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Framing Climate Change: Structural Education, Individual ActionUnknown Date (has links)
Southeast Florida is a region of the U.S. that is predicted to incur severe damage due to climate change (CC). As a result, one particular grassroots organization created a CC workshop to educate, advocate, and build resiliency locally. Social movement’s literature reveals processes of framing, resource mobilization, and organizational structure that have had successful outcomes locally while climate action literature argues that civil society has been ineffective at creating significant impacts on the global scale of climate policy. In order to expand this literature further, I conducted a research project to examine how different frames presented in CC education influence climate actions in the Southeast Florida region. Using qualitative research methods of participant observations and interviews, my analysis of the data collected suggests that organizers of the workshop used an environmental and climate justice narrative along with a collective action framework, relying on three master frames of place, justice, and power to educate members on CC. Amongst the prognoses presented to members during the education were climate action solutions primarily within the meso (community/civic engagement) level to create structural change within the region. I found that participants interpreted CC to be an issue of 2 places in Southeast Florida, one on the coast and one inland and, thus, depending on which region participants lived, their level of climate action was affected, whether at the individual or community/civic level. Therefore, some participants focused on individual behavioral and household consumer tactics, while other participants worked on community building and creating structural change. Given the unsuccessful nature of local organizations at impacting global climate negotiations and the goal of social movement processes to create change within societal structures, this case study contributes to the growing body of knowledge regarding the influence of climate education on climate actions. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
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Essays on Infrastructure Development and Public FinanceSanoh, Aly D. W. January 2012 (has links)
This dissertation focuses on the economics of infrastructure development and public finance. The dissertation is composed of three papers: The first paper analyzes the optimal solutions for supplying electricity to national economies from both domestic as well as distant energy resources using transmission systems that can connect the huge renewable energy resources of Africa. The results point to options for achieving substantial increases in the sustainable energy supply and for improving access to energy across the continent. The second paper models a comparative local and national electricity distribution planning in Senegal by examining the trade-off between access and costs. The third paper uses exogenous variations in rainfall across municipalities in Mali to estimate the causal effect of household income shocks on municipal-level tax revenues. It also exploits a national tax collection incentive policy to measure the impacts of rainfall variation on intergovernmental transfers.
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The Interacting Dynamics of Tropical and Extratropical Climate: Insights from Observations, and Low-order and General Circulation ModelsKaramperidou, Christina January 2012 (has links)
Using methods from dynamical systems theory in observations, low-order and general circulation models (GCMs), this dissertation explores (a) the response of midlatitude jet and eddy energy to climate change and variability, and (b) variability in predictability of the first kind of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon.
First, an analysis framework inspired by the Lorenz-1984 model is developed to study the relationship of the probability structure of the North Atlantic jet stream and storm track (location and strength) with (a) hemispheric surface temperature gradients (equator-to-pole gradient and ocean-land contrast), and (b) ENSO. Both the equator-to-pole gradient and the ocean-land contrast are projected to decrease in response to greenhouse gas forcing. The shifts in the probability structure of jet and eddy energy in relation to decreasing surface temperature gradients are in the opposite direction than the shifts for El Niño forcing. However, in climate change projections, the El Niño-like tropical pacific warming dominates the response of the jet/eddy energy probability, resulting in a strengthening and equatorward shift of the subtropical jet. The response of the subpolar jet is separate (poleward shift and strengthening), indicating that the combined effect of the tropical and extratropical SST changes under strong greenhouse gas forcing may set up conditions for a separation of the jet stream in the North Atlantic.
Then, ENSO predictability of the first kind is examined in observations and in pre-industrial model simulations, using local lyapunov exponents. Multidecadal variations in ENSO predictability are shown in a 2000-yr long simulation from the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) CM2.1 model. The GCM is found to be less predictable than nature and than an intermediate model of the tropical Pacific (Zebiak-Cane model). Finally, it is shown that increased predictability is associated with a deeper thermocline in the west Pacific up to five years prior to the peak of the event, along with an earlier deepening of the thermocline in the east Pacific in the months preceding the peak.
This dissertation therefore illustrates that the analysis of key features of tropical and extratropical climate in a physically meaningful "reduced space" can provide a focused interpretation of GCM projections for climate change and variability.
