooking windows and also routine measurement of ventilation, meteorology, time activity patterns, and cooking practices. The possibility of a coverage effect necessitates appropriate strategies to estimate not only direct effects but also coverage and total effects to avoid impaired conclusions. The specter of accelerating social and ecological change challenges efforts to respond to climate change, re/emerging infectious diseases, and household air pollution. Environmental health possesses a well-established and well-tested repertoire of methods but contending with multiscale drivers of risk requires complementary approaches, as well. Integrating metrics, frameworks, and models -- and their insights -- into its analytical arsenal can help global environmental health meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).

Populations of concern: Chapter 9

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gamble, Janet; Balbus, John; Berger, Martha; Bouye, Karen; Campbell, Vince; Chief, Karletta; Conlon, K.; Crimmins, Allison; Flanagan, Barry; Gonzalez-Maddux, C.; Hallisey, E.; Hutchins, S.; Jantarasami, L.; Khoury, S.; Kiefer, M.; Kolling, J.; Lynn, K.; Manangan, A.; McDonald, M.; Morello-Frosch, R.; Hiza, Margaret; Sheffield, P.; Thigpen Tart, K.; Watson, J.; Whyte, K.P.; Wolkin, A.F.

2016-01-01

Climate change is already causing, and is expected to continue to cause, a range of health impacts that vary across different population groups in the United States. The vulnerability of any given group is a function of its sensitivity to climate change related health risks, its exposure to those risks, and its capacity for responding to or coping with climate variability and change. Vulnerable groups of people, described here as populations of concern, include those with low income, some communities of color, immigrant groups (including those with limited English proficiency), Indigenous peoples, children and pregnant women, older adults, vulnerable occupational groups, persons with disabilities, and persons with preexisting or chronic medical conditions. Planners and public health officials, politicians and physicians, scientists and social service providers are tasked with understanding and responding to the health impacts of climate change. Collectively, their characterization of vulnerability should consider how populations of concern experience disproportionate, multiple, and complex risks to their health and well-being in response to climate change. Some groups face a number of stressors related to both climate and non-climate factors. For example, people living in impoverished urban or isolated rural areas, floodplains, coastlines, and other at-risk locations are more vulnerable not only to extreme weather and persistent climate change but also to social and economic stressors. Many of these stressors can occur simultaneously or consecutively. Over time, this “accumulation” of multiple, complex stressors is expected to become more evident1 as climate impacts interact with stressors associated with existing mental and physical health conditions and with other socioeconomic and demographic factors.

Robust and Heterogeneous Hydrological Changes under Global Warming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, S.; Zwiers, F. W.; Dirmeyer, P.; Lawrence, D. M.; Shrestha, R. R.; Werner, A. T.

2015-12-01

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has continued to find it difficult to make clear assessments of streamflow changes [Assessment Report 5, Working Group II, Chapter 3] in large part because of the heterogeneity of observed and projected hydrological changes. While prior studies have found some evidence of human influence on precipitation changes, the detection of streamflow changes is not robust. Here, we show that the terrestrial branch of the hydrological cycle, namely the partitioning of precipitation into evapotranspiration and runoff, is an important piece of the puzzle that may explain the apparent disconnect between the detectability of precipitation and streamflow changes. We apply Budyko framework to quantify sensitivity of hydrological changes to climate driven changes in water balance regionally. We demonstrate that the hydrological sensitivity is 3 times greater in regions where the hydrological cycle is energy limited (wet regions) than water limited (dry regions), and therefore the detectability of streamflow changes is also greater by 30-40% in wet regions. Evidence from observations in western North America and an analysis of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 climate models at global scales indicate that use of the Budyko framework can help identify robust and spatially heterogeneous hydrological responses to external forcing on the climate system.

Maynard Participation in Alaska Forum on the Environment Panel Discussion on Increasing Input to the US National Climate Assessment (NCA) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Processes from Alaska, with Emphasis on Indigenous Peoples Issues

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maynard, Nancy G.

2012-01-01

Dr. Nancy Maynard was invited by the Alaska Forum on the Environment to participate in a Panel Discussion to discuss (1) background about what the US NCA and International IPCC assessments are, (2) the impact the assessments have on policy-making, (3) the process for participation in both assessments, (4) how we can increase participation by Indigenous Peoples such as Native Americans and Alaska Natives, (5) How we can increase historical and current impacts input from Native communities through stories, oral history, "grey" literature, etc. The session will be chaired by Dr. Bull Bennett, a cochair of the US NCA's chapter on "Native and Tribal Lands and Resources" and Dr. Maynard is the other co-chair of that chapter and they will discuss the latest activities under the NCA process relevant to Native Americans and Alaska Natives. Dr. Maynard is also a Lead Author of the "Polar Regions" chapter of the IPCC WG2 (5th Assessment) and she will describes some of the latest approaches by the IPCC to entrain more Indigenous peoples into the IPCC process.

Climate change, water resources, and roads in the Blue Mountains [Chapter 4

Treesearch

Caty F. Clifton; Kate T. Day; Gordon E. Grant; Jessica E. Halofsky; Charles H. Luce; Brian P. Staab

2017-01-01

Water is a critical resource in dry forest and rangeland environments of western North America, largely determining the distribution of plant and animal species across a broad range of elevations and ecosystems. Water is also essential for human endeavors, directly affecting where and how human communities and local economies have developed. The Blue Mountains of...

Water and water use in southern Nevada [Chapter 3

Treesearch

Wayne R. Belcher; Michael J. Moran; Megan E. Rogers

2013-01-01

Water and water use in southern Nevada is an important issue. The scarcity of water resources for both human and biologic communities often leads to intense competition for both surface and groundwaters. Anthropogenic and climate change impacts on scarce water resources need to be understood to assess human and ecosystem health for the study area.

Challenges and needs in fire management: A landscape simulation modeling perspective [chapter 4

Treesearch

Robert E. Keane; Geoffrey J. Cary; Mike D. Flannigan

2011-01-01

Fire management will face many challenges in the future from global climate change to protecting people, communities, and values at risk. Simulation modeling will be a vital tool for addressing these challenges but the next generation of simulation models must be spatially explicit to address critical landscape ecology relationships and they must use mechanistic...

Effects of climate change on recreation in the Northern Rockies Region [Chapter 10

Treesearch

Michael S. Hand; Megan Lawson

2018-01-01

Outdoor recreation is an important benefit provided by Federally managed and other public lands throughout the Rocky Mountains. National forests in the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USFS) Northern Region and Greater Yellowstone Area (a region hereafter called the Northern Rockies region) have an estimated 13.3 million visits per year; Yellowstone,...

Effects of climate change on native fish and other aquatic species [Chapter 5

Treesearch

Daniel J. Isaak; Michael K. Young; Cynthia Tait; Daniel Duffield; Dona L. Horan; David E. Nagel; Matthew C. Groce

2018-01-01

The diverse landscapes of the Intermountain Adaptation Partnership (IAP) region contain a broad range of aquatic habitats and biological communities. A number of aquatic species are regional endemics, several are threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA), and many have declined because of the introduction of nonnative aquatic species, habitat...

Planning the future's forests with assisted migration [Chapter 8

Treesearch

Mary I. Williams; R. Kasten Dumroese

2016-01-01

If the climate changes faster than the adaptation or migration capability of plants (Zhu et al. 2012; Gray and Hamann 2013), foresters and other land managers will face an overwhelming challenge. Growing trees that survive may become more important than growing perfectly formed trees (Hebda 2008) and may require selection of adapted plant materials and/or assisting the...

Disturbance regimes and the historical range of variation in terrestrial ecosystems [Chapter 389

Treesearch

Robert Keane

2013-01-01

Picture a tranquil landscape with undulating topography, idyllic streams, scenic glades, and verdant vegetation. Left to its own devices, this landscape would gradually become dominated by late successional communities that would slowly shift in response to climate changes over long time periods. This scene often forms the foundation and reference for most land...

Disturbance and Climate Change in the Interior West (Chapter 6)

Treesearch

Paulette L. Ford; Jeanne K. Chambers; Sharon J. Coe; Burton C. Pendleton

2012-01-01

Within the continental United States, average annual temperature increased during the Twentieth Century by approximately 0.65 ºC. The most extreme warming occurred throughout the northern and western United States (IPCC 2007a; Williams and others 2010). Disturbances such as fire, drought, grazing, urbanization, and energy development are predicted to have a heightened...

The science and opportunity of wildfire risk assessment (Chapter 6)

Treesearch

Matthew P. Thompson; Alan A. Ager; Mark A. Finney; Dave E. Calkin; Nicole M. Vaillant

2012-01-01

Wildfire management within the United States continues to increase in complexity, as the converging drivers of (1) increased development into fire-prone areas, (2) accumulated fuels from historic management practices, and (3) climate change potentially magnify threats to social and ecological values (Bruins et al., 2010; Gude et al., 2008; Littell et al., 2009). The...

Measuring effects of climate change and energy efficiency regulations in U.S. households

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koirala, Bishwa Shakha

The first chapter explains the human causes of climate change and its costs, which is estimated to be about 3.6% of GDP by the end of 21 st century (NRDC, 2008). The second chapter investigates how projected July temperatures will increase the demand for electricity in the U.S. by 0.8%, while projected January temperatures will decrease the demand for natural gas and heating oil by 1% and 2.3%, respectively. This chapter further examines effects of the energy-efficiency building codes: IECC 2003 and IECC 2006 in the U.S. in reducing the energy consumption in the U.S. households. This study finds that these state-level building codes are effective in reducing energy demand. Adoption of these codes reduces the electricity demand by 1.8%, natural gas by 1.3% and heating oil by 2.8%. A total of about 7.54 MMT per year emission reduction of CO2 is possible from the residential sector by applying such energy-efficiency building codes. This chapter further estimates an average of 1,342 kWh/Month of electricity consumption, 3,429 CFt/Month of natural gas consumption and 277 Gallon/Year of heating oil consumption per household. It also indentifies the existence of state heterogeneity that affects household level energy demand, and finds that assumption of independence of error term is violated. Chapter 3 estimates the implicit prices of climate in dollar by analyzing the hedonic rent and wage models for homeowners and apartment renters. The estimated results show that January temperature is a disamenity for which both homeowners and renters are being compensated (negative marginal willingness to pay) through U.S. by 16 and 25 at the 2004 price level per month, respectively. It also finds that the January temperature is productive, whereas the July temperatures and annual precipitation are amenities and less productive. This study suggests that households would be willing to pay for higher temperature and increased precipitation; the estimated threshold point for July temperature is 75°F and for annual precipitation is 50 inches. It further reports that homeowners pay more than renters for climate amenities in the Northeast and West with reference to the Midwest; where as in the South, these values do not differ much, suggesting that firms have incentive to invest in those regions. This chapter also identifies that both the housing and labor markets are segmented across the regions in the U.S. Chapter 4 uses meta-analysis to explore the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) relationship for CO2 and several other environmental quality measures. Results indicate the presence of an EKC-type relationship for CO 2 and other environmental quality measures in relative terms. However, the predicted value of income turning point for CO2 is both extremely large in relative terms (about 10 times the world GDP per capita at the 2007 price level) and far outside the range of the data. Therefore, this study cannot accept the existence of the EKC relationship for the CO2.

Magnetic Minerals in Soils and Paleosols as Recorders of Paleoclimate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maxbauer, Daniel P.

It is a fundamental challenge for geologists to create quantitative estimates of rainfall and temperature in past climates. Yet, records of past climates are integral for understanding the complexities of earth system dynamics. The research presented in this dissertation begins to establish a framework for reconstructing paleoclimates using the magnetic properties of fossilized soils. Magnetic minerals are ubiquitous in soils, and their composition, grain size, and concentration is often directly related to the ambient climatic conditions that were present during soil formation. Using rock magnetic methods, it is possible to sensitively characterize the magnetic mineral assemblages in natural materials - including soils and paleosols. The fundamentals of rock magnetism and many of the common methods used in rock magnetic applications are presented in chapter 2 and chapter 3, respectively. Chapter 4 reviews the physical, chemical, and biological factors that affect magnetic mineral assemblages in soils, the magnetic methods we use to characterize them, and the known relationships between magnetic minerals in soils and climate. A critical component to developing replicable tools for reconstructing paleoclimate is developing analytical and statistical tools that are accessible to the greater community. Chapter 5 introduces a new model, MAX UnMix, that was developed as an open-source, online tool for rock magnetic data processing that is designed to be user-friendly and accessible. Two case studies, on both fossil (Chapter 7) and modern (Chapter 6) soils, are presented and discuss many issues related to applying magnetic paleoprecipitation proxies in deep time. Chapter 7 discusses difficulties in disentangling the effects of pedogenesis, diagenesis, and recent surficial weathering in Paleocene-Eocene ( 56-55 Ma) paleosols. Chapter 6 explores the relative influence of soil forming factors (vegetation vs. climate) on controlling the pedogenic formation of magnetic minerals in soils developing across the forest-to-prairie ecotone in NW Minnesota. The body of research presented in this dissertation provides many challenges to future workers, while at the same time highlighting that rock magnetism should be a useful tool for researchers interested in deep time paleoclimates moving forward.

Long-term records of growth and distribution of conifers: Integration of paleoecology and physiological ecology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Graumlich, L.J.; Brubaker, L.B.

1995-07-01

The specter of human-induced alteration of atmospheric composition, and the associated changes in climate, have focused attention on how species, communities, and ecosystems respond to climate change. One source of information concerning this is the paleoecological record. Paleoecology offers insights in the nature of climate-vegetation interactions that derive from the well-documented response of plant communities to environmental changes of the past. The spatial and temporal resolution of paleoecological data sets has increased in recent decades, so that relatively detailed histories of conifer forests are available for much of North America and Europe. In addition, comparisons of records of past vegetationmore » dynamics to paleoclimatic simulations by general circulation models have improved the understanding of the role of climate in governing past vegetation change. Several major findings of paleoresearch have importance to investigations of the effects of future climate change on the Earth`s biota. These include the findings (1) that changing seasonality may result in unexpected vegetation patterns, (2) that climatic and vegetation changes can be rapid, with ecosystem-wide implications, and (3) that short-term, extreme events can have long-term effects on tree population structures. In this chapter, we discuss patterns of coniferous forest response to climatic variation at two temporal scales: the Late Quaternary and the last millennium. Our examples illustrate the wide range of potential responses of coniferous forests to climatic variation, and emphasize opportunities for applying paleoecological findings to questions of ecophysiological research. Although we rely largely on examples from North America, our conclusions are well-supported by parallel research results in Europe and Asia.« less

Climate variability during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and Little Ice Age based on ostracod faunas and shell geochemistry from Biscayne Bay, Florida: Chapter 14

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cronin, Thomas M.; Wingard, G. Lynn; Dwyer, Gary S.; Swart, Peter K.; Willard, Debra A.; Albietz, Jessica

2012-01-01

An 800-year-long environmental history of Biscayne Bay, Florida, is reconstructed from ostracod faunal and shell geochemical (oxygen, carbon isotopes, Mg/Ca ratios) studies of sediment cores from three mudbanks in the central and southern parts of the bay. Using calibrations derived from analyses of modern Biscayne and Florida Bay ostracods, palaeosalinity oscillations associated with changes in precipitation were identified. These oscillations reflect multidecadal- and centennial-scale climate variability associated with the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation during the late Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) and the Little Ice Age (LIA). Evidence suggests wetter regional climate during the MCA and drier conditions during the LIA. In addition, twentieth century anthropogenic modifications to Everglades hydrology influenced bay circulation and/or processes controlling carbon isotopic composition.

What's so local about global climate change? Testing social theories of environmental degradation to quantify the demographic, economic, and governmental factors associated with energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in U.S. metropolitan areas and counties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tribbia, John Luke

This research investigates the consequence of a crucial and not yet fully explored problem: the reluctance of the United States to sign and ratify international agreements, like Kyoto, that aim to mitigate climate change and its underlying social and ecological impacts. This unwillingness has inspired local governments, mayors, metropolitan area governance consortia, state governments, and governors to take on the climate challenge without the directive of the federal government. Local areas of the U.S. are experiencing climate-change-related impacts such as receding beach lines due to sea level rise and intense storms, fresh water shortages, and extreme weather events. As a result, researchers have begun to explore the human dimensions of climate change through an inquiry in: among many other topics, the vulnerability of local areas to the impacts of climate change and the forces shaping local areas' contribution to climate change. This study addresses the latter issue using the STIRPAT framework - a reformulated version of the I=(P)(A)(T) formulation that relates environmental impacts (I) to population growth (P), affluence (A), and technology (T). I address three questions that have thus far been poorly answered in prior research: "across the U.S., do local areas differ in the extent of their contribution to climate change?", "what are the causes of variation in energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions across local areas?" and "which social theories best explain the causes of variation in energy use and CO2 emissions across local areas?" To make strides in answering these questions and contribute to the understanding of local level drivers of energy consumption and emissions, this research analyzes the causes of variation in: energy use and CO2 emissions in the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas in chapter 4, the change in energy consumption between 2000 and 2005 for these metropolitan areas in chapter 5, and CO2 emissions in all U.S. counties in chapter 6. The STIRPAT method is used to test four social theories of environmental degradation -- the treadmill of production, ecological modernization, urban ecological transitions, and human ecology theories -- by quantifying variables associated with energy use and CO2 emissions drawn from each theory. The specific findings demonstrate that various demographic, economic, and governmental factors are related strongly to metropolitan area energy consumption and county-level CO2 emissions. The human ecology, treadmill of production, and urban ecological transitions theories are important to explaining how and why climate-related impacts differ for a wide variety of local areas in the United States. Related to human ecology and treadmill of production theory, environmental degradation is highest in metropolitan areas and counties with large populations and large economies that have various mechanisms in place to facilitate economic growth. By contrast, some U.S. counties are beginning to remedy their impact on the environment by applying economic and governmental resources toward the mitigation of CO2 emissions, which provides evidence of support for urban ecological transitions theory. However, because climate change is a complex cross-scale global environmental problem and the results in this dissertation confirm that this problem is locally driven by similar population and economic factors also affecting the climate at larger spatial scales, mitigation efforts to reduce energy use and emissions at the local level will be fruitless without a well-coordinated, cross-scale (local to global) ideological shift that puts less priority on economic goals and more on environmental sustainability. These results, and the methodological and theoretical framework applied in this dissertation, thus provide a useful platform for the successful application of future research that specifically addresses mitigation strategies to reduce local-level environmental impacts. This dissertation research, therefore, contributes to the environmental sociology, general demography, and environmental demography disciplines by exploring ways in which population-environment relationships work at the local scale.

Chapter 6: New Products and Product Categories in the Global Forest Sector

Treesearch

Zhiyong Cai; Alan W. Rudie; Nicole M. Stark; Ronald C. Sabo; Sally A. Ralph

2013-01-01

Forests, covering about 30% of the earth’s land area, are a major component in the global ecosystem, influencing the carbon cycle, climate change, habitat protection, clean water supplies, and sustainable economies (FAO 2011). Globally, the vast cellulosic resource found in forests provides about half of all major industrial raw materials for renewable energy, chemical...

Let it be: A hands-off approach to preserving wildness in protected areas [chapter 6

Treesearch

Peter Landres

2010-01-01

In an era of rapid global climate change and other pervasive anthropogenic ecological insults, many scientists and managers have few qualms about taking action to mitigate the effects of these insults, including in areas that are protected by law as wilderness, wildlife refuges, or national parks. For example, habitat is manipulated to sustain populations of selected...

Climate change and arthropods: Pollinators, herbivores, and others (Chapter 3)

Treesearch

Sandra L. Brantley; Paulette L. Ford

2012-01-01

The Interior West is rich in arthropod diversity because of its varied topography, which provides a wide range of elevations and levels of isolation for these small animals (Parmenter and others 1995). Some taxa are known rather well, such as butterflies and tiger beetles, but we have little information on many groups, which are known only from a few locations although...

Climate Change and Wildlife in the Northern Rockies Region [Chapter 9

Treesearch

Kevin S. McKelvey; Polly C. Buotte

2018-01-01

Temperature and moisture affect organisms through their operational environment and the thin boundary layer immediately above their tissues, and these effects are measured at short time scales. When a human (a mammal) wearing a dark insulative layer walks outdoors on a cold but sunny day, he or she feels warm because energy from the sun is interacting with the dark...

Chapter 15 - Composition and structure of whitebark and limber pine stands in the Interior West and the silvicultural implications (Project INT-EM-B-14-01)

Treesearch

James N. Long; John Shaw; Marcella Windmuller-Campione

2018-01-01

As forest communities continue to experience interactions between climate change and shifting disturbance regimes, there is anincreased need to link ecological understanding to applied management. Whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) and limber pine (P. flexilis) are important high-elevation five-needle pines in the...

The science, information, and engineering needed to manage water availability and quality in 2050: Chapter 23

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hirsch, Robert M.

2012-01-01

This chapter explores four water resources issues: 1) hydrologic variability, hazards, water supply and ecosystem preservation; 2) urban landscape design; 3) non-point source water quality, and 4) climate change, resiliency, and nonstationarity. It also considers what science, technology, and engineering practice may be needed in the coming decades to sustain water supplies and ecosystems in the face of increasing stresses from a growing demand for water. Dealing with these four water resource issues in the highly uncertain future would will demand predictive models that are rooted in real-world data. In a non-stationary world, continuity of observations is crucial. All watersheds are influenced by human actions through changes in land use, water use, and climate. The focus of water planning and management between today and 2050 will depend more than ever on collection and analysis of long-term data to learn about the evolving state of the system, understanding ecosystem processes in the water and on the landscape, and finding innovative ways to manage water as a shared resource. This includes sharing water with our neighbors on the landscape, sharing with the other species that depend on water, and sharing with future generations.

Impacts of Extreme Events on Human Health. Chapter 4

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bell, Jesse E.; Herring, Stephanie C.; Jantarasami, Lesley; Adrianopoli, Carl; Benedict, Kaitlin; Conlon, Kathryn; Escobar, Vanessa; Hess, Jeremy; Luvall, Jeffrey; Garcia-Pando, Carlos Perez;

An assessment of renewable energy in Southern Africa: Wind, solar, hydro

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fant, Charles William, IV

While electricity demand is rising quickly in the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), the nations involved struggle to build the necessary infrastructure to meet the demand. In addition, the principal member---the Republic of South Africa---has made ambitious targets to reduce emissions via renewable energy technology. In this dissertation, three stand-alone studies on this subject are presented that address the future reliability of renewable energy in southern Africa, considering climate variability as well as long-term trends caused by climate change. In the first study, a suite of models are used to assess the vulnerability of the countries dependent on resources from the Zambezi River Basin to changes in climate. The study finds that the sectors most vulnerable to climate change are: hydropower in Zambia, irrigation in Zimbabwe and Mozambique, and flooding in Mozambique. In the second study, hourly reanalysis data is used to characterize wind power intermittency and assess the value of interconnection in southern Africa. The study finds that wind potential is high in Kenya, central Tanzania, and southern South Africa. With a closer look, wind power resource in South Africa is unreliable (i.e. intermittent) and is weak when power demand is highest on all relevant time-scales. In the third study, presented in Chapter 4, we develop a risk profile for changes in the long-term mean of wind and solar power sources. To do this, we use a statistical relationship between global mean temperature and each local gridded wind speed and solar radiation from the GCMs. We find that only small changes in wind speed and solar radiation are predicted in the median of the distributions projected to 2050. Furthermore, at the extremes of the distribution, relatively significant changes are predicted in some parts of southern Africa, and are associated with low probability. Finally, in the conclusion chapter, limitations and assumptions are listed for each of the three studies, South Africa's options for reducing emissions are revisited, power trade and interconnection are discussed broadly, and future research is suggested.

Handbook for Conducting School Climate Improvement Projects.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howard, Eugene; And Others

This book discusses practical ways to improve a school's climate by increasing both productivity and satisfaction concurrently. Chapter 1, "Defining School Climate," identifies the overarching goals of school climate improvement, the basic human needs that school climate must address, the factors that make up a school's climate and…

The response of arid soil communities to climate change: Chapter 8

USGS Publications Warehouse

Steven, Blaire; McHugh, Theresa Ann; Reed, Sasha C.

2017-01-01

Arid and semiarid ecosystems cover approximately 40% of Earth’s terrestrial surface and are present on each of the planet’s continents [1]. Drylands are characterized by their aridity, but there is substantial geographic, edaphic, and climatic variability among these vast ecosystems, and these differences underscore substantial variation in dryland soil microbial communities, as well as in the future climates predicted among arid and semiarid systems globally. Furthermore, arid ecosystems are commonly patchy at a variety of spatial scales [2,3]. Vascular plants are widely interspersed in drylands and bare soil, or soil that is covered with biological soil crusts, fill these spaces. The variability acts to further enhance spatial heterogeneity, as these different zones within dryland ecosystems differ in characteristics such as water retention, albedo, and nutrient cycling [4–6]. Importantly, the various soil patches of an arid landscape may be differentially sensitive to climate change. Soil communities are only active when enough moisture is available, and drylands show large spatial variability in soil moisture, with potentially long dry periods followed by pulses of moisture. The pulse dynamics associated with this wetting and drying affect the composition, structure, and function of dryland soil communities, and integrate biotic and abiotic processes via pulse-driven exchanges, interactions, transitions, and transfers. Climate change will likely alter the size, frequency, and intensity of future precipitation pulses, as well as influence non-rainfall sources of soil moisture, and aridland ecosystems are known to be highly sensitive to such climate variability. Despite great heterogeneity, arid ecosystems are united by a key parameter: a limitation in water availability. This characteristic may help to uncover unifying aspects of dryland soil responses to global change. The dryness of an ecosystem can be described by its aridity index (AI). Several AIs have been proposed, but the most widely used metrics determine the difference between average precipitation and potential evapotranspiration, where evapotranspiration is the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration, both of which move water from the ecosystem to the atmosphere [7–9]. Because evapotranspiration can be affected by various environmental factors such as temperature and incident radiation (Fig. 10.1), regions that receive the same average precipitation may have significantly different AI values [10,11]. Multiple studies have documented that mean annual precipitation, and thus AI, is highly correlated with biological diversity and net primary productivity [12–15]. Accordingly, AI is considered to be a central regulator of the diversity, structure, and productivity of an ecosystem, playing an especially influential role in arid ecosystems. Thus, the climate parameters that drive alterations in the AI of a region are likely to play an disproportionate role in shaping the response of arid soil communities to a changing climate. In this chapter we consider climate parameters that have been shown to be altered through climate change, with a focus on how these parameters are likely to affect dryland soil communities, including microorganisms and invertebrates. In particular, our goal is to highlight dryland soil community structure and function in the context of climate change, and we will focus on community relationships with increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations (a primary driver of climate change), temperature, and sources of soil moisture.

Towards the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masson-Delmotte, Valérie

2017-04-01

The Intergovernemental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has accepted the invitation from the Paris Agreement to prepare a special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty. This special report is prepared under the scientific leadership of the co-chairs of the IPCC Working Groups I, II and III, and with operational support from the Technical Support Unit of Working Group I. It will consist of 5 chapters, providing (i) framing and context, (ii) exploring mitigation pathways compatible with 1.5°C in the context of sustainable development, (iii) assessing impacts of 1.5°C global warming on natural and human systems, and (iv) options for strengthening and implementing the global response to the threat of climate change, with a final chapter on sustainable development, poverty eradication and reducing inequalities. The timeline of preparation of the report is extremely short, with four lead author meetings taking place from March 2017 to April 2018, and an approval session scheduled in September 2018. It is crucial that new knowledge is being produced and submitted / published in the literature in time for contributing new material to be assessed by the authors of the report (with deadlines in late fall 2017 and spring 2018). With respect to the additional impacts expected for 1.5°C warming compared to present-day, and impacts avoided with respect to larger warming, new research is expected to build on existing CMIP5 projections, including new information on regional change, methods to provide knowledge for the most vulnerable ecosystems and regions, but also information from ongoing projects aiming to produce large ensembles of simulations, and new simulations driven by low carbon pathways. This is important for identifying climate change signals from climate variability (e.g. changes in water cycle, extremes...), for assessing strengths and limitations of methodologies using high end climate scenarios versus true stabilisation pathways, and for exploring long term risks beyond transient response, with consideration for overshoots and the full timescale of Earth system feedbacks. Lessons learnt from past warm climatic phases may also provide insights complementary to projections, albeit without the perspective of rates of changes that is specific to the issue of 1.5°C global warming. This special report is also designed to be complementary from the other reports in preparation for the IPCC Sixth Assessment cycle (AR6), including the special reports on the ocean and the cryosphere, on land use issues, both scheduled for 2019, and the Working Group main assessment reports, scheduled for 2021-2022.

Land use change and human health

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patz, Jonathan A.; Norris, Douglas E.

Disease emergence events have been documented following several types of land use change. This chapter reviews several health-relevant land use changes recognized today, including: 1) urbanization and urban sprawl; 2) water projects and agricultural development; 3) road construction and deforestation in the tropics; and 4) regeneration of temperate forests. Because habitat or climatic change substantially affects intermediate invertebrate hosts involved in many prevalent diseases, this chapter provides a basic description of vector-borne disease biology as a foundation for analyzing the effects of land use change. Urban sprawl poses health challenges stemming from heat waves exacerbated by the "urban heat island" effect, as well as from water contamination due to expanses of impervious road and concrete surfaces. Dams, irrigation and agricultural development have long been associated with diseases such as schistosomiasis and filariasis. Better management methods are required to address the trade-offs between expanded food production and altered habitats promoting deadly diseases. Deforestation can increase the nature and number of breeding sites for vector-borne diseases, such as malaria and onchocerciasis. Human host and disease vector interaction further increases risk, as can a change in arthropod-vector species composition.

Chapter 3. Responses of Freshwater Fish to Temperature ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Scientists at the NHEERL, and its predecessor—the Office of Environmental Processes and Effects Research—initiated research in 1988 anticipating the Global Change Research Act. The purpose of this document is to summarize ecological research conducted by NHEERL scientists under the EPA’s contribution to the USGCRP from the onset of research through approximately 2002. The intent is to provide that information as reference material for scientists investigating the potential impacts of climate change on ecosystems Scientists at the NHEERL, and its predecessor—the Office of Environmental Processes and Effects Research—initiated research in 1988 anticipating the Global Change Research Act. The purpose of this document is to summarize ecological research conducted by NHEERL scientists under the EPA’s contribution to the USGCRP from the onset of research through approximately 2002. The intent is to provide that information as reference material for scientists investigating the potential impacts of climate change on ecosystems

Large-Scale and Global Hydrology. Chapter 92

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rodell, Matthew; Beaudoing, Hiroko Kato; Koster, Randal; Peters-Lidard, Christa D.; Famiglietti, James S.; Lakshmi, Venkat

2016-01-01

Powered by the sun, water moves continuously between and through Earths oceanic, atmospheric, and terrestrial reservoirs. It enables life, shapes Earths surface, and responds to and influences climate change. Scientists measure various features of the water cycle using a combination of ground, airborne, and space-based observations, and seek to characterize it at multiple scales with the aid of numerical models. Over time our understanding of the water cycle and ability to quantify it have improved, owing to advances in observational capabilities, the extension of the data record, and increases in computing power and storage. Here we present some of the most recent estimates of global and continental ocean basin scale water cycle stocks and fluxes and provide examples of modern numerical modeling systems and reanalyses.Further, we discuss prospects for predicting water cycle variability at seasonal and longer scales, which is complicated by a changing climate and direct human impacts related to water management and agriculture. Changes to the water cycle will be among the most obvious and important facets of climate change, thus it is crucial that we continue to invest in our ability to monitor it.

Major Energy Conservation Retrofits: A Planning Guide for Northern Climates.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Quivik, Fredric

Energy-efficient retrofits are suggested as alternatives to conventional weatherization practices in this three-chapter report. Chapter 1 provides information necessary to help readers decide if a major energy retrofit is the right approach to a particular housing situation. Chapter 2 examines various aspects of retrofit designing, considering…

Chapter 3 - Large-scale patterns of forest fire occurrence in the conterminous United States and Alaska, 2011.

Treesearch

Kevin M. Potter

2014-01-01

Free-burning fire has been a constant ecological presence on the American landscape, the expression of which has changed as new climates, peoples, and land uses have become predominant (Pyne 2010). It is an important ecological mechanism that shapes the distributions of species, maintains the structure and function of fire-prone communities, and is a significant...

Effects of Climate Change on Cultural Resources in the Northern Rockies Region [Chapter 12

Treesearch

Carl M. Davis

2018-01-01

People have inhabited the Northern Rocky Mountains of the United States since the close of the last Pleistocene glacial period, some 14,000 years B.P. (Fagan 1990; Meltzer 2009). Evidence of this ancient and more recent human occupation is found throughout the Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USFS) Northern Region and the Greater Yellowstone Area,...

Defining a landscape-scale monitoring tier for the North American Carbon Program. Chapter 1

Treesearch

David Y. Hollinger

2008-01-01

Better knowledge of carbon stocks and fluxes is needed to understand the current state of the carbon cycle and how it might evolve with changing land uses and climatic conditions. For Canada, the United States, and Mexico, the North American Carbon Program (NACP) has been devised to measure and understand the sources and sinks of CO2, CH

Chapter 8: Estimating net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from wood energy use; Issues and the current state of knowledge

Treesearch

Prakash Nepal; Kenneth E. Skog

2014-01-01

Use of woody biomass from sustainably managed sources to produce energy is considered an important strategy to mitigate climate change because the resource is renewable (biomass regrowth on land recaptures emitted carbon dioxide (CO2) due to biomass burning) and can substitute for fossil-fuel-based energy such as coal and natural gas. However,...

Tough To Reach, Tough To Teach: Students with Behavior Problems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rockwell, Sylvia

This book on students with behavior disorders is intended to serve as a resource on intervention strategies for regular education teachers, administrators, and support personnel. After an introductory chapter, a chapter on classroom climate considers setting limits, safety, trust, acceptance, and sense of purpose. The next chapter, on scheduling,…

4th National Climate Assessment: Public Webinar for Air Quality Chapter

EPA Science Inventory

On May 8, 2017, the NCA4 Air Quality chapter team held a public engagement webinar. The objectives of the webinar were to gather input from stakeholders, including authors of the regional chapters, to help inform the writing and development of NCA4, and to raise awareness of the ...

Shifting environmental foundations: The unprecedented and unpredictable future: Chapter 4

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stephenson, Nathan L.; Millar, Constance I.; Cole, David

2010-01-01

As described in Chapter 2, protected area managers have been directed, through statutes and agency policy, to preserve natural conditions in parks and wilderness. Although preserving naturalness has always been a challenge for managers, there has never been much question about whether this is the right thing to do. But given what is known now about the pace and magnitude of ongoing global changes, the appropriateness of naturalness as a management goal must be reexamined. A host of anthropogenic environmental stressors are reshaping ecosystems, including those protected in parks and wilderness. Pollution is now ubiquitous worldwide, and invasive species are common in most landscapes. Habitats have become highly fragmented, and climatic changes are dramatically altering the abiotic conditions in which biota live. Given these changes, some attempts to restore and maintain naturalness may at best be ineffective; at worst, they could waste precious resources and even contribute to loss of some of the values that managers are trying to protect.

Handbook on surficial uranium deposits. Chapter 3. World distribution relative to climate and physical setting

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carlisle, D

1983-01-01

This chapter discusses regional controls which affect the world distribution of surficial chemogenic uranium deposits. The most important of these are (1) climate, (2) geomorphology, including physiographic and climatic stability, and (3) provenance, i.e., the weathering terrain from which uranium and associated substances are derived. The three economically important environments are the calcrete environment, simple evaporative environments and paludal environments. Of these three categories, the calcrete uranium environment is probably the most uniquely constrained in terms of regional climate, geomorphic setting, provenance (vanadium as well as uranium) and especially the need for long term stability of both climate and physiography.more » Purely evaporative deposits, though subject to some of the same kinds of constraints, can also reflect local circumstances and a wider range of climates, physiographic settings, and source terrains. The third category encompassing bogs, marshes and organic-rich playas can form under an even wider range of climates and settings provided only that organic materials accumulate in abundance and are contacted by uranium-bearing waters. For all of these reasons and also because of the great economic importance of the calcrete environment as well as its relative novelty and complexity the discussion in this chapter is focused on calcrete, dolocrete and gypcrete uranium deposits. Objective data are reviewed first follwed by inferences and suggestions. 13 figures.« less

Klimanavigator - Climate Navigator - Gateway to climate knowledge in Germany

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schuck-Zöller, Susanne

2013-04-01

Objective More than 50 German research institutions and networks are represented on www.klimanavigator.de, a common platform, where information about their work, and the latest findings from climate research and adaptation can be found. Thus Klimanavigator as a gateway to climate knowledge provides a information portal for those who have to respond to climate change. The internet portal gives an overview of the present state of research and is estimated as a decision support tool for appropriate mitigation and adaptation measures. Target Groups The portal collects the German climate research institutions to publish their scientific knowledge in a non-scientific language. Economists, policymakers, administration and the media are bound to find the names of scientific experts and institutions by an elaborated research tool. Methodology The chapter "Dossiers" is edited by the Klimanavigator-Coordinator CSC. It gathers information to a special issue looked upon from various points of view. Publications of outstanding German scientists are presented side by side, current knowledge is being synthesized, scientifically reviewed and disseminated. The latest news from climate and adaptation research is presented in an own chapter, dedicated to the press releases of the portal members. Via RSS-feed the press releases are collected from the different partner institutions. Thirdly, portraits of the member institutions, that are individually edited by themselves, draw a map of science in Germany and help to find appropriate cooperation partners. For the future further development is being planned. Common Management Klimanavigator is being managed by the partners in common. The main decisions concerning the concept and shape of the portal are made by the partners' assembly. An elected editorial committee decides about the content between the assemblies. The Climate Service Center (part of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht) concentrates on facilitating the cooperation, and delivering the technical support. Results/Outcome/Products Map and navigator of climate and adaptation science in Germany Representation of science in Germany and Germany as a country of science Synthesis of knowledge Network of science institutions and projects Decision support tool

Measuring Campus Climate for Personal and Social Responsibility

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryder, Andrew J.; Mitchell, Joshua J.

2013-01-01

Understanding institutional climate enhances decision-making capacity when planning new programs and improving learning environments on college campuses. This chapter defines climate, discusses the purpose and advantages of climate assessment, and identifies important factors to consider in planning and conducting a personal and social…

The social construction of communication climate: An analysis of at-risk students in alternative high school

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Souza, Tasha Jean

1998-12-01

Alternative high schools affect more potential high school dropouts than any other school or program and are designed to meet the needs of students who have had difficulty in conventional schools. This study examines the communication climate and constructions of caring in an alternative school for at-risk students by using a qualitative analysis grounded in the theoretical perspective of social constructionism. Observations and interviews were conducted over a six month time period. The first two chapters provide a review of literature and a detailed account of the methods used to conduct the study. Chapter Three describes the socially constructed nature of the school and the participants and the dialectical tensions of communication climate revealed from the analysis. The six dialectical tensions of communication climate are: (1) freedom/restraint, (2) disengagement/engagement, (3) personal communication/impersonal communication, (4) disconfirmation/confirmation, (5) equality/inequality, and (6) ambiguity/clarity. Although the school climate is comprised of each of these tensions, the data suggest that the interaction within the majority of classes created some common characteristics of the general communication climate at the school and can be characterized as one of freedom, disengagement, personal communication, disconfirmation, equality, and ambiguity. Chapter Four describes how caring was constructed and communicated. Although some students perceived some teachers as caring about students and about student learning, half of the students interviewed thought they were not learning or not learning much. Finally, Chapter Five provides a summary of the findings and a discussion of the results. The results of this study contribute to an understanding of the social construction of communication climate and caring in general, and within an alternative school for at-risk students, in specific. The results contribute to the understanding of the complexity of the jointly produced nature of communication climate and reveal the potential effect of communication climate and constructions of caring on teachers' instructional methods, teacher and student interaction, and student learning. Such information can aid pragmatically in the development or modification of programs designed to serve at-risk students, and theoretically in the understanding of the co-constructed nature of communication climate.

A Way Forward: Cooperative Solutions to Our Climate Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Little, L. J.; Byrne, J. M.

2014-12-01

Solving the global climate crisis is a multidisciplinary challenge. The world is seeking solutions to climate change. The climate research and education community must move beyond the realm of debating the science - we MUST provide the solutions. The research community understands the science and many of the solutions very well. This project will address the specifics of solutions involving social, political and science disciplines. The content is targeted to multidisciplinary education at the senior undergraduate and graduate levels in universities and colleges. Humanity has already changed the climate and current greenhouse gas emission (GHG) projections indicate our world will warm 2-6° C within a young person's lifetime. We must coordinate societal mitigation and adaptation policies, programs and technology transformations. There is now a dramatic need for many, many highly trained multidisciplinary climate change solutions professionals that understand the complexities of the challenges and can work through the social, political and science tribulations needed to sustain communities around the world. This proposed education project: Provides an introduction to the social, political, technical, health and well-being challenges of climate change; Defines and describes the unprecedented changes to personal and community lifestyle, and consumption of energy and other resources; Examines ways and means for rapid transition of energy systems from fossil fuels to clean renewable technologies. Evaluates redevelopment of our infrastructure to withstand increasing weather extremes; Inventories possible abandonment and/or protection of infrastructure that cannot be redeveloped or reworked, particularly with respect to coastal zones where substantial populations currently live. We propose an online living textbook project. Chapter contributions will be invited from outstanding solutions research professionals from around the world. The online presence is the best means to facilitate a multimedia presentation of the core content of the proposed text.

When worlds collide: challenges and opportunities for conservation of biodiversity in the Hawaiian Islands

USGS Publications Warehouse

Atkinson, Carter T.; Pratt, Thane K.; Banko, Paul C.; Jacobi, James D.; Woodworth, Bethany L.

2013-01-01

This chapter identifies four key challenges and opportunities for long-term conservation of biodiversity in the Hawaii's Islands. Following are the challenges that need to be resolved for remaining species of native forest birds to survive into the next century: invasive species, landscape processes, social factors, and climate change. These challenges are also relevant to other threatened terrestrial taxonomic groups (i.e., plants and invertebrates) in the Hawaiian Islands. Such threats are familiar to conservation biologists the world over, but rarely do they act as synergistically as they do in the Hawaiian Islands. The chapter reviews conservation successes and failures in Hawaii, and provides an example of the possible future course of conservation in other island communities.

