Local climate action plans have become more prevalent in recent years yet information on their success is limited. While unlikely, on their own, to be able to mitigate enough carbon emissions to prevent catastrophic impacts of global temperature increase, local climate planning has the potential to play an important role in a number of key ways. Cities have traditionally exercised control in areas that have GHG abatement potential at low cost (e.g. building codes, land use, energy procurement) and the total population represented by cities committed to GHG reduction efforts is not insignificant and continues to grow. The extent to which local climate plans can serve as a meaningful element in a larger (but currently woefully inadequate) policy picture, will depend on their ability to set aggressive goals, dedicate resources, test innovative strategies, and measure progress systematically. Looking at the plans and progress reports of five U.S. cities, many have set aggressive goals and created innovative programs that could be replicated at other levels of government, but most are somewhat lacking in measuring and reporting progress metrics and financial resources committed to these efforts. For local climate planning to contribute significantly to broader climate policy, it will need to develop more rigorous progress metrics so the highest yield, lowest cost abatement strategies can be identified and advanced in other cities and at higher levels of government. / text

This study implemented a GIS-based analysis of local climate zones (LCZ) in Denton, TX with data sets from 2009, 2011, 2015, and 2016. The LCZ scheme enables evaluation of distinct regions' thermal characteristics with greater granularity than conventional urban-rural dichotomies. Further, the GIS-based approach to LCZ mapping allows use of high-resolution lidar data, the availability of which for the study area enabled estimation of geometric and surface cover parameters: height of roughness elements, sky-view factor, and building surface fraction. Pervious surface fraction was estimated from National Landcover Database impervious imagery. A regular grid was used to estimate per-cell mean values for each parameter, and with a decision-making algorithm (if/then statements) two maps were produced (2011 and 2015) and six LCZ identified in each: LCZ 6 (open low-rise), LCZ 8 (large low-rise), LCZ 9 (sparsely built), LCZ A (dense trees), LCZ B (scattered trees), and LCZ C (bush/scrub). Post-processing was carried out to ensure identified zones met the spatial minimum for qualification as LCZ. Landsat Collection 2 Level 2 surface temperature products from various seasons of 2011 and 2015 were acquired to examine LCZ thermal differentiability, and preliminary surface urban heat island intensity values were estimated. Particular attention was afforded to issues regarding data quality and classifier threshold adjustment.

O Parque Nacional Cavernas do Peruaçu constitui-se numa Unidade de Conservação localizada ao norte de Minas Gerais, abrangendo parte dos municípios de Januária, Itacarambi e São João das Missões, totalizando uma área de 56.000 ha. Atravessado pelo curso médio do rio Peruaçu, esta Unidade de Conservação é considerada uma das regiões cársticas mais importantes do Estado de Minas Gerais por agregar um enorme valor científico para a arqueologia e paleontologia, contendo inúmeros sítios arqueológicos e espeleológicos, com representações rupestres e material fóssil, contribuindo assim, para as principais áreas de pesquisa científica realizadas na área. Além da notória importância arqueológica e paleontológica, o Parque Nacional Cavernas do Peruaçu é, também, uma área que reserva com bastante riqueza elementos naturais físicos e bióticos que, associados às características atuais dos padrões de uso e ocupação do solo, configuram-se como unidades de paisagem segundo a perspectiva geossistêmica emoldurada por BERTRAND (1971) para a escala de análise local. Com base na identificação e delimitação dessas unidades de paisagem, a proposta deste trabalho foi registrar os dados de temperatura e umidade relativa do ar em cada uma destas unidades de modo a permitir a montagem de um banco de dados relacional onde fosse possível associar a variação climática destes atributos à variação fisionômica de cada um dos ambientes abordados. Considerando a variação da temperatura e umidade relativa do ar em relação ás unidades de paisagem, foi possível delimitar as unidades climáticas locais do Parque Nacional Cavernas do Peruaçu, apontando os valores limites entre cada uma delas. / Peruaçu\'s Caves National Park constitutes in a Unit of Preservation located in the north of Minas Gerais, embracing part of Januária\'s Municipal districts, Itacarambi and São João das Missões, totalizing an area of 56.000 ha. Crossed by the average course of the Peruaçu river, this Unit of Preservation is considered one of the most important karstic regions of the Minas Gerais\'s State for aggregating an enormous scientific value for the archaeology and paleontology, contend countless archaeological ranches and speleological, with rupestrial and material representations fossil, contributing this way, for the main areas of scientific research accomplished in the area. Besides the notorious archaeological and paleontological importance, Peruaçu\'s Caves National Park is, as well, an area that reserve with a lot of physical natural and biotic elements wealth that, associates to the current characteristics of the use and occupation standards of the soil, they configure as units of landscape according to the perspective geosystemic framed by BERTRAND (1971) for the scale of local analysis. With base in the identification and delimitation of these units of landscape, the proposal of this work was to register the temperature data and relative humidity of the air in each one of these units to allow the montage of a database relation where was possible to associate the climatic variation of these attributes to the variation physiognomic of each one of the boarded environments. Considering the variation of the temperature and relative humidity of the air in ace units landscape relation, it was possible to define the local climatic units of the Peruaçu\'s Caves National Park, pointing the limits values between each one of them.

