The release of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels for energy is thought to be one of the main contributors to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. This increase is reported to be causing irreversible changes to the earth’s climate, giving rise to temperature increases and other consequent alterations in weather patterns. Amid growing concern about climate change and its impact on the world, targets have been set through agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol and via European Union and government legislation to force countries to work towards decreasing their greenhouse gas emissions. Increasing the contribution that renewable sources make to energy production is a major part of most countries’ strategies to meet these targets. The UK has arguably the greatest potential for wind power generation in Europe and the government is seeking to build upon this strength by exploiting the resource further. The liberalised electricity market infers a requirement for private investment in order to develop the wind portfolio and this in turn requires financial and economic feasibility. Given the changes in weather patterns that are projected to occur over the course of the coming century, the possibility that this could change the UK’s wind resource, and hence the financial viability of wind power developments, must be addressed. Other aspects of how changes in the wind resource could impact on the operation of the fragmented electricity system ought also to be considered in this context. This thesis attempts to understand how the current generation of climate models project surface wind climate to change, and seeks to make the model information relevant at a site level by using statistical and physical modelling techniques. The projected changes indicated by the models are small, and it has been assessed that potential impacts on the electricity system, from project feasibility to the potential for inclusion of wind in the generation mix, will be limited.

This thesis examines the relationship between young children's emerging political attitudes towards climate change and the possible effect that the political project of neoliberalism could have on these attitudes. The research asks, in what ways and to what extent do neoliberal attitudes and beliefs influence young New Zealand children's views on climate change mitigation? Drawing from five focus group interviews with Christchurch children aged between 9 and 11, I compare and contrast the results in order to gauge their opinions, thoughts and beliefs about climate change. In doing this I ask how neoliberalism formed in New Zealand and if the neoliberal project has become so dominant in the macro and micro level policy contexts as to influence the attitudes of our youngest citizens. What the thesis argues is that neoliberal discourse appears to have influenced how the participants view climate change, most specifically in their willingness to select individualized mitigation techniques to respond to climate change as opposed to collective actions. These findings are tentative, they require a robust larger sample, beyond the scope of a masters, and may be influenced by other factors such as the developmental stage of the children, however, the emphasis all children placed on voluntary action by individuals was striking. My findings also suggest that those who selected these individual mitigation techniques were more likely to have higher efficacy than those who were critical of such practices. The thesis argues that individualized techniques to combat climate change are by themselves not effective to bring about significant change in order to alleviate further damage being caused to the climate system. In order to reach Helen Clark's goal of being "the world's first truly sustainable nation," collective, as well as individual mitigation must occur.

Ecotourism is a development strategy for many local communities in and around protected areas. Its ability to improve tourism opportunities, conservation and livelihoods is supported by many ecotourism studies. Such communities often employ diverse livelihood strategies to reduce risk and survive. As such, ecotourism becomes an integral part of a portfolio of livelihoods and assist with livelihood diversification. However, in some locales climate change is making livelihoods, including ecotourism vulnerable, due to its impacts on protected areas and their associated biodiversity. Climate change creates vulnerability as well as opportunities for adaptation. Climate change adaptation has become important in ensuring tourism sustainability, as it is critical in reducing the vulnerability of tourism. However, the literature supplies only limited knowledge on such adaptation at the local level. This may undermine ecotourism???s prospects in improving local livelihoods and conservation. There is a need to understand the lived and embodied everyday experiences of local communities who are experiencing tourism within the context of climate change. In particular, this research needs to capture local knowledge and understanding of climate change, and local efforts at adaptation. In understanding adaptation at the local level, it is important to understand how households construct their livelihoods, including the role of ecotourism. This study examined local perceptions and lived experience in sustainable ecotourism development as a livelihood adaptation to climate change in a case study site in Ghana. This examination and subsequent understanding provided a process for integrating local knowledge into livelihood adaptation as communities become more vulnerable to future climate change that will adversely affect traditional patterns of livelihoods. The study used the vulnerability-based approach which assessed vulnerability of households??? livelihoods to climate change and adaptations. Mognori Eco-Village in Ghana was used a case because of its geographic location in the savannah and experience of climate change as well as households` involvement in ecotourism activities. In focusing on lived experience, the study was guided by the philosophical ideas of Gadamer, as it lends itself particularly well for exploring the complexities and understanding of households??? lived experience with climate change. It also informed the recruitment of 22 households, use of conversation interviews and a focus group as well as data interpretation. The study found four main underlying essences that explain households??? lived experience with climate change: 1) adopting different livelihood strategies; 2) experiencing the impacts of ecotourism on assets and activities; 3) experiencing current vulnerability conditions and developing adaptation strategies; and, 4) sustaining ecotourism by building future adaptation strategies. The first essence suggests strategies such as intensification/extensification, livelihood diversification and migration as broad adaptations for survival. The second essence supports the use of ecotourism as a form of livelihood diversification that complements other non-ecotourism activities. The third essence describes the vulnerability to climate change the local adaptations use to reduce vulnerability. The last essence suggests local agency in overcoming adaptation constraints to improve adaptive capacity to sustain ecotourism as an adaptation strategy to climate change. The study found that local adaptive capacity exists to support ecotourism. However, the capability of the local community is limited and recommendations are made for government and other stakeholders to further support the local adaptation that is underway.