Climate change and world food supply, demand, and trade

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fischer, G.; Frohberg, K.; Parry, M.L.

This chapter summarizes the findings of a major interdisciplinary research effort by scientists in 25 countries. The study examined the potential biophysical responses of major food crops to changing atmospheric composition and climate, and projected potential socio-economic consequences. In a first step, crop models were used to estimate how changing climatic conditions may alter yields of major crops at a number of sites representing both major production areas and vulnerable regions at low, mid, and high latitudes. Then socio-economic impacts were assessed for the period 1990 up to the Year 2060 with a dynamic recursive model of the world foodmore » system. The results of the assessment suggest that a doubling of the atmospheric CO{sub 2} concentration will have little effect on global food production levels. Globally, impacts on crop production will be small compared to the required production increases between now and the middle of the next century. But, under all simulated scenarios possible negative impacts were mostly observed in low latitudes thus tending to increase the disparity between developed and developing countries.« less

Adapting Water Infrastructure to Non-stationary Climate ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Water supply and sanitation are carried out by three major types of water infrastructure: drinking water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, and storm water collection and management. Their sustainability is measured by resilience against and adaptability to an evolving factor; here it refers to the change of climate and its hydrologic impacts. The term resilience is defined as the ability to repair and recover its physical state and service function under the impacts of external forces (Milman and Short, 2008; McDaniels et al., 2008). In this context, capacity reserve (CR) is one very important physical attribute of system’s resilience; further details will be described later in this section and in the subsequent Chapter 1.7. While service function of a water infrastructure varies geographically among municipalities, its general engineering and management follow a triple bottom line of objectives: system reliability, environmental sustainability, and engineering economics. Communicate to science community and practitioners on the climate change adaptation to increase water infrastructure resilience by adaptation design

Chapter 11: City-Wide Collaborations for Urban Climate Education

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Snyder, Steven; Hoffstadt, Rita Mukherjee; Allen, Lauren B.; Crowley, Kevin; Bader, Daniel A.; Horton, Radley M.

2014-01-01

Although cities cover only 2 percent of the Earth's surface, more than 50 percent of the world's people live in urban environments, collectively consuming 75 percent of the Earth's resources. Because of their population densities, reliance on infrastructure, and role as centers of industry, cities will be greatly impacted by, and will play a large role in, the reduction or exacerbation of climate change. However, although urban dwellers are becoming more aware of the need to reduce their carbon usage and to implement adaptation strategies, education efforts on these strategies have not been comprehensive. To meet the needs of an informed and engaged urban population, a more systemic, multiplatform and coordinated approach is necessary. The Climate and Urban Systems Partnership (CUSP) is designed to explore and address this challenge. Spanning four cities-Philadelphia, New York, Pittsburgh, and Washington, DC-the project is a partnership between the Franklin Institute, the Columbia University Center for Climate Systems Research, the University of Pittsburgh Learning Research and Development Center, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, New York Hall of Science, and the Marian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences. The partnership is developing a comprehensive, interdisciplinary network to educate urban residents about climate science and the urban impacts of climate change.

Interactions of Vegetation and Climate: Remote Observations, Earth System Models, and the Amazon Forest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quetin, Gregory R.

The natural composition of terrestrial ecosystems can be shaped by climate to take advantage of local environmental conditions. Ecosystem functioning, e.g. interaction between photosynthesis and temperature, can also acclimate to different climatological states. The combination of these two factors thus determines ecological-climate interactions. The ecosystem functioning also plays a key role in predicting the carbon cycle, hydrological cycle, terrestrial surface energy balance, and the feedbacks in the climate system. Predicting the response of the Earth's biosphere to global warming requires the ability to mechanistically represent the processes controlling ecosystem functioning through photosynthesis, respiration, and water use. The physical environment in a place shapes the vegetation there, but vegetation also has the potential to shape the environment, e.g. increased photosynthesis and transpiration moisten the atmosphere. These two-way ecoclimate interactions create the potential for feedbacks between vegetation at the physical environment that depend on the vegetation and the climate of a place, and can change throughout the year. In Chapter 1, we derive a global empirical map of the sensitivity of vegetation to climate using the response of satellite-observed greenness to interannual variations in temperature and precipitation. We infer mechanisms constraining ecosystem functioning by analyzing how the sensitivity of vegetation to climate varies across climate space. Our analysis yields empirical evidence for multiple physical and biological mediators of the sensitivity of vegetation to climate at large spatial scales. In hot and wet locations, vegetation is greener in warmer years despite temperatures likely exceeding thermally optimum conditions. However, sunlight generally increases during warmer years, suggesting that the increased stress from higher atmospheric water demand is offset by higher rates of photosynthesis. The sensitivity of vegetation transitions in sign (greener when warmer or drier to greener when cooler or wetter) along an emergent line in climate space with a slope of about 59 mm/yr/°C, twice as steep as contours of aridity. The mismatch between these slopes is evidence at a global scale of the limitation of both water supply due to inefficiencies in plant access to rainfall, and plant physiological responses to atmospheric water demand. This empirical pattern can provide a functional constraint for process-based models, helping to improve predictions of the global-scale response of vegetation to a changing climate. In Chapter 2, we use observations of vegetation interaction with the physical environment to identify where ecosystem functioning is well simulated in an ensemble of Earth system models. We leverage this data-model comparison to hypothesize which physiological mechanisms--photosynthetic efficiency, respiration, water supply, atmospheric water demand, and sunlight availability--dominate the ecosystem response in places with different climates. The models are generally successful in reproducing the broad sign and shape of ecosystem function across climate space except for simulating generally lower leaf area during warmer years in places with hot wet climates. In addition, simulated ecosystem interaction with temperature is generally larger and changes more rapidly across a gradient of temperature than is observed. We hypothesize that the amplified interaction and change are both due to a lack of adaptation and acclimation in simulations. This discrepancy with observations suggests that simulated responses of vegetation to global warming, and feedbacks between vegetation and climate, are too strong in the models. Finally, models and observations share an abrupt threshold between dry regions and wet regions where strong positive vegetation response to precipitation falls to nearly zero in places receiving around 1000 mm/year. In Chapter 3, we investigate how ecoclimate interactions change across seasons in the Amazon basin. We use observations of solar induced fluorescence from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO2) to statistically analyze the sensitivity of fluorescence to synoptic variations in temperature and precipitation. In addition to studying the sensitivity of vegetation to climate across seasons, we use OCO2 measurements of total column water vapor (TCWV) and CO2 concentration (XCO2) to investigate the influence of the Amazon basin vegetation on the CO2 concentration and water vapor of the atmosphere leaving the basin. Our analysis determines the seasonal importance of vegetation activity on the outflow of CO2 from the Amazon basin, while providing evidence that transpiration is primarily driven by variations in temperature during the dry season, rather than photosynthesis. We establish a statistical relationship between fluorescence (as a proxy for vegetation photosynthesis), temperature, and precipitation, as well as the difference between the outflow of atmospheric water vapor from the inflow water vapor, basin fluorescence, temperature, and precipitation.

Numerical Prediction of Dust. Chapter 10

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benedetti, Angela; Baldasano, J. M.; Basart, S.; Benincasa, F.; Boucher, O.; Brooks, M.; Chen, J. P.; Colarco, P. R.; Gong, S.; Huneeus, N.;

Near Real-Time Flood Monitoring and Impact Assessment Systems. Chapter 6; [Case Study: 2011 Flooding in Southeast Asia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ahamed, Aakash; Bolten, John; Doyle, C.; Fayne, Jessica

2016-01-01

Floods are the costliest natural disaster (United Nations 2004), causing approximately6.8 million deaths in the twentieth century alone (Doocy et al. 2013).Worldwide economic flood damage estimates in 2012 exceed $19 Billion USD(Munich Re 2013). Extended duration floods also pose longer term threats to food security, water, sanitation, hygiene, and community livelihoods, particularly in developing countries (Davies et al. 2014).Projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggest that precipitation extremes, rainfall intensity, storm intensity, and variability are increasing due to climate change (IPCC 2007). Increasing hydrologic uncertainty will likely lead to unprecedented extreme flood events. As such, there is a vital need to enhance and further develop traditional techniques used to rapidly assessflooding and extend analytical methods to estimate impacted population and infrastructure.

The Realm of Physical Geography.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rea, Patrick S.

This secondary education student geography book contains chapters on climate, landforms, oceans, world vegetation, water resources, and population. Each chapter provides an introduction that describes the unit's topics, descriptive and instructional materials, learning activities, and questions. A glossary of geography-related terms and an…

Soil formation: Chapter 6

USGS Publications Warehouse

Goldhaber, Martin B.; Banwart, Steven A.

2015-01-01

Soil formation reflects the complex interaction of many factors, among the most important of which are (i) the nature of the soil parent material, (ii) regional climate, (iii) organisms, including humans, (iv) topography and (v) time. These processes operate in Earth's critical zone; the thin veneer of our planet where rock meets life. Understanding the operation of these soil-forming factors requires an interdisciplinary approach and is a necessary predicate to charactering soil processes and functions, mitigating soil degradation and adapting soil management to environmental change. In this chapter, we discuss how these soil-forming factors operate both singly and in concert in natural and human modified environments. We emphasize the role that soil organic matter plays in these processes to provide context for understanding the benefits that it bestows on humanity.

The Atmosphere and Climate of Venus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bullock, M. A.; Grinspoon, D. H.

Venus lies just sunward of the inner edge of the Sun's habitable zone. Liquid water is not stable. Like Earth and Mars, Venus probably accreted at least an ocean's worth of water, although there are alternative scenarios. The loss of this water led to the massive, dry CO2 atmosphere, extensive H2SO4 clouds (at least some of the time), and an intense CO2 greenhouse effect. This chapter describes the current understanding of Venus' atmosphere, established from the data of dozens of spacecraft and atmospheric probe missions since 1962, and by telescopic observations since the nineteenth century. Theoretical work to model the temperature, chemistry, and circulation of Venus' atmosphere is largely based on analogous models developed in the Earth sciences. We discuss the data and modeling used to understand the temperature structure of the atmosphere, as well as its composition, cloud structure, and general circulation. We address what is known and theorized about the origin and early evolution of Venus' atmosphere. It is widely understood that Venus' dense CO2 atmosphere is the ultimate result of the loss of an ocean to space, but the timing of major transitions in Venus' climate is very poorly constrained by the available data. At present, the bright clouds allow only 20% of the sunlight to drive the energy balance and therefore determine conditions at Venus' surface. Like Earth and Mars, differential heating between the equator and poles drives the atmospheric circulation. Condensable species in the atmosphere create clouds and hazes that drive feedbacks that alter radiative forcing. Also in common with Earth and Mars, the loss of light, volatile elements to space produces long-term changes in composition and chemistry. As on Earth, geologic processes are most likely modifying the atmosphere and clouds by injecting gases from volcanos as well as directly through chemical reactions with the surface. The sensitivity of Venus' atmospheric energy balance is quantified in this chapter in terms of the initial forcing due to a perturbation, radiative response, and indirect responses, which are feedbacks — either positive or negative. When applied to one Venus climate model, we found that the albedo-radiative feedback is more important than greenhouse forcing for small changes in atmospheric H2O and SO2. An increase in these gases cools the planet by making the clouds brighter. On geologic timescales the reaction of some atmospheric species (SO2, CO, OCS, S, H2O, H2S, HCl, HF) with surface minerals could cause significant changes in atmospheric composition. Laboratory data and thermochemical modeling have been important for showing that atmospheric SO2 would be depleted in ~10 m.y. if carbonates are available at the surface. Without replenishment, the clouds would disappear. Alternatively, the oxidation of pyrite could add SO2 to the atmosphere while producing stable Fe oxides at the surface. The correlation of near-infrared high emissivity (dark) surface features with three young, large volcanos on Venus is strong evidence for recent volcanic activity at these sites, certainly over the timescale necessary to support the clouds. We address the nature of heterogeneous reactions with the surface and the implications for climate change on Venus. Chemical and mineralogical signatures of past climates must exist at the surface and below, so in situ experiments on the composition of surface layers are vital for reconstructing Venus' past climate. Many of the most Earth-like planets found around other stars will probably resemble Venus or a younger version of Venus. We finish the chapter with discussing what Venus can tell us about life in the universe, since it is an example of a planetary climate rendered uninhabitable. It also resembles our world's likely future. As with the climate history of Venus, however, the timing of predictable climate transitions on the Earth is poorly constrained by the data.

Effects of Global Change on U.S. Urban Areas: Vulnerabilities, Impacts, and Adaptation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quattrochi, D. A.; Wilbanks, T. J.; Kirshen, P. H.; Romero-Lankao, P.; Rosenzweig, C. E.; Ruth, M.; Solecki, W.; Tarr, J. A.

2007-05-01

Human settlements, both large and small, are where the vast majority of people on the Earth live. Expansion of cities both in population and areal extent, is a relentless process that will accelerate in the 21st century. As a consequence of urban growth both in the United States and around the globe, it is important to develop an understanding of how urbanization will affect the local and regional environment. Of equal importance, however, is the assessment of how cities will be impacted by the looming prospects of global climate change and climate variability. The potential impacts of climate change and variability has recently been enunciated by the IPCC's "Climate Change 2007" report. Moreover, the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) is preparing a series of "Synthesis and Assessment Products" (SAP) reports to support informed discussion and decision making regarding climate change and variability by policy makers, resource managers, stakeholders, the media, and the general public. We are working on a chapter of SAP 4.6 ("Analysis of the Effects of Global Chance on Human Health and Welfare and Human Systems") wherein we wish to describe the effects of global climate change on human settlements. This paper will present the thoughts and ideas that are being formulated for our SAP report that relate to what vulnerabilities and impacts will occur, what adaptation responses may take place, and what possible effects on settlement patterns and characteristics will potentially arise, on human settlements in the U.S. as a result of climate change and climate variability. We wish to present these ideas and concepts as a "work in progress" that are subject to several rounds of review, and we invite comments from listeners at this session on the rationale and veracity of our thoughts. Additionally, we wish to explore how technology such as remote sensing data coupled with modeling, can be employed as synthesis tools for deriving insight across a spectrum of impacts (e.g. public health, urban planning for mitigation strategies) on how cities can cope and adapt to climate change and variability. This latter point parallels the concepts and ideas presented in the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Decadal Survey report on "Earth Science Applications from Space: National Imperatives for the Next Decade and Beyond" wherein the analysis of the impacts of climate change and variability, human health, and land use change are listed as key areas for development of future Earth observing remote sensing systems.

Climatic Versus Biotic Constraints on Carbon and Water Fluxes in Seasonally Drought-affected Ponderosa Pine Ecosystems. Chapter 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schwarz, P. A.; Law, B. E.; Williams, M.; Irvine, J.; Kurpius, M.; Moore, D.

2005-01-01

We investigated the relative importance of climatic versus biotic controls on gross primary production (GPP) and water vapor fluxes in seasonally drought-affected ponderosa pine forests. The study was conducted in young (YS), mature (MS), and old stands (OS) over 4 years at the AmeriFlux Metolius sites. Model simulations showed that interannual variation of GPP did not follow the same trends as precipitation, and effects of climatic variation were smallest at the OS (50%), and intermediate at the YS (<20%). In the young, developing stand, interannual variation in leaf area has larger effects on fluxes than climate, although leaf area is a function of climate in that climate can interact with age-related shifts in carbon allocation and affect whole-tree hydraulic conductance. Older forests, with well-established root systems, appear to be better buffered from effects of seasonal drought and interannual climatic variation. Interannual variation of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) was also lowest at the OS, where NEE is controlled more by interannual variation of ecosystem respiration, 70% of which is from soil, than by the variation of GPP, whereas variation in GPP is the primary reason for interannual changes in NEE at the YS and MS. Across spatially heterogeneous landscapes with high frequency of younger stands resulting from natural and anthropogenic disturbances, interannual climatic variation and change in leaf area are likely to result in large interannual variation in GPP and NEE.

Unwelcoming Classroom Climates: The Role of Gender Microaggressions in CTE

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lester, Jaime; Struthers, Brice; Yamanaka, Aoi

2017-01-01

This chapter reviews the literature, gender and CTE, classroom climate, and faculty-student interactions and presents results of a qualitative study on gender microaggressions in community college CTE classrooms.

U.S. 2013 National Climate Assessment of Oceans and Marine Resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doney, S. C.; Rosenberg, A.

2012-12-01

We will discuss the key findings from the Oceans and Marine Resources chapter of the U.S. 2013 National Climate Assessment. As a nation, we depend on the ocean for seafood, recreation and tourism, cultural heritage, transportation of goods, and increasingly, energy and other critical resources. The U.S. ocean Exclusive Economic Zone extends 200 nautical miles seaward from the coast, spanning an area about 1.7 times the land area of the continental United States and encompassing waters along the U.S. east, west and Gulf coasts, around Alaska and Hawaii, and including the U.S. territories in the Pacific and Caribbean. This vast region is host to a rich diversity of marine plants and animals and a wide range of ecosystems from tropical coral reefs to sea-ice covered, polar waters in the Arctic. We will highlight the current state of knowledge on changing ocean climate conditions, such as warming, sea-ice retreat and ocean acidification, and how these may be impacting valuable marine ecosystems and the array of resources and services we derive from the sea now and into the future. We will also touch on the interaction of climate change impacts with other human factors including pollution and over-fishing.

Representative Agricultural Pathways and Scenarios for Regional Integrated Assessment of Climate Change Impacts, Vulnerability, and Adaptation. 5; Chapter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Valdivia, Roberto O.; Antle, John M.; Rosenzweig, Cynthia; Ruane, Alexander C.; Vervoort, Joost; Ashfaq, Muhammad; Hathie, Ibrahima; Tui, Sabine Homann-Kee; Mulwa, Richard; Nhemachena, Charles;

Coastal Carbon Dynamics as a New Chapter in SOCCR2: Tidal Wetlands and Estuaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Windham-Myers, L.; Megonigal, P.; Cai, W. J.; Hopkinson, C.; Wang, A. Z.; Andersson, A. J.; Hinson, A.; Lagomasino, D.; Peteet, D. M.; Giri, C. P.; Howard, J.; Tang, J.; Crosswell, J.; Martin Hernandez-Ayon, J. M.; Dunton, K. H.; Kroeger, K. D.; Paulsen, M. L.; Allison, M. A.; Siedlecki, S. A.; Alin, S. R.; Hu, X.; Tzortziou, M.; Najjar, R.; Schafer, K. V.; Watson, E.; Pidgeon, E.

2016-12-01

Estuaries and tidal wetlands have been identified as distinct landscape elements for carbon cycling, worthy of a chapter in the pending State of the Carbon Cycle Report - version 2. Despite relatively small aerial coverage compared to other subsystems, tidal wetlands and estuaries have the greatest influence on carbon dynamics of any coastal ocean subsystem. As conduits that filter all material passing between land and the sea, they also exhibit the highest transfer rates of CO2 with the atmosphere of any of the coastal ocean subsystems. Carbon dynamics in estuaries and wetlands are constantly changing, reflecting geomorphic and ecological responses to long and short-term perturbations in external drivers such as sea-level rise, climate change, nutrient loading and land-use change. The influence of these drivers are profound in coastal systems, often more so than in inland wetlands or open ocean environments, and thus require distinct attention to patterns and processes associated with coastal ecosystem functioning, including carbon sequestration services in tidal wetland soils. This new chapter focusses on data sources available in North America to: (1) assess the current state of carbon stocks and fluxes in coastal settings, (2) document understanding of drivers associated with significant fluxes and stocks, and (3) synthesize carbon dynamics from a global context to regional perspectives (East, West, Gulf and high-latitude coastlines). Insights from remote sensing, in situ field data, and numerical models have advanced our ability to monitor and project carbon cycling in this dynamic and narrow fringe at the land-ocean interface. This synthetic chapter will address how these advances can help in decision making, as well as address remaining gaps in our knowledge and monitoring capabilities for these diverse and productive habitats.

Chapter 15: Potential Surprises: Compound Extremes and Tipping Elements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kopp, R. E.; Hayhoe, K.; Easterling, D. R.; Hall, T.; Horton, R.; Kunkel, K. E.; LeGrande, A. N.

2017-01-01

The Earth system is made up of many components that interact in complex ways across a broad range of temporal and spatial scales. As a result of these interactions the behavior of the system cannot be predicted by looking at individual components in isolation. Negative feedbacks, or self-stabilizing cycles, within and between components of the Earth system can dampen changes (Ch. 2: Physical Drivers of Climate Change). However, their stabilizing effects render such feedbacks of less concern from a risk perspective than positive feedbacks, or self-reinforcing cycles. Positive feedbacks magnify both natural and anthropogenic changes. Some Earth system components, such as arctic sea ice and the polar ice sheets, may exhibit thresholds beyond which these self-reinforcing cycles can drive the component, or the entire system, into a radically different state. Although the probabilities of these state shifts may be difficult to assess, their consequences could be high, potentially exceeding anything anticipated by climate model projections for the coming century.

The I.A.G. / A.I.G. SEDIBUD Book Project: Source-to-Sink Fluxes in Undisturbed Cold Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beylich, Achim A.; Dixon, John C.; Zwolinski, Zbigniew

2015-04-01

The currently prepared SEDIBUD Book on "Source-to-Sink Fluxes in Undisturbed Cold Environments" (edited by Achim A. Beylich, John C. Dixon and Zbigniew Zwolinski and published by Cambridge University Press) is summarizing and synthesizing the achievements of the International Association of Geomorphologists` (I.A.G./A.I.G.) Working Group SEDIBUD (Sediment Budgets in Cold Environments), which has been active since 2005 (http://www.geomorph.org/wg/wgsb.html). Amplified climate change and ecological sensitivity of largely undisturbed polar and high-altitude cold climate environments have been highlighted as key global environmental issues. The effects of projected climate change will change surface environments in cold regions and will alter the fluxes of sediments, nutrients and solutes, but the absence of quantitative data and coordinated geomorphic process monitoring and analysis to understand the sensitivity of the Earth surface environment in these largely undisturbed environments is acute. Our book addresses this existing key knowledge gap. The applied approach of integrating comparable and longer-term field datasets on contemporary solute and sedimentary fluxes from a number of different defined cold climate catchment geosystems for better understanding (i) the environmental drivers and rates of contemporary denudational surface processes and (ii) possible effects of projected climate change in cold regions is unique in the field of geomorphology. Largely undisturbed cold climate environments can provide baseline data for modeling the effects of environmental change. The book synthesizes work carried out by numerous SEDIBUD Members over the last decade in numerous cold climate catchment geosystems worldwide. For reaching a global cover of different cold climate environments the book is - after providing an introduction part and a basic part on climate change in cold environments and general implications for solute and sedimentary fluxes - dealing in different defined parts with Sub-Arctic and Arctic Environments, Sub-Antarctic and Antarctic Environments, and Alpine / Mountain Environments. The book includes a synthesis key chapter where comparable datasets on contemporary solute and sedimentary fluxes generated during the conducted coordinated research efforts in different cold climate catchment geosystems are integrated with the key goals to (i) identify the main environmental drivers and rates of contemporary solute and sedimentary fluxes, and (ii) model possible effects of projected climate change on solute and sedimentary fluxes in cold climate environments. The SEDIBUD Book provides new key findings on environmental drivers and rates of contemporary solute and sedimentary fluxes, and on spatial variability within global cold climate environments. The book will go in production in July 2015.

Conflating Gender and Identity: The Need for Gender-Fluid Programming in Community Colleges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zamani-Gallaher, Eboni M.

2017-01-01

This chapter explores the role of gender as a critical aspect of identity formation. The chapter reviews how narrow definitions of gender deeply shape campus climate, particularly for individuals who challenge norms in terms of gender identity, gender expression, and gender roles.

Human interactions with sirenians (manatees and dugongs)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bonde, Robert K.; Flint, Mark

2017-01-01

There are three extant sirenian species of the Trichechidae family and one living Dugongidae family member. Given their close ties to coastal and often urbanized habitats, sirenians are exposed to many types of anthropogenic activities that result in challenges to their well-being, poor health, and even death. In the wild, they are exposed to direct and indirect local pressures as well as subject to large-scale stressors such as global climate change acting on regions or entire genetic stocks. In captivity, they are subject to husbandry and management practices based on our collective knowledge, or in some cases lack thereof, of their needs and welfare. It is therefore reasonable to consider that their current imperiled status is very closely linked to our actions. In this chapter, we identify and define human interactions that may impact dugongs and manatees, including hunting, fisheries, boat interactions, negative interactions with man-made structures, disease and contaminants, and global climate change. We examine techniques used to investigate these impacts and the influence of sirenian biology and of changing human behaviors on potential outcomes. We examine how this differs for dugongs and manatees in the wild and for those held in captivity. Finally, we provide possible mitigation strategies and ways to assess the efforts we are making to improve the welfare of individuals and to conserve these species. This chapter identifies how the welfare of these species is intrinsically linked to the human interactions these animals experience, and how the nature of these interactions has changed with societal shifts. We proffer suggested ways to minimize negative impacts. Current knowledge should be used to minimize negative human interactions and impacts, to promote positive impacts, and to protect these animals for the future.

Global dust cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ridgwell, Andy

Dust, micron to submicron particles and mostly comprising soil mineral fragments, affects a multitude of climatic and biogeochemical processes during its journey from its sources on land to sinks on land and in the ocean. Suspended in the atmosphere, the presence of dust can alter both shortwave and longwave radiation balances, enhance cloud nucleation, and affect photochemical reaction rates. Deposited to the land surface, dust has beneficial impacts on soil quality but detrimental implications for human health. At the interface of surface ocean and lower atmosphere, dust deposited to seawater supplies plankton with the essential micronutrient iron and hence provides an important control on marine ecosystems. This chapter reviews these various roles of dust in the Earth system; summarizes the factors controlling the production, transport, and deposition of dust; and, because the causes and consequences of dust are interlinked via climate and atmospheric CO2, discusses the potential importance of dusty feedback in past and future climate change.

ERCA 2008 - From the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change to the Observation of the Earth from Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boutron, Claude

2009-02-01

This book is the eighth volume in the series of books published within the framework of the European Research Course on Atmospheres ("ERCA"). ERCA was initiated in 1993 by the University Joseph Fourier of Grenoble, in order to provide PhD students and scientists from Europe and the rest of the world with a multidisciplinary course, which covers especially: the climate system and climate change; the physics and chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere; the human dimensions of environmental change; the other planets and satellites in the solar system and beyond. Since 1993, sixteen sessions have been attended by more 800 participants from 50 countries. The seventeenth session will take place from 12 January to 13 February 2009. This new volume contains twenty two chapters dealing with a wide range of topics. The following subjects are covered: the human dimensions of global environmental change; climate change and cryospheric evolution in China; the projections of twenty-first century climate over Europe; the understanding of the health impacts of air pollutants; air quality and human welfare; photocatalytic self-cleaning materials; radiative transfer in the cloudy atmosphere; laboratory modelling of atmospheric dynamical processes; stratospheric ozone; the applications of stable isotope analysis to atmospheric trace gas budgets; nitrogen oxides in the troposphere; the observation of the solid Earth, the oceans and land waters; the surface mass balance of the Greenland ice sheet; sea surface salinity reconstruction as seen with foraminifera shells; sources markers in aerosols, oceanic particles and sediments; the nucleation of atmospheric particles; the characterization of atmospheric aerosol episodes in China; the solar magnetic activity; the present and past climates of planet Mars; the outer solar system; Titan as an analog of Earth's past and future; the detection and characterization of extrasolar planets.

Coastal impacts, adaptation, and vulnerabilities: a technical input to the 2013 National Climate Assessment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Burkett, Virginia; Davidson, Margaret; Burkett, Virginia; Davidson, Margaret

2012-01-01

The coast has long provided communities with a multitude of benefits including an abundance of natural resources that sustain economies, societies, and ecosystems. Coasts provide natural harbors for commerce, trade, and transportation; beaches and shorelines that attract residents and tourists; and wetlands and estuaries that are critical for fisheries and water resources. Coastal ecosystems provide critical functions to cycle and move nutrients, store carbon, detoxify wastes, and purify air and water. These areas also mitigate floods and buffer against coastal storms that bring high winds and salt water inland and erode the shore. Coastal regions are critical in the development, transportation, and processing of oil and natural gas resources and, more recently, are being explored as a source of energy captured from wind and waves. The many benefits and opportunities provided in coastal areas have strengthened our economic reliance on coastal resources. Consequently, the high demands placed on the coastal environment will increase commensurately with human activity. Because 35 U.S. states, commonwealths, and territories have coastlines that border the oceans or Great Lakes, impacts to coastline systems will reverberate through social, economic, and natural systems across the U.S. Impacts on coastal systems are among the most costly and most certain consequences of a warming climate (Nicholls et al., 2007). The warming atmosphere is expected to accelerate sea-level rise as a result of the decline of glaciers and ice sheets and the thermal expansion of sea water. As mean sea level rises, coastal shorelines will retreat and low-lying areas will tend to be inundated more frequently, if not permanently, by the advancing sea. As atmospheric temperature increases and rainfall patterns change, soil moisture and runoff to the coast are likely to be altered. An increase in the intensity of climatic extremes such as storms and heat spells, coupled with other impacts of climate change and the effects of human development, could affect the sustainability of many existing coastal communities and natural resources. This report, one of a series of technical inputs for the third NCA conducted under the auspices of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, examines the known effects and relationships of climate change variables on the coasts of the U.S. It describes the impacts on natural and human systems, including several major sectors of the U.S. economy, and the progress and challenges to planning and implementing adaptation options. Below we present the key findings from each chapter of the report, beginning with the following key findings from Chapter 1: Introduction and Context.

Adolescence in the 1990s. Risk and Opportunity.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Takanishi, Ruby, Ed.

This collection, which grew out of the work of the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, presents chapters by some thoughtful and influential people who are currently studying and working with adolescents. Their perspectives provide valuable insight into the situation of the adolescent in today's climate. Chapters include: (1) "Changing…

Southwestern Grassland Ecology

Treesearch

Paulette L. Ford; Deborah U. Potter; Rosemary Pendleton; Burton Pendleton; Wayne A. Robbie; Gerald J. Gottfried

2004-01-01

This chapter provides a brief overview, and selected in-depth coverage, of the factors and processes that have formed, and continue to shape, our Southwestern grasslands. In general, this chapter looks at how distributions of grasslands are regulated by soils and climate, and modified by disturbance (natural and/or anthropogenic). The attendant ecological components of...

Environmental policies to enhance technological change in the electricity sector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sunol Del Rio, Eric

International agreements on climate change mitigation set quantitative carbon emission reduction targets in a country for a given year with respect to a given base year. A central question is then on what time do the new clean and costly technologies need to start functioning to comply with the agreed targets, and under what incentive does the market implement them. The planner's economic problem is to design an incentive that makes the new clean technology less costly than the vintage polluting facility, at the precise time in order to comply with the agreements at minimum cost. Chapter 1 reviews the literature on efficient allocation of pollution, discussing its validity to explain induced technological change. It then presents a simple model of technological change showing that market power determes the optimal adoption time of a new technology. Chapter 2 analyzes the effectiveness of carbon costs in accelerating technological change under different paths of technological progress. Furthermore, the paper examines the influence of market conditions. It shows that emission charges do reduce the firm's optimal adoption time when investment cost paths for the new technology are convex. On the contrary, emission charges may delay the optimal the switching time of a technology when the investment cost path is concave. Chapter 3 explores the results of Chapter 2 in an agent-based model. Simulations of firms adjusting their output a la Cournot show that the effectiveness of carbon costs in accelerating technological change is highly dependant on the number of firms in the market. Moreover, the shape of the technological progress curve is determinant: the effects of carbon charges are not linear on carbon price, and become more uncertain the more concave the investment cost path is. These results show that policies aiming at internalizing pollution costs enhance technological change at very different rates, depending on the actual market conditions in the industry and the dynamics of technological progress. This has profound implications in policy design: not only do carbon charges need to be used with precaution in oligopolistic industries, but also its effectiveness depends on the inner dynamics of cleaner technological alternatives.

Proceedings of the Klamath Basin Science Conference, Medford, Oregon, February 1-5, 2010

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thorsteinson, Lyman; VanderKooi, Scott; Duffy, Walter

2011-01-01

This report presents the proceedings of the Klamath Basin Science Conference (February 2010). A primary purpose of the meeting was to inform and update Klamath Basin stakeholders about areas of scientific progress and accomplishment during the last 5 years. Secondary conference objectives focused on the identification of outstanding information needs and science priorities as they relate to whole watershed management, restoration ecology, and possible reintroduction of Pacific salmon associated with the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA). Information presented in plenary, technical, breakout, and poster sessions has been assembled into chapters that reflect the organization, major themes, and content of the conference. Chapter 1 reviews the major environmental issues and resource management and other stakeholder needs of the basin. Importantly, this assessment of information needs included the possibility of large-scale restoration projects in the future and lessons learned from a case study in South Florida. Other chapters (2-6) summarize information about key components of the Klamath Basin, support conceptual modeling of the aquatic ecosystem (Chapter 7), and synthesize our impressions of the most pressing science priorities for management and restoration. A wealth of information was presented at the conference and this has been captured in chapters addressing environmental setting and human development of the basin, hydrology, watershed processes, fishery resources, and potential effects from climate change. The final chapter (8) culminates in a discussion of many specific research priorities that relate to and bookend the broader management needs and restoration goals identified in Chapter 1. In many instances, the conferees emphasized long-term and process-oriented approaches to watershed science in the basin as planning moves forward.

Air Pollution Prevention and Control Policy in China.

PubMed

Huang, Cunrui; Wang, Qiong; Wang, Suhan; Ren, Meng; Ma, Rui; He, Yiling

2017-01-01

With rapid urbanization and development of transport infrastructure, air pollution caused by multiple-pollutant emissions and vehicle exhaust has been aggravated year by year in China. In order to improve air quality, the Chinese authorities have taken a series of actions to control air pollution emission load within a permissible range. However, although China has made positive progress on tackling air pollution, these actions have not kept up with its economy growth and fossil-fuel use. The traditional single-pollutant approach is far from enough in China now, and in the near future, air pollution control strategies should move in the direction of the multiple-pollutant approach. In addition, undesirable air quality is usually linked with the combination of high emissions and adverse weather conditions. However, few studies have been done on the influence of climate change on atmospheric chemistry in the global perspective. Available evidence suggested that climate change is likely to exacerbate certain kinds of air pollutants including ozone and smoke from wildfires. This has become a major public health problem because the interactions of global climate change, urban heat islands, and air pollution have adverse effects on human health. In this chapter, we first review the past and current circumstances of China's responses to air pollution. Then we discuss the control challenges and future options for a better air quality in China. Finally, we begin to unravel links between air pollution and climate change, providing new opportunities for integrated research and actions in China.

A synthesis of aquatic science for management of Lakes Mead and Mohave

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rosen, Michael R.; Turner, Kent; Goodbred, Steven L.; Miller, Jennell M.

2012-01-01

Lakes Mead and Mohave, which are the centerpieces of Lake Mead National Recreation Area, provide many significant benefits that have made the modern development of the Southwestern United States possible. Lake Mead is the largest reservoir by volume in the nation and it supplies critical storage of water supplies for more than 25 million people in three Western States (California, Arizona, and Nevada). Storage within Lake Mead supplies drinking water and the hydropower to provide electricity for major cities including Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Tucson, and San Diego, and irrigation of more than 2.5 million acres of croplands. Lake Mead is arguably the most important reservoir in the nation because of its size and the services it delivers to the Western United States. This Circular includes seven chapters. Chapter 1 provides a short summary of the overall findings and management implications for Lakes Mead and Mohave that can be used to guide the reader through the rest of the Circular. Chapter 2 introduces the environmental setting and characteristics of Lakes Mead and Mohave and provides a brief management context of the lakes within the Colorado River system as well as overviews of the geological bedrock and sediment accumulations of the lakes. Chapter 3 contains summaries of the operational and hydrologic characteristics of Lakes Mead and Mohave. Chapter 4 provides information on water quality, including discussion on the monitoring of contaminants and sediments within the reservoirs. Chapter 5 describes aquatic biota and wildlife, including food-web dynamics, plankton, invertebrates, fish, aquatic birds, and aquatic vegetation. Chapter 6 outlines threats and stressors to the health of Lake Mead aquatic ecosystems that include a range of environmental contaminants, invasive species, and climate change. Chapter 7 provides a more detailed summary of overall findings that are presented in Chapter 1; and it contains a more detailed discussion on associated management implications, additional research, and monitoring needs.

Beyond the Continent: Creating an Independent Scientific Assessment Process for the Hawai`i and U.S. Affiliated Pacific Islands Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grecni, Z. N.; Keener, V. W.

2017-12-01

An external evaluation found that the inclusion of users of climate information and diverse regional experts in developing the 2012 Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment was a key factor in the report's perceived credibility and usefulness (Moser 2013). The 2012 assessment is seen as a foundational summary for Hawai`i and the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands and is still used in vulnerability assessments and to support decisions by public- and private-sector actors. Recently, lessons learned from the 2012 assessment process were applied in engaging technical experts and potential future users in developing a chapter for the U.S. National Climate Assessment, as a regional update that builds on previous assessment activities. In the absence of downscaled climate projection scenarios and products available to the contiguous U.S., the Pacific Islands chapter continued to draw on projections from regional climate models and extensive user engagement. Through surveys, webinars, technical sectoral workshops, and peer review networks, the regional author team received input from a range of stakeholders. In particular, engagement aimed to identify key risks in sectors of importance to the Hawai`i and U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands region and cases in which stakeholder groups are already implementing measures toward resilience and adaptation. Data collection began during the chapter development process and will continue at the release of the 4th National Climate Assessment in 2018, with the aim of evaluating how stakeholder engagement affects the assessment's usefulness in assisting island communities to understand risks and vulnerabilities and review potential adaptation strategies.

Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in China: Growth, Transition, and Institutional Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kahrl, Fredrich James

Global energy markets and climate change in the twenty first century depend, to an extraordinary extent, on China. China is now, or will soon be, the world's largest energy consumer. Since 2007, China has been the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Despite its large and rapidly expanding influence on global energy markets and the global atmosphere, on a per capita basis energy consumption and GHG emissions in China are low relative to developed countries. The Chinese economy, and with it energy use and GHG emissions, are expected to grow vigorously for at least the next two decades, raising a question of critical historical significance: How can China's economic growth imperative be meaningfully reconciled with its goals of greater energy security and a lower carbon economy? Most scholars, governments, and practitioners have looked to technology---energy efficiency, nuclear power, carbon capture and storage---for answers to this question. Alternatively, this study seeks to root China's future energy and emissions trajectory in the political economy of its multiple transitions, from a centrally planned to a market economy and from an agrarian to a post-industrial society. The study draws on five case studies, each a dedicated chapter, which are organized around three perspectives on energy and GHG emissions: the macroeconomy; electricity supply and demand; and nitrogen fertilizer production and use. Chapters 2 and 3 examine how growth and structural change in China's macroeconomy have shaped energy demand, finding that most of the dramatic growth in the country's energy use over the 2000s was driven by an acceleration of its investment-dominated, energy-intensive growth model, rather than from structural change. Chapters 4 and 5 examine efforts to improve energy efficiency and increase the share of renewable generation in the electric power sector, concluding that China's power system lacks the flexibility in generation, pricing, and demand to support further improvements in efficiency and scale up renewable generation at an acceptable level of cost and reliability. Chapter 6 examines energy use and GHG emissions from nitrogen fertilizer use, arguing that energy use and GHG emissions from nitrogen fertilizer use in China are high relative to other countries because of China's historical support for small and medium-sized enterprises using domestic technology; its continued provision of energy subsidies to fertilizer producers; and its lack of a well-functioning agricultural extension system. The case studies illustrate the limits of energy and climate policy in China without institutional reform. China's leaders have historically relied on economic growth to defer the difficult changes in political economy that accompany economic and social transition. However, many of the challenges of energy and climate policy require political decisions that reallocate resources among stakeholders. For instance, restructuring the Chinese economy away from heavy industrial investment and toward a higher GDP share of consumption will require financial sector reforms, such as interest rate liberalization or higher dividend payments for state-owned enterprises, that reallocate income from the industrial sector to households. Increasing power system flexibility will require price reforms that reallocate revenues and costs among generators, between generators and the grid companies, between producers and ratepayers, among ratepayer classes, and between and among provinces. Strong public interest institutions are needed to make these changes, which suggests that China's energy and GHG emissions trajectories will be determined, to a large extent, by the politics of institutional reform.

The Calibration and Characterization of Earth Remote Sensing and Environmental Monitoring Instruments. Chapter 10

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Butler, James J.; Johnson, B. Carol; Barnes, Robert A.

2005-01-01

The use of remote sensing instruments on orbiting satellite platforms in the study of Earth Science and environmental monitoring was officially inaugurated with the April 1, 1960 launch of the Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) [1]. The first TIROS accommodated two television cameras and operated for only 78 days. However, the TIROS program, in providing in excess of 22,000 pictures of the Earth, achieved its primary goal of providing Earth images from a satellite platform to aid in identifying and monitoring meteorological processes. This marked the beginning of what is now over four decades of Earth observations from satellite platforms. reflected and emitted radiation from the Earth using instruments on satellite platforms. These measurements are input to climate models, and the model results are analyzed in an effort to detect short and long-term changes and trends in the Earth's climate and environment, to identify the cause of those changes, and to predict or influence future changes. Examples of short-term climate change events include the periodic appearance of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the tropical Pacific Ocean [2] and the spectacular eruption of Mount Pinatubo on the Philippine island of Luzon in 1991. Examples of long term climate change events, which are more subtle to detect, include the destruction of coral reefs, the disappearance of glaciers, and global warming. Climatic variability can be both large and small scale and can be caused by natural or anthropogenic processes. The periodic El Nino event is an example of a natural process which induces significant climatic variability over a wide range of the Earth. A classic example of a large scale anthropogenic influence on climate is the well-documented rapid increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide occurring since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution [3]. An example of the study of a small-scale anthropogenic influence in climate variability is the Atlanta Land-use Analysis Temperature and Air-quality (ATLANTA) project [4]. This project has found that the replacement of trees and vegetation with concrete and asphalt in Atlanta, Georgia, and its environs has created a microclimate capable of producing wind and thunderstorms. A key objective of climate research is to be able to distinguish the natural versus human roles in climate change and to clearly communicate those findings to those who shape and direct environmental policy.