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Questions Raised by the Global Warming Hiatus: The Predictability of Tropical Pacific Decadal Variability and Subsurface Warming of the Tropical Atlantic OceanRamesh, Nandini January 2018 (has links)
This dissertation explores two aspects of interdecadal climate variability: the predictability of variability in the tropical Pacific region on longer-than-interannual timescales, and changes to subsurface heat content in the tropical Atlantic Ocean over a decade. Chapter 1 assesses the ability of a general circulation model (GCM) and an intermediate- complexity model (ICM) to simulate persistent cool states of the Tropical Pacific. These states, which are La Niña-like on average, last from seven to ten years and induce prolonged droughts in many parts of the world. We find that these models produce analogs to real-world examples of these states and that they are modestly predictable in the ICM. We also find some predictability of the interdecadal shifts in the mean state in this model. In Chapter 2, an attractor reconstruction technique is used to investigate the predictability of interdecadal variability in the ICM further. We find that the interdecadal regimes of the ICM emerge as a pair of distinct orbits in a three-dimensional state space, and that the observed system possesses some comparable characteristics. The ICM is found to spend over a third of the time in states from which the regime of the following fifteen years is predictable with high confidence. The implications for developing an interdecadal prediction scheme are discussed. Chapter 3 examines changes in the heat content of the tropical Atlantic below the thermocline during the recent global warming hiatus. We use simulated Lagrangian particles in an ocean reanalysis dataset to analyze the changes to the circulation of the upper tropical Atlantic Ocean that occurred between the hiatus decade and the decade prior to it; and develop a testable hypothesis for how variability in the tropical Pacific region may have influenced the subsurface heat content of the Atlantic.
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Paleoceanographic-Proxy Development in Scleractinia (Stony Corals) Throughout the Pacific Ocean: Exploring the Variable Utility of Stable Isotopes and Trace Metals in Oceanographic ReconstructionsBrenner, Logan January 2017 (has links)
Scleractinia (stony corals) are powerful tools in the field of paleoceanography, allowing researchers to reconstruct past ocean conditions based on variations in coral geochemistry. As corals regularly accrete their aragonite skeletons they preserve a history of climate on regional to global scales. Often able to provide centuries long continuous records of climate, an individual coral colony can provide insight into significant environmental perturbations. If preservation permits, fossil corals can be used to evaluate climate thousands of years in the past. Researchers use paleoclimate proxies, which are indirect geochemical fingerprints of environmental conditions, to create paleoclimate time series. Paleoclimate proxies are prevalent throught the literature and while many are well constrained by years to decades of use, individual conditions unique to study sites and timescale prevent the use of blanket assumptions regarding their interpretation. In this dissertation I illustrate the varied ways that the same or similar coral-based climate proxies can be used to reconstruct past ocean conditions.
Part I (Ch. 2, 3) presents two studies based along of the Pacific Coast of Panamá to examine the influence of the seasonal migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). I analyzed a long-term coral δ18O time series from a living massive Porites colony to address low-frequency variation overprinted by the wet-dry seasonality. The coral record uncovered a clear decadal (~11 year) cycle in coral δ18O-inferred precipitation. I propose this mode is related to basin-wide processes, specifically a component of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, which describes large-scale patterns in sea surface temperature (SST) and precipitation influencing marine ecosystems. In Chapter 2, I supplement the coral δ18O record with a coral Ba/Ca time series from a different coral colony. Coral Ba/Ca can be used as a proxy for river discharge (Q), although this practice is relatively new. Our coral record outlined seasonal variation in river Q and can also be used to identify past El Niño events and prolonged periods of drought. Uncovering a geochemical indicator of El Niño in this region is particularly powerful since conditions become warm and dry, which negate each other in coral δ18O rendering the proxy unable to consistently identify these climate events. This chapter furthers the community’s understanding of the many ways that trace metals can be used in paleoceanographic research, specifically to constrain local hydroclimate.
In Part II (Ch. 4, 5) I present two studies in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) based on coral δ18O and Sr/Ca records from modern and fossil Isopora, a coral species that is nearly completely absent from the paleoceanographic literature. Although this suite of climate proxies is similar to those used in Part I, in Part II the GBR corals provide a history of sea surface temperature rather than hydroclimate, which is due to prevailing local environmental conditions over a given timescale. In Chapter 4 I developed the first modern Sr/Ca- and δ18O-Sea Surface Temprature (SST) calibration using Isopora, which approaches those calculated for the commonly used Porites corals. Using Isopora in Pacific-based paleoceanographic research allows us to analyze coral records from reefs that might not be dominated by Porites. In Chapter 5 I applied the new Isopora Sr/Ca- and δ18O-SST calibrations to fossil corals recovered during Integrated Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) 25. The fossil corals date beyond the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ~20 kyr BP) to 25 kyr BP. In the Pacific SST change since the LGM is better constrained for more equatorial locations so our fossil samples from the GBR extend the geographic network of LGM-aged coral-based climate proxies. I measured ~5-7°C of cooling in the GBR at the LGM compared to today. The SST change through the LGM deglaciation provides valuable understanding of reef resilience and future risk of or adaptability to climate change.