No description available.

The climate of the Earth is expected to warm due to increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide (CO 2). The impact of this change on terrestrial ecosystems is uncertain, yet these ecosystems contain three times more carbon (C) than the atmosphere and could considerably augment anthropogenic CO2 emissions. This thesis aimed to quantify the terrestrial C stored in an area of Pennine moorland and predict its response to changes in climate and management. The area of soil and vegetation types was determined using existing maps of the study site and a geographical information system. Vegetation C was assessed using results from published productivity studies, and soil C was evaluated from a programme of field sampling. Most C was contained in peat soils and comparison of the results with the UK's national C inventory identified inaccuracies in the national values. The impact of sheep grazing and moorland burning on C storage was investigated by utilising long-term experiments at the site. Areas where sheep had been excluded for forty years were compared to grazed areas and burning was investigated using a randomised block experiment. Grazing had little impact on terrestrial C storage, but regular burning significantly reduced C sequestration in peats. The response of the C store to climate change was investigated by i) determining the impact of past climate on C storage and ii) developing a predictive model by measuring the underlying processes of C input and output in the ecosystem. Both approaches illustrated the sensitivity of the ecosystems C balance to climate, suggesting that global warming will reduce C accumulation at the site and, therefore, augment atmospheric CO 2 concentrations. The novel use of near infrared reflectance spectroscopy to characterise peat samples was also demonstrated, indicating opportunities for application of this technique in palaeoecological studies of peats.

This study addresses the need for an improved approach to the resettlement of communities threatened with environmental hazards. Such an approach will become increasingly important in adapting to the predicted effects of climate change. The focus is upon coastal communities in developing countries as they extremely vulnerable to the effects of sea-level rise and enhanced storm activity. Resettlement is identified as the adaptation approach with the most potential for vulnerability reduction and ecosystem rehabilitation.

<p> How do firms adapt to the intensity of adverse conditions stemming from the natural environment (ecological adversity intensity)? In this dissertation, I develop several lines of inquiry in exploring this question. First, I seek to contribute to generally diverging perspectives on organizational adaptation, which view firms as either inherently constrained or capable of continuous adaptation to fit their environment. To do this, I examine the conditions under which firms are more likely to adapt to different levels of ecological adversity intensity. My findings from a 13-year longitudinal analysis of western U.S. ski resorts&rsquo; adaptation to temperature conditions indicate that firms facing moderate ecological adversity intensity appear more likely to engage in higher adaptation levels while those experiencing low and high ecological adversity intensity show a tendency for lower adaptation levels. That is, both diverging perspectives may predict part of firms&rsquo; adaptive responses to ecological adversity intensity. My findings also suggest firms may encounter limits to adaptation when facing increasing ecological adversity intensity. I also undertake a post hoc exploration of firm and institutional environment level factors that may moderate the relationship between ecological adversity intensity and firm adaptation. Second, I use an interdisciplinary approach that draws from resilience theory in socioecology to suggest that the existing conceptualization of organizational resilience could be expanded to include transformative change, which may allow firms to mitigate the operational impacts of reaching adaptation limits. Third, I also consider the resilience implications of the interdependency between firms and the broader ecosystems in which they operate. I conclude with potential avenues for future research in this area.</p><p>

No description available.

Magister Scientiae - MSc / The overall aim of this project was to establish whether there is a long-term decline of rainfall collected in rainfall gauges within the Jonkershoek Valley that have the longest and best quality records. / South Africa

This thesis focuses on a chronological analysis of the cladoceran communities from a sediment core of a small oligotrophic lake in southwestern Québec, Canada over the past 1250 years. The sediments of the lake were varved, which allowed for accurate dating. A previously published pollen study of the lake provided a record of the paleoclimatic and landscape changes in the region. The core was then used to infer how changes in temperature and landscape changes impacted the taxonomic composition of the cladoceran community through time. Cladoceran diversity was high throughout most of the Medieval Warm Period and into the Little Ice Age and decreased during the modern period in response to increased temperatures and anthropogenic impacts. Daphnia and plant-associated species greatly decreased in the past 100 years. This shift, combined with increased temperatures and changes in the landscape opened up a niche for the colonization by the smaller Bosmina longirostris. The modern communities are unlike most of what was observed throughout the past millennium.