Water-budget methods

USGS Publications Warehouse

Healy, Richard W.; Scanlon, Bridget R.

2010-01-01

A water budget is an accounting of water movement into and out of, and storage change within, some control volume. Universal and adaptable are adjectives that reflect key features of water-budget methods for estimating recharge. The universal concept of mass conservation of water implies that water-budget methods are applicable over any space and time scales (Healy et al., 2007). The water budget of a soil column in a laboratory can be studied at scales of millimeters and seconds. A water-budget equation is also an integral component of atmospheric general circulation models used to predict global climates over periods of decades or more. Water-budget equations can be easily customized by adding or removing terms to accurately portray the peculiarities of any hydrologic system. The equations are generally not bound by assumptions on mechanisms by which water moves into, through, and out of the control volume of interest. So water-budget methods can be used to estimate both diffuse and focused recharge, and recharge estimates are unaffected by phenomena such as preferential flow paths within the unsaturated zone.Water-budget methods represent the largest class of techniques for estimating recharge. Most hydrologic models are derived from a water-budget equation and can therefore be classified as water-budget models. It is not feasible to address all water-budget methods in a single chapter. This chapter is limited to discussion of the “residual” water-budget approach, whereby all variables in a water-budget equation, except for recharge, are independently measured or estimated and recharge is set equal to the residual. This chapter is closely linked with Chapter 3, on modeling methods, because the equations presented here form the basis of many models and because models are often used to estimate individual components in water-budget studies. Water budgets for streams and other surface-water bodies are addressed in Chapter 4. The use of soil-water budgets and lysimeters for determining potential recharge and evapotranspiration from changes in water storage is discussed in Chapter 5. Aquifer water-budget methods based on the measurement of groundwater levels are described in Chapter 6.

Predicting sea-level rise vulnerability of terrestrial habitat and wildlife of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

USGS Publications Warehouse

Reynolds, Michelle H.; Berkowitz, Paul; Courtot, Karen N.; Krause, Crystal M.; Reynolds, Michelle H.; Berkowitz, Paul; Courtot, Karen N.; Krause, Crystal M.

2012-01-01

If current climate change trends continue, rising sea levels may inundate low-lying islands across the globe, placing island biodiversity at risk. Recent models predict a rise of approximately one meter (1 m) in global sea level by 2100, with larger increases possible in areas of the Pacific Ocean. Pacific Islands are unique ecosystems home to many endangered endemic plant and animal species. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI), which extend 1,930 kilometers (km) beyond the main Hawaiian Islands, are a World Heritage Site and part of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. These NWHI support the largest tropical seabird rookery in the world, providing breeding habitat for 21 species of seabirds, 4 endemic land bird species and essential foraging, breeding, or haul-out habitat for other resident and migratory wildlife. In recent years, concern has grown about the increasing vulnerability of the NWHI and their wildlife populations to changing climatic patterns, particularly the uncertainty associated with potential impacts from global sea-level rise (SLR) and storms. In response to the need by managers to adapt future resource protection strategies to climate change variability and dynamic island ecosystems, we have synthesized and down scaled analyses for this important region. This report describes a 2-year study of a remote northwestern Pacific atoll ecosystem and identifies wildlife and habitat vulnerable to rising sea levels and changing climate conditions. A lack of high-resolution topographic data for low-lying islands of the NWHI had previously precluded an extensive quantitative model of the potential impacts of SLR on wildlife habitat. The first chapter (chapter 1) describes the vegetation and topography of 20 islands of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, the distribution and status of wildlife populations, and the predicted impacts for a range of SLR scenarios. Furthermore, this chapter explores the potential effects of SLR on wildlife breeding habitats for each island. The subsequent chapter (chapter 2) details a study of the Laysan Island ecosystem, describing a quantitative model that incorporates SLR, storm wave, and rising groundwater inundation. Wildlife, storm, and oceanographic data allowed for an assessment of the phenological and spatial vulnerability of Laysan Island's breeding bird species to SLR and storms. Using remote sensing and geospatial techniques, we estimated topography, classified vegetation, modeled SLR, and evaluated a range of climate change scenarios. On the basis of high-resolution airborne data collected during 2010-11 (root-mean-squared error = 0.05-0.18 m), we estimated the maximum elevation of 20 individual islands extending from Kure Atoll to French Frigate Shoals (range: 1.8-39.7 m) and computed the mean elevation (1.7 m, standard deviation 1.1 m) across all low-lying islands. We also analyzed general climate models to describe rainfall and temperature scenarios expected to influence adaptation of some plants and animals for this region. Outcomes for the NWHI predicted an increase in temperature of 1.8-2.6 degrees Celsius (°C) and an annual decrease in precipitation of 24.7-76.3 millimeters (mm) across the NWHI by 2100. Our models of passive SLR (excluding wave-driven effects, erosion, and accretion) showed that approximately 4 percent of the total land area in the NWHI will be lost with scenarios of +1.0 m of SLR and 26 percent will be lost with +2.0 m of SLR. Some atolls are especially vulnerable to SLR. For example, at Pearl and Hermes Atoll our analysis indicated substantial habitat losses with 43 percent of the land area inundated at +1.0 m SLR and 92 percent inundated at +2.0 m SLR. Across the NWHI, seven islands will be completely submerged with +2.0 m SLR. The limited global ranges of some tropical nesting birds make them particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts in the NWHI. Climate change scenarios and potential SLR impacts presented here emphasize the need for early climate change adaptation and mitigation planning, especially for species with limited breeding distributions and/or ranges restricted primarily to the low-lying NWHI: Cyperus pennatiformis var. bryanii, Black-footed Albatross (Phoebastria nigripes), Laysan Albatross (P. immutabilis), Bonin Petrel (Pterodroma hypoleuca), Gray-backed Tern (Onychoprion lunatus), Laysan Teal (Anas laysanensis), Laysan Finch (Telespiza cantans), and Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi). Furthermore, SLR scenarios that include the effects of wave dynamics and groundwater rise may indicate amplified vulnerability to climate change driven habitat loss on low-lying islands. In chapter 2, we incorporated the combined effects of SLR, dynamic wave-driven inundation, and rising groundwater in a quantitative study specifically for the Laysan Island ecosystem. This is the first hydrodynamic model to simulate the combined impacts of SLR and wave-driven inundation in the NWHI. We developed a high-resolution digital elevation model (mean vertical accuracy of 0.32 m) for the island. Then using recent satellite imagery, geospatial models, and historical oceanographic, storm, and biological data we estimated potential inundation extent, habitat loss, and wildlife population impacts for a range of potential SLR scenarios (0.00, +0.50, +1.00, +1.50, and +2.00 m) that may occur over the next century. Additionally, we estimated the carrying capacity of Laysan Island for five species based on the available population monitoring data and described how potential losses in nesting habitat could influence population dynamics for Black-footed Albatross, Laysan Albatross, Red-footed Booby (Sula sula), Laysan Teal, and Laysan Finch. For some other seabird populations (Masked Booby, S. dactylatra; Brown Booby, S. leucogaster; Great Frigatebird, Fregata minor; and Sooty Tern, Onychoprion fuscata), we used recent colony distribution data, land cover maps, and nesting behavior to estimate potential losses of nesting habitat from SLR and wave-driven inundation. We observed far greater potential impacts of SLR to wildlife with the dynamic wave-driven modeling approach than with the passive modeling approach. Depending on SLR scenario and coastal orientation, during storms under a +2.00 m SLR scenario, the wave-driven inundation model predicted three times more inundation than the passive model (17.2 percent of total terrestrial area versus 4.6 percent, respectively). Large-wave events generally added 1 m of water height to passive inundation surfaces, therefore our dynamic models (during storm events) forecasted comparable inundation extents earlier than passive models. Although wave-driven water levels were highest in the northwest quadrant of Laysan Island, the greatest extent of inundation occurred in the southeast where coastal dunes less than 3 m above mean sea level provide little protection from wave-driven inundation. When wave-driven inundation was included in the SLR model for Laysan Island greater nesting habitat loss and potential impacts on wildlife population dynamics were predicted. The consequences of habitat loss due to SLR may be worse for species with colonies in the wave-exposed coastal zones (for example, Black-footed Albatross) and for populations already near the island's carrying capacity (for example, Laysan Teal). Species whose peak incubation and chick-rearing periods coincide with seasonally high wave heights also will be increasingly vulnerable, especially those species nesting on the ground in areas vulnerable to inundation, such as Gray-backed Tern and Black-footed Albatross. Other species that have space for population growth, or are not restricted to a narrow range of habitat types on Laysan (for instance, Sooty Terns), may be less sensitive to habitat loss from SLR over the next century. Our assessments of inundation risk, habitat loss, and wildlife species vulnerability synthesize current knowledge about individual islands and contribute to a broader understanding of the impacts of inundation from SLR and storm-induced waves. Yet, most NWHI and their bird populations lack monitoring data to evaluate adaptations to and impacts of climate change. Exceptions include some data sets from long-term monitoring of wildlife populations, tides, or weather at French Frigate Shoals, Laysan Island, and Midway Atoll. These data sets are potentially valuable baselines, which could be informative for adaptive learning (integrating management and science) to predict, adapt, and mitigate the effects of climate change on NWHI wildlife in the future. This study provides the first quantitative vulnerability assessment for all of the low-lying NWHI, and results identify biological communities, locales, and resident endangered species of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument expected to be at risk from SLR. This report is also intended as a reference for managers and conservation planners, a tool to identify and potentially reduce uncertainty, and a starting place for developing climate change monitoring priorities and future scientific studies.

Large-Scale Circulation and Climate Variability. Chapter 5

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perlwitz, J.; Knutson, T.; Kossin, J. P.; LeGrande, A. N.

2017-01-01

The causes of regional climate trends cannot be understood without considering the impact of variations in large-scale atmospheric circulation and an assessment of the role of internally generated climate variability. There are contributions to regional climate trends from changes in large-scale latitudinal circulation, which is generally organized into three cells in each hemisphere-Hadley cell, Ferrell cell and Polar cell-and which determines the location of subtropical dry zones and midlatitude jet streams. These circulation cells are expected to shift poleward during warmer periods, which could result in poleward shifts in precipitation patterns, affecting natural ecosystems, agriculture, and water resources. In addition, regional climate can be strongly affected by non-local responses to recurring patterns (or modes) of variability of the atmospheric circulation or the coupled atmosphere-ocean system. These modes of variability represent preferred spatial patterns and their temporal variation. They account for gross features in variance and for teleconnections which describe climate links between geographically separated regions. Modes of variability are often described as a product of a spatial climate pattern and an associated climate index time series that are identified based on statistical methods like Principal Component Analysis (PC analysis), which is also called Empirical Orthogonal Function Analysis (EOF analysis), and cluster analysis.

Assessing the response of the Gulf Coast to global change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, John B.; Törnqvist, Torbjörn E.; Day, John

2012-11-01

Gulf Coastal Science Consortium Workshop;Houston, Texas, 28-29 June 2012 The newly formed Gulf Coastal Science Consortium held its first workshop at Rice University. The creation of the consortium was prompted by two recent incidents. One incident involved censorship of a book chapter on Galveston Bay by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that omitted all references to climate change and accelerated sea-level rise. The other incident was the adoption of legislation in North Carolina that requires planners and developers to assume a linear sea-level rise projection, despite compelling scientific evidence for a multifold increase in sea-level rise in historical time.

Historical and projected climate in the Northern Rockies Region [Chapter 3

Treesearch

Linda A. Joyce; Marian Talbert; Darrin Sharp; Jeffrey Morisette; John Stevenson

2018-01-01

Climate influences the ecosystem services we obtain from forest and rangelands. Climate is described by the long-term characteristics of precipitation, temperature, wind, snowfall, and other measures of weather that occur over a long period in a particular place, and is typically expressed as long-term average conditions. Resource management practices are implemented...

Invasive species in southern Nevada [Chapter 4

Treesearch

Mathew L. Brooks; Steven M. Ostoja; Jeanne C. Chambers

2013-01-01

Southern Nevada contains a wide range of topographies, elevations, and climatic zones emblematic of its position at the ecotone between the Mojave Desert, Great Basin, and Colorado Plateau ecoregions. These varied environmental conditions support a high degree of biological diversity (Chapter 1), but they also provide opportunities for a wide range of invasive species...

Fraternity Influences on Binge Drinking and Grade Point Averages

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Suzy; McHugh Engstrom, Cathy

2013-01-01

The present study builds on previous findings and analyzes how social climate (Moos, 1988), chapter advisement, and living status differ for members of high- and low-achieving fraternities (as measured by cumulative chapter GPA) and how the interplay of personal and environmental factors influence binge drinking and GPA among college men in…

Engagement with indigenous peoples and honoring traditional knowledge systems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Maldonado, Julie; Bennett, Bull; Chief, Karletta; Cochran, Patricia; Cozetto, Karen; Gough, Bob; Hiza-Redsteer, Margaret M.; Lynn, Kathy; Maynard, Nancy; Voggesser, Garrit

2016-01-01

The organizers of the 2014 US National Climate Assessment (NCA) made a concerted effort to reach out to and collaborate with Indigenous peoples, resulting in the most comprehensive information to date on climate change impacts to Indigenous peoples in a US national assessment. Yet, there is still much room for improvement in assessment processes to ensure adequate recognition of Indigenous perspectives and Indigenous knowledge systems. This article discusses the process used in creating the Indigenous Peoples, Land, and Resources NCA chapter by a team comprised of tribal members, agencies, academics, and non-governmental organizations, who worked together to solicit, collect, and synthesize traditional knowledges and data from a diverse array of Indigenous communities across the US. It also discusses the synergy and discord between traditional knowledge systems and science and the emergence of cross-cutting issues and vulnerabilities for Indigenous peoples. The challenges of coalescing information about climate change and its impacts on Indigenous communities are outlined along with recommendations on the types of information to include in future assessment outputs. We recommend that future assessments – not only NCA, but other relevant local, regional, national, and international efforts aimed at the translation of climate information and assessments into meaningful actions – should support integration of Indigenous perspectives in a sustained way that builds respectful relationships and effectively engages Indigenous communities. Given the large number of tribes in the US and the current challenges and unique vulnerabilities of Indigenous communities, a special report focusing solely on climate change and Indigenous peoples is warranted.This article is part of a special issue on “The National Climate Assessment: Innovations in Science and Engagement” edited by Katharine Jacobs, Susanne Moser, and James Buizer.

Floods of 2005 in the State of Veracruz Book Presentation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tejeda, A.; Ochoa, C.

2007-05-01

During October of 2005, when hurricane Stan caused destruction to the center and south of the state of Veracruz, a book was elaborated. The book's called Floods of 2005 in the state of Veracruz and contains twenty chapters. The first three chapters conform a panoramic of the book and two historical and archaeological contributions. One second part takes care of the natural phenomena of floods: meteorological, hydrological aspects, and biodiversity. Economic and social aspects are the largest contents of the volume, which concludes with reflections towards the future: the possible consequences of global climatic change, the chemical component that's not considered in the evaluation and prevention of risks by hidrometeorogical phenomena, and the duty of political prevention of disasters. The frame reference for the book is through a discussion of all kind of contributions. Which means that this book presentation is for the geophysicists community of Mexico. Keywords: Floods, state of Veracruz, risks and disasters.

Future scenarios of land-use and land-cover change in the United States--the Marine West Coast Forests Ecoregion

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilson, Tamara S.; Sleeter, Benjamin M.; Sohl, Terry L.; Griffith, Glenn; Acevedo, William; Bennett, Stacie; Bouchard, Michelle; Reker, Ryan R.; Ryan, Christy; Sayler, Kristi L.; Sleeter, Rachel; Soulard, Christopher E.

2012-01-01

Detecting, quantifying, and projecting historical and future changes in land use and land cover (LULC) has emerged as a core research area for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Changes in LULC are important drivers of changes to biogeochemical cycles, the exchange of energy between the Earth’s surface and atmosphere, biodiversity, water quality, and climate change. To quantify the rates of recent historical LULC change, the USGS Land Cover Trends project recently completed a unique ecoregion-based assessment of late 20th century LULC change for the western United States. To characterize present LULC, the USGS and partners have created the National Land Cover Database (NLCD) for the years 1992, 2001, and 2006. Both Land Cover Trends and NLCD projects continue to evolve in an effort to better characterize historical and present LULC conditions and are the foundation of the data presented in this report. Projecting future changes in LULC requires an understanding of the rates and patterns of change, the major driving forces, and the socioeconomic and biophysical determinants and capacities of regions. The data presented in this report is the result of an effort by USGS scientists to downscale the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES) to ecoregions of the conterminous United States as part of the USGS Biological Carbon Sequestration Assessment. The USGS biological carbon assessment was mandated by Section 712 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. As part of the legislative mandate, the USGS is required to publish a methodology describing, in detail, the approach to be used for the assessment. The development of future LULC scenarios is described in chapter 3.2 and appendix A. Spatial modeling is described in chapter 3.3.2 and appendix B and in Sohl and others (2011). In this report, we briefly summarize the major components and methods used to downscale IPCC-SRES scenarios to ecoregions of the conterminous United States, followed by a description of the Marine West Coast Forests Ecoregion, and lastly a description of the data being published as part of this report.

Understanding Global Change (UGC) as a Unifying Conceptual Framework for Teaching Ecology: Using UGC in a High School Biology Program to Integrate Earth Science and Biology, and to Demonstrate the Value of Modeling Global Systems in Promoting Conceptual Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levine, J.; Bean, J. R.

2017-12-01

Global change science is ideal for NGSS-informed teaching, but presents a serious challenge to K-12 educators because it is complex and interdisciplinary- combining earth science, biology, chemistry, and physics. Global systems are themselves complex. Adding anthropogenic influences on those systems creates a formidable list of topics - greenhouse effect, climate change, nitrogen enrichment, introduced species, land-use change among them - which are often presented as a disconnected "laundry list" of "facts." This complexity, combined with public and mass-media scientific illiteracy, leaves global change science vulnerable to misrepresentation and politicization, creating additional challenges to teachers in public schools. Ample stand-alone, one-off, online resources, many of them excellent, are (to date) underutilized by teachers in the high school science course taken by most students: biology. The Understanding Global Change project (UGC) from the UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology has created a conceptual framework that organizes, connects, and explains global systems, human and non-human drivers of change in those systems, and measurable changes in those systems. This organization and framework employ core ideas, crosscutting concepts, structure/function relationships, and system models in a unique format that facilitates authentic understanding, rather than memorization. This system serves as an organizing framework for the entire ecology unit of a forthcoming mainstream high school biology program. The UGC system model is introduced up front with its core informational graphic. The model is elaborated, step by step, by adding concepts and processes as they are introduced and explained in each chapter. The informational graphic is thus used in several ways: to organize material as it is presented, to summarize topics in each chapter and put them in perspective, and for review and critical thinking exercises that supplement the usual end-of-chapter lists of key terms.

Laboratories on community based data collection and compilation should be part of geosciences laboratory books

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarmiento, S.

2010-12-01

In the last few years, we have witnessed the inclusion of global climate change chapters in introductory geosciences textbooks. This material allows faculty to go in depth about the nature of climate change science and demonstrate to students the serious effects of anthropogenic global warming, deforestation and pollution. Often students approach me with a sense of hopelessness and frustration arguing no matter what they do, the problem is too big to be solved. The inclusion of community involved activities that raise awareness about the science of climate change and the need of change in attitude has proven to be very effective for students in their quest to participate directly or be part of the solution. Student participation in campus-wide events which join national initiatives such 350.org and Focus the Nation has been very successful; however, there is a void in the introductory earth sciences lab curriculum to include lab activities that guide and point students into the acquisition and/or compilation of physical parameters of their own area through measurements of their own or through the access of open datasets. This inclusion would allow students to take ownership and feel they are an active part on the search for the solution and/or understanding of the local physical processes that affect their communities. A discussion on ways to bring this concern to authors of textbooks is welcomed.

Climatic Controls on the Porewater Chemistry of Mid-Continental Wetlands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Levy, Zeno Francis

Wetlands develop where climate and physiography conspire to maintain saturated soils at the land surface, support diverse plant and animal communities, and serve as globally important sinks for atmospheric carbon. The chemistry of wetland porewaters impacts near-surface biological communities and subsurface biogeochemical processes that influence carbon cycling in the environment. Wetland porewater chemistry is a dynamic byproduct of complex hydrogeological processes that cause meteoric waters to enter groundwater systems (recharge) or groundwater to flow to the land surface (discharge). Changes in climate can alter subsurface hydraulic gradients that determine the recharge and discharge functions of wetlands, which in turn control the hydrogeochemical evolution of wetland porewaters. The climate of mid-continental North America is influenced by competing air masses with vastly different temperature and moisture contents originating from the Pacific Coast, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Arctic. The interactions of these air masses result in large dynamic shifts of climate regimes characterized by decadal-scale oscillations between periods of drought and heavy rain. Over the course of the 20th century, a shift occurred towards wetter climate in the mid-continental region. This dissertation examines the impact of this climate shift on the porewater chemistry of two very different wetland systems, located only 350 km apart: the Glacial Lake Agassiz Peatlands (GLAP) of northern Minnesota and the Cottonwood Lake Study Area (CLSA) of North Dakota. The former study site consists of a large (7,600 km2), circumboreal peatland that developed an extensive blanket of peat over the last 5000 years on a relatively flat glacial lake bed within a sub-humid to semi-arid climate gradient characterized by small annual atmospheric moisture surpluses and frequent droughts. The latter study site consists of a 0.92 km2 complex of small (meter-scale) "prairie pothole" wetlands located on a hummocky glacial stagnation moraine under semi-arid climate where wetlands frequently fill and dry with surface ponds over low-permeability glacial till in response to snowmelt runoff and evapotranspiration. Both sites have been the subject of long-term hydrological study since c. 1980 and are well-established examples of the sensitivity of wetland functions to changes in climate. The first chapter of this dissertation utilizes a semi-conservative tracer suite (pH, Ca, Mg, Sr, 87Sr/86Sr) to fingerprint discharge of calcareous groundwater to GLAP peat along a 6 km transect from a bog crest downslope to an internal fen water track and bog islands. However, stable isotopes of the peat porewaters (delta18O and delta 2H) show that the subsurface throughout the entire study area is currently flushed with recharge from the near surface peat. I hypothesize that back-diffusion of groundwater-derived solutes from the peat matrix to active pore-spaces has allowed the geochemical signal from paleo-hydrogeologic discharge to persist into the current regime of dilute recharge. This effect promotes methane generation in the peatland subsurface by allowing transport of labile carbon compounds from the land surface to depth while maintaining geochemical conditions (i.e. pH) in the deep peat favorable to biogenic methane production. The results of this study show that autogenic hydrogeochemical feedback mechanisms contribute to the resilience of peatlands systems and associated ecological functions against climate change. The second chapter of this dissertation consists of a detailed geoelectrical survey of a well-studied, closed-basin prairie wetland (P1) in the CLSA that has experienced record drought and heavy rains (i.e. deluge) during the late 20th century. Subsurface storage of sulfate (SO4) salts allows many such closed-basin prairie wetlands to maintain moderate surface water salinities (TDS from 1 to 10 g L-1) that influence communities of aquatic biota. I imaged saline lenses of sulfate-rich porewater (TDS > 10 g L-1) in wetland sediments beneath the bathymetric low of the wetland and within the currently ponded area along the shoreline of a prior pond stand. Analyses of long-term (1979-2014) groundwater and surface water levels in the wetland suggest that the saline lenses formed during paleo-droughts when the groundwater levels dropped below the wetland bed and are stable in the subsurface on at least centennial timescales. I hypothesize a "drought-induced recharge" mechanism by which wetlands maintain moderate surface water salinity by subsurface storage during droughts when the wetlands dry and intermittent runoff events flush surface salts down secondary porosity created by desiccation fractures and terrestrial plant roots. Drought-derived saline groundwater has the potential to increase wetland salinity during record wet climate conditions currently prevalent in the Prairie Pothole Region. The third chapter of this dissertation extends the findings of the second chapter by a detailed geochemical survey of wetland porewater, pond water, and upland groundwater in the P1 basin. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.).

State-and-transition models: Conceptual versus simulation perspectives, usefulness and breadth of use, and land management applications

USGS Publications Warehouse

Provencher, Louis; Frid, Leonardo; Czembor, Christina; Morisette, Jeffrey T.

2016-01-01

State-and-Transition Simulation Modeling (STSM) is a quantitative analysis method that can consolidate a wide array of resource management issues under a “what-if” scenario exercise. STSM can be seen as an ensemble of models, such as climate models, ecological models, and economic models that incorporate human dimensions and management options. This chapter presents STSM as a tool to help synthesize information on social–ecological systems and to investigate some of the management issues associated with exotic annual Bromus species, which have been described elsewhere in this book. Definitions, terminology, and perspectives on conceptual and computer-simulated stochastic state-and-transition models are given first, followed by a brief review of past STSM studies relevant to the management of Bromus species. A detailed case study illustrates the usefulness of STSM for land management. As a whole, this chapter is intended to demonstrate how STSM can help both managers and scientists: (a) determine efficient resource allocation for monitoring nonnative grasses; (b) evaluate sources of uncertainty in model simulation results involving expert opinion, and their consequences for management decisions; and (c) provide insight into the consequences of predicted local climate change effects on ecological systems invaded by exotic annual Bromus species.

Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Transition Metal Chalcogenide Phases for Energy Storage, Energy Conversion and Optoelectronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Erica Maxine

Today's energy needs are primarily provided by fossil fuels, which are harvested from the earth. Consuming fossil fuels to provide energy for civilization releases products into the atmosphere that contribute to climate change. Ongoing efforts to combat the existential crisis which climate change presents many of the emerging and commercialized technologies for solar, thermoelectric and battery applications involve transition metal chalcogenides. Some of the materials used for these applications are expensive and rare, such as gallium, vanadium and indium, or have no merits towards environmental stewardship, such as cadmium and lead. Thus, the purpose of this work is to further the ongoing effort to discover and develop new materials which are able to meet or exceed benchmarks for their application. This work focuses on the development of various metal chalcogenide material systems featuring d-block transition metals selected for their contribution to alter structure and properties. Various thermal, electronic and optical properties can be changed through substitution or doping with additional elements to affect to the base composition or as part of a gradient composition series. After an extensive description of experimental methods which describe the associated materials synthesis, processing and characterization techniques in chapter 2, chapter 3 explores the Cu4-xLixS 2 phases for their contribution as further evidence in the formation of lithiated copper sulfide phases as part of the intercalation reaction before being converted to the binaries copper and lithium sulfide. Chapter 4 documents the development of Cu4TiSe4, a novel material with potential for thin-film photovoltaic technologies with its band gap in the range where the solar spectrum is the most bountiful (Eg,indirect = 1.16 eV, Eg,direct = 1.34 eV), an outstanding optical absorbance ( > 10-4 cm-1) outperforming commercially successful materials in the solar spectrum, and suitable for thin-film fabrication. Chapter 5 describes a brief study in utilizing elemental substitution in Cu4TiSe4 to alter the band gap by replacing sulfur into the selenium site. In this study, the amount of selenium which may be substituted without deviating from the parent Cu4TiSe4 structure is 16 % at and the direct band gap is alterable from 1.34 eV to 1.64 eV as determined from conducting tauc analysis on the diffuse reflectance spectra. The last experimental work in Chapter 6 covers the development of a chemical substitution series between the end compounds Cu3NbS 4 and Cu3NbSe4. Through powdered x-ray diffraction of the series, it was found that for substituting less than 25% of the sulfur with selenium, the powdered patterns more closely resembled Cu3NbS 4 and with shift which may see further development and application in optoelectronic devices such as LEDs. Finally, Chapter 7 provides further guidance in the research which this thesis may serve as a springboard for the development of ultra-high efficiency, low-cost, environmentally friendly and thin photovoltaics as well as mention other characterization methods which are necessary to diagnose and elucidate complications.

The Contemporary Carbon Cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Houghton, R. A.

2003-12-01

The global carbon cycle refers to the exchanges of carbon within and between four major reservoirs: the atmosphere, the oceans, land, and fossil fuels. Carbon may be transferred from one reservoir to another in seconds (e.g., the fixation of atmospheric CO2 into sugar through photosynthesis) or over millennia (e.g., the accumulation of fossil carbon (coal, oil, gas) through deposition and diagenesis of organic matter). This chapter emphasizes the exchanges that are important over years to decades and includes those occurring over the scale of months to a few centuries. The focus will be on the years 1980-2000 but our considerations will broadly include the years ˜1850-2100. Chapter 8.09, deals with longer-term processes that involve rates of carbon exchange that are small on an annual timescale (weathering, vulcanism, sedimentation, and diagenesis).The carbon cycle is important for at least three reasons. First, carbon forms the structure of all life on the planet, making up ˜50% of the dry weight of living things. Second, the cycling of carbon approximates the flows of energy around the Earth, the metabolism of natural, human, and industrial systems. Plants transform radiant energy into chemical energy in the form of sugars, starches, and other forms of organic matter; this energy, whether in living organisms or dead organic matter, supports food chains in natural ecosystems as well as human ecosystems, not the least of which are industrial societies habituated (addicted?) to fossil forms of energy for heating, transportation, and generation of electricity. The increased use of fossil fuels has led to a third reason for interest in the carbon cycle. Carbon, in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), forms two of the most important greenhouse gases. These gases contribute to a natural greenhouse effect that has kept the planet warm enough to evolve and support life (without the greenhouse effect the Earth's average temperature would be -33°C). Additions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere from industrial activity, however, are increasing the concentrations of these gases, enhancing the greenhouse effect, and starting to warm the Earth.The rate and extent of the warming depend, in part, on the global carbon cycle. If the rate at which the oceans remove CO2 from the atmosphere were faster, e.g., concentrations of CO2 would have increased less over the last century. If the processes removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it on land were to diminish, concentrations of CO2 would increase more rapidly than projected on the basis of recent history. The processes responsible for adding carbon to, and withdrawing it from, the atmosphere are not well enough understood to predict future levels of CO2 with great accuracy. These processes are a part of the global carbon cycle.Some of the processes that add carbon to the atmosphere or remove it, such as the combustion of fossil fuels and the establishment of tree plantations, are under direct human control. Others, such as the accumulation of carbon in the oceans or on land as a result of changes in global climate (i.e., feedbacks between the global carbon cycle and climate), are not under direct human control except through controlling rates of greenhouse gas emissions and, hence, climatic change. Because CO2 has been more important than all of the other greenhouse gases under human control, combined, and is expected to continue so in the future, understanding the global carbon cycle is a vital part of managing global climate.This chapter addresses, first, the reservoirs and natural flows of carbon on the earth. It then addresses the sources of carbon to the atmosphere from human uses of land and energy and the sinks of carbon on land and in the oceans that have kept the atmospheric accumulation of CO2 lower than it would otherwise have been. The chapter describes changes in the distribution of carbon among the atmosphere, oceans, and terrestrial ecosystems over the past 150 years as a result of human-induced emissions of carbon. The processes responsible for sinks of carbon on land and in the sea are reviewed from the perspective of feedbacks, and the chapter concludes with some prospects for the future.Earlier comprehensive summaries of the global carbon cycle include studies by Bolin et al. (1979, 1986), Woodwell and Pecan (1973), Bolin (1981), NRC (1983), Sundquist and Broecker (1985), and Trabalka (1985). More recently, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has summarized information on the carbon cycle in the context of climate change ( Watson et al., 1990; Schimel et al., 1996; Prentice et al., 2001). The basic aspects of the global carbon cycle have been understood for decades, but other aspects, such as the partitioning of the carbon sink between land and ocean, are being re-evaluated continuously with new data and analyses. The rate at which new publications revise estimates of these carbon sinks and re-evaluate the mechanisms that control the magnitude of the sinks suggests that portions of this review will be out of date by the time of publication.

Remote Sensing of Terrestrial Snow and Ice for Global Change Studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kelly, Richard; Hall, Dorothy K.

2007-01-01

Snow and ice play a significant role in the Earth's water cycle and are sensitive and informative indicators climate change. Significant changes in terrestrial snow and ice water storage are forecast, and while evidence of large-scale changes is emerging, in situ measurements alone are insufficient to help us understand and explain these changes. Imaging remote sensing systems are capable of successfully observing snow and ice in the cryosphere. This chapter examines how those remote sensing sensors, that now have more than 35 years of observation records, are capable of providing information about snow cover, snow water equivalent, snow melt, ice sheet temperature and ice sheet albedo. While significant progress has been made, especially in the last five years, a better understanding is required of the records of satellite observations of these cryospheric variables.

The Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project: Phase I Activities by a Global Community of Science. Chapter 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rosenzweig, Cynthia E.; Jones, James W.; Hatfield, Jerry L.; Antle, John M.; Ruane, Alexander C.; Mutter, Carolyn Z.

2015-01-01

The Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) was founded in 2010. Its mission is to improve substantially the characterization of world food security as affected by climate variability and change, and to enhance adaptation capacity in both developing and developed countries. The objectives of AgMIP are to: Incorporate state-of-the-art climate, crop/livestock, and agricultural economic model improvements into coordinated multi-model regional and global assessments of future climate impacts and adaptation and other key aspects of the food system. Utilize multiple models, scenarios, locations, crops/livestock, and participants to explore uncertainty and the impact of data and methodological choices. Collaborate with regional experts in agronomy, animal sciences, economics, and climate to build a strong basis for model applications, addressing key climate related questions and sustainable intensification farming systems. Improve scientific and adaptive capacity in modeling for major agricultural regions in the developing and developed world, with a focus on vulnerable regions. Improve agricultural data and enhance data-sharing based on their intercomparison and evaluation using best scientific practices. Develop modeling frameworks to identify and evaluate promising adaptation technologies and policies and to prioritize strategies.

24 CFR 3285.404 - Severe climatic conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

....404 Severe climatic conditions. In frost-susceptible soil locations, ground anchor augers must be installed below the frost line, unless the foundation system is frost-protected to prevent the effects of frost heave, in accordance with acceptable engineering practice and § 3280.306 of this chapter and...

IPCC Climate Change 2013: Mitigation of Climate Change - Key Findings and Lessons Learned

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sokona, Youba

2014-05-01

The Working Group III contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Mitigation of Climate Change, examines the results of scientific research about mitigation, with special attention on how knowledge has evolved since the Fourth Assessment Report published in 2007. Throughout, the focus is on the implications of its findings for policy, without being prescriptive about the particular policies that governments and other important participants in the policy process should adopt. The report begins with a framing of important concepts and methods that help to contextualize the findings presented throughout the assessment. The valuation of risks and uncertainties, ethical concepts and the context of sustainable development and equity are among the guiding principles for the assessment of mitigation strategies. The report highlights past trends in stocks and flows of greenhouse gases and the factors that drive emissions at global, regional, and sectoral scales including economic growth, technology or population changes. It provides analyses of the technological, economic and institutional requirements of long-term mitigation scenarios and details on mitigation measures and policies that are applied in different economic sectors and human settlements. It then discusses interactions of mitigation policies and different policy instrument types at national, regional and global governance levels and between economic sectors, The Working Group III report comprises 16 chapters and in assembling this assessment authors were guided by the principles of the IPCC mandate: to be explicit about mitigation options, to be explicit about their costs and about their risks and opportunities vis-à-vis other development priorities, and to be explicit about the underlying criteria, concepts, and methods for evaluating alternative policies.

Desert winds: Monitoring wind-related surface processes in Arizona, New Mexico, and California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Breed, Carol S.; Reheis, Marith C.

1999-01-01

The 18-year Desert Winds Project established instrumented field sites in the five major regions of the North American Desert to obtain meteorological, geological, and vegetation data for natural desert sites affected by wind erosion. The eight chapters in this volume describe the settings and operation of the stations and summarize eolian-related research to date around the stations. The report includes studies of the sand-moving effectiveness of storm winds, wind-erosion susceptibility of different ground-surface types, relations of dust storms to meteorological conditions, mediation of wind erosion by vegetation, remote sensing to detect vegetation changes related to climate change, and comparison of regional dust deposition to that near Owens (dry) Lake.

State of the Carbon Cycle of North America: Overarching Findings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayes, M. A.; Reed, S.; Najjar, R.; Romero-Lankao, P.; Birdsey, R.

2016-12-01

This presentation will provide an overarching summary of the second "State of the Carbon Cycle of North America Report" (SOCCR2) from the perspective of the five editorial lead authors. The chapters of SOCCR2 represent a major update and much new material since the original report published a decade ago. The new report includes an overview of the North American carbon budget and future projections, the consequences of changes to the carbon budget, details of the carbon budget in major terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and anthropogenic drivers, and implications for carbon management. The chapters focus on advances since the 2007 report, but also include new focus areas such as soil carbon, tribal lands, as well as greater emphasis on aquatic systems and the role of societal drivers and decision making on the carbon cycle. In addition, methane and the role of nitrogen will be considered to a greater extent than before. Each chapter also contains a section focusing on national and regional accounting to complement the overarching North American framework. In conclusion, SOCCR2 is expected to provide an updated assessment and a unique perspective on the carbon cycle, which will contribute to the next U.S. National Climate Assessment.

Environmental Impacts of Economic and Population Change in Arkansas.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graff, Thomas; And Others

This text is intended to portray the interrelationships of a region's environment, population, and economy. The first chapter defines these interrelationships. The second chapter focuses on economic changes in Arkansas since 1940. The third chapter examines population changes in Arkansas since 1940. The final chapter demonstrates that all these…

Climate Change Impacts on Rice Farming Systems in Northwestern Sri Lanka. Chapter 10

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zubair, Lareef; Nissanka, Sarath P.; Weerakoon, W. M. W.; Herath, Dumindu I.; Karunaratne, Asha S; Prabodha, A. S. M.; Agalawatte, M. B.; Herath, Rasnayaka; Yahiya, S. Zeenas; Punyawardhene, B. V. R.;

Ecology, diversity, and sustainability of the Middle Rio Grande Basin

Treesearch

Deborah M. Finch; Joseph A. Tainter

1995-01-01

This book synthesizes existing information on the ecology, diversity, human uses, and research needs of the Middle Rio Grande Basin of New Mexico. Divided into nine chapters, the volume begins with reviews of the environmental history and human cultures in the Basin, followed by an analysis of the influences and problems of climate and water. Later chapters focus on...

Chapter 2. Vulnerability of marine turtles to climate change.

PubMed

Poloczanska, Elvira S; Limpus, Colin J; Hays, Graeme C

2009-01-01

Marine turtles are generally viewed as vulnerable to climate change because of the role that temperature plays in the sex determination of embryos, their long life history, long age-to-maturity and their highly migratory nature. Extant species of marine turtles probably arose during the mid-late Jurassic period (180-150 Mya) so have survived past shifts in climate, including glacial periods and warm events and therefore have some capacity for adaptation. The present-day rates of increase of atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, and associated temperature changes, are very rapid; the capacity of marine turtles to adapt to this rapid change may be compromised by their relatively long generation times. We consider the evidence and likely consequences of present-day trends of climate change on marine turtles. Impacts are likely to be complex and may be positive as well as negative. For example, rising sea levels and increased storm intensity will negatively impact turtle nesting beaches; however, extreme storms can also lead to coastal accretion. Alteration of wind patterns and ocean currents will have implications for juveniles and adults in the open ocean. Warming temperatures are likely to impact directly all turtle life stages, such as the sex determination of embryos in the nest and growth rates. Warming of 2 degrees C could potentially result in a large shift in sex ratios towards females at many rookeries, although some populations may be resilient to warming if female biases remain within levels where population success is not impaired. Indirectly, climate change is likely to impact turtles through changes in food availability. The highly migratory nature of turtles and their ability to move considerable distances in short periods of time should increase their resilience to climate change. However, any such resilience of marine turtles to climate change is likely to be severely compromised by other anthropogenic influences. Development of coastlines may threaten nesting beaches and reproductive success, and pollution and eutrophication is threatening important coastal foraging habitats for turtles worldwide. Exploitation and bycatch in other fisheries has seriously reduced marine turtle populations. The synergistic effects of other human-induced stressors may seriously reduce the capacity of some turtle populations to adapt to the current rates of climate change. Conservation recommendations to increase the capacity of marine turtle populations to adapt to climate change include increasing population resilience, for example by the use of turtle exclusion devices in fisheries, protection of nesting beaches from the viewpoints of both conservation and coastal management, and increased international conservation efforts to protect turtles in regions where there is high unregulated or illegal fisheries (including turtle harvesting). Increasing research efforts on the critical knowledge gaps of processes influencing population numbers, such as identifying ocean foraging hotspots or the processes that underlie the initiation of nesting migrations and selection of breeding areas, will inform adaptive management in a changing climate.

Communicating Complex Sciences by Means of Exhibitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schneider, S.

2011-12-01

Earth Sciences will have to take over the leading role in global sustainable policy and in discussions about climate change. Efforts to raise attention within the politically responsible communities as well as in the public are getting more and more support by executive and advisory boards all over the world. But how can you successfully communicate complex sciences? For example, to start communication about climate change, the first step is to encourage people to be concerned about climate change. After that, one has to start thinking about how to present data and how to include the presented data into an unprejudiced context. Therefore, the communication toolbox offers various methods to reach diverse audiences. The R&D programme GEOTECHNOLOGIEN conducts roving exhibitions as one of its most successful communication tools. With roving exhibitions GEOTECHNOLOGIEN is able to get in touch with different audiences at once. The main purpose and theme of these exhibitions is to convey the everyday means of climate change to the visitors. It is within the responsibility of science to communicate the effects of a phenomenon like climate change as well as the impact of research results to the everyday life of people. Currently, a GEOTECHNOLOGIEN roving exhibition on remote sensing with satellites deals with various issues of environmental research, including a chapter on climate change. By following the 3M-concept (Meaning - Memorable - Moving), exhibitions allow to connect the visitors daily environment and personal experiences with the presented issues and objects. Therefore, hands-on exhibits, exciting multimedia effects and high-tech artefacts have to be combined with interpretive text elements to highlight the daily significance of the scientific topics and the exhibition theme respectively. To create such an exhibition, strong conceptual planning has to be conducted. This includes the specification of stern financial as well as time wise milestones. In addition, concepts to include professional techniques of science interpretation will become a crucial step on the way to success. The elements of successful exhibitions, tips for effective interpretive writing and display design as well as milestones in the exhibition planning process accompanied by ideas and recommendations to make your exhibition even more exciting, will be discussed. Framed by Anatole France's concept of successful interpretation and Freeman Tilden's definition of interpretation, this presentation will give you a new perspective on how to communicate climate change and other scientific topics.