Each chapter in this dissertation uses similar strategies but provides a unique perspective on past climate change in the tropical Pacific. This dissertation identifies the many ways that coral proxies can be utilized with specific examples of the ways in which interpretation can vary. It is necessary to consider the environmental specifics of a given region before blindly interpreting paleo-proxy data. Furthermore, coral-based proxy records are supremely powerful tools in exploring and uncovering past climate histories of a given region. Coral-records can supplement and extend the limited instrumental record with centuries to millenia long information on SST and hydroclimate. These data can improve climate models, further our knowledge of coral reef growth, and deepen our understanding of regional hydroclimate, which are all vital to our understanding of global climate.
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Quand la grossesse prend corps : de la grossesse à un an postpartum, approche clinique et projective de l'image du corps de la femme en période périnatale / When pregnancy takes stage : from pregnancy to one year postpartum, clinical and projective approach of the woman body image in the perinatal periodMinjollet, Pauline 22 November 2017 (has links)
Notre travail doctoral propose une recherche originale de l’image du corps de la femme, en période périnatale. L’image du corps est un concept polymorphe, se situant à l’interface entre le psychisme et le corporel. Son étude prend toute sa mesure au cours de cette période spécifique de la vie.Méthodologie : La recherche porte sur une cohorte de 20 femmes « toutes-venantes », recrutées durant leur grossesse. Une batterie de tests (tests projectifs, échelles d’évaluation de la dépression - EPDS et MADRS, échelle diagnostique - MINI) a été administrée à 5 temps différents, de la grossesse à 1 an postnatal : entre 26 et 38 semaines d’aménorrhées, puis 3 mois, 6 mois et 12 mois après la naissance de l’enfant. Le test de Rorschach a été administré durant la grossesse puis à 1 an d’intervalle (cotation et interprétation suivant l'école de Paris). 17 femmes ont été maintenues dans l’échantillon en anténatal (3 femmes étant considérées comme « déprimées ») et 15 femmes constituent l’échantillon postnatal. Résultats : Le psychogramme du test de Rorschach pointe en anténatal, une image du corps effractée (réponses G et Dbl%) et non intègre (cotations qualitatives, thématiques de la grossesse et de l’accouchement), un remaniement des limites du Moi en appui sur des défenses limites narcissiques (symétrie, H% et A%, réponses « peau » renforçatrices, réponses « masque », F-, et références au passage, et à la problématique dedans/dehors) et des préoccupations corporelles intenses (IA%, réponses « Anat. » et Hd). En postnatal, l’image du corps est plus unitaire (G+, IA% dans la norme, apaisement desangoisses corporelles), bien que les assises narcissiques restent vulnérables (sensibilité C’, Dbl%, attractivité phallique et angoisse de castration) et les limites corporelles fragiles (F% minimisé, procédés défensifs labiles). Conclusion : Les données cliniques projectives produites au Rorschach confirment notre hypothèse principale selon laquelle les remaniements psychocorporels corporels, liés à la grossesse, influencent négativement l’image du corps de la femme enceinte. Un an après l’accouchement, l’image du corps observée montre une évolution positive en faveur d’une harmonisation, bien que la dimension corporelle reste fragile, même 1 an après l’accouchement. En revanche, chez les femmes déprimées, l’évolution corporelle semble entravée par la pathologie. / Our doctoral work proposes an original research of the body image, during the perinatal period. The body image, a polymorphous concept, situated at the interface between the psyche and the corporeal, and its study takes its full measure during this specific period of life. No study has so far undertaken any exploration of this subject. Methodology: The study involved a cohort of 20 "all-coming" women recruited during pregnancy. A test battery (projection tests, EPDS and MADRS, diagnostic scales - MINI) was administered at 5 different times, from pregnancy to 1 year postnatal: between 26 and 38 weeks of amenorrhea, then 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months after the child’s birth. The Rorschach test was administered during pregnancy and then 1 year after (assessment and interpretation according to the Paris school). 17 women were maintained in the antenatal sample (3 women were considered"depressed"), and 15 women constituted the postnatal sample. Results: The Rorschach test shows an effracted body image (G%, and Dbl%) and nonintegrity (qualitative quotations, themes of pregnancy and childbirth), a shuffling of the limits of the ego, in support of narcissistic defenses (Symmetry, H% and A%, reinforcing "skin" replies, "mask" responses, F-, and references to the passage, and the problematic inside / outside), and intense bodily concerns (IA% "Anat.", and Hd). In postnatal, the body image is more unitary (G +, IA% in the norm, body anguish appeasement), although the narcissistic ones remain delicate (sensitivity C', Dbl%, phallic attractiveness, and anguish of castration), and fragile bodily limits (F% minimized, labile defensive procedures). Conclusion: The projective clinical data produced at Rorschach test, confirm our main hypothesis that psycho-corporeal changes related to pregnancy, negatively influence the body image, in the sense of a break-up of its unity, a limits reinforcement, and major bodily concerns.The postpartum body image shows a positive evolution, in favor of harmonization, although the body dimension remains delicate, even 1 year after delivery. Body development in depressed women seems to be hampered by pathology.