Recent changes in climate have increased public attention and scientific evaluation of climate impacts on wild animals and plants. Variation in local weather and regional climate may affect breeding success in birds. Migratory species may be sensitive to these changes as breeding and wintering areas may experience different climate variations; some insectivorous species may be unable to alter timing of migration or laying dates and experience a mismatch between timing of nesting and peak insect availability for their nestlings. Therefore, I investigated the influence of local weather variables and regional climate on breeding performance of an insectivorous migrant songbird, the Tree Swallow (<i>Tachycineta bicolor</i>), and tried to examine effects of a mismatch between the timing of breeding and food availability.<p>I used a 14 year data set from St. Denis, Saskatchewan, Canada, 1991-2004, to evaluate correlations among local weather, wetland conditions, aerial insects and regional climate indices and their relationships with variation in clutch initiation date, clutch size, and fledging success. Swallows returned to the study site in late April each year. Annual variation in median clutch initiation date was best explained by mean minimum temperatures during 1-15 May. Larger clutches were laid in years with higher pond water levels (possibly an indication of increased insect availability) and when the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) was positive (representing La Niña conditions). Fledging success was not influenced greatly by any explanatory variable; however, fledging success tended to increase in years with higher average temperatures. Individual variation in clutch initiation date was examined using path analysis. I found high correlations between initiation date and both local environmental variables and regional climate indices; earlier nesting was associated with warmer temperatures (increased local temperatures, more positive North Atlantic Oscillation Index (NAOI) values and more negative SOI values) and decreased moisture (more positive NAOI values). Two reduced data sets, including female age or insect abundance, were also examined. Clutches were initiated earlier by older females and during springs with higher abundance of aerial insects.<p>I applied two heating treatments to nest boxes used by pre-laying swallows and compared reproductive measures (timing of nesting, laying sequence, clutch size, egg weight and fledging success) of birds using heated boxes to those of females attending unheated control boxes. However, I was unable to directly examine the predictions of the mismatch hypothesis because nest box heating failed to advance laying dates. Furthermore, no increases in clutch size, egg weight and fledging success were detected between treatment and control nests. Although box heating increased nest temperatures an average of 6.1C (+ 0.8 SE) over controls, length of time females spent in heated boxes may have been too short to alleviate energetic constraints on egg production, or energy savings associated with box use were insufficient to supersede the influence of ambient environmental conditions that control food availability and energy expenditure of foraging swallows. My results demonstrated that local and regional climate variation strongly affected timing of nesting in swallows, likely via their effects on food supply.

Recent changes in climate have increased public attention and scientific evaluation of climate impacts on wild animals and plants. Variation in local weather and regional climate may affect breeding success in birds. Migratory species may be sensitive to these changes as breeding and wintering areas may experience different climate variations; some insectivorous species may be unable to alter timing of migration or laying dates and experience a mismatch between timing of nesting and peak insect availability for their nestlings. Therefore, I investigated the influence of local weather variables and regional climate on breeding performance of an insectivorous migrant songbird, the Tree Swallow (<i>Tachycineta bicolor</i>), and tried to examine effects of a mismatch between the timing of breeding and food availability.<p>I used a 14 year data set from St. Denis, Saskatchewan, Canada, 1991-2004, to evaluate correlations among local weather, wetland conditions, aerial insects and regional climate indices and their relationships with variation in clutch initiation date, clutch size, and fledging success. Swallows returned to the study site in late April each year. Annual variation in median clutch initiation date was best explained by mean minimum temperatures during 1-15 May. Larger clutches were laid in years with higher pond water levels (possibly an indication of increased insect availability) and when the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) was positive (representing La Niña conditions). Fledging success was not influenced greatly by any explanatory variable; however, fledging success tended to increase in years with higher average temperatures. Individual variation in clutch initiation date was examined using path analysis. I found high correlations between initiation date and both local environmental variables and regional climate indices; earlier nesting was associated with warmer temperatures (increased local temperatures, more positive North Atlantic Oscillation Index (NAOI) values and more negative SOI values) and decreased moisture (more positive NAOI values). Two reduced data sets, including female age or insect abundance, were also examined. Clutches were initiated earlier by older females and during springs with higher abundance of aerial insects.<p>I applied two heating treatments to nest boxes used by pre-laying swallows and compared reproductive measures (timing of nesting, laying sequence, clutch size, egg weight and fledging success) of birds using heated boxes to those of females attending unheated control boxes. However, I was unable to directly examine the predictions of the mismatch hypothesis because nest box heating failed to advance laying dates. Furthermore, no increases in clutch size, egg weight and fledging success were detected between treatment and control nests. Although box heating increased nest temperatures an average of 6.1C (+ 0.8 SE) over controls, length of time females spent in heated boxes may have been too short to alleviate energetic constraints on egg production, or energy savings associated with box use were insufficient to supersede the influence of ambient environmental conditions that control food availability and energy expenditure of foraging swallows. My results demonstrated that local and regional climate variation strongly affected timing of nesting in swallows, likely via their effects on food supply.