Mobile satellite services: A survey of business needs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hainzer, Eric M.

Conceptualizing and understanding the international business traveler's communication requirements by the use of a survey and selection of a mobile satellite system that satisfies those requirements are discussed. Chapter 5 incorporates an in depth analysis of the respondent's answers to survey questions and graphing them with frequency distribution histograms. Chapter 6 concludes with a selection of the most likely MSS manufacturer who appears to satisfy those communication requirements discovered in the previous chapter. Following a general-introduction in Chapter 1, the current climate of mobile satellite system (MSS) providers is discussed in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 assesses the implication of launch vehicles as it pertains to the political, technical, and financial aspects of MSS manufacturers and users. Special attention is provided, when possible, between the political environment and its relationship with forefront technology. In chapter 4, the procedure that was used to create the survey and its research methodology is shown. Graphs and charts are used, where appropriate, for the purpose of clarity and readability.

Challenge theme 2: assuring water availability and quality in the 21st century: Chapter 4 in United States-Mexican Borderlands: Facing tomorrow's challenges through USGS science

USGS Publications Warehouse

Callegary, James; Langeman, Jeff; Leenhouts, Jim; Martin, Peter

2013-01-01

Along the United States–Mexican border, the health of communities, economies, and ecosystems is inextricably intertwined with the availability and quality of water, but effective water management in the Borderlands is complicated. Water users compete for resources, and their needs are increasing. Managers are faced with issues such as finding a balance between agriculture and rapidly growing cities or maintaining public supplies while ensuring sufficient resources for aquatic ecosystems. In addition to human factors, the dry climate of the Borderlands, as compared to more temperate regions, also increases the challenge of balancing water supplies between humans and ecosystems. Warmer, drier, and more variable conditions across the southwestern United States—the projected results of climate change (Seager and others, 2007)—would further stress water supplies.

The AgMIP Coordinated Climate-Crop Modeling Project (C3MP): Methods and Protocols

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shukla, Sonali P.; Ruane, Alexander Clark

2014-01-01

Climate change is expected to alter a multitude of factors important to agricultural systems, including pests, diseases, weeds, extreme climate events, water resources, soil degradation, and socio-economic pressures. Changes to carbon dioxide concentration ([CO2]), temperature, and water (CTW) will be the primary drivers of change in crop growth and agricultural systems. Therefore, establishing the CTW-change sensitivity of crop yields is an urgent research need and warrants diverse methods of investigation. Crop models provide a biophysical, process-based tool to investigate crop responses across varying environmental conditions and farm management techniques, and have been applied in climate impact assessment by using a variety of methods (White et al., 2011, and references therein). However, there is a significant amount of divergence between various crop models' responses to CTW changes (Rotter et al., 2011). While the application of a site-based crop model is relatively simple, the coordination of such agricultural impact assessments on larger scales requires consistent and timely contributions from a large number of crop modelers, each time a new global climate model (GCM) scenario or downscaling technique is created. A coordinated, global effort to rapidly examine CTW sensitivity across multiple crops, crop models, and sites is needed to aid model development and enhance the assessment of climate impacts (Deser et al., 2012). To fulfill this need, the Coordinated Climate-Crop Modeling Project (C3MP) (Ruane et al., 2014) was initiated within the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP; Rosenzweig et al., 2013). The submitted results from C3MP Phase 1 (February 15, 2013-December 31, 2013) are currently being analyzed. This chapter serves to present and update the C3MP protocols, discuss the initial participation and general findings, comment on needed adjustments, and describe continued and future development. AgMIP aims to improve substantially the climate, crop, and economic simulation tools that are used to characterize the agricultural sector, to assess future world food security under changing climate conditions, and to enhance adaptation capacity both globally and regionally. To understand better and improve the modeled crop responses, AgMIP has conducted detailed crop model intercomparisons at closely observed field sites for wheat (Asseng et al., 2013), rice (Li et al., in review), maize (Bassu et al., 2014), and sugarcane (Singels et al., 2013). A coordinated modeling exercise was one of the original motivations for AgMIP, and C3MP provides rapid estimation of crop responses to CO2, water, and temperature (CTW) changes, adding dimension and insight into the crop model intercomparisons, while facilitating interactions within the global community of modelers. C3MP also contributes a fast-track, multi-model climate sensitivity assessment for the AgMIP climate and crop modeling teams on Research Track 2 (Fig. 1), which seeks to understand the impact of projected climatic changes on crop production and food security (Rosenzweig et al., 2013; Ruane et al., 2014).

Impact of climate change on electricity systems and markets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandramowli, Shankar N.

Climate change poses a serious threat to human welfare. There is now unequivocal scientific evidence that human actions are the primary cause of climate change. The principal climate forcing factor is the increasing accumulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) due to combustion of fossil fuels for transportation and electricity generation. Generation of electricity account for nearly one-third of the greenhouse (GHG) emissions globally (on a CO2-equivalent basis). Any kind of economy-wide mitigation or adaptation effort to climate change must have a prominent focus on the electric power sector. I have developed a capacity expansion model for the power sector called LP-CEM (Linear Programming based Capacity Expansion Model). LP-CEM incorporates both the long-term climate change effects and the state/regional-level macroeconomic trends. This modeling framework is demonstrated for the electric power system in the Northeast region of United States. Some of the methodological advances introduced in this research are: the use of high-resolution temperature projections in a power sector capacity expansion model; the incorporation of changes in sectoral composition of electricity demand over time; the incorporation of the effects of climate change and variability on both the demand and supply-side of power sector using parameters estimated in the literature; and an inter-model coupling link with a macroeconomic model to account for price elasticity of demand and other effects on the broader macro-economy. LP-CEM-type models can be of use to state/regional level policymakers to plan for future mitigation and adaptation measures for the electric power sector. From the simulation runs, it is shown that scenarios with climate change effects and with high economic growth rates have resulted in higher capacity addition, optimal supply costs, wholesale/retail prices and total ratepayers' costs. LP-CEM is also adapted to model the implications of the proposed Clean Power Plan (Section 111 (d)) rules for the U.S. Northeast region. This dissertation applies an analytical model and an optimization model to investigate the implications of co-implementing an emission cap and an RPS policy for this region. A simplified analytical model of LP-CEM is specified and the first order optimality conditions are derived. The results from this analytical model are corroborated by running LP-CEM simulations under different carbon cap and RPS policy assumptions. A combination of these policies is shown to have a long-term beneficial effect for the final ratepayers in the region. This research conceptually explores the future implications of climate change and extreme weather events on the regional electricity market framework. The significant findings from this research and future policy considerations are discussed in the conclusion chapter.

IPCC Working Group II: Impacts and Adaptation Part I

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pulwarty, R. S.

2007-12-01

The IPCC (as opposed to the UN Framework Convention) defines climate change as" any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity". The IPCC Working Group II (Impacts, Adaptation, Vulnerability) was charged with assessing the scientific, technical, environmental, economic, and social aspects of vulnerability to climate change, and, the negative and positive consequences for ecological systems, socio-economic sectors, and human health. The Working Group II report focused on the following issues for different sectors and regions (e.g. water, agriculture, biodiversity) and communities (coastal, island, etc.): · The role of adaptation in reducing vulnerability and impacts, · Assessment of adaptation capacity, options and constraints, and · Enhancing adaptation practice and operations. This presentation will address the following questions in the context of the results of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report WG II: · What are the barriers, knowledge gaps, and opportunities for impacts assessments? · How are decisions about adaptation being made, and what types of adaptation strategies are being undertaken? · What are good adaptation practices and how are they learned over time? Examples will be drawn from the freshwater resources, small islands and adaptation chapters to which the presenter contributed. Many lessons have been identified but few have been implemented or evaluated over time. Adaptation occurs in the context of multiple stresses. Adaptation will be important in coping with early impacts in the near-term and continue to be important as our climate changes, regardless of how that change is derived. It is important to note that unmitigated climate change could, in the long term, exceed the capacity of different natural, managed and human systems to adapt. The assessment leads to the following conclusions: · Adaptation to climate change is already taking place, but on a limited basis · Adaptation measures are seldom undertaken in response to climate change alone · Many adaptations can be implemented at low cost, but comprehensive estimates of adaptation costs and benefits are currently lacking · Adaptive capacity is uneven across and within societies Adaptive capacity to manage as climate changes can be increased by introducing adaptation measures into development planning and operations (sometimes termed 'mainstreaming'). This can be achieved by including adaptation measures in land-use planning and infrastructure design, or by including measures to reduce vulnerability in existing disaster preparedness programs (such as introducing drought warning systems based on actual management needs). The major barriers to implementing adaptive management measures are that adaptation to climate change is not as yet a high priority, and the validity of local manifestations of global climate change remains in question. Coping with the uncertainties associated with estimates of future climate change and the impacts on economic and environmental resources means management measures must be robust enough to apply to a range of potential scenarios, some as yet undefined Greenhouse gas mitigation is not enough to reduce climatic risks, nor does identifying the need for adaptations translate into actions that reduce vulnerability. By implementing mainstreaming initiatives, adaptation to climate change will become part of, or will be consistent with, other well- established programs to increase societal resilience, particularly environmental impacts assessments, adaptive management

Japan's Democracy: How Much Change? Headline Series No. 305.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krauss, Ellis S.

This booklet analyzes the changes that have occurred in Japan in the postwar period. The book is divided into four chapters. Chapter 1, "Revolutionary Change: American Occupation, 1945-52," focuses on the dramatic changes brought by Occupation forces. Chapter 2, "Evolutionary Change: Japan's Democracy from the Occupation through the…

Integrating air quality, water and climate concerns into China's energy strategy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Wei

As the world's top carbon emitter, China also suffers from serious air pollution and increasingly severe water stress. My dissertation focuses on a variety of energy strategies in China and examines potential synergies and tradeoffs between air quality, water conservation and carbon mitigation objectives. It includes four analytical chapters. Chapter 2 and 3 examines the air quality and climate implications of a variety policy options in the near term and at the 2030 time horizon, respectively. Based on an integrated assessment using regional air pollution model and epidemiological evidence, I find that improving industrial energy efficiency is the most effective near-term strategy to curb air pollution and carbon emissions, while electrifying end-use sectors (e.g. vehicles and residential stoves) with decarbonized electricity will likely become the favorable co-control strategy in 2030. These two chapters hence provide a scientific basis for policymakers in China to coordinate air pollution and carbon mitigation strategies. Chapter 4 and 5 then examines the role of electricity transmission, as a critical element of the electrification strategy, in the nexus of air pollution, water stress and carbon emissions. Chapter 4 evaluates the potential air quality and climate benefits of long-distance electricity transmission in China in the near term. I find that transmitting a hybrid mix of renewable and coal power can be a cost-effective energy transfer strategy to curb air pollution impacts and carbon emissions, because it not only utilizes zero-carbon renewable resources in the west, but also displaces coal power generation and associated air pollution impacts in highly populated eastern regions. Chapter 5 studies the potential tradeoffs in the transmission system designs to achieve air quality or water conservation benefits from a decarbonized generation system. Since air pollution and water stress are severe in eastern and northern China respectively, I find that an increasing priority on air pollution control would favor a larger amount of electricity transmission into eastern population centers, while an increasing priority on water conservation would favor using locally produced renewable power or imported electricity to displace fossil generation in northern water-stressed regions.

Climate Vulnerability of Hydro-power infrastructure in the Eastern African Power Pool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sridharan, Vignesh

2017-04-01

At present there is around 6000 MW of installed hydropower capacity in the Eastern African power pool (EAPP)[1]. With countries aggressively planning to achieve the Sustainable development goal (SDG) of ensuring access to affordable electricity for all, a three-fold increase in hydropower capacity is expected by 2040 [1]. Most of the existing and planned infrastructure lie inside the Nile River Basin. The latest assessment report (AR 5) from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicates a high level of climatic uncertainty in the Nile Basin. The Climate Moisture index (CMI) for the Eastern Nile region and the Nile Equatorial lakes varies significantly across the different General Circulation Models (GCM)[2]. Such high uncertainty casts a shadow on the plans to expand hydropower capacity, doubting whether hydropower expansion can contribute to the goal of improving access to electricity or end up as sunk investments. In this assessment, we analyze adaptation strategies for national energy systems in the Eastern African Power Pool (EAPP), which minimize the regret that could potentially arise from impacts of a changed climate. An energy systems model of the EAPP is developed representing national electricity supply infrastructure. Cross border transmission and hydropower infrastructure is defined at individual project level. The energy systems model is coupled with a water systems management model of the Nile River Basin that calculates the water availability at different hydropower infrastructures under a range of climate scenarios. The results suggest that a robust adaptation strategy consisting of investments in cross border electricity transmission infrastructure and diversifying sources of electricity supply will require additional investments of USD 4.2 billion by 2050. However, this leads to fuel and operational cost savings of up to USD 22.6 billion, depending on the climate scenario. [1] "Platts, 2016. World Electric Power Plants Database," World Electric Power Plants Database. [Online]. Available: http://www.platts.com/Products/worldelectricpowerplantsdatabase. [Accessed: 01-Mar-2016]. [2] Brent Boehlert, Kenneth M. Strzepek, David Groves, and Bruce Hewitson, Chris Jack, "Climate Change Projections in Africa-Chapter 3," in Enhancing the Climate Resilience of Africa's Infrastructure : The Power and Water Sectors, Washington DC: The World Bank, 2016, p. 219.

Temporal trends and stationarity in annual peak flow and peak-flow timing for selected long-term streamflow-gaging stations in or near Montana through water year 2011: Chapter B in Montana StreamStats

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sando, Steven K.; McCarthy, Peter M.; Sando, Roy; Dutton, DeAnn M.

2016-04-05

The two low-elevation gaging stations in eastern Montana (Poplar River at international boundary [gaging station 06178000] and Powder River at Moorhead, Montana [gaging station 06324500]) had considerable changes in annual-peakflow characteristics after the mid-1970s, which might provide evidence of potential nonstationarity in the peak-flow records. The two low-elevation gaging stations that have potential nonstationarity are located in drainage basins that are strongly affected by agricultural activities that potentially affect the hydrologic regimes. Primary agricultural activities that might alter natural hydrologic conditions include construction of small impoundments (primarily for stock-watering purposes) and irrigation diversions. Temporal variability in these activities might contribute to the potential nonstationarity issues. Changes in climatic characteristics after the mid-1970s also possibly contribute to the potential nonstationarity issues. Lack of considerable indication of potential nonstationarity in annual peak flow for the other long-term gaging stations in this study might indicate that climatic changes have been more pronounced with respect to effects on peak flows in low elevation areas in eastern Montana than in areas represented by the other long-term gaging stations. Another possibility is that climatic changes after the mid-1970s are exacerbated in low-elevation areas where small-impoundment development and potential effects of irrigation diversions might be more extensive.

Historical and projected climate [Chapter 3

Treesearch

Linda A. Joyce; Marian Talbert

2018-01-01

The Intermountain Adaptation Partnership (IAP) region is characterized by extreme temperatures and precipitation; it is home to some of the driest, hottest, and coldest locations in the conterminous United States. The region has numerous mountain ranges, high-elevation basins and valleys, and low-elevation mesas and canyons. Climate is influenced by this diverse and...

Watershed hydrology. Chapter 7.

Treesearch

Elons S. Verry; Kenneth N. Brooks; Dale S. Nichols; Dawn R. Ferris; Stephen D. Sebestyen

2011-01-01

Watershed hydrology is determined by the local climate, land use, and pathways of water flow. At the Marcell Experimental Forest (MEF), streamflow is dominated by spring runoff events driven by snowmelt and spring rains common to the strongly continental climate of northern Minnesota. Snowmelt and rainfall in early spring saturate both mineral and organic soils and...

Visualizing projected Climate Changes - the CMIP5 Multi-Model Ensemble

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Böttinger, Michael; Eyring, Veronika; Lauer, Axel; Meier-Fleischer, Karin

2017-04-01

Large ensembles add an additional dimension to climate model simulations. Internal variability of the climate system can be assessed for example by multiple climate model simulations with small variations in the initial conditions or by analyzing the spread in large ensembles made by multiple climate models under common protocols. This spread is often used as a measure of uncertainty in climate projections. In the context of the fifth phase of the WCRP's Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5), more than 40 different coupled climate models were employed to carry out a coordinated set of experiments. Time series of the development of integral quantities such as the global mean temperature change for all models visualize the spread in the multi-model ensemble. A similar approach can be applied to 2D-visualizations of projected climate changes such as latitude-longitude maps showing the multi-model mean of the ensemble by adding a graphical representation of the uncertainty information. This has been demonstrated for example with static figures in chapter 12 of the last IPCC report (AR5) using different so-called stippling and hatching techniques. In this work, we focus on animated visualizations of multi-model ensemble climate projections carried out within CMIP5 as a way of communicating climate change results to the scientific community as well as to the public. We take a closer look at measures of robustness or uncertainty used in recent publications suitable for animated visualizations. Specifically, we use the ESMValTool [1] to process and prepare the CMIP5 multi-model data in combination with standard visualization tools such as NCL and the commercial 3D visualization software Avizo to create the animations. We compare different visualization techniques such as height fields or shading with transparency for creating animated visualization of ensemble mean changes in temperature and precipitation including corresponding robustness measures. [1] Eyring, V., Righi, M., Lauer, A., Evaldsson, M., Wenzel, S., Jones, C., Anav, A., Andrews, O., Cionni, I., Davin, E. L., Deser, C., Ehbrecht, C., Friedlingstein, P., Gleckler, P., Gottschaldt, K.-D., Hagemann, S., Juckes, M., Kindermann, S., Krasting, J., Kunert, D., Levine, R., Loew, A., Mäkelä, J., Martin, G., Mason, E., Phillips, A. S., Read, S., Rio, C., Roehrig, R., Senftleben, D., Sterl, A., van Ulft, L. H., Walton, J., Wang, S., and Williams, K. D.: ESMValTool (v1.0) - a community diagnostic and performance metrics tool for routine evaluation of Earth system models in CMIP, Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 1747-1802, doi:10.5194/gmd-9-1747-2016, 2016.

The Air-Carbon-Water Synergies and Trade-Offs in China's Natural Gas Industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qin, Yue

China's coal-dominated energy structure is partly responsible for its domestic air pollution, local water stress, and the global climate change. Primarily to tackle the haze issue, China has been actively promoting a nationwide coal to natural gas end-use switch. My dissertation focuses on evaluating the air quality, carbon, and water impacts and their interactions in China's natural gas industry. Chapter 2 assesses the lifecycle climate performance of China's shale gas in comparison to coal based on stage-level energy consumption and methane leakage rates. I find the mean lifecycle carbon footprint of shale gas is about 30-50% lower than that of coal under both 20 year and 100 year global warming potentials (GWP20 and GWP100). However, primarily due to large uncertainties in methane leakage, the lifecycle carbon footprint of shale gas in China could be 15-60% higher than that of coal across sectors under GWP20. Chapter 3 evaluates the air quality, human health, and the climate impacts of China's coal-based synthetic natural gas (SNG) development. Based on earlier 2020 SNG production targets, I conduct an integrated assessment to identify production technologies and end-use applications that will bring as large air quality and health benefits as possible while keeping carbon penalties as small as possible. I find that, due to inefficient and uncontrolled coal combustion in households, allocating currently available SNG to the residential sector proves to be the best SNG allocation option. Chapter 4 compares the air quality, carbon, and water impacts of China's six major gas sources under three end-use substitution scenarios, which are focused on maximizing air pollutant emission reductions, CO 2 emission reductions, and water stress index (WSI)-weighted water consumption reductions, respectively. I find striking national air-carbon/water trade-offs due to SNG, which also significantly increases water demands and carbon emissions in regions already suffering from severe water stress and having the largest per capita carbon footprint. Gas sources other than SNG may bring national air-carbon-water co-benefits. However, end-use deployment can cause enormous variations in air quality, carbon, and water impacts, with notable air-carbon synergies but air-water trade-offs.

Fire as an ecosystem process: Chapter 3

USGS Publications Warehouse

Keeley, Jon E.; Safford, Hugh D.; Mooney, Harold A.; Zavaleta, Erika S.

2016-01-01

This long-anticipated reference and sourcebook for California’s remarkable ecological abundance provides an integrated assessment of each major ecosystem type—its distribution, structure, function, and management. A comprehensive synthesis of our knowledge about this biologically diverse state, Ecosystems of California covers the state from oceans to mountaintops using multiple lenses: past and present, flora and fauna, aquatic and terrestrial, natural and managed. Each chapter evaluates natural processes for a specific ecosystem, describes drivers of change, and discusses how that ecosystem may be altered in the future. This book also explores the drivers of California’s ecological patterns and the history of the state’s various ecosystems, outlining how the challenges of climate change and invasive species and opportunities for regulation and stewardship could potentially affect the state’s ecosystems. The text explicitly incorporates both human impacts and conservation and restoration efforts and shows how ecosystems support human well-being. Edited by two esteemed ecosystem ecologists and with overviews by leading experts on each ecosystem, this definitive work will be indispensable for natural resource management and conservation professionals as well as for undergraduate or graduate students of California’s environment and curious naturalists.

AgMIP's Transdisciplinary Agricultural Systems Approach to Regional Integrated Assessment of Climate Impacts, Vulnerability, and Adaptation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Antle, John M.; Valdivia, Roberto O.; Boote, Kenneth J.; Janssen, Sander; Jones, James W.; Porter, Cheryl H.; Rosenzweig, Cynthia; Ruane, Alexander C.; Thorburn, Peter J.

2015-01-01

This chapter describes methods developed by the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) to implement a transdisciplinary, systems-based approach for regional-scale (local to national) integrated assessment of agricultural systems under future climate, biophysical, and socio-economic conditions. These methods were used by the AgMIP regional research teams in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to implement the analyses reported in their respective chapters of this book. Additional technical details are provided in Appendix 1.The principal goal that motivates AgMIP's regional integrated assessment (RIA) methodology is to provide scientifically rigorous information needed to support improved decision-making by various stakeholders, ranging from local to national and international non-governmental and governmental organizations.

The Multi-TW Scale Future for Photovoltaics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wilson, Gregory M

This chapter is focused on photovoltaics (PV) and argues that this rapidly developing technology is emerging as one of the most important tools policy makers have for meeting COP21 carbon emissions reduction targets. Focusing on the contributions and advancements that PV is likely to make to the global energy system over the next 10-15 years, it gives a basic overview of mainstream PV conversion technologies, summarizes roughly 40 years of research and industrial history then closes with a brief discussion of how PV and energy storage are likely to impact the world's energy landscape going forward. The chapter closely couplesmore » an increasingly urgent carbon emissions and climate change problem with dramatic PV advancements over the last 10 years in terms of both performance and cost. Ultimately PV is presented as an extremely useful tool for helping to reduce global carbon emissions with little to no increase in electricity costs, in a timeframe that is meaningful to the global carbon emissions problem.« less

The multi-TW scale future for photovoltaics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilson, Gregory

2018-01-01

This chapter is focused on photovoltaics (PV) and argues that this rapidly developing technology is emerging as one of the most important tools policy makers have for meeting COP21 carbon emissions reduction targets. Focusing on the contributions and advancements that PV is likely to make to the global energy system over the next 10-15 years, it gives a basic overview of mainstream PV conversion technologies, summarizes roughly 40 years of research and industrial history then closes with a brief discussion of how PV and energy storage are likely to impact the world's energy landscape going forward. The chapter closely couples an increasingly urgent carbon emissions and climate change problem with dramatic PV advancements over the last 10 years in terms of both performance and cost. Ultimately PV is presented as an extremely useful tool for helping to reduce global carbon emissions with little to no increase in electricity costs, in a timeframe that is meaningful to the global carbon emissions problem.

Algorithm Updates for the Fourth SeaWiFS Data Reprocessing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hooker, Stanford, B. (Editor); Firestone, Elaine R. (Editor); Patt, Frederick S.; Barnes, Robert A.; Eplee, Robert E., Jr.; Franz, Bryan A.; Robinson, Wayne D.; Feldman, Gene Carl; Bailey, Sean W.

2003-01-01

The efforts to improve the data quality for the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) data products have continued, following the third reprocessing of the global data set in May 2000. Analyses have been ongoing to address all aspects of the processing algorithms, particularly the calibration methodologies, atmospheric correction, and data flagging and masking. All proposed changes were subjected to rigorous testing, evaluation and validation. The results of these activities culminated in the fourth reprocessing, which was completed in July 2002. The algorithm changes, which were implemented for this reprocessing, are described in the chapters of this volume. Chapter 1 presents an overview of the activities leading up to the fourth reprocessing, and summarizes the effects of the changes. Chapter 2 describes the modifications to the on-orbit calibration, specifically the focal plane temperature correction and the temporal dependence. Chapter 3 describes the changes to the vicarious calibration, including the stray light correction to the Marine Optical Buoy (MOBY) data and improved data screening procedures. Chapter 4 describes improvements to the near-infrared (NIR) band correction algorithm. Chapter 5 describes changes to the atmospheric correction and the oceanic property retrieval algorithms, including out-of-band corrections, NIR noise reduction, and handling of unusual conditions. Chapter 6 describes various changes to the flags and masks, to increase the number of valid retrievals, improve the detection of the flag conditions, and add new flags. Chapter 7 describes modifications to the level-la and level-3 algorithms, to improve the navigation accuracy, correct certain types of spacecraft time anomalies, and correct a binning logic error. Chapter 8 describes the algorithm used to generate the SeaWiFS photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) product. Chapter 9 describes a coupled ocean-atmosphere model, which is used in one of the changes described in Chapter 4. Finally, Chapter 10 describes a comparison of results from the third and fourth reprocessings along the US. Northeast coast.

Recent and possible future variations in the North American Monsoon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hoell, Andrew; Funk, Chris; Barlow, Mathew; Shukla, Shraddhanand

2016-01-01

The dynamics and recent and possible future changes of the June–September rainfall associated with the North American Monsoon (NAM) are reviewed in this chapter. Our analysis as well as previous analyses of the trend in June–September precipitation from 1948 until 2010 indicate significant precipitation increases over New Mexico and the core NAM region, and significant precipitation decreases over southwest Mexico. The trends in June–September precipitation have been forced by anomalous cyclonic circulation centered at 15°N latitude over the eastern Pacific Ocean. The anomalous cyclonic circulation is responsible for changes in the flux of moisture and the divergence of moisture flux within the core NAM region. Future climate projections using the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) models, as part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), support the observed analyses of a later shift in the monsoon season in the presence of increased greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere under the RCP8.5 scenario. The CMIP5 models under the RCP8.5 scenario predict significant NAM-related rainfall decreases during June and July and predict significant NAM-related rainfall increases during September and October.

The Colorado Plateau II: biophysical, socioeconomic, and cultural research

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mattson, David J.; van Riper, Charles

2005-01-01

The publication of The Colorado Plateau: Cultural, Biological, and Physical Research in 2004 marked a timely summation of current research in the Four Corners states. This new volume, derived from the seventh Biennial Conference on the Colorado Plateau in 2003, complements the previous book by focusing on the integration of science into resource management issues. The 32 chapters range in content from measuring human impacts on cultural resources, through grazing and the wildland-urban interface issues, to parameters of climate change on the Plateau. The book also introduces economic perspectives by considering shifting patterns and regional disparities in the Colorado Plateau economy. A series of chapters on mountain lions explores the human-wildland interface. These chapters deal with the entire spectrum of challenges associated with managing this large mammal species in Arizona and on the Colorado Plateau, conveying a wealth of timely information of interest to wildlife managers and enthusiasts. Another provocative set of chapters on biophysical resources explores the management of forest restoration, from the micro scale all the way up to large-scale GIS analyses of ponderosa pine ecosystems on the Colorado Plateau. Given recent concerns for forest health in the wake of fires, severe drought, and bark-beetle infestation, these chapters will prove enlightening for forest service, park service, and land management professionals at both the federal and state level, as well as general readers interested in how forest management practices will ultimately affect their recreation activities. With broad coverage that touches on topics as diverse as movement patterns of rattlesnakes, calculating watersheds, and rescuing looted rockshelters, this volume stands as a compendium of cutting-edge research on the Colorado Plateau that offers a wealth of insights for many scholars.

Ground-water recharge in the arid and semiarid southwestern United States - Climatic and geologic framework: Chapter A in Ground-water recharge in the arid and semiarid southwestern United States (Professional Paper 1703)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stonestrom, David A.; Harrill, James R.; Stonestrom, David A.; Constantz, Jim; Ferré, Ty P.A.; Leake, Stanley A.

2007-01-01

Ground-water recharge in the arid and semiarid southwestern United States results from the complex interplay of climate, geology, and vegetation across widely ranging spatial and temporal scales. Present-day recharge tends to be narrowly focused in time and space. Widespread water-table declines accompanied agricultural development during the twentieth century, demonstrating that sustainable ground-water supplies are not guaranteed when part of the extracted resource represents paleorecharge. Climatic controls on ground-water recharge range from seasonal cycles of summer monsoonal and winter frontal storms to multimillennial cycles of glacial and interglacial periods. Precipitation patterns reflect global-scale interactions among the oceans, atmosphere, and continents. Large-scale climatic influences associated with El Niño and Pacific Decadal Oscillations strongly but irregularly control weather in the study area, so that year-to-year variations in precipitation and ground-water recharge are large and difficult to predict. Proxy data indicate geologically recent periods of multidecadal droughts unlike any in the modern instrumental record. Anthropogenically induced climate change likely will reduce ground-water recharge through diminished snowpack at higher elevations, and perhaps through increased drought. Future changes in El Niño and monsoonal patterns, both crucial to precipitation in the study area, are highly uncertain in current models. Land-use modifications influence ground-water recharge directly through vegetation, irrigation, and impermeable area, and indirectly through climate change. High ranges bounding the study area—the San Bernadino Mountains and Sierra Nevada to the west, and the Wasatch and southern Colorado Rocky Mountains to the east—provide external geologic controls on ground-water recharge. Internal geologic controls stem from tectonic processes that led to numerous, variably connected alluvial-filled basins, exposure of extensive Paleozoic aquifers in mountainous recharge areas, and distinct modes of recharge in the Colorado Plateau and Basin and Range subregions.

Improving Hospital Quality and Patient Safety an Examination of Organizational Culture and Information Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gardner, John Wallace

2012-01-01

This dissertation examines the effects of safety culture, including operational climate and practices, as well as the adoption and use of information systems for delivering high quality healthcare and improved patient experience. Chapter 2 studies the influence of both general and outcome-specific hospital climate and quality practices on process…

Energy and environment

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Loulou, Richard; Waaub, Jean-Philippe; Zaccour, Georges

2005-07-01

This volume on energy and environmental modeling describes a broad variety of modeling methodologies. It includes chapters covering: The Sustainability of Economic Growth by Cabo, Martin-Herran & Martinez-Garcia; Abatement Scenarios in the Swiss Housing Sector by L. Drouet and others; Support and Planning for Off-Site Emergency Management, by Geldermann and others; Hybrid Energy-Economy Models, by Jaccard; The World-MARKAL Model and Its Application, by Kanudia and others; Methodology for Evaluating a Market of Tradable CO{sub 2}-Permits, by Kunsch and Springael; MERGE - A Model for Global Climate Change, by Manne and Richels; A Linear Programming Model for Capacity Expansion in anmore » Autonomous Power Generation System, by Mavrotas and Diakoulaki; Transport and Climate Policy Modeling in the Transport Sector, by Paltsev and others; Analysis of Ontario Electricity Capacity Requirements and Emissions, by Pineau and Schott; Environmental Damage in Energy/Environmental Policy Evaluation, by Van Regemorter. 71 figs.« less

Dynamic Predictions of Crop Yield and Irrigation in Sub-Saharan Africa Due to Climate Change Impacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foster-Wittig, T.

2012-12-01

The highest damages from climate change are predicted to be in the agricultural sector in sub-Saharan Africa. Agriculture is predicted to be especially vulnerable in this region because of its current state of high temperature and low precipitation and because it is usually rain-fed or relies on relatively basic technologies which therefore limit its ability to sustain in increased poor climatic conditions [1]. The goal of this research is to quantify the vulnerability of this ecosystem by projecting future changes in agriculture due to IPCC predicted climate change impacts on precipitation and temperature. This research will provide a better understanding of the relationship between precipitation and rain-fed agriculture in savannas. In order to quantify the effects of climate change on agriculture, the impacts of climate change are modeled through the use of a land surface vegetation dynamics model previously developed combined with a crop model [2,4]. In this project, it will be used to model yield for point cropland locations within sub-Saharan Africa between Kenya and Botswana with a range of annual rainfall. With this model, future projections are developed for what can be anticipated for the crop yield based on two precipitation climate change scenarios; (1) decreased depth and (2) decreased frequency as well as temperature change scenarios; (3) only temperature increased, (4) temperature increase dand decreased precipitation depth, and (5) temperature increased and decreased precipitation frequency. Therefore, this will allow conclusions to be drawn about how mean precipitation and a changing climate effect food security in sub-Saharan Africa. As an additional analysis, irrigation is added to the model as it is thought to be the solution to protect food security by maximizing on the potential of food production. In water-limited areas such as Sub-Saharan Africa, it is important to consider water efficient irrigation techniques such as demand-based micro-irrigation where less water is lost to evaporative demand. Demand-based irrigation is based on two main parameters; a trigger level, to initiate the irrigation, and a target level to calculate the amount of irrigation [3]. In order to understand the impact of these two parameters on amount of irrigated water and yield, irrigation is added to the model with variations of these two parameters considered. This analysis will provide the information needed to understand whether irrigation is a feasible and sustainable solution to the loss of food production due to climate change. Resources: [1]Kurukulasuriya, P., and Mendelsohn, Robert (2008). "A Ricardian analysis of the impact of climate change on African cropland." African Journal Agriculture and Resource Economics 02(1). [2]Raes, D., Steduto, P., Hsiao, T., and Fereres, E. (2011). Chapter 3: Calculation Procedure. . AquaCrop Reference Manual Version 3.1 Plus. [3]Vico, G. and A. Porporato (2011). "From rainfed agriculture to stress-avoidance irrigation: I. A generalized irrigation scheme with stochastic soil moisture." Advances in Water Resources 34(2): 263-271. [4]Williams, C., and Albertson, J. (2005). "Contrasting Short- and Long-Timescale Effects of Vegetation Dynamics on Water and Carbon Fluxes in Water-Limited Ecosystems." Water Resources Research. 41: 1-13

Verification and accreditation schemes for climate change activities: A review of requirements for verification of greenhouse gas reductions and accreditation of verifiers—Implications for long-term carbon sequestration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roed-Larsen, Trygve; Flach, Todd

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a review of existing national and international requirements for verification of greenhouse gas reductions and associated accreditation of independent verifiers. The credibility of results claimed to reduce or remove anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) is of utmost importance for the success of emerging schemes to reduce such emissions. Requirements include transparency, accuracy, consistency, and completeness of the GHG data. The many independent verification processes that have developed recently now make up a quite elaborate tool kit for best practices. The UN Framework Convention for Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol specifications for project mechanisms initiated this work, but other national and international actors also work intensely with these issues. One initiative gaining wide application is that taken by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development with the World Resources Institute to develop a "GHG Protocol" to assist companies in arranging for auditable monitoring and reporting processes of their GHG activities. A set of new international standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) provides specifications for the quantification, monitoring, and reporting of company entity and project-based activities. The ISO is also developing specifications for recognizing independent GHG verifiers. This chapter covers this background with intent of providing a common understanding of all efforts undertaken in different parts of the world to secure the reliability of GHG emission reduction and removal activities. These verification schemes may provide valuable input to current efforts of securing a comprehensive, trustworthy, and robust framework for verification activities of CO2 capture, transport, and storage.

The Atmospheric Boundary Layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garratt, J. R.

1994-05-01

A comprehensive and lucid account of the physics and dynamics of the lowest one to two kilometers of the Earth's atmosphere in direct contact with the Earth's surface, known as the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). Dr. Garratt emphasizes the application of the ABL problems to numerical modeling of the climate, which makes this book unique among recent texts on the subject. He begins with a brief introduction to the ABL before leading to the development of mean and turbulence equations and the many scaling laws and theories that are the cornerstone of any serious ABL treatment. Modeling of the ABL is crucially dependent for its realism on the surface boundary conditions, so chapters four and five deal with aerodynamic and energy considerations, with attention given to both dry and wet land surfaces and the sea. The author next treats the structure of the clear-sky, thermally stratified ABL, including the convective and stable cases over homogeneous land, the marine ABL, and the internal boundary layer at the coastline. Chapter seven then extends this discussion to the cloudy ABL. This is particularly relevant to current research because the extensive stratocumulus regions over the subtropical oceans and stratus regions over the Arctic have been identified as key players in the climate system. In the final chapters, Dr. Garratt summarizes the book's material by discussing appropriate ABL and surface parameterization schemes in general circulation models of the atmosphere that are being used for climate stimulation.

Teaching Climate Change Science to Undergradutes with Diverse & Digital Pedagogical Techniquees

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kauffman, C.; Brey, J. A.; Nugnes, K. A.; Weinbeck, R. S.; Geer, I. W.

2015-12-01

California University of Pennsylvania (CalUPA) is unique relative to other undergraduate geoscience programs in that their climate science offerings are varied and inter-woven into an existing meteorology degree program, which aligns with the guidelines established by the American Meteorological Society (AMS). In addition to the rigorous meteorological requirements, the program strives to increase students' climate literacy. At the introductory course level, students are required to use the educational resources offered by the AMS—specifically their weather and climate studies materials, which have recently transitioned to a digital format. The Earth Sciences Program at CalUPA recently incorporated these new digital resources into a climatology course with novel pedagogical variants. These teaching strategies were well received by students and may benefit other climatology courses at similar institutions. For example, students were tasked with expounding upon textbook content from 'Topic In Depth' segments; they were required to present tangential climate topics in a digital presentation. Moreover, students mined the scientific literature listed at the end of each chapter in the text to identify climate scientists immersed in social media. Students were then required to follow these scientists and engage each other within a social media platform. Finally, as a culminating experience, students were required to create digital portfolios (e.g., infographic) related to climate science and the AMS materials. This presentation will further detail CalUPA's climatological course offerings and detail how the AMS resources were connected to course requirements listed herein.

ARM-Led Improvements Aerosols in Climate and Climate Models

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ghan, Steven J.; Penner, Joyce E.

2016-07-25

The DOE ARM program has played a foundational role in efforts to quantify aerosol effects on climate, beginning with the early back-of-the-envelope estimates of direct radiative forcing by anthropogenic sulfate and biomass burning aerosol (Penner et al., 1994). In this chapter we review the role that ARM has played in subsequent detailed estimates based on physically-based representations of aerosols in climate models. The focus is on quantifying the direct and indirect effects of anthropogenic aerosol on the planetary energy balance. Only recently have other DOE programs applied the aerosol modeling capability to simulate the climate response to the radiative forcing.

40 CFR 436.31 - Specialized definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

..., the general definitions, abbreviations and methods of analysis set forth in part 401 of this chapter... may be obtained from the National Climatic Center of the Environmental Data Service, National Oceanic...

40 CFR 436.21 - Specialized definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... definitions, abbreviations and methods of analysis set forth in part 401 of this chapter shall apply to this... National Climatic Center of the Environmental Data Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration...

40 CFR 436.41 - Specialized definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... definitions, abbreviations, and methods of analysis set forth in part 401 of this chapter shall apply to this... National Climatic Center of the Environmental Data Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration...

New York, USA. Chapter 10

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Solecki, William; Rosenzweig, Cynthia; Solecki, Stephen; Patrick, Lesley; Horton, Radley; Dorsch, Michael

2016-01-01

New York City, one of the most populous and ethnically diverse cities in the world, has responded to a variety of enviornmental challenges in its history. The most recent is climate change, which is projected to have wide impacts on the city's critical infrastructure and population through higher temperatures, more intense flooding events and sea level rise. The city recognized the risks early and has become a national and international leader in responding to this new challenge, illustrating how this is possible for a large city. As part of a mature urban region, it is an excellent bellwether for the impacts that may be experienced by other cities, especially those in emerging metropolitan conurbations.

Desertification of rangelands: 4.20

USGS Publications Warehouse

Peters, D. P. C.; Bestelmeyer, B. T.; Havstad, K. M.; Rango, A.; Archer, S. R.; Comrie, A. C.; Gimblett, H. R.; López-Hoffman, L.; Sala, O. E.; Vivoni, E. R.; Brooks, M. L.; Brown, J.; Monger, H. C.; Goldstein, J. H.

2013-01-01

Desertification, the broad-scale conversion of perennial grasslands to dominance by annuals or xerophytic shrubs, has affected drylands globally over the past several centuries. Desertification is a cumulative threat that includes both climatic (e.g., drought) and land-use drivers (e.g., livestock overgrazing, fire). In this chapter, we determine the vulnerability of different ecosystem services to changes in drivers and ecosystem states, with a focus on the American Southwest. We have four objectives: (1) to describe key services in drylands, (2) to identify consequences of desertification to each service, (3) to explore the vulnerability of each service to future state-changes if existing threats intensify and new threats emerge, and (4) to determine threats expected to have the greatest future impact, and to provide potential actions for mitigation. We conclude with recommendations.

Chapter 8: Droughts, Floods, and Wildfires

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wehner, M. F.; Arnold, J. R.; Knutson, T.; Kunkel, K. E.; LeGrande, A. N.