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Vegetation Changes in a Large Estuarine Wetland Subsequent to Construction of Floodgates: Hexham Swamp in the Lower Hunter Valley, New South WalesWinning, Geoffrey Bruce, res.cand@acu.edu.au January 2006 (has links)
Floodgates were constructed in 1971 on the main creek draining Hexham Swamp, a large wetland on the floodplain of the lower Hunter River, New South Wales. Substantial changes in vegetation have occurred in Hexham Swamp subsequent to the construction of the floodgates. Previous areas of mangroves and saltmarsh have been reduced (180ha to 11ha, and 681ha to 58ha, respectively), and Phragmites australis has expanded (170ha to 1005ha). Much of the mangrove loss (ca. 130ha) was a result of clearing, and the remainder has gradually died off. The factors contributing to the dieback are likely to be a combination of drying of the soil, root competition and, at times, waterlogging. Field sampling as well as microcosm and reciprocal transplant experiments involving key species, Sarcocornia quinqueflora, Sporobolus virginicus, Paspalum vaginatum and Phragmites australis, suggest that a reduction in soil salinity has been an important factor in initiating successional change from saltmarsh to Phragmites reedswamp. The data also suggest that increased waterlogging has been an important factor in initiating vegetation change. This apparently paradoxical result (floodgates and associated drainage generally result in drying of wetlands) is likely to have resulted from occlusion of drainage lines (by sediment and reeds) and is, therefore, likely to be a condition that developed gradually. That is, the initial effect of the floodgates is expected to have been a drying of the swamp, followed over time by an increasing wetness. An examination of vegetation changes after removal of cattle from part of Hexham Swamp, suggests that grazing had little effect on species composition of vegetation or rate of expansion of Phragmites australis. However, grazing does affect vegetation structure (height and density), possibly favours some coloniser species (e.g. Sarcocornia quinqueflora) in particular environmental conditions, and possibly inhibits establishment of Phragmites australis.
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The politics of reliability a sociological examination of the State of Vermont's response to peak oil & climate change /Sawyer, Scott, January 2007 (has links) (PDF)
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, December 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 195-209).
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Climate Variability in West Antarctica Derived from Accumulation and Marine Aerosol Records from ITASE Firn/Ice CoresKaspari, Susan January 2004 (has links) (PDF)
No description available.
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The effect of a corporate name change related to a change in corporate image upon a firm's stock priceDeFanti, Mark P. 02 June 2009 (has links)
This dissertation utilizes the event study methodology from the modern theory of finance to examine corporate name changes (CNCs). Data sources include press releases and articles announcing CNCs compiled by Lexis Nexis, annual reports collected from the SEC File microfiche database compiled by Q-Data and the EDGAR database compiled online by Mergent, and the Center for Research on Stock Prices and COMPUSTAT compiled by Wharton Research Data Services. These data sources are used to answer three primary research questions. First, what is the effect of a CNC related to a change in corporate image, as opposed to a change in corporate entity (e.g., acquisition), on a firm’s stock price? Second, what is the effect of a major change versus a minor change to the corporate name during a CNC related to a change in corporate image? Third, what is the effect of a non-brand name altering CNC versus a brand name altering CNC on a firm’s stock price? This dissertation makes its primary contribution to the study of CNCs by finding that CNCs related to a change in corporate image will have a positive impact on stock price whereas CNCs related to a change in corporate entity will not. Moreover, it finds that major changes to the corporate name during CNCs related to a change in corporate image will have a positive impact on a firm’s stock price whereas minor changes to the corporate name during CNCs related to a change in corporate image will not. Finally, it is the first study to examine the effect of CNCs on firms’ brand names and finds that non-brand name altering CNCs related to a change in corporate image will have a positive impact on a firm’s stock price whereas brand name altering CNCs related to a change in corporate image will not.
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