The term Ecosystem Services describes all the direct and indirect contributions ecosystems have on human welfare. Fresh water, clean air, genetic diversity, recreation and inspiration are some examples of ecosystem services we get from nature but often take for granted. The human way of living affects our ecosystem and by transforming natural surfaces to unnatural surfaces important ecosystem and their services might be lost or hard to reconstruct. There is a growing support from the community that the value of ecosystem services should be integrated into decision-making in our society.   Gällivare municipality plans for a big infrastructure investment. By knowing which ecosystem services that are important for people living in the city of Gällivare, the municipality can take the ecosystem services into consideration and optimize and reach multifunctionality in natural surfaces providing important ecosystem services. As a part of Gällivare municipality’s work to integrate ecosystem services in their infrastructure investment, this thesis studies ecosystem services during different seasons in the city of Gällivare. This master thesis examines ecosystem services in four different places in Gällivare. An assessment of important ecosystem services in every place was done based on information during a workshop with Gällivare municipality. Eleven or twelve ecosystem services in every place were considered especially important for the municipality. The prioritized ecosystem services were the cultural and the regulating services. How people in the locality experience the cultural services, recreation, mental &amp; physical health; aesthetic appreciation, inspiration &amp; education; tourism and spiritual experience &amp; "sense of place" and what they think of the services' potential development in the future were further studied with a questionnaire and interviews. The regulating ecosystem service local climate regulation was further studied by calculations of the ability of vegetation and water to affect the local temperature. The ability of ecosystems to clean storm water and regulate water flows was studied by inspecting flood maps for the city of Gällivare and standard levels of pollutions in storm water from different land uses.  Early in the study it was found that, during the winter season, existing ecosystem services are mostly cultural services since the ecosystem is in rest during winter and thereby can't deliver the same diversity of services as in summer. During summer season, results showed that vegetation could affect local climate by stabilizing the temperature. The vegetation also delays water flows, which is important during spring when there is a large amount of melt water and during heavy raining. The amount of pollutions in surface water is also reduced by vegetation.

The local level has gained prominence in climate policy and governance in recent years as it is increasingly perceived as a privileged arena for policy experimentation and social and institutional innovation. However, the success of local climate governance in industrialized countries has been limited. One reason may be that local communities focus too much on strategies of technology-oriented ecological modernization and individual behavior change and too little on strategies that target unsustainable social practices and their embeddedness in complex socioeconomic patterns. In this paper we assess and compare the strategies of "low-carbon municipalities" (top-down initiatives) and those of "intentional communities" (bottom-up initiatives). We were interested to determine to what extent and in which ways each community type intervenes in social practices to curb carbon emissions and to explore the scope for further and deeper interventions on the local level. Using an analytical framework based on social practice theory we identify characteristic patterns of intervention for each community type. We find that low-carbon municipalities face difficulties in transforming carbon-intensive social practices. While offering some additional low-carbon choices, their ability to reduce carbon-intensive practices is very limited. Their focus on efficiency and individual choice shows little transformative potential. Intentional communities, by contrast, have more institutional and organizational options to intervene in the web of social practices. Finally, we explore to what extent low-carbon municipalities can learn from intentional communities and propose strategies of hybridization for policy innovation to combine the strengths of both models.