2017-01-01

Recent droughts and associated heat waves have reached record intensity in some regions of the United States; however, by geographical scale and duration, the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s remains the benchmark drought and extreme heat event in the historical record (very high confidence). While by some measures drought has decreased over much of the continental United States in association with long-term increases in precipitation, neither the precipitation increases nor inferred drought decreases have been confidently attributed to anthropogenic forcing. The human effect on recent major U.S. droughts is complicated. Little evidence is found for a human influence on observed precipitation deficits, but much evidence is found for a human influence on surface soil moisture deficits due to increased evapotranspiration caused by higher temperatures. Future decreases in surface (top 10 cm) soil moisture from anthropogenic forcing over most of the United States are likely as the climate warms under higher scenarios. Substantial reductions in western U.S. winter and spring snowpack are projected as the climate warms. Earlier spring melt and reduced snow water equivalent have been formally attributed to human-induced warming (high confidence) and will very likely be exacerbated as the climate continues to warm (very high confidence). Under higher scenarios, and assuming no change to current water resources management, chronic, long-duration hydrological drought is increasingly possible by the end of this century. Detectable changes in some classes of flood frequency have occurred in parts of the United States and are a mix of increases and decreases. Extreme precipitation, one of the controlling factors in flood statistics, is observed to have generally increased and is projected to continue to do so across the United States in a warming atmosphere. However, formal attribution approaches have not established a significant connection of increased riverine flooding to human-induced climate change, and the timing of any emergence of a future detectable anthropogenic change in flooding is unclear. The incidence of large forest fires in the western United States and Alaska has increased since the early 1980s and is projected to further increase in those regions as the climate warms, with profound changes to certain ecosystems.

Spatial-temporal analysis of climate variations in mid-17th through 19th centuries in East China and the possible relationships with Monsoon climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, K. H. E.; Wang, P. K.; Liao, Y. C.; Lee, S. Y.; Tan, P.

2016-12-01

IPCC AR5 has revealed more frequent extreme climate events and higher climate variability in the near future. Regardless of all the improvements, East Asia monsoon climate is still less understood and/or poorly projected due partly to insufficient records. Most areas of the Asian region lack sufficient observational records to draw conclusions about trends in annual precipitation over the past century (i.e. WGIAR5 Chapter 2). Precipitation trends, including extremes, are characterized by strong variability, with both increasing and decreasing observed in different parts and seasons of Asia. Understanding the variations of the monsoon climate in historical time may bring significant insights to reveal its spatial and temporal patterns embedded in the atmospheric dynamics at different decadal or centennial scales. This study presents some preliminary research results of high resolution climate reconstruction, in both time and space coverage, in east China, by using RCEC historical climate dataset that is developed under interdisciplinary collaboration led by Research Center for Environmental Changes at Academia Sinica, Taiwan. The present research results are derived from chronological meteorological records in the RCEC dataset in Qing dynasty labeling mid-17th to 19th centuries. In total, the dataset comprises more than 1,300 cities/counties in China that has had more than sixty thousands meteorological records in the period. The analysis comprises three parts. Firstly, the frequency of extreme temperature, precipitation, drought, and flood in every recorded cities/counties were computed to depicting climate variabilities in northeast, central-east and southeast China. Secondly, the multivariate regression model was conducted to estimate the coefficients among the climatic index (temperature, precipitation, and drought). It is found that the temperature and wet-dry characteristics have great seasonal and yearly variations; northeast China compared with central-east or southeast tends to have higher variability. Thirdly, those data was used to conduct empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis to decompose possible mechanisms that might have cause changes in East Asia monsoon regime during the time period. The reconstructed data were also compared against paleoclimate simulation.

Cosmic Rays in the Earth's Atmosphere and Underground

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dorman, Lev I.

2004-08-01

This book consists of four parts. In the first part (Chapters 1-4) a full overview is given of the theoretical and experimental basis of Cosmic Ray (CR) research in the atmosphere and underground for Geophysics and Space Physics; the development of CR research and a short history of many fundamental discoveries, main properties of primary and secondary CR, methods of transformation of CR observation data in the atmosphere and underground to space, and the experimental basis of CR research underground and on the ground, on balloons and on satellites and space probes. The second part (Chapters 5-9) is devoted to the influence of atmospheric properties on CR, so called CR meteorological effects; pressure, temperature, humidity, snow, wind, gravitation, and atmospheric electric field effects. The inverse problem - the influence of CR properties on the atmosphere and atmospheric processes is considered in the third part (Chapters 10-14); influence on atmospheric, nuclear and chemical compositions, ionization and radio-wave propagation, formation of thunderstorms and lightning, clouds and climate change. The fourth part (Chapters 15-18) describes many realized and potential applications of CR research in different branches of Science and Technology; Meteorology and Aerodrome Service, Geology and Geophysical Prospecting, Hydrology and Agricultural Applications, Archaeology and Medicine, Seismology and Big Earthquakes Forecasting, Space Weather and Environment Monitoring/Forecasting. The book ends with a list providing more than 1,500 full references, a discussion on future developments and unsolved problems, as well as object and author indices. This book will be useful for experts in different branches of Science and Technology, and for students to be used as additional literature to text-books.

Comparative study of Canadian-United States resources programs

USGS Publications Warehouse

DeYoung,, John H.

1975-01-01

Chapter A: Report of the resource endowment, infrastructure development, tax incentives and exploration financing. Chapter B: Recent changes in Canadian tax laws affecting the mineral industries. Chapter C: The impact of recent changes in Canadian tax laws on the mineral industries.

Yucca Mountain, Nevada - A proposed geologic repository for high-level radioactive waste

USGS Publications Warehouse

Levich, R.A.; Stuckless, J.S.

2006-01-01

Yucca Mountain in Nevada represents the proposed solution to what has been a lengthy national effort to dispose of high-level radioactive waste, waste which must be isolated from the biosphere for tens of thousands of years. This chapter reviews the background of that national effort and includes some discussion of international work in order to provide a more complete framework for the problem of waste disposal. Other chapters provide the regional geologic setting, the geology of the Yucca Mountain site, the tectonics, and climate (past, present, and future). These last two chapters are integral to prediction of long-term waste isolation. ?? 2007 Geological Society of America. All rights reserved.

The urban physical environment: temperature and urban heat islands. Chapter 2

Treesearch

Gordon M. Heisler; Anthony J. Brazel

2010-01-01

The term urban heat island (UHI) describes the phenomenon in which cities are generally warmer than adjacent rural areas. The UHI effect is strongest with skies free of clouds and with low wind speeds. In moist temperate climates, the UHI effect causes cities to be slightly warmer in midday than rural areas, whereas in dry climates, irrigation of vegetation in cites...

An Examination of the Science Curriculum As It Reflects Social/Industrial Change: A Proposal for Curriculum Involving Social Interactions and Utilitarian Outcomes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seale, Thomas Scott

Chapter I of this master's thesis examines aspects of the changing lifestyle that was inaugerated by the Industrial and Scientific Revolutions. Chapter II picks up the transition in general schooling that accompanied the revolutions. Chapter III traces the role of the evolving science curricula in this transition. Chapter IV presents proposals…

Active microwave sensing of the atmosphere, chapter 4

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1975-01-01

The use of active microwave systems to study atmospheric phenomena is studied. Atmospheric pollution, weather prediction, climate and weather modification, weather danger and disaster warning, and atmospheric processes and interactions are covered.

Understanding natural capital

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stallard, Robert F.; Hall, Jefferson S.; Kirn, Vanessa; Yanguas-Fernandez, Estrella

2015-01-01

This chapter serves to introduce the geophysics of Neotropical steeplands. Topics are covered in a general manner with hyperlinks to active research and monitoring sites (such as the National Hurricane Center and US Geological Survey publication). Topics covered include ‘tropical climate and weather,’ ‘climate variations and trends,’ Neotropical ‘geology, and soils,’ ‘hillslopes and erosion,’ ‘lakes and reservoirs,’ and ‘effects of land cover on water quality and quantity.’ Obviously, this is a lot of information to cover in a short chapter, hence the use of hyperlinks. The last theme ‘effects of land cover on water quality and quantity’ is covered by case studies, in all of which I have been centrally involved. These studies were chosen because they are among the few studies with sufficient data of high enough quality to reach definitive conclusions.

Studies on the effect of cell cycle arrest on central metabolism in the diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, using physiological and systems biology approaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Joomi

Diatoms (Bacillarophyceae) are photosynthetic unicellular microalgae that have risen to ecological prominence in the modern oceans over the past 30 million years. They are excellent candidates for biodiesel feedstocks. Global climate change has led to an interest in algal triacylglycerols (TAGs) as feedstocks for sustainable biodiesel, and diatoms are attractive candidates for TAG production as one of the most productive and environmentally flexible algae in the contemporary oceans. For Chapter 2, a genome-scale metabolic model was constructed to calculate intracellular fluxes of a diatom under different growth conditions. The model identified enzymes that may be relevant to increasing lipid synthesis, explored how transporters affect flux outputs, and explored unusual features of diatoms, including the Entner-Douderoff and phosphoketolase pathways, and glycolytic enzymes in their mitochondria. Chapter 3 discusses how cell cycle arrest via cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibition, can increase accumulation of TAGs, and shift metabolism away from protein synthesis. For Chapter 4, transcriptome analysis of cells under cell cycle arrest was performed to show that the pattern of gene expression was fundamentally different from nitrogen stress. Most of the genes related to fatty acid and TAG synthesis were up-regulated. The gene expression pattern for light harvesting complexes was similar to cells stressed by high light, suggesting that arrested cells have smaller sinks for photosynthetically generated electrons.

Communicating Certainty About Nuclear Winter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robock, A.

2013-12-01

I have been spending much of my time in the past several years trying to warn the world about the continuing danger of nuclear weapons, and that the solution is a rapid reduction in the nuclear arsenal. I feel that a scientist who discovers dangers to society has an ethical duty to issue a warning, even if the danger is so scary that it is hard for people to deal with. The debate about nuclear winter in the 1980s helped to end the nuclear arms race, but the planet still has enough nuclear weapons, even after reductions planned for 2017 under the New START treaty, to produce nuclear winter, with temperatures plunging below freezing in the summer in major agricultural regions, threatening the food supply for most of the planet. New research by myself, Brian Toon, Mike Mills, and colleagues over the past six years has found that a nuclear war between any two countries, such as India and Pakistan, using 50 atom bombs each of the size dropped on Hiroshima could produce climate change unprecedented in recorded human history, and a world food crisis because of the agricultural effects. This is much less than 1% of the current global arsenal. Communicating certainty - what we know for sure - has been much more effective than communicating uncertainty. The limited success I have had has come from persistence and serendipity. The first step was to do the science. We have published peer-reviewed articles in major journals, including Science, Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Geophysical Research, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Physics Today, and Climatic Change. But policymakers do not read these journals. Through fairly convoluted circumstances, which will be described in this talk, we were able to get papers published in Scientific American and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. I have also published several encyclopedia articles on the subject. As a Lead Author of Chapter 8 (Radiative Forcing) of the recently published Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), I inserted a paragraph pointing out that volcanic eruptions serve as an analog that supports new work on nuclear winter. This is the first time that nuclear winter has been in the IPCC report. I will tell the story of the discussions within our chapter, with review editors, and with the IPCC leadership that resulted in a box in Chapter 8 that discusses nuclear winter. We gave a briefing to John Holdren, the President's Science Advisor, about the work. Daniel Ellsberg, Fidel Castro, and Mikhail Gorbachev found out about our work, and used the results to appeal for nuclear abolition. In 2013 the work was featured at the Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons in Oslo, Norway attended by 132 nations, and I gave a TEDx talk, I published an opinion piece on the CNN website, and I gave an invited public lecture in Nagasaki, Japan, all about the climatic consequences of nuclear war. I am now using Twitter and Facebook to communicate about nuclear winter. The threat that nuclear weapons pose to the planet is a much easier problem to solve than global warming. We need to eliminate nuclear weapons so we have the luxury of working on the global warming problem without the possibility of the existential global threat still posed by the global nuclear arsenal.

Meteorology and oceanography of the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean—a review of German achievements from the last decade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hellmer, Hartmut H.; Rhein, Monika; Heinemann, Günther; Abalichin, Janna; Abouchami, Wafa; Baars, Oliver; Cubasch, Ulrich; Dethloff, Klaus; Ebner, Lars; Fahrbach, Eberhard; Frank, Martin; Gollan, Gereon; Greatbatch, Richard J.; Grieger, Jens; Gryanik, Vladimir M.; Gryschka, Micha; Hauck, Judith; Hoppema, Mario; Huhn, Oliver; Kanzow, Torsten; Koch, Boris P.; König-Langlo, Gert; Langematz, Ulrike; Leckebusch, Gregor C.; Lüpkes, Christof; Paul, Stephan; Rinke, Annette; Rost, Bjoern; van der Loeff, Michiel Rutgers; Schröder, Michael; Seckmeyer, Gunther; Stichel, Torben; Strass, Volker; Timmermann, Ralph; Trimborn, Scarlett; Ulbrich, Uwe; Venchiarutti, Celia; Wacker, Ulrike; Willmes, Sascha; Wolf-Gladrow, Dieter

2016-11-01

In the early 1980s, Germany started a new era of modern Antarctic research. The Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) was founded and important research platforms such as the German permanent station in Antarctica, today called Neumayer III, and the research icebreaker Polarstern were installed. The research primarily focused on the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. In parallel, the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) started a priority program `Antarctic Research' (since 2003 called SPP-1158) to foster and intensify the cooperation between scientists from different German universities and the AWI as well as other institutes involved in polar research. Here, we review the main findings in meteorology and oceanography of the last decade, funded by the priority program. The paper presents field observations and modelling efforts, extending from the stratosphere to the deep ocean. The research spans a large range of temporal and spatial scales, including the interaction of both climate components. In particular, radiative processes, the interaction of the changing ozone layer with large-scale atmospheric circulations, and changes in the sea ice cover are discussed. Climate and weather forecast models provide an insight into the water cycle and the climate change signals associated with synoptic cyclones. Investigations of the atmospheric boundary layer focus on the interaction between atmosphere, sea ice and ocean in the vicinity of polynyas and leads. The chapters dedicated to polar oceanography review the interaction between the ocean and ice shelves with regard to the freshwater input and discuss the changes in water mass characteristics, ventilation and formation rates, crucial for the deepest limb of the global, climate-relevant meridional overturning circulation. They also highlight the associated storage of anthropogenic carbon as well as the cycling of carbon, nutrients and trace metals in the ocean with special emphasis on the Weddell Sea.

78 FR 16303 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; NASDAQ OMX BX, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change To...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-14

... Organizations; NASDAQ OMX BX, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change To Adopt Chapter V, Section 3(d... proposes to adopt a new Chapter V, Section 3(d)(iii) to provide for how the Exchange proposes to treat... Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change 1. Purpose The Exchange proposes to adopt Chapter V, Section 3...

Prevention of Spacecraft Anomalies: The Role of Space Climate and Space Weather Models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barth, Janet L.

2003-01-01

Space-based systems are developing into critical infrastructure to support the quality of life on Earth. Mission requirements along with rapidly evolving technologies have outpaced efforts to accommodate detrimental space environment impacts on systems. This chapter describes approaches to accommodate space climate and space weather impacts on systems and notes areas where gaps in model development limit our ability to prevent spacecraft anomalies.

Comparative Climatology of Terrestrial Planets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mackwell, Stephen J.; Simon-Miller, Amy A.; Harder, Jerald W.; Bullock, Mark A.

Public awareness of climate change on Earth is currently very high, promoting significant interest in atmospheric processes. We are fortunate to live in an era where it is possible to study the climates of many planets, including our own, using spacecraft and groundbased observations as well as advanced computational power that allows detailed modeling. Planetary atmospheric dynamics and structure are all governed by the same basic physics. Thus differences in the input variables (such as composition, internal structure, and solar radiation) among the known planets provide a broad suite of natural laboratory settings for gaining new understanding of these physical processes and their outcomes. Diverse planetary settings provide insightful comparisons to atmospheric processes and feedbacks on Earth, allowing a greater understanding of the driving forces and external influences on our own planetary climate. They also inform us in our search for habitable environments on planets orbiting distant stars, a topic that was a focus of Exoplanets, the preceding book in the University of Arizona Press Space Sciences Series. Quite naturally, and perhaps inevitably, our fascination with climate is largely driven toward investigating the interplay between the early development of life and the presence of a suitable planetary climate. Our understanding of how habitable planets come to be begins with the worlds closest to home. Venus, Earth, and Mars differ only modestly in their mass and distance from the Sun, yet their current climates could scarcely be more divergent. Our purpose for this book is to set forth the foundations for this emerging science and to bring to the forefront our current understanding of atmospheric formation and climate evolution. Although there is significant comparison to be made to atmospheric processes on nonterrestrial planets in our solar system — the gas and ice giants — here we focus on the terrestrial planets, leaving even broader comparisons to a future volume. Our authors have taken on the task to look at climate on the terrestrial planets in the broadest sense possible — by comparing the atmospheric processes at work on the four terrestrial bodies, Earth, Venus, Mars, and Titan (Titan is included because it hosts many of the common processes), and on terrestrial planets around other stars. These processes include the interactions of shortwave and thermal radiation with the atmosphere, condensation and vaporization of volatiles, atmospheric dynamics, chemistry and aerosol formation, and the role of the surface and interior in the long-term evolution of climate. Chapters herein compare the scientific questions, analysis methods, numerical models, and spacecraft remote sensing experiments of Earth and the other terrestrial planets, emphasizing the underlying commonality of physical processes. We look to the future by identifying objectives for ongoing research and new missions. Through these pages we challenge practicing planetary scientists, and most importantly new students of any age, to find pathways and synergies for advancing the field. In Part I, Foundations, we introduce the fundamental physics of climate on terrestrial planets. Starting with the best studied planet by far, Earth, the first chapters discuss what is known and what is not known about the atmospheres and climates of the terrestrial planets of the solar system and beyond. In Part II, Greenhouse Effect and Atmospheric Dynamics, we focus on the processes that govern atmospheric motion and the role that general circulation models play in our current understanding. In Part III, Clouds and Hazes, we provide an in-depth look at the many effects of clouds and aerosols on planetary climate. Although this is a vigorous area of research in the Earth sciences, and very strongly influences climate modeling, the important role that aerosols and clouds play in the climate of all planets is not yet well constrained. This section is intended to stimulate further research on this critical subject. The study of climate involves much more than understanding atmospheric processes. This subtlety is particularly appreciated for Earth, where chemical cycles, geology, ocean influences, and biology are considered in most climate models. In Part IV, Surface and Interior, we look at the role that geochemical cycles, volcanism, and interior mantle processes play in the stability and evolution of terrestrial planetary climates. There is one vital commonality between the climates of all the planets of the solar system: Regardless of the different processes that dominate each of the climates of Earth, Mars, Venus, and Titan, they are all ultimately forced by radiation from the same star, albeit at variable distances. In Part V, Solar Influences, we discuss how the Sun's early evolution affected the climates of the terrestrial planets, and how it continues to control the temperatures and compositions of planetary atmospheres. This will be of particular interest as models of exoplanets, and the influences of much different stellar types and distances, are advanced by further observations. Comparisons of atmospheric and climate processes between the planets in our solar system has been a focus of numerous conferences over the past decade, including the Exoclimes conference series. In particular, this book project was closely tied to a conference on Comparative Climatology of Terrestrial Planets that was held in Boulder, Colorado, on June 25-28, 2012. This book benefited from the opportunity for the author teams to interact and obtain feedback from the broader community, but the chapters do not in general tie directly to presentations at the conference. The conference, which was organized by a diverse group of atmospheric and climate scientists led by Mark Bullock and Lori Glaze, sought to build connections between the various communities, focusing on synergies and complementary capabilities. Discussion panels at the end of most sessions served to build connections between planetary, solar, astrophysics, and Earth climate scientists. These presentations and discussions allowed broadening of the author teams and tuning of the material in each chapter. Comparative Climatology of Terrestrial Planets is the 38th book in the University of Arizona Press Space Sciences Series. The support and guidance from General Editor Richard Binzel has been critical in timely production of a quality volume. Renée Dotson of the Lunar and Planetary Institute, with support from Elizabeth Cunningham and Katy Buckaloo, provided outstanding help in the management of the book project and especially in the preparation of the chapters for publication. Her quiet reminders and attention to detail are critical in making the Space Science Series such an asset for the planetary science community. As for so many other books in this series, William Hartmann used his artistic skills to masterfully capture the book's theme. Much gratitude is owed to Adriana Ocampo of NASA Headquarters for her support of both the conference and book projects and her shepherding of the NASA contributions from the diverse groups within the Science Mission Directorate. Equally, James Green and Jonathan Rall of NASA Headquarters provided the financial resources and corporate oversight that helped make this book project such a success.

Essays on equity-efficiency trade offs in energy and climate policies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sesmero, Juan P.

Economic efficiency and societal equity are two important goals of public policy. Energy and climate policies have the potential to affect both. Efficiency is increased by substituting low-carbon energy for fossil energy (mitigating an externality) while equity is served if such substitution enhances consumption opportunities of unfavored groups (low income households or future generations). However policies that are effective in reducing pollution may not be so effective in redistributing consumption and vice-versa. This dissertation explores potential trade-offs between equity and efficiency arising in energy and climate policies. Chapter 1 yields two important results. First, while effective in reducing pollution, energy efficiency policies may fall short in protecting future generations from resource depletion. Second, deployment of technologies that increase the ease with which capital can substitute for energy may enhance the ability of societies to sustain consumption and achieve intertemporal equity. Results in Chapter 1 imply that technologies more intensive in capital and materials and less intensive in carbon such as corn ethanol may be effective in enhancing intertemporal equity. However the effectiveness of corn ethanol (relative to other technologies) in reducing emissions will depend upon the environmental performance of the industry. Chapter 2 measures environmental efficiency of ethanol plants, identifies ways to enhance performance, and calculates the cost of such improvements based on a survey of ethanol plants in the US. Results show that plants may be able to increase profits and reduce emissions simultaneously rendering the ethanol industry more effective in tackling efficiency. Finally while cap and trade proposals are designed to correcting a market failure by reducing pollution, allocation of emission allowances may affect income distribution and, hence, intra-temporal equity. Chapter 3 proves that under plausible conditions on preferences and technology increasing efficiency requires greater transfers to low income households the higher the effect of these transfers on the price of permits and the lower their effect on the price of consumption goods. This denotes market conditions under which efficiency and equity are complementary goals.

Hanford Site National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Characterization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rohay, A.C.; Fosmire, C.J.; Neitzel, D.A.

1999-09-28

This document describes the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford Site environment. It is updated each year and is intended to provide a consistent description of the Hanford Site environment for the many NEPA documents being prepared by DOE contractors. No conclusions or recommendations are provided. This year's report is the eleventh revision of the original document published in 1988 and is (until replaced by the 12th revision) the only version that is relevant for use in the preparation of Hanford NEPA; SEPA and CERCLA documents. The two chapters included in this document (Chapters 4 and 6) are numbered tomore » correspond to the chapters where such information is presented in environmental impact statements (EISs) and other Site-related NEPA or CERCLA documentation. Chapter 4.0 (Affected Environment) describes Hanford Site climate and meteorology, geology, hydrology, ecology, cultural, archaeological and historical resources, socioeconomic; occupational safety, and noise. Sources for extensive tabular data related to these topics are provided in the chapter. Most subjects are divided into a general description of the characteristics of the Hanford Site, followed by site-specific information, where available, of the 100,200,300, and other Areas. This division allows the reader to go directly to those sections of particular interest. When specific information on each of these separate areas is not complete or available, the general Hanford Site description should be used. Chapter 6.0 (Statutory and Regulatory Requirements) is essentially a definitive NEPA Chapter 6.0, which describes applicable federal and state laws and regulations, DOE directives and permits, and environmental standards directly applicable to the NEPA documents on the Hanford Site. People preparing environmental assessments and EISs should also be cognizant of the document entitled ''Recommendations for the Preparation of Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements'' published by the DOE Office of NEPA Oversight. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) staff prepared individual sections of this document, with input from other Site contractors. More detailed data are available from reference sources cited or from the authors. The following sections of the document were reviewed by the authors and updated with the best available information through June 1999: Climate and Meteorology; Ecology; Cultural, Archaeological, and Historical Resources; Socioeconomics; and All of Chapter 6.« less

Sociopolitical drivers in the development of deliberate carbon storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stephens, Jennie C.

The idea of engineering the storage of carbon released from fossil fuel burning in reservoirs other than the atmosphere has developed in the past 20 years from an obscure idea to an increasingly recognized potential approach that could be an important contributor to stabilizing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations. Despite the intense application of scientific and technological expertise to the development of options for deliberate carbon storage, nontechnical factors play an important role. This chapter identifies sociopolitical, nontechnical factors that have contributed to the development of ideas and technologies associated with deliberate carbon storage. Broadly, interest in deliberate storage has expanded in response to increasing societal attention to reducing CO2 emissions for climate change mitigation. Specific societal groups, or stakeholders, which have contributed to the recent focus on carbon storage include the fossil fuel industry that has been shifting to a strategy of confronting rather than denying the CO2-climate change connection, a scientific community motivated by an increased sense of urgency of the need to reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations, the general public with little knowledge about or awareness of carbon storage, and environmental advocacy groups that have demonstrated some divergence in levels of support for deliberate carbon storage. Among the policy mechanisms that have provided incentives for deliberate carbon storage are national accounting of carbon sources and sinks and carbon taxes. Another driver with particular importance in the United States is the political preference of some politicians to support development of advanced technologies for climate change mitigation rather than supporting mandatory CO2 regulations.

Improving conceptual models of water and carbon transfer through peat

USGS Publications Warehouse

McKenzie, Jeffery M.; Siegel, Donald I.; Rosenberry, Donald O.; Baird, Andrew J.; Belyea, Lisa R.; Comas, Xavier; Reeve, A.S.; Slater, Lee D.

2009-01-01

Northern peatlands store 500 × 1015 g of organic carbon and are very sensitive to climate change. There is a strong conceptual model of sources, sinks, and pathways of carbon within peatlands, but challenges remain both in understanding the hydrogeology and the linkages between carbon cycling and peat pore water flow. In this chapter, research findings from the glacial Lake Agassiz peatlands are used to develop a conceptual framework for peatland hydrogeology and identify four challenges related to northern peatlands yet to be addressed: (1) develop a better understanding of the extent and net impact of climate-driven groundwater flushing in peatlands; (2) quantify the complexities of heterogeneity on pore water flow and, in particular, reconcile contradictions between peatland hydrogeologic interpretations and isotopic data; (3) understand the hydrogeologic implications of free-phase methane production, entrapment, and release in peatlands; and (4) quantify the impact of arctic and subarctic warming on peatland hydrogeology and its linkage to carbon cycling.

Arizona/New Mexico Plateau Ecoregion: Chapter 26 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ruhlman, Jana; Gass, Leila; Middleton, Barry

2012-01-01

Situated between ecoregions of distinctly different topographies and climates, the Arizona/New Mexico Plateau Ecoregion represents a large area of approximately 192,869 km2 (74,467 mi2) that stretches across northern Arizona, central and northwestern New Mexico, and parts of southwestern Colorado; in addition, a small part extends into southeastern Nevada (fig. 1) (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997). Forested, mountainous terrain borders the ecoregion on the northeast (Southern Rockies Ecoregion) and southwest (Arizona/New Mexico Mountains Ecoregion). Warmer and drier climates exist to the south (Chihuahuan Deserts Ecoregion) and west (Mojave Basin and Range Ecoregion). The semiarid grasslands of the western Great Plains are to the east (Southwestern Tablelands Ecoregion), and the tablelands of the Colorado Plateau in Utah and western Colorado lie to the north (Colorado Plateaus Ecoregion). The Arizona/New Mexico Plateau Ecoregion occupies a significant portion of the southern half of the Colorado Plateau.

The Global Distribution of Precipitation and Clouds. Chapter 2.4

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shepherd, J. Marshall; Adler, Robert; Huffman, George; Rossow, William; Ritter, Michael; Curtis, Scott

2004-01-01

The water cycle is the key circuit moving water through the Earth's system. This large system, powered by energy from the sun, is a continuous exchange of moisture between the oceans, the atmosphere, and the land. Precipitation (including rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain, and hail), is the primary mechanism for transporting water from the atmosphere back to the Earth's surface and is the key physical process that links aspects of climate, weather, and the global water cycle. Global precipitation and associate cloud processes are critical for understanding the water cycle balance on a global scale and interactions with the Earth's climate system. However, unlike measurement of less dynamic and more homogenous meteorological fields such as pressure or even temperature, accurate assessment of global precipitation is particularly challenging due to its highly stochastic and rapidly changing nature. It is not uncommon to observe a broad spectrum of precipitation rates and distributions over very localized time scales. Furthermore, precipitating systems generally exhibit nonhomogeneous spatial distributions of rain rates over local to global domains.

New approaches in human health risk assessment.

PubMed

Abass, Khaled; Carlsen, Anders; Rautio, Arja

2016-01-01

Studies on the precise impact of environmental pollutants on human health are difficult to undertake and interpret, because many genetic and environmental factors influence health at the same time and to varying degrees. Our chapter in the AMAP report was based on new approaches to describe risks and future needs. In this paper, we will introduce the issues associated with risk assessment of single chemicals, and present suggestions for future studies as well as a summary of lessons learned during the health-related parts of the European Union-funded FP7 project ArcRisk (Arctic Health Risks: Impacts on health in the Arctic and Europe owing to climate-induced changes in contaminant cycling, 2009-2014; www.arcrisk.eu).

Mobile Source Mitigation Opportunities

EPA Science Inventory

For Frank Princiotta’s book, Global Climate Change—The Technology Challenge The objective of this chapter is to review this history, focusing initially on the historical growth patterns and the resulting environmental consequences; then on the current control efforts around the ...

Introduction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, De-Zheng; Bryan, Frank

Largely following the order in which the lectures were given in the graduate class on climate dynamics at the University of Colorado, the book starts with the topic of moist convection in the tropics. Summarizing decades-long research into a succinct article, Moncrieff [this volume] reviews the state of the art of understanding of organized precipitating convective systems with an eye to improving the representation of such systems in global weather and climate models. Moncrieff also addresses in this chapter the multi-scale convective organization in the Madden-Julian Oscillation, a major source of intraseasonal variability in the tropics. The second chapter proceeds to a prominent phenomenon on the seasonal time scale: monsoons. In covering this topic, Li [this volume] focuses his analysis on the Asian monsoon and dissects the physical processes that are responsible for its intraseasonal and interannual variability. All three subcomponents of the Asian monsoon are covered here: the Indian monsoon, the East Asian monsoon, and the Western North Pacific monsoon.

Using the Maxent program for species distribution modelling to assess invasion risk

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Young, Nicholas E.; Venette, R.C

2015-01-01

MAXENT is a software package used to relate known species occurrences to information describing the environment, such as climate, topography, anthropogenic features or soil data, and forecast the presence or absence of a species at unsampled locations. This particular method is one of the most popular species distribution modelling techniques because of its consistent strong predictive performance and its ease to implement. This chapter discusses the decisions and techniques needed to prepare a correlative climate matching model for the native range of an invasive alien species and use this model to predict the potential distribution of this species in a potentially invaded range (i.e. a novel environment) by using MAXENT for the Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus) as a case study. The chapter discusses and demonstrates the challenges that are associated with this approach and examines the inherent limitations that come with using MAXENT to forecast distributions of invasive alien species.

Nonlinear optical studies of aqueous interfaces, polymers, and nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Onorato, Robert Michael

Understanding the structure and composition of aqueous interfaces is one of the most important current problems in modern science. Aqueous interfaces are ubiquitous in Nature, ranging from aerosols to cellular structures. Aerosol chemistry is presently the most significant unknown factor in predicting climate change, and an understanding of the chemistry that occurs at aerosol interfaces would significantly improve climate models. Similarly, the nature of aqueous biological interfaces has a profound effect on the structure and function of proteins and other biological structures. Despite the importance of these problems, aqueous interfaces remain incompletely understood due to the challenges of experimentally probing them. Recent experimental and theoretical results have firmly established the existence of enhanced concentrations of selected ions at the air/water interface. In this dissertation, I use an interface-specific technique, UV second harmonic generation (SHG), to further investigate the adsorption of ions to the air/water interface and to extend the study of ion adsorption towards more biologically relevant systems, alcohol/water interfaces. In Chapter 2, I describe resonant UV-SHG studies of the strongly chaotropic thiocyanate ion adsorbed to the interface formed by water and a monolayer of dodecanol, wherein the Gibbs free energy of adsorption was determined to be -6.7 +/- 1.1 and -6.3 +/- 1.8 kJ/mol for sodium and potassium thiocyanate, respectively, coincident with the value determined for thiocyanate at the air/water interface. Interestingly, at concentrations near and above 4 M, the resonant SHG signal increases discontinuously, indicating a structural change in the interfacial region. Recent experimental and theoretical work has demonstrated that the adsorption of bromide is particularly important for chemical reactions on atmospheric aerosols, including the depletion of ozone. In Chapter 3, UV-SHG resonant with the bromide charge-transfer-to-solvent band and a Langmuir adsorption model are used to determine the affinity of bromide for both the air/water and dodecanol/water interfaces in the molar concentration regime. The Gibbs free energy of adsorption for the former is determined to be -1.4 kJ/mol with a lower 90% confidence limit of -4.1 kJ/mol. For the dodecanol/water interface the data are best fit with a Gibbs free energy of +8 kJ/mol with an estimated a lower limit of -4 kJ/mol. Adsorption of ions to the air/water interface in the millimolar regime is a particularly interesting phenomenon. In Chapter 4, the affinity of sodium chloride and sodium bromide to the air/water interface is probed by UV-SHG. Both salts exhibit a strong adsorption, with free energies greater than -20 kJ/mol. Interestingly, sodium chloride exhibits a stronger affinity for the interface than does sodium iodide, which was previously studied by Poul Peterson. This is counter to both experimental and theoretical results for higher concentrations. It has been predicted that ion adsorption is dictated by strong and opposing electrostatic and entropic forces. The change in order of ion interfacial affinity can be explained by relatively small changes in these forces at different concentrations and ionic strengths. In Chapters 5 and 6, other work using nonlinear optical techniques is described. Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microscopy is a promising tool for chemically selective imaging based on molecular vibrations. While CARS is currently used as a biological imaging tool, many variations are still being developed, perhaps the most important being multiplex CARS microscopy. Multiplex CARS has the advantage of comparing images based on different molecular vibrations without changing the excitation wavelengths. In Chapter 5, I demonstrate both high spectral and spatial resolution multiplex CARS imaging of polymer films using a simple scheme for chirped CARS with a spectral bandwidth of 300 cm-1. In Chapter 6, the nonlinear optical properties of KNbO3 nanowires are studied. Using SHG and sum frequency generation, efficient nonlinear optical frequency conversion is demonstrated in single KNbO3 nanowires that act as optical waveguides, yielding a coherent tunable subwavelength light source.

Pension Policy for a Mobile Labor Force.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turner, John A.; And Others

This book analyzes what happens to the pension benefits of workers who quit or are laid off jobs. The first chapter reviews the connection between job mobility and pension portability. Chapter 2 portrays a labor market undergoing changes that often result in reductions in retirement benefits. Chapter 3 describes job change further by examining…

Climate Variability and Weather Extremes: Model-Simulated and Historical Data. Chapter 9

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schubert, Siegfried D.; Lim, Young-Kwon

2012-01-01

Extremes in weather and climate encompass a wide array of phenomena including tropical storms, mesoscale convective systems, snowstorms, floods, heat waves, and drought. Understanding how such extremes might change in the future requires an understanding of their past behavior including their connections to large-scale climate variability and trends. Previous studies suggest that the most robust findings concerning changes in short-term extremes are those that can be most directly (though not completely) tied to the increase in the global mean temperatures. These include the findings that (IPCC 2007): There has been a widespread reduction in the number of frost days in mid-latitude regions in recent decades, an increase in the number of warm extremes, particularly warm nights, and a reduction in the number of cold extremes, particularly cold nights. For North America in particular (CCSP SAP 3.3, 2008): There are fewer unusually cold days during the last few decades. The last 10 years have seen a lower number of severe cold waves than for any other 10-year period in the historical record that dates back to 1895. There has been a decrease in the number of frost days and a lengthening of the frost-free season, particularly in the western part of North America. Other aspects of extremes such as the changes in storminess have a less clear signature of long term change, with considerable interannual, and decadal variability that can obscure any climate change signal. Nevertheless, regarding extratropical storms (CCSP SAP 3.3, 2008): The balance of evidence suggests that there has been a northward shift in the tracks of strong low pressure systems (storms) in both the North Atlantic and North Pacific basins. For North America: Regional analyses suggest that there has been a decrease in snowstorms in the South and lower Midwest of the United States, and an increase in snowstorms in the upper Midwest and Northeast. Despite the progress already made, our understanding of the basic mechanisms by which extremes vary is incomplete. As noted in IPCC (2007), Incomplete global data sets and remaining model uncertainties still restrict understanding of changes in extremes and attribution of changes to causes, although understanding of changes in the intensity, frequency and risk of extremes has improved. Separating decadal and other shorter-term variability from climate change impacts on extremes requires a better understanding of the processes responsible for the changes. In particular, the physical processes linking sea surface temperature changes to regional climate changes, and a basic understanding of the inherent variability in weather extremes and how that is impacted by atmospheric circulation changes at subseasonal to decadal and longer time scales, are still inadequately understood. Given the fundamental limitations in the time span and quality of global observations, substantial progress on these issues will rely increasingly on improvements in models, with observations continuing to play a critical role, though less as a detection tool, and more as a tool for addressing physical processes, and to insure the quality of the climate models and the verisimilitude of the simulations (CCSP SAP 1.3, 2008).

Catching up: The rise of the Chinese wind turbine industry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lefevre-Marton, Nicolas

This thesis argues that Chinese firms can catch up with the technological frontier in the scope of new climate friendly energy technologies and provides a detailed study of the case of wind power. Chapter 2 assesses the nature and extent of wind turbine technology catch-up. Firstly, it uses various wind turbine technology indicators to detail the convergence of trends of leading Chinese firms with firms at the technological frontier. Secondly, the chapter assesses the evolution of technological capabilities among leading Chinese turbine manufacturers. It shows that Chinese firms were progressively introducing turbine technologies similar to those produced by frontier firms and had rapidly improved their capabilities, allowing them to increasingly rely on independent technology development efforts. Chapter 3 describes how the Chinese wind power technology development system, characterized by the presence of a powerful and proactive government, provided the necessary conditions for Chinese wind turbine manufacturers to make rapid technological progress. In particular, it highlights the policies introduced by the government to create a large and rapidly growing wind power market in China and the steps taken by the government to ensure that Chinese firms entered and progressively dominated the domestic turbine manufacturing market. The competition which ensued among domestic turbine manufacturers was arguably the main driver of technology development efforts. The most significant challenge to the continued progress of the industry was whether the Chinese system could transition from a model of technology development based on technology transfer to one based on its own innovation efforts. Chapter 4 shows that due to limited government support over the years in both Europe and the United States, the wind power technology frontier has evolved relatively slowly, making it easier for Chinese firms to catch up. Firstly, using patenting rates as indicators of knowledge development, the chapter shows a strong correlation between changes in government wind power support policies and patenting activity. Secondly, using both technology penetration rates and patenting trends, the chapter shows that the evolution of the wind power frontier was slow compared to most other technology sectors globally.

Commitment, Educative Action and Adults. Learning Programmes with a Social Purpose.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Sullivan, Denis

This book analyzes socially committed programs defined as systematic efforts to bring about social change through educative action. Chapter 1 provides examples of socially committed programs and an overview of the book. Chapters 2-7 explore six key questions about seeking to change people in a socially committed way. Chapter 2 looks at those who…

The Changing Politics of School Finance. Third Annual Yearbook of the American Education Finance Association.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cambron-McCabe, Nelda H., Ed.; Odden, Allan, Ed.

Nine chapters focus on major areas and issues in educational finance. Chapter 1, "Turning-Point Election Periods in the Politics of Education" by Laurence Innaccone, reports on research on changes in the national political context. John F. Jennings in chapter 2, "Politics of Federal Aid," discusses social, economic, and…

Streamflow changes in the Sierra Nevada, California, simulated using a statistically downscaled general circulation model scenario of climate change

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wilby, Robert L.; Dettinger, Michael D.

2000-01-01

Simulations of future climate using general circulation models (GCMs) suggest that rising concentrations of greenhouse gases may have significant consequences for the global climate. Of less certainty is the extent to which regional scale (i.e., sub-GCM grid) environmental processes will be affected. In this chapter, a range of downscaling techniques are critiqued. Then a relatively simple (yet robust) statistical downscaling technique and its use in the modelling of future runoff scenarios for three river basins in the Sierra Nevada, California, is described. This region was selected because GCM experiments driven by combined greenhouse-gas and sulphate-aerosol forcings consistently show major changes in the hydro-climate of the southwest United States by the end of the 21st century. The regression-based downscaling method was used to simulate daily rainfall and temperature series for streamflow modelling in three Californian river basins under current-and future-climate conditions. The downscaling involved just three predictor variables (specific humidity, zonal velocity component of airflow, and 500 hPa geopotential heights) supplied by the U.K. Meteorological Office couple ocean-atmosphere model (HadCM2) for the grid point nearest the target basins. When evaluated using independent data, the model showed reasonable skill at reproducing observed area-average precipitation, temperature, and concomitant streamflow variations. Overall, the downscaled data resulted in slight underestimates of mean annual streamflow due to underestimates of precipitation in spring and positive temperature biases in winter. Differences in the skill of simulated streamflows amongst the three basins were attributed to the smoothing effects of snowpack on streamflow responses to climate forcing. The Merced and American River basins drain the western, windward slope of the Sierra Nevada and are snowmelt dominated, whereas the Carson River drains the eastern, leeward slope and is a mix of rainfall runoff and snowmelt runoff. Simulated streamflow in the American River responds rapidly and sensitively to daily-scale temperature and precipitation fluctuations and errors; in the Merced and Carson Rivers, the response to the same short-term influences is much less. Consequently, the skill of simulated flows was significantly lower in the American River model than in the Carson and Merced. The physiography of the three basins also accounts for differences in their sensitivities to future climate change. Increases in winter precipitation exceeding +100% coupled with mean temperature rises greater than +2°C result in increased winter streamflows in all three basins. In the Merced and Carson basins, these streamflow increases reflect large changes in winter snowpack, whereas the streamflow changes in the lower elevation American basin are driven primarily by rainfall runoff. Furthermore, reductions in winter snowpack in the American River basin, owing to less precipitation falling as snow and earlier melting of snow at middle elevations, lead to less spring and summer streamflow. Taken collectively, the downscaling results suggest significant changes to both the timing and magnitude of streamflows in the Sierra Nevada by the end of the 21st Century. In the higher elevation basins, the HadCM2 scenario implies more annual streamflow and more streamflow during the spring and summer months that are critical for water-resources management in California. Depending on the relative significance of rainfall runoff and snowmelt, each basin responds in its own way to regional climate forcing. Generally, then, climate scenarios need to be specified — by whatever means — with sufficient temporal and spatial resolution to capture subtle orographic influences if projections of climate-change responses are to be useful and reproducible.

Amassing power in a northern landscape: J. B. Duke and the development of the Saguenay River, 1897-1927

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Massell, David Perera

Beginning at the turn of the century, Chapter One reconstructs the process by which the Provincial Government of Quebec sold--individually, outright, and cheaply--the waterfalls and rapids strung out along the length of the Saguenay River. The small-scale Canadian power projects stalled, however, for want of capital or power customers in a remote North American region. A major shift in developmental scale ensues in Chapter Two as a Canadian who owned riparian rights, Thomas "Carbide" Willson, uncorks a genie of American capital in industrialist J. B. Duke. While Duke was invited to participate in the Saguenay's development as a third party, Chapter Three describes how the aggressive New York trader seizes the entire length of the river for his exclusive use. Chapter Four recounts the unexpectedly stiff resistance to the industrial plans of Duke's lieutenants by a young French-Canadian engineer named Arthur Amos, head of Quebec's newly established Hydraulic Service. Stymied in Quebec City, Duke nonetheless proves remarkably agile in the broader theater of multinational enterprise. As Chapter Five documents, Duke succeeds in rounding up an array of industrial power customers to justify the enormous cost of his dams, most notably Delaware-based explosives manufacturer E. I du Pont de Nemours Powder Company. Ultimately Du Pont gets cold feet, and Duke's giant electrochemical scheme collapses around him at the end of 1915. Only after 1920, in Chapter Six, is Duke able to proceed with his project in a changed political and business climate of the postwar period. Contemplating aluminum manufacture by his own company, in Chapter Seven, he attempts to procure the requisite supply of high grade bauxite. But he encounters ferocious competition for possession of the essential raw material. Choosing to merge rather than fight, Duke and Alcoa's President Arthur Vining Davis ally in 1925. Their deal sealed, the two businessmen send their Canadian lawyer to Quebec City to sidestep the remaining government protections against destructive flooding of the Saguenay-Lake St. John region. Without consultation with, or notification of, the area's farmers, the dam's gates are shut, the Saguenay's waters rise, and power flows to industries now gathering to set up shop in the shadow of the dam. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

EDITORIAL: Northern Hemisphere high latitude climate and environmental change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groisman, Pavel; Soja, Amber

2007-10-01

High Northern Hemisphere latitudes are undergoing rapid and significant change associated with climate warming. Climatic change in this region interacts with and affects the rate of the global change through atmospheric circulation, biogeophysical, and biogeochemical feedbacks. Changes in the surface energy balance, hydrologic cycle, and carbon budget feedback to regional and global weather and climate systems. Two-thirds of the Northern Hemisphere high latitude land mass resides in Northern Eurasia (~20% of the global land mass), and this region has undergone sweeping socio-economic change throughout the 20th century. How this carbon-rich, cold region component of the Earth system functions as a regional entity and interacts with and feeds back to the greater global system is to a large extent unknown. To mitigate the deficiencies in understanding these feedbacks, which may in turn hamper our understanding of the global change rates and patterns, an initiative was formed. Three years ago the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI) was established to address large-scale and long-term manifestations of climate and environmental change in this region. The NEESPI Science Plan and its Executive Summary have been published at the NEESPI web site (neespi.org). Since 2004, NEESPI participants have been able to seed several waves of research proposals to international and national funding agencies and institutions and also contribute to the International Polar Year. Currently, NEESPI is widely recognized and endorsed by several Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) programmes and projects: the International Geosphere and Biosphere Programme, the World Climate Research Programme through the Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment and Climate and Cryosphere Projects, the Global Water System Project, Global Carbon Project, Global Land Project, and the Integrated Land Ecosystem—Atmosphere Processes Study. Through NEESPI, more than 100 individually funded projects (always with international participation) in the United States, Russian Federation, China, European Union, Japan, and Canada have been mutually united to explore the scientifically significant Northern Eurasian region. NEESPI scientists have been quite productive during the past two years (2005 2006) publishing more than 200 books, book chapters, and papers in refereed journals. NEESPI sessions at international conferences are open to everyone who works on environmental and climate change problems in Northern Eurasia and the circumpolar boreal zone. This thematic issue brings together articles from the authors who presented their latest results at the Annual Fall American Geophysical Union Meeting in San Francisco (December 2006). The research letters in this issue are preceded by two editorial papers (Leptoukh et al and Sherstyukov et al) devoted to informational support of research in the NEESPI domain that is critical to the success of the Initiative. The following papers are quite diverse and are assembled into five groups devoted to studies of climate and hydrology, land cover and land use, the biogeochemical cycle and its feedbacks, the cryosphere, and human dimensions in the NEESPI domain and the circumpolar boreal zone. Focus on Northern Hemisphere High Latitude Climate and Environmental Change Contents The articles below represent the first accepted contributions and further additions will appear in the near future. Editorials NASA NEESPI Data and Services Center for Satellite Remote Sensing Information Gregory Leptoukh, Ivan Csiszar, Peter Romanov, Suhung Shen, Tatiana Loboda and Irina Gerasimov NEESPI Science and Data Support Center for Hydrometeorological Information in Obninsk, Russia B G Sherstyukov, V N Razuvaev, O N Bulygina and P Ya Groisman Climate and hydrology Changes in the fabric of the Arctic's greenhouse blanket Jennifer A Francis and Elias Hunter Spatial variations of summer precipitation trends in South Korea, 1973 2005 Heejun Chang and Won-Tae Kwon Land cover and land use Responses of the circumpolar boreal forest to 20th century climate variability Andrea H Lloyd and Andrew G Bunn The biogeochemical cycle and its feedbacks Sphagnum peatland development at their southern climatic range inWest Siberia: trends and peat accumulation patterns Anna Peregon, Masao Uchida and Yasuyuki Shibata Methane emissions from western Siberian wetlands: heterogeneity and sensitivity to climate change T J Bohn, D P Lettenmaier, K Sathulur, L C Bowling, E Podest, K C McDonald and T Friborg The cryosphere Potential feedback of thawing permafrost to the global climate system through methane emission O A Anisimov Glacier changes in the Siberian Altai Mountains, Ob river basin, (1952 2006) estimated with high resolution imagery A B Surazakov, V B Aizen, E M Aizen and S A Nikitin Human dimensions Food and water security in a changing arctic climate Daniel M White, S Craig Gerlach, Philip Loring, Amy C Tidwell and Molly C Chambers

Orbital Drivers of Climate Change on Earth and Mars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zent, A. P.

Oscillations of orbital elements and spin axis orientation affect the climate of both Earth and Mars by redistributing solar power both latitudinally and seasonally, often resulting in secondary changes in reflected and emitted radiation (radiative forcing). Multiple feedback loops between different climatic elements operate on both planets, with the result that climate response is generally nonlinear with simple changes in solar energy. Both insolation history and geochemical climate proxies can be treated as time series data, and analyzed in terms of component frequencies. The correspondence between frequencies measured in climate proxies and orbital oscillations is the key to relating orbital cause and climatic effect. Discussions of both Earth and Mars focus on the last 5-10 m.y., because this is the period in which the orbital history and geologic record are best understood. The terrestrial climate is an extraordinarily complex system, and a vast amount of data is available for analysis. While the geologic record strongly supports the role of Milankovitch cycles as the underlying cause of glacial cycles, orbitally driven insolation changes alone cannot explain the observations in detail. Early Pleistocene glacial cycles responded linearly to the 41-k.y. oscillations in obliquity. However, over the last 1 m.y., glacial/interglacial oscillations have become more extreme as the climate has cooled. Long cooling intervals marked by an oscillating buildup of ice sheets are now followed by brief, intense periods of warming. At the same time, glacial/interglacial cycles have shifted from 41 k.y. to ~100 k.y. No such changes occurred in the solar forcing due to orbital oscillations. While orbital oscillations still appear to pace glacial cycles, their subtle interplay with ice-sheet dynamics and shifts in ocean circulation have come to dominate the late Pleistocene climate system. In contrast to Earth, the martian climate is ostensibly a much simpler system about which we have almost no quantitative data. Lacking climate proxies and chronological data, we are forced to rely on climate modeling and whatever constraints can be extracted from the predominantly remote sensing data available. Obliquity oscillations account for most of the power in historical insolation. Unfortunately, the last 5 m.y. are an anomalous period in Mars' climate history due to a secular decrease in Mars' obliquity. Subsequent to that, however, models and observations are consistent with the hypothesis that during periods of higher obliquity, enhanced polar summer insolation increases atmospheric water vapor and dust content, and ice stability shifted toward the equator. Polar caps become thermodynamically unstable, and much of the surface H2O inventory migrates from high latitudes to the tropics. As obliquity decreases, ice returns to the poles, leaving unstable ice-rich deposits in the mid latitudes that are mantled by dust. Low-obliquity periods entail — at least on occasion — collapse of the atmosphere onto the poles and high-latitude CO2 glaciers. During protracted nodes in obliquity, mid-latitude ice undergoes slow but sustained sublimation and redistribution to the poles. Because of the tremendous breadth of the subject matter, this chapter necessarily presents a high-level overview, and the reader will be compelled to investigate the copious references for a more rigorous explanation of most topics.

Enhancing Conservation with High Resolution Productivity Datasets for the Conterminous United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robinson, Nathaniel Paul

Human driven alteration of the earth's terrestrial surface is accelerating through land use changes, intensification of human activity, climate change, and other anthropogenic pressures. These changes occur at broad spatio-temporal scales, challenging our ability to effectively monitor and assess the impacts and subsequent conservation strategies. While satellite remote sensing (SRS) products enable monitoring of the earth's terrestrial surface continuously across space and time, the practical applications for conservation and management of these products are limited. Often the processes driving ecological change occur at fine spatial resolutions and are undetectable given the resolution of available datasets. Additionally, the links between SRS data and ecologically meaningful metrics are weak. Recent advances in cloud computing technology along with the growing record of high resolution SRS data enable the development of SRS products that quantify ecologically meaningful variables at relevant scales applicable for conservation and management. The focus of my dissertation is to improve the applicability of terrestrial gross and net primary productivity (GPP/NPP) datasets for the conterminous United States (CONUS). In chapter one, I develop a framework for creating high resolution datasets of vegetation dynamics. I use the entire archive of Landsat 5, 7, and 8 surface reflectance data and a novel gap filling approach to create spatially continuous 30 m, 16-day composites of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from 1986 to 2016. In chapter two, I integrate this with other high resolution datasets and the MOD17 algorithm to create the first high resolution GPP and NPP datasets for CONUS. I demonstrate the applicability of these products for conservation and management, showing the improvements beyond currently available products. In chapter three, I utilize this dataset to evaluate the relationships between land ownership and terrestrial production across the CONUS domain. The main results of this work are three publicly available datasets: 1) 30 m Landsat NDVI; 2) 250 m MODIS based GPP and NPP; and 3) 30 m Landsat based GPP and NPP. My goal is that these products prove useful for the wider scientific, conservation, and land management communities as we continue to strive for better conservation and management practices.

Observed Impacts. Chapter 19

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rosenzweig, Cynthia

1999-01-01

Agricultural applications of El Nino forecasts are already underway in some countries and need to be evaluated or re-evaluated. For example, in Peru, El Nino forecasts have been incorporated into national planning for the agricultural sector, and areas planted with rice and cotton (cotton being the more drought-tolerant crop) are adjusted accordingly. How well are this and other such programs working? Such evaluations will contribute to the governmental and intergovernmental institutions, including the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research and the US National Ocean and Atmospheric Agency that are fostering programs to aid the effective use of forecasts. This research involves expanding, deepening, and applying the understanding of physical climate to the fields of agronomy and social science; and the reciprocal understanding of crop growth and farm economics to climatology. Delivery of a regional climate forecast with no information about how the climate forecast was derived limits its effectiveness. Explanation of a region's major climate driving forces helps to place a seasonal forecast in context. Then, a useful approach is to show historical responses to previous El Nino events, and projections, with uncertainty intervals, of crop response from dynamic process crop growth models. Regional forecasts should be updated with real-time weather conditions. Since every El Nino event is different, it is important to track, report and advise on each new event as it unfolds.

Identifying and Interpreting Stratification in Sedimentary Rocks on Mars: Insight from Rover and Orbital Observations and Terrestrial Field Analogs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Edgar, Lauren A.

Sedimentary rocks on Mars provide insight into past aqueous and atmospheric processes, climate regimes, and potential habitability. The stratigraphic architecture of sedimentary rocks on Mars is similar to that of Earth, indicating that the processes that govern deposition and erosion on Mars can be reasonably inferred through reference to analogous terrestrial systems. This dissertation aims to understand Martian surface processes through the use of (1) ground-based observations from the Mars Exploration Rovers, (2) orbital data from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and (3) the use of terrestrial field analogs to understand bedforms and sediment transport on Mars. Chapters 1 and 2 trace the history of aqueous activity at Meridiani Planum, through the reconstruction of eolian bedforms at Victoria crater, and the identification of a potential mudstone facies at Santa Maria crater. Chapter 3 uses Terrestrial Laser Scanning to study cross-bedding in pyroclastic surge deposits on Earth in order to understand sediment transport in these events and to establish criteria for their identification on Mars. The final chapter analyzes stratal geometries in the Martian North Polar Layered Deposits using tools for sequence stratigraphic analysis, to better constrain past surface processes and past climate conditions on Mars.

Critical Domains of Culturally Relevant Leadership Learning: A Call to Transform Leadership Programs.

PubMed

Jones, Tamara Bertrand; Guthrie, Kathy L; Osteen, Laura

2016-12-01

This chapter introduces the critical domains of culturally relevant leadership learning. The model explores how capacity, identity, and efficacy of student leaders interact with dimensions of campus climate. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company.

Economic Value of Weather and Climate Forecasts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Katz, Richard W.; Murphy, Allan H.

1997-06-01

Weather and climate extremes can significantly impact the economics of a region. This book examines how weather and climate forecasts can be used to mitigate the impact of the weather on the economy. Interdisciplinary in scope, it explores the meteorological, economic, psychological, and statistical aspects of weather prediction. Chapters by area specialists provide a comprehensive view of this timely topic. They encompass forecasts over a wide range of temporal scales, from weather over the next few hours to the climate months or seasons ahead, and address the impact of these forecasts on human behavior. Economic Value of Weather and Climate Forecasts seeks to determine the economic benefits of existing weather forecasting systems and the incremental benefits of improving these systems, and will be an interesting and essential text for economists, statisticians, and meteorologists.

Archeological Survey and Testing Along Boone Creek, Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant, Webster Parish, Louisiana

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-01-01

ducks, partridges, cranes , quail, snakes, and fish. 8 CHAPTER 2: ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING Climate The modern climate of the project area is classified as... caustic materials. Large openings in their sides were cut by oil field workers, who then added water to the dry caustic material to make a caustic ...whiffletree hook and a harness ring were recovered, indicating that horses were used here. No automotive artifacts were recovered. This again reinforces the

Potential effects of energy development on environmental resources of the Williston Basin in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Post van der Burg, Max; Vining, Kevin C.; Frankforter, Jill D.

2017-09-28

The Williston Basin, which includes parts of Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota in the United States, has been a leading domestic oil and gas producing area. To better understand the potential effects of energy development on environmental resources in the Williston Basin, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management, and in support of the needs identified by the Bakken Federal Executive Group (consisting of representatives from 13 Federal agencies and Tribal groups), began work to synthesize existing information on science topics to support management decisions related to energy development. This report is divided into four chapters (A–D). Chapter A provides an executive summary of the report and principal findings from chapters B–D. Chapter B provides a brief compilation of information regarding the history of energy development, physiography, climate, land use, demographics, and related studies in the Williston Basin. Chapter C synthesizes current information about water resources, identifies potential effects from energy development, and summarizes water resources research and information needs in the Williston Basin. Chapter D summarizes information about ecosystems, species of conservation concern, and potential effects to those species from energy development in the Williston Basin.

Application of molluscan analyses to the reconstruction of past environmental conditions in estuaries: Chapter 15

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wingard, G. Lynn; Surge, Donna

2017-01-01

Molluscs possess a number of attributes that make them an excellent source of past environmental conditions in estuaries: they are common in estuarine environments; they typically have hard shells and are usually well preserved in sediments; they are relatively easy to detect in the environment; they have limited mobility as adults; they grow by incremental addition of layers to their shells; and they are found in all the major environments surrounding estuaries—terrestrial, freshwater, brackish, and marine waters. Analysis of molluscan assemblages can contribute information about past changes in sea level, climate, land use patterns, anthropogenic alterations, salinity, and other parameters of the benthic habitat and water chemistry within the estuary. High-resolution (from less than a day to annual) records of changes in environmental parameters can be obtained by analyzing the incremental growth layers in mollusc shells (sclerochronology). The shell layers retain information on changes in water temperature, salinity, seasonality, climate, river discharge, productivity, pollution and human activity. Isotopic analyses of mollusc shell growth layers can be problematic in estuaries where water temperatures and isotopic ratios can vary simultaneously; however, methods are being developed to overcome these problems. In addition to sclerochronology, molluscs are important to Holocene and Pleistocene estuarine palaeoenvironmental studies because of their use in the development of age models through radiocarbon dating, amino acid racemization, uranium-thorium series dating, and electron spin resonance (ESR) dating.

Mechanisms and Attribution of Changes in Austral Summer Precipitation Related to the South Atlantic Convergence Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zilli, Marcia Terezinha

Austral summer (DJF) precipitation over tropical South America (SA) is characterized by the South American Monsoon System (SAMS) and the South Atlantic Convergence Zone (SACZ). The increase in atmospheric temperature and water vapor content over the SA during the last decades of the 20 th century could affect the duration and amplitude of the SAMS and the intensity of the SACZ. This research examines the spatial variability of precipitation trends over SE Brazil, focusing on the SACZ. More specifically, this study investigates trends in precipitation over Southeastern Brazil (SE Brazil) and examines changes in the position and intensity of the SACZ. SE Brazil is the most densely populated region in the country with a large portion of this population living in urban centers. The SACZ is important for agriculture and water supply for millions of people. One of the main goals of this research is to identify mechanisms associated with the observed changes in the characteristics of the SACZ during the last three decades of the 20th century, and examine the relative contribution of natural and anthropogenic forcing to precipitation trends. The first chapter investigates the pattern of spatial variability of precipitation trends over the coastal region of SE Brazil. This study shows that over the southern portion of the study area, precipitation is increasing due to the increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme events. Over the northern portion of the area, while the intensity of extreme events is increasing, the number of precipitating days is decreasing. This spatial pattern of precipitation trends suggests a poleward shift of the SACZ, which is investigated in the second chapter. Chapter 2 focuses on the underlying mechanisms associated with changes in precipitation intensity related to the position of the SACZ. Decadal variations in the mean state of the atmosphere suggest that the observed changes in precipitation over SE Brazil are associated with a weakening of the poleward winds along the eastern Brazilian coast that reduces the dynamic support necessary for convection along the equatorward margin of the SACZ. Additionally, this analysis also identifies a decrease in low-to-mid troposphere (700hPa) moisture over the tropical Atlantic in the recent decade that further reduces the moisture transported into the convective margin of the SACZ. Both mechanisms contribute to reducing precipitation over eastern tropical Brazil and characterize the poleward shift of the SACZ. The final chapter focuses on evaluating the contribution of natural variability and anthropogenic-related forcings to the poleward shift of the SACZ and drying conditions over eastern Brazil at the end of 20th century. Simulations from different scenarios of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMPI5) models capable of reproducing the SACZ climatology suggest significant contribution of anthropogenic forcing on the SACZ-related precipitation trends. Despite the large discrepancies in the simulated precipitation trends, similarities among the ensemble members provide compelling evidence that the poleward shift of the SACZ in the last three decades of the 20 th century is largely enhanced by anthropogenic forcing. Collectively, the three chapters of this dissertation characterize the recent changes in precipitation related to a poleward shift of the SACZ and give novel insights into the influence of anthropogenic-related forcing on these changes. These findings advance the scientific understanding of the consequences of recent climate variability and change over eastern tropical South America, particularly over the SACZ.

Global Mean Temperature Timeseries Projections from GCMs: The Implications of Rebasing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chapman, S. C.; Stainforth, D. A.; Watkins, N. W.

2017-12-01

Global climate models are assessed by comparison with observations through several benchmarks. One highlighted by the InterGovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is their ability to reproduce "general features of the global and annual mean surface temperature changes over the historical period" [1,2] and to simulate "a trend in global-mean surface temperature from 1951 to 2012 that agrees with the observed trend" [3]. These aspects of annual mean global mean temperature (GMT) change are presented as one feature demonstrating the relevance of these models for climate projections. Here we consider a formal interpretation of "general features" and discuss the implications of this approach to model assessment and intercomparison, for the interpretation of GCM projections. Following the IPCC, we interpret a major element of "general features" as being the slow timescale response to external forcings. (Shorter timescale behaviour such as the response to volcanic eruptions are also elements of "general features" but are not considered here.) Also following the IPCC, we consider only GMT anomalies. The models have absolute temperatures which range over about 3K so this means their timeseries (and the observations) are rebased. We show that rebasing in combination with general agreement, implies a separation of scales which limits the degree to which sub-global behaviour can feedback on the global response. It also implies a degree of linearity in the GMT slow timescale response. For each individual model these implications only apply over the range of absolute temperatures simulated by the model in historic simulations. Taken together, however, they imply consequences over a wider range of GMTs. [1] IPCC, Fifth Assessment Report, Working Group 1, Technical Summary: Stocker et al. 2013. [2] IPCC, Fifth Assessment Report, Working Group 1, Chapter 9 - "Evaluation of Climate Models": Flato et al. 2013. [3] IPCC, Fifth Assessment Report, Working Group 1, Summary for Policy Makers: IPCC, 2013.

Temperature-Related Death and Illness. Chapter 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sarofim, Marcus C.; Saha, Shubhayu; Hawkins, Michelle D.; Mills, David M.; Hess, Jeremy; Horton, Radley; Kinney, Patrick; Schwartz, Joel; St. Juliana, Alexis

2016-01-01

Based on present-day sensitivity to heat, an increase of thousands to tens of thousands of premature heat-related deaths in the summer and a decrease of premature cold-related deaths in the winter are projected each year as a result of climate change by the end of the century. Future adaptation will very likely reduce these impacts (see Changing Tolerance to Extreme Heat Finding). The reduction in cold-related deaths is projected to be smaller than the increase in heat-related deaths in most regions. Days that are hotter than usual in the summer or colder than usual in the winter are both associated with increased illness and death. Mortality effects are observed even for small differences from seasonal average temperatures. Because small temperature differences occur much more frequently than large temperature differences, not accounting for the effect of these small differences would lead to underestimating the future impact of climate change. An increase in population tolerance to extreme heat has been observed over time. Changes in this tolerance have been associated with increased use of air conditioning, improved social responses, and or physiological acclimatization, among other factors. Expected future increases in this tolerance will reduce the projected increase in deaths from heat. Older adults and children have a higher risk of dying or becoming ill due to extreme heat. People working outdoors, the socially isolated and economically disadvantaged, those with chronic illnesses, as well as some communities of color, are also especially vulnerable to death or illness.

Surface and guided waves on structured surfaces and inhomogeneous media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Polanco, Javier

Surface and guided waves on structured surfaces and inhomogeneous media studies the propagation of waves in systems with spatially varying parameters. In the rainbow case (chapter 1), the dielectric constant changes with coordinates. In the cylinder case: boundary and the metal (chapter 2), it is a curved surface. Finally, in the last case (chapter 3), the dielectric constant changes in z-direction.

78 FR 53179 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-28

... Proposed Rule Change To Amend Chapter VII, Section 6 of the Rules of the NASDAQ Options Market To Permit... to amend Chapter VII, Section 6 (Market Maker Quotations) of the rules of the NASDAQ Options Market... purpose of this proposed rule change is to amend Chapter VII, Section 6 of the rules of NOM to permit the...

School Discipline Desk Book.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howard, Eugene R.

The author of this handbook maintains that substantial school improvement can take place only within an orderly environment. To achieve a positive educational climate, he lists numerous suggestions to handle school discipline problems. Individual chapters cover conducting a campaign against crime and violence, handling discipline problems…

Research, Development, Demonstration and Deployment Issues in the Power Sector

EPA Science Inventory

For Frank Princiotta’s book, Global Climate Change—The Technology Challenge In this chapter we explore the challenges in developing and deploying technology for mitigation of CO2 emissions associated with power generation. Past successes with controlling other pollutants (notab...

Wildlife of southern forests habitat & management (Chapter 7): Managing Forests for Wildlife

Treesearch

James G. Dickson; T. Bently Wigley

2003-01-01

Wildlife species and communities are molded and influenced by a variety of factors, including some abiotic conditions such as climate, topography, soils, and site. These conditions form the basis for productive and diverse southern forests and their wildlife communities.

Systematic conservation planning for ecosystem services: Opportunities for improving spatial targeting of ecosystem service payments in Costa Rica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramos Bendana, Zayra Sherlly

Tropical forests are of high conservation priority world-wide due their high value for harboring biodiversity and providing ecosystem services from the local to global scale. Financial resources for conservation are scarce. This challenges practitioners to design conservation networks encompassing spatial synergies between biodiversity and ecosystem services. Furthermore, conservation networks need to be robust to climate change impacts and the unpredictability of biodiversity response to these impacts. Methodologies for selecting locations that can help achieve multiple conservation objectives and can be easily integrated in current conservation practices are urgently needed. The first chapter of this study was focused on exploring the effect of integrating into conservation assessments two climate adaptation approaches based on environmental heterogeneity, as well as the effect of the selection of planning unit size on resultant conservation networks. With Costa Rica as planning region, our results showed that protecting the representation of the geophysical diversity resulted in conservation networks with over 25% more internal environmental heterogeneity, but more fragmented. Incorporating cross-environmental connectivity, on the other hand, resulted in low increases in environmental heterogeneity. Increasing the planning unit size reduced the effect of emphasizing connectivity between environmentally different locations. These results highlight the importance of testing environmental-heterogeneity-based approaches in each context due the specific characteristics of planning regions prior integrating them into formal conservation assessments. The second chapter focused on exploring synergies between biodiversity and carbon storage priorities, when integrating environmental-heterogeneity-based climate adaptation approaches. Results revealed very low synergies between targeting the representation of regional biodiversity and areas of high carbon content. However, spreading out across the country the selection of carbon priority areas by adding stratification improved the synergies with biodiversity priorities, and revealed locations that could be considered priorities for carbon storage in the distribution range of Dry Tropical Forests; one of the most threatened tropical ecosystem. The extent of gains for co-benefits between carbon-related ES and biodiversity conservation will depend in part on how priority areas are selected for implementing strategies, such as PES and REDD, and will determine the location and amount of tropical forest to be conserved. As indicated by the recent development of the spatial data used in Chapter 2, improving spatial datasets for supporting ES targeting is critical in tropical dry forests. As a result, we developed new phenological approaches to map tropical dry forest type using multitemporal Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager data. The major gains in mapping accuracy realized by the multitemporal analysis bodes well for the future of landscape level ES planning in tropical dry forest. Finally, the promising progress in the detection of functional traits through remote sensing offers further opportunities to improve on the quality of the inputs for the mapping of ES, a topic covered in Chapter 4.

New approaches in human health risk assessment

PubMed Central

Abass, Khaled; Carlsen, Anders; Rautio, Arja

2016-01-01

Studies on the precise impact of environmental pollutants on human health are difficult to undertake and interpret, because many genetic and environmental factors influence health at the same time and to varying degrees. Our chapter in the AMAP report was based on new approaches to describe risks and future needs. In this paper, we will introduce the issues associated with risk assessment of single chemicals, and present suggestions for future studies as well as a summary of lessons learned during the health-related parts of the European Union-funded FP7 project ArcRisk (Arctic Health Risks: Impacts on health in the Arctic and Europe owing to climate-induced changes in contaminant cycling, 2009–2014; www.arcrisk.eu). PMID:27974141

Case Study, California Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis corturniculus): Science Foundation Chapter 5, Appendix 5.1 in The Baylands and climate change: What can we do?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Evens, Jules G.; Thorne, Karen M.

2015-01-01

The Black Rail is the smallest member of the avian family Rallidae and has a wide-ranging but highly scattered distribution throughout the New World. Of five subspecies, two occur in North America—the Eastern Black Rail (L.j. jamaicensis) and the California Black Rail (L.j. coturniculus). Throughout its range, the Black Rail is a secretive inhabitant of tidal and freshwater wetlands and rarely ventures out from the cover of dense marsh vegetation. It is more likely to be heard than seen; spontaneous vocalizations tend to be concentrated in the nesting season and are much less common during the rest of the year.

Columbia Plateau Ecoregion: Chapter 22 in Status and trends of land change in the Western United States--1973 to 2000

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sleeter, Benjamin M.

2012-01-01

Located in eastern Washington and northern Oregon, the Columbia Plateau Ecoregion is characterized by sagebrush steppe and grasslands with extensive areas of dryland farming and irrigated agriculture. The ecoregion, which is approximately 90,059 km2 (34,772 mi2), is surrounded on all sides by mountainous ecoregions: to the west, the North Cascades Ecoregion and the Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills Ecoregion (and to the west of it, the Cascades Ecoregion); to the south, the Blue Mountains Ecoregion; and to the east, the Northern Rockies Ecoregion (fig. 1) (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997). The climate is Mediterranean, with cool wet winters and hot dry summers.

Climate Change and Climate Variability in the Latin American Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Magrin, G. O.; Gay Garcia, C.; Cruz Choque, D.; Gimenez-Sal, J. C.; Moreno, A. R.; Nagy, G. J.; Nobre, C.; Villamizar, A.

2007-05-01

Over the past three decades LA was subjected to several climate-related impacts due to increased El Niño occurrences. Two extremely intense episodes of El Niño and other increased climate extremes happened during this period contributing greatly to augment the vulnerability of human systems to natural disasters. In addition to weather and climate, the main drivers of the increased vulnerability are demographic pressure, unregulated urban growth, poverty and rural migration, low investment in infrastructure and services, and problems in inter-sector coordination. As well, increases in temperature and increases/decreases in precipitation observed during the last part of 20th century have yet led to intensification of glaciers melting, increases in floods/droughts and forest fires frequency, increases in morbidity and mortality, increases in plant diseases incidence; lost of biodiversity, reduction in dairy cattle production, and problems with hydropower generation, highly affecting LA human system. For the end of the 21st century, the projected mean warming for LA ranges from 1 to 7.5ºC and the frequency of weather and climate extremes could increase. Additionally, deforestation is projected to continue leading to a reduction of 25 percent in Amazonia forest in 2020 and 40 percent in 2050. Soybeans planted area in South America could increase by 55 percent by 2020 enhancing aridity/desertification in many of the already water- stressed regions. By 2050 LA population is likely to be 50 percent larger than in 2000, and migration from the country sides to the cities will continue. In the near future, these predicted changes are very likely to severely affect a number of ecosystems and sectors distribution; b) Disappearing most tropical glaciers; c) Reducing water availability and hydropower generation; d) Increasing desertification and aridity; e) Severely affecting people, resources and economic activities in coastal areas; f) Increasing crop's pests and diseases; and g) Changing some human diseases distribution and provoking the emergence of new ones. The impact of climate change in Latin America's productive sectors is estimated to be of a 1.3 percent reduction of the region's GDP for a change of 2ºC in global temperature (without consider non market sectors and extremes events). Moreover, if the LA countries continue to follow the business as usual scenario, the wealth of natural resources that have supported economic and socio-cultural development in the region will be further degraded, reducing the regional potential for growth. Urgent measures must be taken to help bring environmental and social considerations from the margins to the decision-making and development strategies. This presentation is part of the revision done for the Latin American (LA) chapter under the IPCC WGII Fourth Assessment Report.

AMS Climate Studies: Improving climate literacy through undergraduate education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brey, J. A.; Geer, I. W.; Moran, J. M.; Weinbeck, R. S.; Mills, E. W.; Blair, B. A.; Hopkins, E. J.; Kiley, T. P., Jr.; Ruwe, E. E.

2009-12-01

In working to promote scientific literacy among the public, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) has produced a suite of introductory college-level courses that engage students by investigating relevant topics in Earth science, and utilizing the most current, real-world environmental data. The newest of these courses, AMS Climate Studies, is a turnkey package which will be licensed by individual colleges for local offering in online, blended, or traditional lecture/lab settings. The course will place students in a dynamic learning environment where they will investigate Earth’s climate system using real-world data. This will allow the course to keep a strong focus on the science, while still addressing many of the societal impacts that draw the attention of today’s students. In this way, the course will serve as a great primer in preparing students to become responsible, scientifically-literate participants in discussions of climate science and climate change. Developed with major support from NASA, AMS Climate Studies will encourage students to investigate the atmosphere and world ocean as components of a larger Earth system. More than 500 colleges and universities throughout the United States have already offered AMS Weather Studies and AMS Ocean Studies, after which AMS Climate Studies will be modeled. The learning system will consist of a fully-integrated set of printed and online learning materials focused around a brand new, hardcover 15-chapter textbook, Climate Studies: Introduction to Climate Science and an Investigations Manual with 30 lab-style activities that will emphasize the use of authentic science data. The package will also include a course website providing weekly Current Climate Studies activities along with access to environmental data streams, including an impressive suite of NASA and NOAA images and products. The development and testing of AMS Climate Studies is currently nearing completion. A number of college and university professors have been selected to pilot the program in Spring 2010, with major emphasis placed on representing a diverse array of institution types, degree programs, course delivery methods, academic backgrounds, etc. The materials will be vigorously tested and updated accordingly. AMS Climate Studies will be available for implementation at your institution beginning Fall 2010.

Analyse dendroecologique et dendroclimatique des gisements de bois de lacs de la taiga de l'est de l'Amerique du Nord

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gennaretti, Fabio

The aim of this thesis was to reconstruct ecological processes and climate change in the taiga of Quebec over the last two millennia to understand factors that have strongly influenced the evolution of this majestic region. To obtain the finest spatial and temporal resolution in our analysis, we used annual growth rings of subfossil logs collected in six lakes as paleoecological and paleoclimatic proxies. Deposits of subfossil logs determine the structure of lake littoral ecosystems and support their food webs. Moreover, they may represent long-term carbon sinks. In the first chapter of the thesis, we described present-day stocks of subfossil logs in the selected littoral zones and established log residence time in the lakes by tree-ring or radio carbon dating. Dating also allowed precise identification of each fire that burned the riparian forests during the last millennium. This chapter showed that interactions between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in the taiga are strongly influenced by wildfires whose effects can persist for centuries because of strong postfire reductions of log recruitments in lakes. At a local scale, the amount of logs and carbon preserved in littoral stocks depends on the fire history of the last millennium that is specific to each site. At a regional scale, wildfires limit significantly the amount of carbon sequestered in littoral stocks of logs. These stocks represent a negligible fraction of the total taiga carbon storage despite the abundance of lakes and the long residence time of littoral logs (up to five millennia for buried logs). In the second chapter, we combined a detailed inventory of the present-day riparian forest situated along the shoreline of two lakes with the tree-ring dating of the subfossil logs accumulated in the littoral zones facing these shores. Our objective was to determine whether changes in current riparian forest structure and composition within a given site could be attributed to different fire histories over the last millennium and to show the impacts of past fires on tree mortality, density and growth. Using our impressive paleoecological dataset (n = 1037 logs) in combination with our present-day forest inventory, we were able to reconstruct millennial forest dynamics with an unprecedented high spatial (few hundreds of square meters) and temporal (annual) resolution. Our findings help explain how the present-day landscape diversity in the taiga reflects the fire history of the last millennium, which varies from site to site. Fires have caused persistent and cumulative impacts resulting in a progressive opening of the forest coyer along with exclusion of balsam fir, a fire-sensitive tree species. The taiga landscape is a mosaic of forest stands characterized by different times since fire and different postfire forest structure trajectories. In the third chapter, we used our network of millennial tree-ring chronologies developed from the collected subfossil logs to pro duce a regional reconstruction of July-August temperatures over the last 1100 years. Our network filled a wide gap in the north-hemispheric network of paleoclimate proxies with annual resolution used for temperature reconstructions of the last millennium (see IPCC report). Moreover, our reconstruction provided direct field evidence that the climate of Northeastern North America is particularly sensitive to volcanic forcing. Indeed, successive large eruptions triggered the beginning of cold episodes in the study area that persisted for decades. In particular, two series of eruptions, centered around the Samalas event in 1257 and the Tambora event in 1815, coincided with two abrupt temperature regime shifts. In Northeastern North America, these shifts marked the onset of the Little Ice Age and the beginning of its coldest phase, respectively. Our reconstruction also showed a well-expressed Medieval Climate Anomaly, which included a few decades significantly warmer than the last 10 years. Keywords : fire ecology; forest-lake interactions; large woody debris; Little Ice Age; Medieval Climate Anomaly; millennial tree-ring chronologies; plant-climate interactions; temperature regime shifts; trajectories of forest structure and composition; volcanic forcing.

National Standards for Family and Consumer Sciences Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Association of State Administrators for Family and Consumer Sciences.

The document presents a new set of standards for family and consumer sciences (FACS) education. Section 1 is a three-chapter overview. Chapter 1 addresses the rationale for change and the FACS vision and mission. Chapter 2 describes the approach to develop the national standards, FACS format, and components of the standards. Chapter 3 provides…

Hanford Site National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Characterization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Neitzel, Duane A.; Antonio, Ernest J.; Eschbach, Tara O.

2001-09-01

This document describes the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford Site environment. It is updated each year and is intended to provide a consistent description of the Hanford Site environment for the many National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents being prepared by DOE contractors. No statements of significance or environmental consequences are provided. This year's report is the thirteenth revision of the original document published in 1988 and is (until replaced by the fourteenth revision) the only version that is relevant for use in the preparation of Hanford NEPA, State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, andmore » Liability Act (CERCLA) documents. The two chapters included in this document (Chapters 4 and 6) are numbered to correspond to the chapters where such information is typically presented in environmental impact statements (Weiss) and other Hanford Site NEPA or CERCLA documentation. Chapter 4.0 (Affected Environment) describes Hanford Site climate and meteorology, geology, hydrology, ecology, cultural, archaeological, and historical resources, socioeconomics, occupational safety, and noise. Chapter 6.0 (Statutory and Regulatory Requirements) describes federal and state laws and regulations, DOE directives and permits, and presidential executive orders that are applicable to the NEPA documents prepared for Hanford Site activities.« less

Hanford Site National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Characterization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Neitzel, Duane A.; Bunn, Amoret L.; Duncan, Joanne P.

2002-09-01

This document describes the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford Site environment. It is updated each year and is intended to provide a consistent description of the Hanford Site environment for the many National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents being prepared by DOE contractors. No statements of significance or environmental consequences are provided. This year's report is the thirteenth revision of the original document published in 1988 and is (until replaced by the fourteenth revision) the only version that is relevant for use in the preparation of Hanford NEPA, State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, andmore » Liability Act (CERCLA) documents. The two chapters included in this document (Chapters 4 and 6) are numbered to correspond to the chapters where such information is typically presented in environmental impact statements (Weiss) and other Hanford Site NEPA or CERCLA documentation. Chapter 4.0 (Affected Environment) describes Hanford Site climate and meteorology, geology, hydrology, ecology, cultural, archaeological, and historical resources, socioeconomics, occupational safety, and noise. Chapter 6.0 (Statutory and Regulatory Requirements) describes federal and state laws and regulations, DOE directives and permits, and presidential executive orders that are applicable to the NEPA documents prepared for Hanford Site activities.« less

Hanford Site National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Characterization, Revision 15

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Neitzel, Duane A.; Bunn, Amoret L.; Burk, Kenneth W.

2003-09-01

This document describes the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford Site environment. It is updated each year and is intended to provide a consistent description of the Hanford Site environment for the many National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents being prepared by DOE contractors. No statements of significance or environmental consequences are provided. This year's report is the thirteenth revision of the original document published in 1988 and is (until replaced by the fourteenth revision) the only version that is relevant for use in the preparation of Hanford NEPA, State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, andmore » Liability Act (CERCLA) documents. The two chapters included in this document (Chapters 4 and 6) are numbered to correspond to the chapters where such information is typically presented in environmental impact statements (Weiss) and other Hanford Site NEPA or CERCLA documentation. Chapter 4.0 (Affected Environment) describes Hanford Site climate and meteorology, geology, hydrology, ecology, cultural, archaeological, and historical resources, socioeconomics, occupational safety, and noise. Chapter 6.0 (Statutory and Regulatory Requirements) describes federal and state laws and regulations, DOE directives and permits, and presidential executive orders that are applicable to the NEPA documents prepared for Hanford Site activities.« less

Southeast Regional Assessment Project for the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dalton, Melinda S.; Jones, Sonya A.