O Parque Nacional Cavernas do Peruaçu constitui-se numa Unidade de Conservação localizada ao norte de Minas Gerais, abrangendo parte dos municípios de Januária, Itacarambi e São João das Missões, totalizando uma área de 56.000 ha. Atravessado pelo curso médio do rio Peruaçu, esta Unidade de Conservação é considerada uma das regiões cársticas mais importantes do Estado de Minas Gerais por agregar um enorme valor científico para a arqueologia e paleontologia, contendo inúmeros sítios arqueológicos e espeleológicos, com representações rupestres e material fóssil, contribuindo assim, para as principais áreas de pesquisa científica realizadas na área. Além da notória importância arqueológica e paleontológica, o Parque Nacional Cavernas do Peruaçu é, também, uma área que reserva com bastante riqueza elementos naturais físicos e bióticos que, associados às características atuais dos padrões de uso e ocupação do solo, configuram-se como unidades de paisagem segundo a perspectiva geossistêmica emoldurada por BERTRAND (1971) para a escala de análise local. Com base na identificação e delimitação dessas unidades de paisagem, a proposta deste trabalho foi registrar os dados de temperatura e umidade relativa do ar em cada uma destas unidades de modo a permitir a montagem de um banco de dados relacional onde fosse possível associar a variação climática destes atributos à variação fisionômica de cada um dos ambientes abordados. Considerando a variação da temperatura e umidade relativa do ar em relação ás unidades de paisagem, foi possível delimitar as unidades climáticas locais do Parque Nacional Cavernas do Peruaçu, apontando os valores limites entre cada uma delas. / Peruaçu\'s Caves National Park constitutes in a Unit of Preservation located in the north of Minas Gerais, embracing part of Januária\'s Municipal districts, Itacarambi and São João das Missões, totalizing an area of 56.000 ha. Crossed by the average course of the Peruaçu river, this Unit of Preservation is considered one of the most important karstic regions of the Minas Gerais\'s State for aggregating an enormous scientific value for the archaeology and paleontology, contend countless archaeological ranches and speleological, with rupestrial and material representations fossil, contributing this way, for the main areas of scientific research accomplished in the area. Besides the notorious archaeological and paleontological importance, Peruaçu\'s Caves National Park is, as well, an area that reserve with a lot of physical natural and biotic elements wealth that, associates to the current characteristics of the use and occupation standards of the soil, they configure as units of landscape according to the perspective geosystemic framed by BERTRAND (1971) for the scale of local analysis. With base in the identification and delimitation of these units of landscape, the proposal of this work was to register the temperature data and relative humidity of the air in each one of these units to allow the montage of a database relation where was possible to associate the climatic variation of these attributes to the variation physiognomic of each one of the boarded environments. Considering the variation of the temperature and relative humidity of the air in ace units landscape relation, it was possible to define the local climatic units of the Peruaçu\'s Caves National Park, pointing the limits values between each one of them.

In Sweden, the municipalities are responsible for a good living environment, and today most municipalities work actively with climate change mitigation intending to decrease their emissions of greenhouse gases. Municipalities must decrease consumption-related emissions to achieve this. Further, this is a relatively new area that has gained focus within local governance, which asks the question, how are municipalities working to govern resident’s consumption behavior? This thesis investigate how a Swedish municipality works to steer their household consumption to become more sustainable and the experienced challenges. Bulkely &amp; Kern (2006) three different mode of local governance: governing by authority, governing by provision, and governing through enabling will be employed to analyze how local government steer household consumption.  This thesis was carried out as a qualitative, in-depth case study, analyzing the experiences of civil servants operating in a Swedish municipality through semi-structured interviews and analyzing policy documents. Research findings show that measures to steer household consumption were performed mainly by deploying enabling governance by the municipality through information-based measures to promote sustainable consumption. The main obstacles identified are municipalities' lack of agency over household consumption behavior and the inherent complexity of environmental sustainability issues and lack of resources.

The increasing urbanization of the greater Salt Lake City area (GSLA) has contributed to the development of an urban canopy over this area. This canopy refers to the effects of building profiles, varying land surface properties and anthropogenic heating on local meteorological conditions including temperature, humidity, and wind velocity. Urban Canopy Models (UCMs) can be used to represent these characteristics on a mesoscale without needing to develop models accounting for effects of individual buildings. One method used to classify urban areas are Local Climate Zones (LCZs), which assign different properties to different types of urban areas. A baseline model that represents current GSLA conditions was developed using a series of sensitivity studies, which focused on the effects of mesh resolution, land surface models, UCMs, anthropogenic heating rates and LCZ urban classifications. The baseline model was validated using measured meteorological data. Four urban growth scenarios were compared to this baseline model to evaluate the effects of future growth on local 2-meter air temperatures, 2-meter relative humidity, and 10-meter wind speed. Results showed increased urban density did not affect daytime temperatures within the GSLA, but did significantly increase local nighttime temperatures. The effects of anthropogenic heating rates were most noticeable during early nighttime hours. Also, increased urbanization affected local temperatures, but did not appear to have "downwind" effects on other areas. A User Guide documenting the modeling approach was developed to support additional studies.