2010-01-01

The Southeastern United States spans a broad range of physiographic settings and maintains exceptionally high levels of faunal diversity. Unfortunately, many of these ecosystems are increasingly under threat due to rapid human development, and management agencies are increasingly aware of the potential effects that climate change will have on these ecosystems. Natural resource managers and conservation planners can be effective at preserving ecosystems in the face of these stressors only if they can adapt current conservation efforts to increase the overall resilience of the system. Climate change, in particular, challenges many of the basic assumptions used by conservation planners and managers. Previous conservation planning efforts identified and prioritized areas for conservation based on the current environmental conditions, such as habitat quality, and assumed that conditions in conservation lands would be largely controlled by management actions (including no action). Climate change, however, will likely alter important system drivers (temperature, precipitation, and sea-level rise) and make it difficult, if not impossible, to maintain recent historic conditions in conservation lands into the future. Climate change will also influence the future conservation potential of non-conservation lands, further complicating conservation planning. Therefore, there is a need to develop and adapt effective conservation strategies to cope with the effects of climate and landscape change on future environmental conditions. Congress recognized this important issue and authorized the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC; http://nccw.usgs.gov/) in the Fiscal Year 2008. The NCCWSC will produce science that will help resource management agencies anticipate and adapt to climate change impacts to fish, wildlife, and their habitats. With the release of Secretarial Order 3289 on September 14, 2009, the mandate of the NCCWSC was expanded to address climate change-related impacts on all Department of the Interior (DOI) resources. The NCCWSC will establish a network of eight DOI Regional Climate Science Centers (RCSCs) that will work with a variety of partners to provide natural resource managers with tools and information that will help them anticipate and adapt conservation planning and design for projected climate change. The forecasting products produced by the RCSCs will aid fish, wildlife, and land managers in designing suitable adaptive management approaches for their programs. The DOI also is developing Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) as science and conservation action partnerships at subregional scales. The USGS is working with the Southeast Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to develop science collaboration between the future Southeast RCSC and future LCCs. The NCCWSC Southeast Regional Assessment Project (SERAP) will begin to develop regional downscaled climate models, land cover change models, regional ecological models, regional watershed models, and other science tools. Models and data produced by SERAP will be used in a collaborative process between the USGS, the FWS (LCCs), State and federal partners, nongovernmental organizations, and academia to produce science at appropriate scales to answer resource management questions. The SERAP will produce an assessment of climate change, and impacts on land cover, ecosystems, and priority species in the region. The predictive tools developed by the SERAP project team will allow end users to better understand potential impacts of climate change and sea level rise on terrestrial and aquatic populations in the Southeastern United States. The SERAP capitalizes on the integration of five existing projects: (1) the Multi-State Conservation Grants Program project "Designing Sustainable Landscapes," (2) the USGS multidisciplinary Science Thrust project "Water Availability for Ecological Needs," (3) the USGS Southeast Pilot Project "Climate Change in the Southeastern U.S. and its Impacts on Bird Distributions and Habitats," (4) a sea-level rise impacts study envisioned jointly with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and (5) two USGS sea-level rise impact assessment projects that address inundation hazards and provide probabilistic forecasts of coastal geomorphic change. The SERAP will expand on these existing projects and include the following tasks, which were initiated in summer 2009: * Regionally downscaled probabilistic climate-change projections * Integrated coastal assessment * Integrated terrestrial assessment * Multi-resolution assessment of potential climate change effects on biological resources: aquatic and hydrologic dynamics * Optimal conservation strategies to cope with climate change The SERAP seeks to formally integrate these tasks to aid conservation planning and design so that ecosystem management decisions can be optimized for providing desirable outcomes across a range of species and environments. The following chapters detail SERAP's efforts in providing a suite of regional climate, watershed, and landscape-change analyses and develop the interdisciplinary framework required for the biological planning phases of adaptive management and strategic conservation. The planning phase will include the identification of conservation alternatives, development of predictive models and decision support tools, and development of a template to address similar challenges and goals in other regions. The project teams will explore and develop ways to link the various ecological models arising from each component. The SERAP project team also will work closely with members of the LCCs and other partnerships throughout the life of the project to ensure that the objectives of the project meet resources mangers needs in the Southeast.

Geographic Names of Iceland's Glaciers: Historic and Modern

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sigurðsson, Oddur; Williams, Richard S.

2008-01-01

Climatic changes and resulting glacier fluctuations alter landscapes. In the past, such changes were noted by local residents who often documented them in historic annals; eventually, glacier variations were recorded on maps and scientific reports. In Iceland, 10 glacier place-names are to be found in Icelandic sagas, and one of Iceland's ice caps, Snaefellsjokull, appeared on maps of Iceland published in the 16th century. In the late 17th century, the first description of eight of Iceland's glaciers was written. Therefore, Iceland distinguishes itself in having a more than 300-year history of observations by Icelanders on its glaciers. A long-term collaboration between Oddur Sigurdsson and Richard S. Williams, Jr., led to the authorship of three books on the glaciers of Iceland. Much effort has been devoted to documenting historical glacier research and related nomenclature and to physical descriptions of Icelandic glaciers by Icelanders and other scientists from as far back as the Saga Age to recent (2008) times. The first book, Icelandic Ice Mountains, was published by the Icelandic Literary Society in 2004 in cooperation with the Icelandic Glaciological Society and the International Glaciological Society. Icelandic Ice Mountains was a glacier treatise written by Sveinn Palsson in 1795 and is the first English translation of this important scientific document. Icelandic Ice Mountains includes a Preface, including a summary of the history and facsimiles of page(s) from the original manuscript, a handwritten copy, and an 1815 manuscript (without maps and drawings) by Sveinn Palsson on the same subject which he wrote for Rev. Ebenezer Henderson; an Editor's Introduction; 82 figures, including facsimiles of Sveinn Palsson's original maps and perspective drawings, maps, and photographs to illustrate the text; a comprehensive Index of Geographic Place-Names and Other Names in the treatise; References, and 415 Endnotes. Professional Paper 1746 (this book) is the second of the three books; it is being published in both English and Icelandic editions. This book provides information about all named glaciers in Iceland, historic and modern. Descriptions, with geographic coordinates, and bibliographic citations to all glacier place-names on published maps, books, and scientific articles are included. Maps, oblique aerial photographs, ground photographs, and satellite images document each of the 269 modern named glaciers of Iceland. The third book, Glaciers of Iceland, is Chapter D of the 11-chapter [volume] U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1386-A-K. Chapter D includes a 1:500,000-scale Map of the Glaciers of Iceland; it is a comprehensive historical and modern review and assessment of what is currently known about glaciers in Iceland's eight Regional Glacier Groups from a review of the scientific literature and from analysis of maps and remotely sensed data (ground, airborne, and satellite); topics include geology and geography, climate and climate variability, types of glaciers, history of glacier variation (including the 21 surge-type glaciers), and frequency and magnitude of volcanic and lacustrine jokulhlaups.

Simulating future residential property losses from wildfire in Flathead County, Montana: Chapter 1

USGS Publications Warehouse

Prato, Tony; Paveglio, Travis B; Barnett, Yan; Silverstein, Robin; Hardy, Michael; Keane, Robert; Loehman, Rachel A.; Clark, Anthony; Fagre, Daniel B.; Venn, Tyron; Stockmann, Keith

2014-01-01

Wildfire damages to private residences in the United States and elsewhere have increased as a result of expansion of the wildland-urban interface (WUI) and other factors. Understanding this unwelcome trend requires analytical frameworks that simulate how various interacting social, economic, and biophysical factors influence those damages. A methodological framework is developed for simulating expected residential property losses from wildfire [E(RLW)], which is a probabilistic monetary measure of wildfire risk to residential properties in the WUI. E(RLW) is simulated for Flathead County, Montana for five, 10-year subperiods covering the period 2010-2059, under various assumptions about future climate change, economic growth, land use policy, and forest management. Results show statistically significant increases in the spatial extent of WUI properties, the number of residential structures at risk from wildfire, and E(RLW) over the 50-year evaluation period for both the county and smaller subareas (i.e., neighborhoods and parcels). The E(RLW) simulation framework presented here advances the field of wildfire risk assessment by providing a finer-scale tool that incorporates a set of dynamic, interacting processes. The framework can be applied using other scenarios for climate change, economic growth, land use policy, and forest management, and in other areas.

Sustainable oceans and coasts: Lessons learnt from Eastern and Western Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diop, S.; Scheren, P. A.

2016-12-01

Marine and coastal ecosystems in Africa provide valuable cultural (recreational, spiritual), provisioning (such as food, timber and firewood) and regulatory (such as flood protection and climate regulation) services that are not only at the core of coastal ecosystem functioning, but are also an important basis for the economic livelihoods of over 120 million inhabitants living along the continent's coastal zone. However, these valuable ecosystems are being subjected to a range of human pressures, including overfishing and destructive fishing practices, pollution, including excess nutrients (causing eutrophication), loss and degradation of habitats, physical shoreline changes and disturbance of the hydrological regimes of rivers and estuarine systems, aggravated further by the effects of climate change. The effects of these pressures, often acting in cumulative and synergistic manners, readily affect the overall stability of the coastal ecosystems, threatening their resilience over the short- and long-term. This chapter highlights the challenges faced by the coastal states of Eastern and Western Africa in managing their coastal and marine resources for the sustainable benefits of their populations. Current mechanisms for the governance and management of the coastal and marine environment at national to regional scales are reviewed, and their effectiveness appraised, and recommendations for improved management and scientific support are made.

Approaches to modeling landscape-scale drought-induced forest mortality

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gustafson, Eric J.; Shinneman, Douglas

2015-01-01

Drought stress is an important cause of tree mortality in forests, and drought-induced disturbance events are projected to become more common in the future due to climate change. Landscape Disturbance and Succession Models (LDSM) are becoming widely used to project climate change impacts on forests, including potential interactions with natural and anthropogenic disturbances, and to explore the efficacy of alternative management actions to mitigate negative consequences of global changes on forests and ecosystem services. Recent studies incorporating drought-mortality effects into LDSMs have projected significant potential changes in forest composition and carbon storage, largely due to differential impacts of drought on tree species and interactions with other disturbance agents. In this chapter, we review how drought affects forest ecosystems and the different ways drought effects have been modeled (both spatially and aspatially) in the past. Building on those efforts, we describe several approaches to modeling drought effects in LDSMs, discuss advantages and shortcomings of each, and include two case studies for illustration. The first approach features the use of empirically derived relationships between measures of drought and the loss of tree biomass to drought-induced mortality. The second uses deterministic rules of species mortality for given drought events to project changes in species composition and forest distribution. A third approach is more mechanistic, simulating growth reductions and death caused by water stress. Because modeling of drought effects in LDSMs is still in its infancy, and because drought is expected to play an increasingly important role in forest health, further development of modeling drought-forest dynamics is urgently needed.

[On the biological properties of fragrance compounds and essential oils].

PubMed

Buchbauer, Gerhard

2004-11-01

In the present review the physiological and/or pharmacological properties of essential oils and of single fragrance compounds are discussed. Essential oils are known and have been used since ancient times as natural medicines. As natural products essential oils are dependent on climate and their composition varies according to conditions of soil, to solar irradiation, to harvest time, to production methods, to storage conditions and similar facts which are discussed in chapter 2 of this review. The next chapters deal with the therapeutic use of essential oils in treating diseases, disorders or ailments of the nervous system, against cancer and as penetration enhancers. For space-saving reasons, however, the manifold antimicrobial and antifungal properties of these natural products have been left out. In the last chapter, the pros and cons in the use of essential oils in therapy are also discussed.

Estimates of wildland fire emissions

Treesearch

Yongqiang Liu; John J. Qu; Wanting Wang; Xianjun Hao

2013-01-01

Wildland fire missions can significantly affect regional and global air quality, radiation, climate, and the carbon cycle. A fundamental and yet challenging prerequisite to understanding the environmental effects is to accurately estimate fire emissions. This chapter describes and analyzes fire emission calculations. Various techniques (field measurements, empirical...

Meteorological measurements. Chapter 3

Treesearch

David Y. Hollinger

2008-01-01

Environmental measurements are useful for detecting climatic trends, understanding how the environment influences biological processes, and as input to ecosystem models. Landscape-scale monitoring requires a suite of environmental measures for all of these purposes, including air and soil temperature, humidity, wind speed, precipitation and soil moisture, and different...

Integrated Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Maize Farms and Farm Household Incomes in South India: A Case Study from Tamil Nadu. 9; Chapter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ponnusamy, Paramasivam; Vellingiri, Geethalakshmi; Danda, Raji Reddy; Arunachalam, Lakshmanan; Murthy, Dakshina; Prema, Sunandini; Gade, Sreenivas; McDermid, Sonali P.; Valdivia, Roberto O.

2015-01-01

South India is characterized by a wide variety of landscapes, soils and climatic zones. It is comprised of tropical, semi-arid, humid-moist, and high-altitude environments, which support a diversity of agricultural systems. Our study focused on the state of Tamil Nadu, which is characterized by a generally tropical climate, and receive rainfall during both the southwest monsoon season (SWM, June to September) and the northeast monsoon (NEM, September to December). Agriculture continues to be an important sector in the state economy, as more than 56 of the people depend on agriculture and allied sectors for their livelihood. Analysis of land-use patterns in Tamil Nadu reveals that in the past decade there has been a reduction in net sown area and current fallow, while the share of cultivable wastelands has increased. The area under cereals, pulses, and oilseeds had marginally declined, although area under commercial crops like turmeric, sugar-cane, banana, fruits, and vegetables has shown an increasing trend. The production performance of major crops like cereals, pulses, and oilseeds has not shown any significant increase. Demand and supply gap of important crops in Tamil Nadu for the year 2010 indicates that the state is lagging far behind in the production of various crops.

Measuring, interpreting, and responding to changes in coral reefs: A challenge for biologists, geologist, and managers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Rogers, Caroline S.; Miller, Jeff; Hubbard, Dennis K.; Rogers, Caroline S.; Lipps, Jere H.; Stanley, George D.

2016-01-01

What, exactly, is a coral reef? And how have the world’s reefs changed in the last several decades? What are the stressors undermining reef structure and function? Given the predicted effects of climate change, do reefs have a future? Is it possible to “manage” coral reefs for resilience? What can coral reef scientists contribute to improve protection and management of coral reefs? What insights can biologists and geologists provide regarding the persistence of coral reefs on a human timescale? What is reef change to a biologist… to a geologist?Clearly, there are many challenging questions. In this chapter, we present some of our thoughts on monitoring and management of coral reefs in US national parks in the Caribbean and western Atlantic based on our experience as members of monitoring teams. We reflect on the need to characterize and evaluate reefs, on how to conduct high-quality monitoring programs, and on what we can learn from biological and geological experiments and investigations. We explore the possibility that specific steps can be taken to “manage” coral reefs for greater resilience.

Modeling Methods

USGS Publications Warehouse

Healy, Richard W.; Scanlon, Bridget R.

2010-01-01

Simulation models are widely used in all types of hydrologic studies, and many of these models can be used to estimate recharge. Models can provide important insight into the functioning of hydrologic systems by identifying factors that influence recharge. The predictive capability of models can be used to evaluate how changes in climate, water use, land use, and other factors may affect recharge rates. Most hydrological simulation models, including watershed models and groundwater-flow models, are based on some form of water-budget equation, so the material in this chapter is closely linked to that in Chapter 2. Empirical models that are not based on a water-budget equation have also been used for estimating recharge; these models generally take the form of simple estimation equations that define annual recharge as a function of precipitation and possibly other climatic data or watershed characteristics.Model complexity varies greatly. Some models are simple accounting models; others attempt to accurately represent the physics of water movement through each compartment of the hydrologic system. Some models provide estimates of recharge explicitly; for example, a model based on the Richards equation can simulate water movement from the soil surface through the unsaturated zone to the water table. Recharge estimates can be obtained indirectly from other models. For example, recharge is a parameter in groundwater-flow models that solve for hydraulic head (i.e. groundwater level). Recharge estimates can be obtained through a model calibration process in which recharge and other model parameter values are adjusted so that simulated water levels agree with measured water levels. The simulation that provides the closest agreement is called the best fit, and the recharge value used in that simulation is the model-generated estimate of recharge.

The Classroom Is a "Sangha": Contemplative Education in the Community College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haight, Robert

2010-01-01

Contemplative education, including meditation, mindfulness, "lectio divina," and freewriting, regularly practiced in a classroom where a climate of "ahimsa" and nonjudgment are defining attitudes, can restore wholeness and foster engagement, imagination, and compassion in both instructors and students. This chapter proposes that a contemplative…

Continuing Chapter 1's Leadership in Modeling Best Practices in Evaluation. A Symposium Presentation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ligon, Glynn

This paper examines whether the Title I/Chapter 1 tradition of leading the way in educational evaluation will continue or whether Chapter 1 will change its role by delegating decision-making authority over evaluation methodology to state and local school systems. Whatever direction Chapter 1 takes, states, school systems, and schools must be held…

The Effect of Agricultural Growing Season Change on Market Prices in Africa

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

deBeurs, K.M.; Brown, M. E.

2013-01-01

Local agricultural production is a key element of food security in many agricultural countries in Africa. Climate change and variability is likely to adversely affect these countries, particularly as they affect the ability of smallholder farmers to raise enough food to feed themselves. Seasonality influences farmers' decisions about when to sow and harvest, and ultimately the success or failure of their crops. At a 2009 conference in the United Kingdom hosted by the Institute of Development Studies, Jennings and Magrath (2009) described farmer reports from East Asia, South Asia, Southern Africa, East Africa and Latin America. Farmers indicate significant changes in the timing of rainy seasons and the pattern of rains within seasons, including: More erratic rainfall, coming at unexpected times in and out of season; Extreme storms and unusually intense rainfall are punctuated by longer dry spells within the rainy season; Increasing uncertainty as to the start of rainy seasons in many areas; Short or transitional second rainy seasons are becoming stronger than normal or are disappearing altogether. These farmer perceptions of change are striking in that they are geographically widespread and are remarkably consistent across diverse regions (Jennings and Magrath, 2009). The impact of these changes on farmers with small plots and few resources is large. Farming is becoming riskier because of heat stress, lack of water, pests and diseases that interact with ongoing pressures on natural resources. Lack of predictability in the start and length of the growing season affects the ability of farmers to invest in appropriate fertilizer levels or improved, high yielding varieties. These changes occur at the same time as the demand for food is rising and is projected to continue to rise for the next fifty years (IAASTD, 2008). Long-term data records derived from satellite remote sensing can be used to verify these reports, providing necessary analysis and documentation required to plan effective adaptation strategies. Remote sensing data can also provide some understanding of the spatial extent of these changes and whether they are likely to continue. Given the agricultural nature of most economies on the African continent, agricultural production continues to be a critical determinant of both food security and economic growth (Funk and Brown, 2009). Crop phenological parameters, such as the start and end of the growing season, the total length of the growing season, and the rate of greening and senescence are important for planning crop management, crop diversification, and intensification. The World Food Summit of 1996 defined food security as: "when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life". Food security roughly depends on three factors: 1) availability of food; 2) access to food and 3) appropriate use of food, as well as adequate water and sanitation. The first factor is dependent on growing conditions and weather and climate. In a previous paper we have investigated this factor by evaluating the effect of large scale climate oscillation on land surface phenology (Brown et al., 2010). We found that all areas in Africa are significantly affected by at least one type of large scale climate oscillations and concluded that these somewhat predictable oscillations could perhaps be used to forecast agricultural production. In addition, we have evaluated changes in agricultural land surface phenology over time (Brown et al., 2012). We found that land surface phenology models, which link large-scale vegetation indices with accumulated humidity, could successfully predict agricultural productivity in several countries around the world. In this chapter we are interested in the effect of variability in peak timing of the growing season, or phenology, on the second factor of food security, food access. In this chapter we want to determine if there is a link between market prices and land surface phenology and to determine which markets are vulnerable to land surface phenology changes and variability and which market prices are not correlated.

Characterizing drought for forested landscapes and streams

Treesearch

Charlie Luce; Neil Pederson; John Campbell; Connie Millar; Patrick Kormos; James M. Vose; Ross Woods

2016-01-01

The purpose of this chapter is to explore drought as a hydrometeorological phenomenon and reflect broadly on the characteristics of drought that influence forests, rangelands, and streams. It is a synthesis of understanding about drought processes, hydrology, paleoclimatology, and historical climate variability, and how this understanding can help predict potential...

Desert grassland and shrubland ecosystems [chapter 5

Treesearch

Samuel R. Loftin; Richard Agllilar; Alice L. Chung-MacCoubrey; Wayne A. Robbie

1995-01-01

The productivity, stability, and health of the Middle Rio Grande Basin, arid and semiarid grassland and shrub land ecosystems depend upon complex interactions. These relationships occur between factors such as climate, domestic livestock, and wildlife use, and human activities such as urban development, agriculture, and recreation. These grassland/ shrub land...

Effectiveness of United Nation’s Missions in Africa: A Comparative Assessment of UNAMSIL, MONUC, and UNAMID

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-06-11

29 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................................30 Congruence Method ...32 Method of Research/Criteria of Analysis...systems of taxation have collapsed and physical infrastructure has been destroyed, trade and any form of business are cut off and a climate of

Chapter 18. Grasses

Treesearch

Stephen B. Monsen; Richard Stevens; Nancy Shaw

2004-01-01

Grasses are adapted to a wide range of edaphic and climatic conditions and are found in nearly all plant communities. In the Western United States, grasses are seeded on disturbances to provide forage (Hull and Holmgren 1964; Vallentine 1989), wildlife habitat (Plummer and others 1968), and watershed stability (Cornelius 1946; Hafenrichter and others 1949; Piper 1934;...

Forest health and bark beetles

Treesearch

C. J. Fettig

2012-01-01

In recent years, bark beetles have caused significant tree mortality in the Sierra Nevada, rivaling mortality caused by wildfire in some locations. This chapter addresses two important questions: How can managers prepare for and influence levels of bark beetle-caused tree mortality given current forest conditions and future climate uncertainties? and How would the...

Chapter 1: Central Arizona Highlands

Treesearch

Peter F. Ffolliott

1999-01-01

The Central Arizona Highlands are a distinct biogeographic, climatic, and physiographic province that forms a diverse ecotone between the larger Colorado Plateau to the north and the Sonoran Desert ecoregions to the south (figure 1). The Highlands coincide approximately with the Arizona Transition Zone identified by ecologists, geologists and others. This region is one...

Management for adaptation

Treesearch

John Innes; Linda A. Joyce; Seppo Kellomaki; Bastiaan Louman; Aynslie Ogden; Ian Thompson; Matthew Ayres; Chin Ong; Heru Santoso; Brent Sohngen; Anita Wreford

2009-01-01

This chapter develops a framework to explore examples of adaptation options that could be used to ensure that the ecosystem services provided by forests are maintained under future climates. The services are divided into broad areas within which managers can identify specific management goals for individual forests or landscapes. Adaptation options exist for the major...

Verde River hydrology [Chapter 3

Treesearch

Daniel G. Neary; Alvin L. Medina

2012-01-01

The Central Arizona Highlands are a distinct biogeographic, climatic, and physiographic province that forms a diverse ecotone between the more extensive Colorado Plateau to the north and the Sonoran Desert ecoregions to the south (Ffolliott 1999). The Highlands coincide closely to the Arizona Transition Zone identified by ecologists, geologists, and others (Karlstrom...

Access & Excellence: The Open-Door College.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roueche, John E.; Baker, George A., III

Drawing from an in-depth case study of the organizational climate, leadership, teaching, systems, programs, and student outcomes at Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC), this book addresses questions related to the achievement of both open access and high academic standards in the community college. Chapter I presents the rationale for the study…

The Role of Nuclear Power in Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

EPA Science Inventory

For Frank Princiotta’s book, Global Climate Change—The Technology Challenge As this chapter will point out, nuclear energy is a low greenhouse gas emitter and is capable of providing large amounts of power using proven technology. In the immediate future, it can contribute to gr...

Chapter 9. Review of technical knowledge: Boreal owls

Treesearch

Gregory D. Hayward

1994-01-01

The boreal owl (Aegolius funereus), known as Tengmalm's owl in Eurasia, occurs throughout the holarctic in boreal climatic zones. This medium-size owl (100-170 g) occupies boreal and subalpine forests in an almost continuous circumboreal distribution that extends from Scandinavia eastward across the northern forests of Siberia and from Alaska...

Impacts of Groundwater Pumping on Regional and Global Water Resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wada, Yoshihide

2016-01-01

Except frozen water in ice and glaciers (68%), groundwater is the world's largest distributed store of freshwater (30%), and has strategic importance to global food and water security. In this chapter, the most recent advances assessing human impact on regional and global groundwater resources are reviewed. This chapter critically evaluates the recently advanced modeling approaches quantifying the effect of groundwater pumping in regional and global groundwater resources and the evidence of feedback to the Earth system including sea-level rise associated with groundwater use. At last, critical challenges and opportunities are identified in the use of groundwater to adapt to growing food demand and uncertain climate.

Chapter 4. Recent epidemiology of tick-borne encephalitis an effect of climate change?

PubMed

Korenberg, E I

2009-01-01

Consideration is given to the opinion of some specialists that the rise in tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) morbidity at the turn of the century has been accounted for by new features of TBE epidemiology as well as by global climate change. It is shown that neither the reputed current expansion of the ranges of main TBE vectors, the taiga (Ixodes persulcatus) and sheep (Ixodes ricinus) ticks, nor the significant rise of their abundance and TBE virus prevalence in them are confirmed by any objective data. The concept of recent tick expansion to large cities and human TBE infection in newly formed urban foci disagrees with the facts repeatedly described during the past four decades. There is no reliable information on the expansion of TBE nosological range. The influence of newly formed anthropurgic foci and of changes in the contribution of city dwellers to the general morbidity structure on the current epidemiological situation is estimated. As in the case of any other zoonosis with natural focality, the level of epidemiological manifestation of TBE foci is determined by two main parameters: the intensity of virus circulation in the foci (i.e., their loimopotential) and the frequency of human contact with them. Attention is paid to the character of interaction between these two factors, which accounted for a major outbreak of TBE morbidity at the end of the twentieth century, followed by a long-term decrease in its level.

Precipitation and lake-level changes in the West and Midwest over the past 10,000 to 24,000 years. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Webb, T. III; Street, F.A.; Howe, S.

The goal of the research described in this report is to document the climatic variability over the past 10,000 to 20,000 years in areas in which sites may be designated for the burial of nuclear wastes. Three separate data sets were studied, and the results are presented in three chapters. The first data set consisted of radiocarbon dates documenting past changes in lake levels in lakes and playas in the western United States. The sites were mapped where water levels were higher than the levels today and were presented in a table telling what evidence is available at each site.more » The lake-level fluctuations for the past 24,000 years at sites in the West were also mapped and time series for these fluctuations at four sites were presented. The second data set was a selection of the published radiocarbon-dated pollen diagrams from the western United States. These data are a valuable source of climatic information and complement the geological evidence of lake-level fluctuations in the West. A table is presented that gives the location, elevation, and number of radiocarbon dates for each site. The third data set was a set of fossil pollen data from 20 sites in the upper Midwest. These data were calibrated in terms of precipitation changes over the past 10,000 years, and maps are presented of the estimated precipitation changes between 10,000 and 7000 years ago and between 7000 years ago and today.« less

Overview of geology and tectonic evolution of the Baikal-Tuva area.

PubMed

Gladkochub, Dmitry; Donskaya, Tatiana

2009-01-01

This chapter provides the results of geological investigations of the main tectonic units of the Baikal-Tuva region (southwestern part of Siberia) during the last decades: the ancient Siberian craton and adjacent areas of the Central Asian Orogenic belt. In the framework of these main units we describe small-scale blocks (terranes) with focus on details of their inner structure and evolution through time. As well as describing the geology and tectonics of the area studied, we give an overview of underwater sediments, neotectonics, and some phenomena of history and development of the Baikal, Khubsugul, Chargytai, and Tore-Chol Lakes basins of the Baikal-Tuva region. It is suggested that these lakes' evolution was controlled by neotectonic processes, modern seismic activity, and global climate changes.

Hanford Site National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Characterization Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Neitzel, Duane A.; Bunn, Amoret L.; Cannon, Sandra D.

2004-09-22

This document describes the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford Site environment. It is updated each year and is intended to provide a consistent description of the Hanford Site environment for the many National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents being prepared by DOE contractors. No statements of significance or environmental consequences are provided. This year's report is the sixteenth revision of the original document published in 1988 and is (until replaced by the seventeenth revision) the only version that is relevant for use in the preparation of Hanford NEPA, State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, andmore » Liability Act (CERCLA) documents. The two chapters included in this document (Chapters 4 and 6) are numbered to correspond to the chapters where such information is typically presented in environmental impact statements (Weiss) and other Hanford Site NEPA or CERCLA documentation. Chapter 4.0 (Affected Environment) describes Hanford Site climate and meteorology, geology, hydrology, ecology, cultural, archaeological, and historical resources, socioeconomics, occupational safety and health, and noise. Chapter 6.0 (Statutory and Regulatory Requirements) describes federal and state laws and regulations, DOE directives and permits, and presidential executive orders that are applicable to the NEPA documents prepared for Hanford Site activities.« less

A Changing Time. Handbook for Parents of Teen-Agers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lewis, Anne; And Others

This booklet was written to help parents understand their teenagers. Chapter One discusses changes in teenagers, both physical and emotional. The importance of peer groups is discussed. The changes in the world since the parents were teenagers, are discussed in Chapter Two including: (1) the school and (2) the emphasis on planning for the future.…

Final Report for Dynamic Models for Causal Analysis of Panel Data. Models for Change in Quantitative Variables, Part III: Estimation from Panel Data. Part II, Chapter 5.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hannan, Michael T.

This document is part of a series of chapters described in SO 011 759. Addressing the problems of studying change and the change process, the report argues that sociologists should study coupled changes in qualitative and quantitative outcomes (e.g., marital status and earnings). The author presents a model for sociological studies of change in…

Hanford Site National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Characterization Report, Revision 17

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Neitzel, Duane A.; Bunn, Amoret L.; Cannon, Sandra D.

2005-09-30

This document describes the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hanford Site environment. It is updated each year and is intended to provide a consistent description of the Hanford Site environment for the many environmental documents being prepared by DOE contractors concerning the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). No statements about significance or environmental consequences are provided. This year’s report is the seventeenth revision of the original document published in 1988 and is (until replaced by the eighteenth revision) the only version that is relevant for use in the preparation of Hanford NEPA, State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), and Comprehensive Environmentalmore » Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) documents. The two chapters included in this document (Chapters 4 and 6) are numbered to correspond to the chapters where such information is typically presented in environmental impact statements (EISs) and other Hanford Site NEPA or CERCLA documentation. Chapter 4.0 (Affected Environment) describes Hanford Site climate and meteorology; air quality; geology; hydrology; ecology; cultural, archaeological, and historical resources; socioeconomics; noise; and occupational health and safety. Sources for extensive tabular data related to these topics are provided in the chapter. Most subjects are divided into a general description of the characteristics of the Hanford Site, followed by site-specific information, where available, of the 100, 200, 300, and other areas. This division allows the reader to go directly to those sections of particular interest. When specific information on each of these separate areas is not complete or available, the general Hanford Site description should be used. Chapter 6.0 (Statutory and Regulatory Requirements) describes federal and state laws and regulations, DOE directives and permits, and presidential executive orders that are applicable to the NEPA documents prepared for Hanford Site activities. Information in Chapter 6 of this document can be adapted and supplemented with specific information for a chapter covering statutory and regulatory requirements in an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement. When preparing environmental assessments and EISs, authors should also be cognizant of the document titled Recommendations for the Preparation of Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements published by the DOE Office of NEPA Oversight (DOE 2004). Additional guidance on preparing DOE NEPA documents can be found at http://tis.eh.doe.gov/nepa/guidance.html. Any interested individual seeking baseline data on the Hanford Site and its past activities may also use the information contained in this document to evaluate projected activities and their impacts. For this 2005 revision, the following sections of the document were reviewed by the authors and updated with the best available information through May 2005: Climate and Meteorology Air Quality Geology – Seismicity section only Hydrology – Flow charts for the Columbia and Yakima rivers only Ecology – Threatened and Endangered Species subsection only Socioeconomics Occupational Safety All of Chapter 6.« less

Paleoclimate

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bartlein, Patrick J.; Hostetler, Steven W.; Alder, Jay R.; Ohring, G.

2014-01-01

As host to one of the major continental-scale ice sheets, and with considerable spatial variability of climate related to its physiography and location, North America has experienced a wide range of climates over time. The aim of this chapter is to review the history of those climate variations, focusing in particular on the continental-scale climatic variations between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ca. 21,000 years ago or 21 ka) and the present, which were as large in amplitude as any experienced over a similar time span during the past several million years. As background to that discussion, the climatic variations over the Cenozoic (the past 65.5 Myr, or 65.5 Ma to present) that led ultimately to the onset of Northern Hemisphere glaciation at 2.59 Ma will also be discussed. Superimposed on the large-amplitude, broad-scale variations from the LGM to present, are climatic variations on millennial-to-decadal scales, and these will be reviewed in particular for the Holocene (11.7 ka to present) and the past millennium.

Changing Systems for Children and Families.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCart, Linda

This document summarizes the results of research on reform of state and national policy affecting families and children. The document begins with a rationale for change, and follows with four chapters that identify barriers stemming from attitudes, system organization, resource limitations, and technical problems. Each chapter suggests strategies…

Teaching Self-Management Strategies to Adolescents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, K. Richard; And Others

This book presents a behavioral program to teach adolescents basic self-management skills; two chapters provide the theoretical basis for the program and four chapters supply sample lesson plans. The first chapter is an introduction to behavioral self-management. It proposes a behavior change model with four major components: assessment,…

Designing Courses for Higher Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toohey, Susan

This guide is intended for teachers who want to learn more about educational design of college courses. Chapter 1 identifies various pressures for change in designing courses and urges creation of conditions that foster deep learning. Chapter 2 examines various models of the course design process. Chapter 3 discusses beliefs, values and ideologies…

5 CFR 335.101 - Effect of position change on status and tenure.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... and tenure. (a) Status. A position change authorized by § 335.102 does not change the competitive... under chapter 45 of title 39, United States Code, or required by law to be filled on a permanent basis... paid under chapter 45 of title 39, United States Code, or required by law to be filled on a permanent...

5 CFR 335.101 - Effect of position change on status and tenure.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... and tenure. (a) Status. A position change authorized by § 335.102 does not change the competitive... under chapter 45 of title 39, United States Code, or required by law to be filled on a permanent basis... paid under chapter 45 of title 39, United States Code, or required by law to be filled on a permanent...

A Paradigm shift to an Old Scheme for Outgoing Longwave Radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McDonald, Alastair B.

2016-04-01

There are many cases where the climate models do not agree with the empirical data. For instance, the data from radiosondes (and MSUs) do not show the amount of warming in the upper troposphere that is predicted by the models (Thorne et al. 2011). The current scheme for outgoing longwave radiation can be traced back to the great 19th Century French mathematician J-B Joseph Fourier. His anachronistic idea was that the radiation balance at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) is maintained by the conduction of heat from the surface (Fourier 1824). It was based on comparing the atmosphere to the 18th Century Swiss scientist H-B de Saussure's hotbox which he had invented to show that solar radiation is only slightly absorbed by the atmosphere. Saussure also showed that thermal radiation existed and argued that the warmth of the air near the surface of the Earth is due to absorption of that infra red radiation (Saussure 1786). Hence a paradigm shift to Saussure's scheme, where the thermal radiation is absorbed at the base of the atmosphere, rather than throughout the atmosphere as in Fourier's scheme, may solve many climate models problems. In this new paradigm the boundary layer continually exchanges radiation with the surface. Thus only at two instants during the day is there no net gain or loss of heat by the boundary layer from the surface, and so that layer is not in LTE. Moreover, since the absorption of outgoing longwave radiation is saturated within the boundary layer, it has little influence on the TOA balance. That balance is mostly maintained by changes in albedo, e.g. clouds and ice sheets. Use of this paradigm can explain why the excess warming in south western Europe was caused by water vapour close to the surface (Philipona et al. 2005), and may also explain why there are difficulties in closing the surface radiation balance (Wild et al. 2013) and in modelling abrupt climate change (White et al. 2013). References: Fourier, Joseph. 1824. 'Remarques Générales Sur Les Températures Du Globe Terrestre Et Des Espaces Planétaires.' Annales de Chimie et de Physique 27: 136-67, translated by Raymond T. Pierrehumbert http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v432/n7018/extref/432677a-s1.pdf Philipona, Rolf, Bruno Dürr, Atsumu Ohmura, and Christian Ruckstuhl. 2005. 'Anthropogenic Greenhouse Forcing and Strong Water Vapor Feedback Increase Temperature in Europe'. Geophysical Research Letters 32 (19): L19809. doi:10.1029/2005GL023624. Saussure, Horace-Benedict de. 1786. 'Chapter XXXV. Des Causes du Froid qui Regne sur les Montagnes'. In Voyages dans les Alpes, II:347-71. Neuchatel: Fauche-Borel. http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1029499.r=.langFR, translated by Alastair B. McDonald, http://www.abmcdonald.freeserve.co.uk/saussure/CHAPTER%2035.pdf. Thorne, Peter W., Philip Brohan, Holly A. Titchner, et al. 2011. 'A Quantification of Uncertainties in Historical Tropical Tropospheric Temperature Trends from Radiosondes'. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 116 (D12): n/a - n/a. doi:10.1029/2010JD015487. Wild, Martin, Doris Folini, Christoph Schär, et al. 2013. 'The Global Energy Balance from a Surface Perspective'. Climate Dynamics 40 (11-12): 3107-34. doi:10.1007/s00382-012-1569-8. White, James W.C., Alley, Richard B., Archer, David E., et al. 2013. Abrupt Impacts of Climate Change: Anticipating Surprises. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press. http://www.nap.edu/catalog/18373.

Contrasts Between Precipitation over Mediterranean Sea and Adjacent Continental Areas Based on Decadal Scale Satellite Estimates

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smith, Eric A.

2007-01-01

Most knowledge concerning the last century's climatology and climate dynamics of precipitation over the Mediterranean Sea basin is based on observations taken from rain gauges surrounding the sea itself. In turn, most of the observations come from Southern Europe, with many fewer measurements taken from widely scattered sites situated over North Africa, the Middle East, and the Balkans. This aspect of research on the Mediterranean Sea basin is apparent in a recent compilation of studies presented in book form concerning climate variability of the Mediterranean region [Lionello, P., P. Malanotte-Rizzoli, and R. Boscolo (eds.), 2006: Mediterranean Climate Variability. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 9 chapters.] In light of this missing link to over-water observations, this study (in conjunction with four companion studies by Z. Haddad, A. Mugnai, T. Nakazawa, and G. Stephens) will contrast the nature of precipitation variability directly over the Mediterranean Sea to precipitation variability over the surrounding land areas based on three decades of satellite-based precipitation estimates which have stood up well to validation scrutiny. The satellite observations are drawn from the Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP) dataset extending back to 1979 and the TRMM Merged Algorithm 3b42 dataset extending back to 1998. Both datasets are mostly produced from microwave measurements, excepting the period from 1979 to mid-1987 when only infrared satellite measurements were available for the GPCP estimates. The purpose of this study is to emphasize how the salient properties of precipitation variability over land and sea across a hierarchy of space and time scales, and the salient differences in these properties, might be used in guiding short-term climate models to better predictions of future climate states under different regional temperature-change scenarios.

Chapter 6. Climate and terrain

Treesearch

James N. Davis

2004-01-01

Our knowledge of the physical requirements of cultivated plants is far advanced in contrast to that of the native and introduced species used in range plantings. Cultivated plants are usually grown as single varieties of a species under specific controlled conditions to ensure maximum yields. Native and introduced range plants often grow in species mixtures on sites...

The potential for water savings through the control of saltcedar and russian olive

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

To understand the influence of saltcedar and Russian olive on water availability, this chapter examines the relation of water availability to the hydrologic cycle and geomorphic setting in the western U.S. The importance of scale, time, natural variation in climate, and the role of human activity in...

Water and watershed

Treesearch

Norbert V. DeByle

1985-01-01

Quaking aspen dominates several million acres on mountainous watersheds in the West. The sites occupied receive enough precipitation to yield water to lower elevations. Most aspen areas receive 16 inches (40 cm) or more precipitation annually; many receive more than 39 inches (100 cm) (see the CLIMATES chapter), well in excess of on-site loss from evapotranspiration....

Families and Education: An Educator's Resource for Family Involvement. (Revised Edition).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

App, Marie, Comp.; Grinde, Jane, Comp.

This handbook for educators offers guidance on ways to understand families, family-teacher communication, the process of reinforcing classwork at home, caring for the whole child, and selected resources. Chapter 1 discusses the climate for family involvement, different perceptions of teachers and families, what families want to know, today's…

Comparative ecology of lynx in North America [Chapter 14

Treesearch

Steven W. Buskirk; Leonard F. Ruggiero; Keith B. Aubry; Dean E. Pearson; John R. Squires; Kevin S. McKelvey

2000-01-01

: Lynx occur across a large geographic area, but have only been studied in a few locations, and this has led to extrapolation of understandings into areas with very divergent ecologies. We discuss ecological differences across the range of lynx, contrasting the patterns of climate, vegetation, disturbance dynamics and succession, and predator/prey...

Essays on School Quality and Student Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crispin, Laura M.

2012-01-01

In my first chapter, I explore the relationship between school size and student achievement where, conditional on observable educational inputs, school size is a proxy for factors that are difficult to measure directly ( e.g., school climate and organization). Using data from the NELS:88, I estimate a series of value-added education production…

Antarctica: Scientific Journeys from McMurdo to the Pole.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brand, Judith, Ed.

2002-01-01

This issue of Exploratorium Magazine focuses on Antarctica. Antarctica has one of the most extreme climates in the world with an untouched environment inviting researchers with great opportunities for study. This issue describes the journey of four Exploratorium staff members to frozen Antarctica. Chapters include: (1) "Life at the Bottom of…

Fluvial processes in Puget Sound rivers and the Pacific Northwest [Chapter 3

Treesearch

John M. Buffington; Richard D. Woodsmith; Derek B. Booth; David R. Montgomery

2003-01-01

The variability of topography, geology, climate; vegetation, and land use in the Pacific Northwest creates considerable spatial and temporal variability of fluvial processes and reach-scale channel type. Here we identify process domains of typical Pacific Northwest watersheds and examine local physiographic and geologic controls on channel processes and response...

Faculty Advising Examined: Enhancing the Potential of College Faculty as Advisors.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kramer, Gary L., Ed.

This collection explores faculty advising as a potential contributor to student college success and provides information on how to organize, deliver, and improve overall faculty advising in the current higher education climate. The chapters are: (1) "Advising as Teaching" (Gary L. Kramer); (2) "Faculty Advising: Practice and Promise" (Wesley R.…

Modeling understory vegetation and its response to fire [Chapter 15

Treesearch

Donald McKenzie; Crystal L. Raymond; Samuel A. Cushman

2008-01-01

The understory is an oft-neglected element in landscape modeling. Most landscape models focus on the dominant vegetation and how it responds over successional time to climate, competitive interactions, and disturbance (Keane et al. 2004, Cary et al. 2006). Even forest stand-level models rarely consider understory components other than seedlings, saplings, and...

Design tools

Treesearch

Anton TenWolde; Mark T. Bomberg

2009-01-01

Overall, despite the lack of exact input data, the use of design tools, including models, is much superior to the simple following of rules of thumbs, and a moisture analysis should be standard procedure for any building envelope design. Exceptions can only be made for buildings in the same climate, similar occupancy, and similar envelope construction. This chapter...

Chapter 7. Creating and Sustaining a Culture of Group Care

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ainsworth, Frank; Fulcher, Leon C.

2006-01-01

Group care centers are established to provide a range of living, learning, treatment, and supervisory opportunities for children and young people who, for a variety of reasons, need alternative, supplementary, or substitute care. It is important, therefore, that group care centres establish an organizational climate, ethos, or culture of caring…

From a United Nations Study: The Climatic and Other Global Effects of Nuclear War.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Environment, 1988

1988-01-01

Presents excerpts from the first chapter of a report presented to the General Assembly of the United Nations during the Special Session on Disarmament. Discussed are key scientific issues regarding the global effects of nuclear war, and the findings and conclusions presented in the report. (CW)

The State of UK Higher Education: Managing Change and Diversity.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warner, David, Ed.; Palfreyman, David, Ed.

In this collection, experienced university managers explore the strengths and weaknesses of the various sectors of higher education in the United Kingdom. Their chapters illustrate the diversity of responses within different institutions to the drivers of change. The chapters are: (1) "Introduction: Setting the Scene" (David Warner and…

The Changing American Diet.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brewster, Letitia; Jacobson, Michael F.

This book presents an overview of Americans' eating habits in the present and the early 1900's. Chapter One discusses factors contributing to the nation's dramatic, almost unprecedented dietary changes and provides a brief discussion of food consumption statistics. Chapter Two compares present and past U.S. consumption of alcoholic beverages,…

Second Thoughts on Work.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Levitan, Sar A.; Johnson, Clifford M.

This book examines the forces which are changing work in the 1980s and offers a concise analysis of the challenges for social policy which lie ahead. The first of nine chapters looks at changes affecting Americans' concept of work, including expectations, commitment to work, satisfaction, and work reform. Discussion in chapter 2 focuses on…

Final Report for Dynamic Models for Causal Analysis of Panel Data. Models for Change in Quantitative Variables, Part I Deterministic Models. Part II, Chapter 3.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hannan, Michael T.

This document is part of a series of chapters described in SO 011 759. Addressing the question of effective models to measure change and the change process, the author suggests that linear structural equation systems may be viewed as steady state outcomes of continuous-change models and have rich sociological grounding. Two interpretations of the…

Prototype Engineered Barrier System Field Test (PEBSFT); Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ramirez, A.L.; Buscheck, T.; Carlson, R.

1991-08-01

This final report represents a summary of data and interpretations obtained from the Prototype Engineered Barrier System Field Test (PEBSFT) performed in G-Tunnel within the Nevada Test Site. The PEBSFT was conducted to evaluate the applicability of measurement techniques, numerical models, and procedures developed for future field tests that will be conducted in the Exploratory Studies Facilities (ESF) at Yucca Mountain. The primary objective of the test was to provide a basis for determining whether tests planned for the ESF have the potential to be successful. Chapter 1 on high frequency electromagnetic tomography discusses the rock mass electromagnetic permittivity andmore » attenuation rate changes that were measured to characterize the water distribution in the near field of a simulated waste container. The data are used to obtain quantitative estimates of how the moisture content in the rock mass changes during heating and to infer properties of the spatial variability of water distribution, leading to conclusions about the role of fractures in the system. Chapter 2 discusses the changes in rock moisture content detected by the neutron logging probe. Chapter 3 permeability tests discusses the characterization of the in-situ permeability of the fractured tuff around the borehole. The air permeability testing apparatus, the testing procedures, and the data analysis are presented. Chapter 4 describes the moisture collection system installed in the heater borehole to trap and measure the moisture volumes. Chapter 5 describes relative humidity measurements made with the thermocouple psychrometer and capacitance sensors. Chapter 6 discusses gas pressure measurements in the G-Tunnel, addressing the calibration and installation of piezoresistive-gaged transducers. Chapter 7 describes the calibration and installation of thermocouples for temperature measurements. Chapter 8 discusses the results of the PEBSFT.« less

The Woman in Mangement. Career and Family Issues.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farley, Jennie, Ed.

In chapter 1 of this volume of conference proceedings, economist Juanita M. Kreps traces the effects of demographic and social changes on the role of women in the economy. Chapter 2 presents management consultant Betty Lehan Harragan's "gamesmanship" thesis. In chapter 3, sociologist Rosabeth Moss Kanter analyzes the role of high technology in…

Reforming Educators: Teachers, Experts, and Advocates.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitchell, Samuel

This textbook analyzes successful innovations in education. The first chapter provides an overview of the book, which is followed by a review of classical studies and disasters that have accompanied innovation. Chapter 3 offers a series of separate stories about the different ways teachers have responded to changes, and chapter 4 tries to reverse…

Towards a Theory of Schooling. Deakin Studies in Education Series, Volume 4.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hamilton, David

This book examines long-term changes in the form and function of schooling. The work falls into three sections: an introductory chapter; five historical essays; and a concluding chapter. Chapter 1 unfolds the theoretical and practical considerations that governed the selection and organization of the historical essays. The historical essays in…

500 Women Scientists: Science Advocacy Through Community Action

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bohon, W.; Bartel, B. A.; Pendergrass, A. G.; Ramirez, K. S.; Vijayaraghavan, R.; Weintraub, S. R.; Zelikova, T. J.

2017-12-01

500 Women Scientists is a grassroots organization formed in late 2016 to empower women to grow to their full potential in science, increase scientific literacy through public engagement, and advocate for science and equality. Our organization is global but we focus on building community relationships through local action. Our "pods," or local chapters, focus on issues that resonate in their communities, rooted in our mission and values. Pod members meet regularly, develop a support network, make strategic plans, and take action. In less than a year, 500 Women Scientists has already formed important partnerships and begun to work on local, regional and national projects. Nationally, we partnered with The Cairn Project to raise money to support girls in science. In an effort led by the DC pod, our members sent postcards sharing stories of how the EPA protects their communities in the #OurEPA postcard campaign. Pods have also participated in marches, including the Women's March, the March for Science and the People's Climate March. The "Summer of Op-Ed" campaign catalyzed pods and individuals to write to their local newspapers to speak up for funding science, climate change action, and general science advocacy. We have organized "strike-teams" that are working on local issues like education, the environment, climate change, and equal access to science. Additionally, pod members serve as mentors, participate in local events, hold workshops and partner with local organizations. As women scientists, we are in the position to take action to increase diversity in science and to draw attention to unacknowledged structural biases that negatively impact historically under-represented groups. 500 Women Scientists enables women in science to embrace this advocacy role, both within our scientific system and within our local communities.

Long-term Satellite Observations of Cloud and Aerosol Radiative Effects Using the (A)ATSR Satellite Data Record

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christensen, M.; McGarragh, G.; Thomas, G.; Povey, A.; Proud, S.; Poulsen, C. A.; Grainger, R. G.

2016-12-01

Radiative forcing by clouds, aerosols, and their interactions constitute some of the largest sources of uncertainties in the climate system (Chapter 7 IPCC, 2013). It is essential to understand the past through examination of long-term satellite observation records to provide insight into the uncertainty characteristics of these radiative forcers. As part of the ESA CCI (Climate Change Initiative) we have recently implemented a broadband radiative flux algorithm (known as BUGSrad) into the Optimal Retrieval for Aerosol and Cloud (ORAC) scheme. ORAC achieves radiative consistency of its aerosol and cloud products through an optimal estimation scheme and is highly versatile, enabling retrievals for numerous satellite sensors: ATSR, MODIS, VIIRS, AVHRR, SLSTR, SEVIRI, and AHI. An analysis of the 17-year well-calibrated Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) data is used to quantify trends in cloud and aerosol radiative effects over a wide range of spatiotemporal scales. The El Niño Southern Oscillation stands out as the largest contributing mode of variability to the radiative energy balance (long wave and shortwave fluxes) at the top of the atmosphere. Furthermore, trends in planetary albedo show substantial decreases across the Arctic Ocean (likely due to the melting of sea ice and snow) and modest increases in regions dominated by stratocumulus (e.g., off the coast of California) through notable increases in cloud fraction and liquid water path. Finally, changes in volcanic activity and biomass burning aerosol over this period show sizeable radiative forcing impacts at local-scales. We will demonstrate that radiative forcing from aerosols and clouds have played a significant role in the identified key climate processes using 17 years of satellite observational data.

The Enduring Challenges in Public Management: Surviving and Excelling in a Changing World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halachmi, Arie, Ed.; Bouckaert, Geert, Ed.

This book addresses in different ways the prospect of improving the performance of government and nonprofit organizations. The chapters are clustered around enduring management challenges that may influence productivity in the public sector. Fifteen chapters discuss the challenges to productivity posed by immediate and distant changes in the…

Planning for Self-Renewal: A New Approach to Planned Organizational Change.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palola, Ernest G.; Padgett, William

This monograph presents the findings of a study of planning and change at 80 colleges and universities, private and public, located in four separate states--California, Florida, Illinois and New York. In Chapter I, different substantive crises now facing higher education are presented and discussed. The next chapter (II), analyzes planning styles…

Scholarly Work in a Globalised World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fitzgerald, Tanya

2012-01-01

As the chapters in this book thus far have outlined, profound changes have occurred to the higher education landscape that have impacted significantly on what academics do and how they position themselves and their intellectual work. As this chapter will illustrate, these changes are acutely visible in the intensified scrutiny of research outputs,…

Stirring the Head, Heart, and Soul: Redefining Curriculum and Instruction. Second Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Erickson, H. Lynn

This work reviews curricular designs, providing educators a practical structure for making curricular decisions. Chapter 1, "Making Change in a Changing World," argues that an appreciation of the role of pressure groups and partnerships is essential to a quality education plan. Chapter 2, "Concept-Based Curriculum," explores the history of the…

Chapter 4. Students' Attitudes toward Computer Games

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russian Education and Society, 2004

2004-01-01

In this chapter, the authors attempt not only to discern aspects that relate to age, place, and the amount of time devoted to playing computer games in adolescence, but also to study content characteristics of their attitudes such as: the developmental dynamic in the change of their genre preferences in computer games, changes in factors that…

Show Me The Data! Data Visualizations Make Climate Change & Climate Impacts Real

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turrin, M.; Ryan, W. B. F.; Porter, D. F.

2016-12-01

Today's learner is technology proficient. Whether we reference K12, undergraduate, or life long learners we expect that they are not only comfortable interacting with a range of digital media, from computer, to tablet, to a smart phone, but that they expect it. Technology is a central part of how most of us spend large portions of our day; connecting, communicating, recreating and learning. So why would we expect that today's learners would prefer to read about climate change and climate impacts from plain text? As educators we must embrace cutting edge methods and materials to engage our students and learners, meeting them where they are most comfortable. `Polar Explorer: Sea Level' is an app that uses interactive data maps to engage the users in the story of changing sea level. Designed for a general audience this free app (http://www.polarexplorer.org) is a great resource for life-long learners, teachers, students and the curious public. Built around a series of questions that are structured like book chapters, users select from a range of choices like: What is sea level? Why does sea level change? Where is it changing now? What about the polar regions? What about in the past? Who is vulnerable? Each section moves the user through layers of maps that address causes, impacts, future predictions and special vulnerabilities of a rising sea level. Users can select any pathway to build a story that captures their attention as they interact with the data and move through different layers of the app. Each map is interactive and supported by information 'snippits', audio clips and a link to further information. A series of `quests' are available for the app. Each quest is a story with a main science theme at its center that leads a planned excursion through a series of map layers while revealing a story in the data. The combination of physical science in what and where is sea level changing, with human impacts in the `who is vulnerable', builds a series of stories with a personal connection for the app user. Follow a quest to learn why sea level is falling on the Scandinavian coastline, or where you would find the highest mountain peak in Greenland or Antarctica. Users are encouraged to create their own quests and submit them to a shared repository. This app was developed as part of the PoLAR partnership supported by NSF (DUE-1239783).

Hydrology and climate of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico: Chapter C in Water quality and landscape processes of four watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico

USGS Publications Warehouse

Murphy, Sheila F.; Stallard, Robert F.; Murphy, Sheila F.; Stallard, Robert F.

2012-01-01

Puerto Rico lies directly in the path of the easterly trade winds, which deliver steady rainfall to the mountains and steer tropical wave systems toward the island. Hurricanes and tropical storms derived from these tropical waves differ in frequency and intensity, contributing to substantial interannual variation in precipitation and stream discharge. Puerto Rico's steep topography and small water-storage capacity leave the island's water supply and developed flood plains vulnerable to extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, floods, and droughts. This vulnerability may increase in the future owing to ongoing change, both local (such as land-cover shifts, water-supply projects, and construction of roads and other infrastructure) and regional (climate variability and change). Climate change, which could lead to more intense and prolonged droughts as well as an increase in the magnitude and frequency of destructive storms in the Caribbean, may alter temperature and affect the availability of water for human and ecosystem needs. Accurate assessment of hydrologic regimes and water budgets is therefore crucial for effective management of water resources. As part of the U.S. Geological Survey's Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets program, hydrologic and geomorphologic processes and stream chemistry of four small watersheds in eastern Puerto Rico, which differ in geology and land cover, have been studied since 1991. Spatial and temporal characteristics of precipitation and stream discharge, along with water budgets, were determined for the watersheds for the period 1991 to 2005. The locations of the watersheds relative to the Luquillo Mountains and the range's associated rain shadow dominate hydrological processes, dwarfing influences of land cover. The influence of geology is reflected in recession characteristics of the rivers (recession is faster in soils overlying volcaniclastic bedrock) and in hillslope geomorphic processes (sediment is delivered at higher rates from soils overlying granitic bedrock).

Final Report for Dynamic Models for Causal Analysis of Panel Data. Models for Change in Quantitative Variables, Part II Scholastic Models. Part II, Chapter 4.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hannan, Michael T.

This document is part of a series of chapters described in SO 011 759. Stochastic models for the sociological analysis of change and the change process in quantitative variables are presented. The author lays groundwork for the statistical treatment of simple stochastic differential equations (SDEs) and discusses some of the continuities of…

Assessment of Satellite Radiometry in the Visible Domain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Melin, Frederick; Franz, Bryan A.

2014-01-01

Marine reflectance and chlorophyll-a concentration are listed among the Essential Climate Variables by the Global Climate Observing System. To contribute to climate research, the satellite ocean color data records resulting from successive missions need to be consistent and well characterized in terms of uncertainties. This chapter reviews various approaches that can be used for the assessment of satellite ocean color data. Good practices for validating satellite products with in situ data and the current status of validation results are illustrated. Model-based approaches and inter-comparison techniques can also contribute to characterize some components of the uncertainty budget, while time series analysis can detect issues with the instrument radiometric characterization and calibration. Satellite data from different missions should also provide a consistent picture in scales of variability, including seasonal and interannual signals. Eventually, the various assessment approaches should be combined to create a fully characterized climate data record from satellite ocean color.

Sound and human impacts on beluga whales in Cook Inlet, Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blevins, Rachael E.

Cook Inlet beluga whales (CIBs) are a geographically and genetically isolated population residing in Cook Inlet, Alaska year round. The population declined by approximately 50% between 1994 and 1998 and was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 2008. The original decline was attributed to overharvest; however, the population has failed to rebound despite the virtual absence of harvest since 1998. This suggests that other factors, such as declining prey availability, increased predation, contaminants, disease, climate change, catastrophic events, habitat loss, unauthorized take, and underwater noise pollution, may be limiting the population's recovery. The goal of this dissertation research was to study the potential impacts of underwater noise on the CIB population. The objective of Chapter 1 was to study CIB acoustic behavior to gain a greater understanding of how CIBs utilize sound. The objective of Chapter 2 was to measure underwater sound levels in Cook Inlet to understand the background noise levels with which CIBs must cope. The objective of Chapter 3 was to document reactions of CIBs to noise disturbance utilizing local ecological knowledge to allow insight into the potential impacts of noise on beluga behavior. The results of Chapter 1 showed that belugas exhibit significant seasonal and spatial variation in calling behavior which suggested differences in habitat usage or differences in the surrounding environment, including background noise levels. The results of Chapter 2 showed that root mean square sound pressure levels exhibited high variation with the highest levels recorded in the 100 Hz frequency band. The seasonal differences in sound levels observed in this study were likely due to greater small vessel traffic and oil and gas development activities in the summer than the winter. In Chapter 3, participants reported observations of CIBs exhibiting avoidance reactions to noise sources including boats, planes, explosions, pile driving, construction, and cars. The results of this chapter showed that noise is perceived to alter beluga behavior and possibly beluga distribution in Cook Inlet. This dissertation research showed that underwater noise has the potential to affect CIBs, however the cost of this impact remains unclear and warrants further study. In light of the lack of support for many of the proposed factors limiting the population and the need for further research for many of these factors, it would be valuable to consider the cumulative effects of these multiple stressors. While their potential impact may be small individually, when combined, these factors may have a synergistic and significant impact on individual whales and, in turn, on the CIB population. Management of cumulative effects may be necessary to ensure the recovery of this endangered population.

Effects of acid deposition on ecosystems: Advances in the state of the science

USGS Publications Warehouse

Burns, Douglas A.; Fenn, Mark E.; Baron, Jill S.

2011-01-01

Chapter 2 focused on the environmental results of the ARP, presenting data from national monitoring networks on SO2 and NOx emissions, air quality, atmospheric deposition, surface water chemistry, and visibility. This chapter expands on this information by examining the most recent research into how ecosystems respond to acid deposition, especially the processes that control the recovery of ecosystems as acid deposition decreases. In Chapter 2, two general trends were discussed regarding the current recovery status of affected ecosystems: (1) these ecosystems are trending generally towards recovery, but improvements in ecosystem condition shown by surface water chemistry monitoring data thus far have been less than the improvements in deposition; and (2) ecosystem impacts and trends vary widely by geographic region, but the evidence of improvement is strongest and most evident in the Northeast. These trends are not uniform across the United States, however, and in some regions (e.g., central Appalachian Mountain region), trends in improved water quality are generally not evident. Despite the strong link in many areas between reduced emissions and reduced acidity of atmospheric deposition, the link is less clear between reduced acidity and recovery of the biological communities that live in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems that have experienced deleterious effects from acid deposition. The recovery of these communities is proceeding at a slower pace than, for example, the improvements in stream and lake ANC would indicate. The goal of this chapter is to synthesize the science in a weightof-evidence manner to provide policy makers with tangible evidence and likely causative factors regarding ecosystem status and recovery patterns to date. This chapter serves as an update to the 2005 NAPAP RTC (NSTC, 2005), with an emphasis on scientific studies and monitoring since 2003, which was the last year for consideration of research results in the 2005 report. Several issues pertinent to ecosystem response to emission controls and acid deposition are receiving increasing attention in the scientific literature and will be discussed in this chapter, including the (1) observed delay in ecosystem recovery in the eastern United States, even with decreases in emissions and deposition over the past 30 years; (2) emerging ecosystem impacts of nitrogen deposition in the western United States; (3) the application of critical deposition loads as a tool for scientists to better inform air quality policies; (4) the role of changes in climate and the carbon cycle as factors that affect the response of ecosystems to acid deposition; and (5) the interaction of multiple pollutants in ecosystems. Throughout this chapter, the value of long-term environmental monitoring data in informing air quality policy will be highlighted, including the limitations of assessing the current status of some ecosystem indicators for which continuous, long-term data are lacking. 

Selling the Work Ethic: From Puritan Pulpit to Corporate PR.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beder, Sharon

This book provides an account and critique of the work ethic, a central aspect of modern capitalist society. Chapter 1 is an introduction. Chapter 2 considers social changes in Europe in the 16th-17th centuries, maintaining that work was imbued with moral qualities and wealth seeking acquired social legitimacy through religious sanction. Chapter 3…

New York University's Stern School of Business: A Centennial Retrospective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gitlow, Abraham L.

This volume traces the history of the first hundred years of the Stern School of Business at New York University. Chapter 1 describes the school's original mission and founding. Chapter 2 describes how the school changed and developed as it responded to trends from 1900 to 1950. Chapter 3 explores the school's dramatic decline between 1955 and…

Chapter 6: Equality and Justice for All? Examining Race in Education Scholarship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brayboy, Bryan McKinley Jones; Castagno, Angelina E.; Maughan, Emma

2007-01-01

This article focuses on the basic idea that having equality and justice for all in schooling cannot be achieved in the current climate where students are viewed solely as individuals. In fact, given the educational debt and achievement gaps, the ideas of equality and justice are necessarily contradictory. Achieving justice, in light of the…

State of Impunity: Human Rights Abuse of Roma in Romania. Country Reports Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cahn, Claude; Petrova, Dimitrina

This report documents civil violations and discriminatory actions against Roma in Romania, contending that, due to the Romanian government's inadequate efforts to bring perpetrators of anti-Romani crimes to justice and to eradicate discrimination against Roma, a climate of impunity surrounding anti-Romani actions has taken deep root. Chapter 1…

Invasive bark and ambrosia beetles in California Mediterranean forest ecosystems

Treesearch

Steven Seybold; Richard Penrose; Andrew Graves

2016-01-01

This chapter discusses the native ranges, histories of introduction, recent research efforts, and the potential impacts of some of 22 species of invasive scolytids in California’s Mediterranean forest ecosystems. The diversity of native and ornamental tree species, the varied climatic zones, and the widespread importation of nursery stock and packaged cargo have made...

27 CFR 9.3 - Relation to parts 4 and 70 of this chapter.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...) Evidence relating to the geographical features (climate, soil, elevation, physical features, etc.) which... of the viticultural area, based on features which can be found on United States Geological Survey (U... index by State.) [T.D. ATF-60, 44 FR 56692, Oct. 2, 1979, as amended by T.D. ATF-92, 46 FR 46913, Sept...

Measurement of methane fluxes from terrestrial landscapes using static, non-steady state enclosures. Chapter 12

Treesearch

Peter Weishampel; Randall Kolka

2008-01-01

Wetlands are a dominant natural source of atmospheric methane (CH4), a potent greenhouse gas whose concentration in the atmosphere has doubled over the past 150 years. Evaluating the impacts of CH4 emissions on global climate and developing policies to mitigate those impacts requires a quantifiable and predictive...

Invasive species in southern Nevada [Chapter 4] (Executive Summary)

Treesearch

Matthew L. Brooks; Steven M. Ostoja; Jeanne C. Chambers

2013-01-01

Southern Nevada contains a wide range of topographies, elevations, and climatic zones that are emblematic of its position at the ecotone between the Mojave Desert, Great Basin, and Colorado Plateau ecoregions. These varied environmental conditions support a high degree of biological diversity, but they also provide opportunities for a wide range of invasive species. In...

The Gift of Education: Public Education and Venture Philanthropy. Education, Politics and Public Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saltman, Kenneth J.

2010-01-01

This is a cutting edge book that not only maps and criticizes venture philanthropy, but also offers a new and different way of conceptualizing public education in response to the neoliberal climate affecting all aspects of public education. This book contains the following chapters: (1) The Trojan School: How Venture Philanthropy is Corporatizing…

Teens in Action. Creating a Drug-Free Future for America's Youth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adams, Tom; Resnik, Hank

This book on drug abuse prevention is addressed to teenagers and covers five main areas where drug use can be prevented: schools, communities, media, the social scene, and the family. The first chapter on school programs briefly discusses peer-led alcohol and drug education, peer counseling, creating a positive school climate, and developing…

Hanford Site National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Characterization

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Duncan, Joanne P.; Burk, Kenneth W.; Chamness, Mickie A.

2007-09-27

This document describes the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hanford Site environment. It is intended to provide a consistent description of the Hanford Site for the many environmental documents being prepared by DOE contractors concerning the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). No statements regarding significance or environmental consequences are provided. This year’s report is the eighteen revision of the original document published in 1988 and is (until replaced by the nineteenth revision) the only version that is relevant for use in the preparation of Hanford NEPA, State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)more » documents. Two chapters are included in this document (Chapters 4 and 6), numbered to correspond to chapters typically presented in environmental impact statements (EISs) and other Hanford Site NEPA or CERCLA documentation. Chapter 4.0 (Affected Environment) describes Hanford Site climate and meteorology; air quality; geology; hydrology; ecology; cultural, archaeological, and historical resources; socioeconomics; noise; and occupational health and safety. Sources for extensive tabular data related to these topics are provided in the chapter. When possible, subjects are divided into a general description of the characteristics of the Hanford Site, followed by site-specific information, where available, for the 100, 200, 300 and other areas. This division allows the reader to go directly to those sections of particular interest. When specific information on each of these separate areas is not complete or available, the general Hanford Site description should be used. Chapter 6.0 (Statutory and Regulatory Requirements) describes federal and state laws and regulations, DOE directives and permits, and presidential executive orders that are applicable to NEPA documents prepared for Hanford Site activities. Information in Chapter 6 can be adapted and supplemented with specific information covering statutory and regulatory requirements for use in an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement. When preparing environmental assessments and EISs, authors should consult Recommendations for the Preparation of Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements published by the DOE Office of NEPA Oversight (DOE 2004). Additional direction and guidance on the preparation of DOE NEPA documents can be found at http://tis.eh.doe.gov/nepa/guidance.html. Individuals seeking baseline data on the Hanford Site and its past activities may also use the information contained in this document to evaluate projected activities and their impacts. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) staff prepared individual sections of this document, with input from other Hanford Site contractors with the best available information through May 2007. More detailed data are available from reference sources cited or from the authors. For this 2007 revision, the following sections of the document were reviewed by the authors and updated with the best available information through May 2005: Climate and Meteorology Air Quality Geology – Seismicity section only Hydrology – Flow charts for the Columbia and Yakima rivers only Ecology – Threatened and Endangered Species subsection only Socioeconomics Occupational Safety All of Chapter 6.« less

GHASTLI-determining physical properties of sediment containing natural and laboratory-formed gas hydrate: Chapter 24

USGS Publications Warehouse

Winters, William J.; Dillon, William P.; Pecher, Ingo A.; Mason, David H.; Max, Michael D.

2003-01-01

Gas-hydrate samples have been recovered at about 16 areas worldwide (Booth et al., 1996). However, gas hydrate is known to occur at about 50 locations on continental margins (Kvenvolden, 1993) and is certainly far more widespread so it may represent a potentially enormous energy resource (Kvenvolden, 1988). But adverse effects related to the presence of hydrate do occur. Gas hydrate appears to have caused slope instabilities along continental margins (Booth et al., 1994; Dillon et al., 1998; Mienert et al., 1998; Paull & Dillon, (Chapter 12; Twichell & Cooper, 2000) and it has also been responsible for drilling accidents (Yakushev and Collett, 1992). Uncontrolled release of methane could affect global climate (Chapter 11), because methane is 15–20 times more effective as a “greenhouse gas” than an equivalent concentration of carbon dioxide. Clearly, a knowledge of gas-hydrate properties is necessary to safely explore the possibility of energy recovery and to understand its past and future impact on the geosphere.

Geochemical studies of backfill aggregates, lake sediment cores and the Hueco Bolson Aquifer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thapalia, Anita

This dissertation comprises of three different researches that focuses on the application of geochemistry from aggregates, lake sediment cores and Hueco Bolson Aquifer. Each study is independent and presented in the publication format. The first chapter is already published and the second chapter is in revision phase. Overall, three studies measure the large scale (field) as well as bench scale (lab) water-rock interactions influenced by the climatic and anthropogenic factors spans from the field of environmental geology to civil engineering. The first chapter of this dissertation addresses the chemical evaluation of coarse aggregates from six different quarries in Texas. The goal of this work is to find out the best geochemical methods for assessing the corrosion potential of coarse aggregates prior to their use in mechanically stabilized earth walls. Electrochemical parameters help to define the corrosion potential of aggregates following two different leaching protocols. Testing the coarse and fine aggregates demonstrate the chemical difference due to size-related kinetic leaching effects. Field fines also show different chemistry than the bulk rock indicating the weathering impact on carbonate rocks. The second chapter investigates zinc (Zn) isotopic signatures from eight lake sediment cores collected both from pristine lakes and those impacted by urban anthropogenic contamination. Zinc from the natural weathering of rocks and anthropogenic atmospheric pollutants are transported to these lakes and the signatures are recorded in the sediments. Isotopic analysis of core samples provides the signature of anthropogenic contamination sources. Dated sediment core and isotopic analysis can identify Zn inputs that are correlated to the landuse and population change of the watersheds. Comparison of isotopic data from both pristine and urban lake sediment core also serves as an analog in other lake sediment cores in the world. The third chapter studies on Hueco Bolson Aquifer that an important sources of water in the El Paso/Cd. Juraez metroplex. To delineate the boundary between fresh and brackish water from the northern Hueco Bolson Aquifer, we utilize an integrative geochemical, geophysical, and sedimentological approach. The goal of this study is to use geophysical well-log analysis and the water chemical analysis for identifying the changes in the quality of the groundwater. A detailed microgravity survey is utilized to explore the subsurface geological structures that control the conduits and/or barriers of groundwater flow. A detailed geochemical analysis of aquifer samples provide salinity of groundwater that will complement to the subsurface structures obtained from the geophysical study. This fundamental research in developing methods from an integrated approach to estimate aquifer quality can be used as an analog for similar studies in other arid regions.

Status and trends of land change in the Midwest–South Central United States—1973 to 2000

USGS Publications Warehouse

Auch, Roger F.; Karstensen, Krista A.; Auch, Roger F.; Karstensen, Krista A.

2015-12-10

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Professional Paper 1794–C is the third in a four-volume series on the status and trends of the Nation’s land use and land cover, providing an assessment of the rates and causes of land-use and land-cover change in the Midwest–South Central United States between 1973 and 2000. Volumes A, B, and D provide similar analyses for the Western United States, the Great Plains of the United States, and the Eastern United States, respectively. The assessments of land-use and land-cover trends are conducted on an ecoregion-by-ecoregion basis, and each ecoregion assessment is guided by a nationally consistent study design that includes mapping, statistical methods, field studies, and analysis. Individual assessments provide a picture of the characteristics of land change occurring in a given ecoregion; in combination, they provide a framework for understanding the complex national mosaic of change and also the causes and consequences of change. Thus, each volume in this series provides a regional assessment of how (and how fast) land use and land cover are changing, and why. The four volumes together form the first comprehensive picture of land change across the Nation.Geographic understanding of land-use and land-cover change is directly relevant to a wide variety of stakeholders, including land and resource managers, policymakers, and scientists. The chapters in this volume present brief summaries of the patterns and rates of land change observed in each ecoregion in the Midwest–South Central United States, together with field photographs, statistics, and comparisons with other assessments. In addition, a synthesis chapter summarizes the scope of land change observed across the entire Midwest–South Central United States. The studies provide a way of integrating information across the landscape, and they form a critical component in the efforts to understand how land use and land cover affect important issues such as the provision of ecological goods and services and also the determination of risks to, and vulnerabilities of, human communities. Results from this project also are published in peer-reviewed journals, and they are further used to produce maps of change and other tools for land management, as well as to provide inputs for carbon-cycle modeling and other climate change research.

The Role of Remote Sensing Displays in Earth Climate and Planetary Atmospheric Research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

DelGenio, Anthony D.; Hansen, James E. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

The communities of scientists who study the Earth's climate and the atmospheres of the other planets barely overlap, but the types of questions they pose and the resulting implications for the use and interpretation of remote sensing data sets have much in common. Both seek to determine the characteristic behavior of three-dimensional fluids that also evolve in time. Climate researchers want to know how and why the general patterns that define our climate today might be different in the next century. Planetary scientists try to understand why circulation patterns and clouds on Mars, Venus, or Jupiter are different from those on Earth. Both disciplines must aggregate large amounts of data covering long time periods and several altitudes to have a representative picture of the rapidly changing atmosphere they are studying. This emphasis separates climate scientists from weather forecasters, who focus at any one time on a limited number of images. Likewise, it separates planetary atmosphere researchers from planetary geologists, who rely primarily on single images (or mosaics of images covering the globe) to study two-dimensional planetary surfaces that are mostly static over the duration of a spacecraft mission yet reveal dynamic processes acting over thousands to millions of years. Remote sensing displays are usually two-dimensional projections that capture an atmosphere at an instant in time. How scientists manipulate and display such data, how they interpret what they see, and how they thereby understand the physical processes that cause what they see, are the challenges I discuss in this chapter. I begin by discussing differences in how novices and experts in the field relate displays of data to the real world. This leads to a discussion of the use and abuse of image enhancement and color in remote sensing displays. I then show some examples of techniques used by scientists in climate and planetary research to both convey information and design research strategies using remote sensing displays.

Algorithms and data structures for automated change detection and classification of sidescan sonar imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gendron, Marlin Lee

During Mine Warfare (MIW) operations, MIW analysts perform change detection by visually comparing historical sidescan sonar imagery (SSI) collected by a sidescan sonar with recently collected SSI in an attempt to identify objects (which might be explosive mines) placed at sea since the last time the area was surveyed. This dissertation presents a data structure and three algorithms, developed by the author, that are part of an automated change detection and classification (ACDC) system. MIW analysts at the Naval Oceanographic Office, to reduce the amount of time to perform change detection, are currently using ACDC. The dissertation introductory chapter gives background information on change detection, ACDC, and describes how SSI is produced from raw sonar data. Chapter 2 presents the author's Geospatial Bitmap (GB) data structure, which is capable of storing information geographically and is utilized by the three algorithms. This chapter shows that a GB data structure used in a polygon-smoothing algorithm ran between 1.3--48.4x faster than a sparse matrix data structure. Chapter 3 describes the GB clustering algorithm, which is the author's repeatable, order-independent method for clustering. Results from tests performed in this chapter show that the time to cluster a set of points is not affected by the distribution or the order of the points. In Chapter 4, the author presents his real-time computer-aided detection (CAD) algorithm that automatically detects mine-like objects on the seafloor in SSI. The author ran his GB-based CAD algorithm on real SSI data, and results of these tests indicate that his real-time CAD algorithm performs comparably to or better than other non-real-time CAD algorithms. The author presents his computer-aided search (CAS) algorithm in Chapter 5. CAS helps MIW analysts locate mine-like features that are geospatially close to previously detected features. A comparison between the CAS and a great circle distance algorithm shows that the CAS performs geospatial searching 1.75x faster on large data sets. Finally, the concluding chapter of this dissertation gives important details on how the completed ACDC system will function, and discusses the author's future research to develop additional algorithms and data structures for ACDC.

The Impossible Child in School--at Home: A Guide for Caring Teachers and Parents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rapp, Doris J.

Intended for teachers and parents, the book offers guidelines for recognizing and dealing with allergies as causes of learning and behavior problems. Each chapter identifies relevant references in the bibliography. In the first chapter such signs of behavioral reactions as facial or body clues, changes in school performance, and changes in writing…

43 CFR 3106.3 - Fees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... of this chapter. Each request for a transfer to an heir or devisee, request for a change of name, or notification of a corporate merger under § 3106.8, must include payment of the processing fee for name changes, corporate mergers or transfers to heir/devisee found in the fee schedule in § 3000.12 of this chapter. Each...

43 CFR 3106.3 - Fees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... of this chapter. Each request for a transfer to an heir or devisee, request for a change of name, or notification of a corporate merger under § 3106.8, must include payment of the processing fee for name changes, corporate mergers or transfers to heir/devisee found in the fee schedule in § 3000.12 of this chapter. Each...

43 CFR 3106.3 - Fees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... of this chapter. Each request for a transfer to an heir or devisee, request for a change of name, or notification of a corporate merger under § 3106.8, must include payment of the processing fee for name changes, corporate mergers or transfers to heir/devisee found in the fee schedule in § 3000.12 of this chapter. Each...

43 CFR 3106.3 - Fees.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... of this chapter. Each request for a transfer to an heir or devisee, request for a change of name, or notification of a corporate merger under § 3106.8, must include payment of the processing fee for name changes, corporate mergers or transfers to heir/devisee found in the fee schedule in § 3000.12 of this chapter. Each...

Examining End-of-Chapter Problems across Editions of an Introductory Calculus-Based Physics Textbook

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Xiao, Bin

2016-01-01

End-Of-Chapter (EOC) problems have been part of many physics education studies. Typically, only problems "localized" as relevant to a single chapter were used. This work examines how well this type of problem represents all EOC problems and whether EOC problems found in leading textbooks have changed over the past several decades. To…

The Work of Writing in the Age of Its Digital Reproducibility

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kalantzis, Mary; Cope, Bill

2011-01-01

This chapter has two dimensions. As its analytical basis, the chapter surveys the changing landscape of what might be called the new digital media. The chapter then asks, on a practical dimension, what might educators do with this new media in that important site for the formation of the social relationships of meaning-making, the school? How does…

A Guide for Vocational Education Sex Equity Personnel. Research and Development Series No. 143.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vetter, Louise; And Others

This training package is designed to assist sex equity personnel in implementing the Education Amendments of 1976. Chapter 1 examines the sex equity problem as it relates to vocational education. Chapter 2 discusses the concepts of program management and change agents in relation to the functions of the job of sex equity personnel. Chapter 3…

For Mortal Stakes: Solutions for Schools and Society. Counterpoints Vol. 61.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cummins, Paul F.; Cummins, Anna K.

Each chapter of this book is a call for action to help children in the United States. Some chapters focus on education, and others deal with the political and social changes needed if schools are to succeed. The chapters are: (1) "The Goals of Education"; (2) "Anger and Alienation: What To Do about it"; (3) "The Power of…

Toward Ubiquitous BCIs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Allison, Brendan Z.

The preceding chapters in this book described modern BCI systems. This concluding chapter instead discusses future directions. While there are some specific predictions, I mainly analyze key factors and trends relating to practical mainstream BCI development. While I note some disruptive technologies that could dramatically change BCIs, this chapter focuses mainly on realistic, incremental progress and how progress could affect user groups and ethical issues.

Technology and the Educational Workplace: Understanding Fiscal Impacts. Eighteenth Annual Yearbook of the American Education Finance Association.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Westbrook, Kathleen C., Ed.

This yearbook focuses on technology, its power to improve education from within and without its boundaries, and its fiscal impacts. Eleven chapters are organized in three major sections that address: policy changes facing the global village (chapters 1-3); national and state issues (chapters 4-6); and curriculum, training, and local development…

The Education of Girls: Policy, Research and the Question of Gender. Australian Education Review No. 35.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yates, Lyn

Inequality problems face girls at school, and the attitudes and expectations of others affect educational choices and outcomes. After an overview in chapter 1, chapter 2 provides a discussion of Australian government reports and policies on the education of girls and traces the changes in the treatment of gender inequity. Chapter 3 focuses on the…

Participatory Visual Methods: Revisioning the Future of Adult Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lawrence, Randee Lipson

2017-01-01

This chapter brings together significant themes in the previous chapters, including collaborative research partnerships, voice and agency, self-image, relationships, multiple ways of knowing, difficult conversations, social change, and alternative adult education.

3D Radiative Transfer in Cloudy Atmospheres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marshak, Alexander; Davis, Anthony

Developments in three-dimensional cloud radiation over the past few decades are assessed and distilled into this contributed volume. Chapters are authored by subject-matter experts who address a broad audience of graduate students, researchers, and anyone interested in cloud-radiation processes in the solar and infrared spectral regions. After two introductory chapters and a section on the fundamental physics and computational techniques, the volume extensively treats two main application areas: the impact of clouds on the Earth's radiation budget, which is an essential aspect of climate modeling; and remote observation of clouds, especially with the advanced sensors on current and future satellite missions. http://www.springeronline.com/alert/article?a=3D1_1fva7w_1j826l_41z_6

Biological effectiveness of neutrons: Research needs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Casarett, G. W.; Braby, L. A.; Broerse, J. J.; Elkind, M. M.; Goodhead, D. T.; Oleinick, N. L.

1994-02-01

The goal of this report was to provide a conceptual plan for a research program that would provide a basis for determining more precisely the biological effectiveness of neutron radiation with emphasis on endpoints relevant to the protection of human health. This report presents the findings of the experts for seven particular categories of scientific information on neutron biological effectiveness. Chapter 2 examines the radiobiological mechanisms underlying the assumptions used to estimate human risk from neutrons and other radiations. Chapter 3 discusses the qualitative and quantitative models used to organize and evaluate experimental observations and to provide extrapolations where direct observations cannot be made. Chapter 4 discusses the physical principles governing the interaction of radiation with biological systems and the importance of accurate dosimetry in evaluating radiation risk and reducing the uncertainty in the biological data. Chapter 5 deals with the chemical and molecular changes underlying cellular responses and the LET dependence of these changes. Chapter 6, in turn, discusses those cellular and genetic changes which lead to mutation or neoplastic transformation. Chapters 7 and 8 examine deterministic and stochastic effects, respectively, and the data required for the prediction of such effects at different organizational levels and for the extrapolation from experimental results in animals to risks for man. Gaps and uncertainties in this data are examined relative to data required for establishing radiation protection standards for neutrons and procedures for the effective and safe use of neutron and other high-LET radiation therapy.

Preventing Obsolescence through Retraining: Contexts, Policies, and Programs. Information Series No. 322.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gordus, Jeanne Prial; And Others

This report addresses the degree to which retraining has met the challenge of ensuring that the American work force has adequate skills to cope with the changing world of work. Chapter 1 sketches economic, social, and technological changes that help explain why the current reactive approach needs to be more active. In chapter 2, the extensiveness…

The Federal Role and Chapter 1: Rethinking Some Basic Assumptions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirst, Michael W.

In the 20 years since the major Federal program for the disadvantaged began, surprisingly little has changed from its original vision. It is now time to question some of the basic policies of Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act in view of the change in conceptions about the Federal role and the recent state and local…