The principal claim of this thesis is that anxiety when understood through the lens of philosophical existentialism is a mood of uneasiness that stems from the objectless possibilities, as opposed to real lived possibilities, entailed by the core conditions of our being. These can include anxiety over conditions such as freedom, mortality, identity, and so on. This anxiety has a self-cultivational aspect in that the reflection it motivates provides insight into the self. This self-cultivation of existential anxiety is key to how philosophers can assist those afflicted with the existential form of eco-anxiety, as opposed to the forms of coping offered by social science research that focus on a practical form of eco-anxiety. I show that previous accounts of eco-anxiety point towards a general understanding of existential eco-anxiety that gives a general basic description of what the phenomena is. My contribution is to give a definition of eco-anxiety that, while related to other forms of existential anxiety, accentuates its connection to past historical approaches to existential anxiety and highlights its foundation as a historically instigated phenomenon. While other definitions of eco-anxiety are not without value for understanding the non-pathological anxiety people often feel in the face of ecological crisis, my argument gives a general account that explains what constitutes existential eco-anxiety regardless of its specific manifestations and provides a framework for how philosophers can assist in self-cultivation. The insight gained from these findings is that philosophers can play a role in providing an ecologically friendly interpretation of different values and worldviews on which the anxious may draw to find new ways of living meaningfully in a rapidly changing world. / Thesis / Master of Philosophy (MA) / The key goal of this research project is to reinterpret eco-anxiety, a mood of uneasiness about our current ecological crisis, from an existential perspective that derives inspiration from accounts of anxiety by philosophers such as Kierkegaard and Heidegger. The contribution of this project is to provide a new way of understanding eco-anxiety. My conclusions depart from historical and contemporary understandings of existential anxiety in comparison to the practical anxiety posited by social science literature. A second contribution of this research is to explain why philosophers can and should assist in the work of helping people learn from eco-anxiety, as philosophers can provide the new ideas people need to interpret the current ecological situation and develop themselves toward a more meaningful life, something that is analogous to the historical idea of philosophy as a discipline that cultivates people.

Yes / The paper aims to enable a comprehensive definition for a Circular Economy (CE) that will support its effective introduction in the building and construction sectors. According to the European Commission (EC), the building sector in 2020 accounted for 40 % of the primary energy demand in the European Union (EU) and 37 % of its greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, the sector can play a crucial role in decarbonisation and hence in achieving a zero-emissions future in response to climate change. A CE aims to harmonise economic growth with environmental protection and is based on the concept of closing the loop with minimal practical waste as in a natural ecosystem. The adoption of CE concepts is therefore seen as a feasible response to climate change through the deployment of more sustainable construction processes that significantly reduce the need for natural resources by maximising recycling and reuse. However, and despite the recognition of the potential of a CE in relation to sustainability issues, the adoption of a CE model within building and construction sectors is challenging because of the wide range of aspects and priorities which are reflected in the diversity of definition resulting in a narrow and limited adoption. There are currently many definitions of CEs as related to building and construction in the literature, creating confusion and preventing effective implementation. The study presented here intends, using a comprehensive literature review as its basis, to define the key domains of a CE on which to align a concise and accurate definition that will enable effective application in the building and construction sectors. The research also aims to identify current research gaps and barriers to contribute to the future of CE research in the building sector and thus drive the implementation of CE projects to mitigate the effects of climate change and support the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by laying the foundations for a novel and forward-looking approach to circularity based on properly established, defined and understood principles of CEs.

Relocation is often taboo among policy makers and planners due to its political, social, and ethical connotations, and although increasingly mentioned as one of the potential climate change adaptation strategies, it mostly adheres to rhetoric with limited discussion of its actual implementation. Scientific study and observation indicate the imminence of climate change impacts, many of which may exceed the adaptive capacity of vulnerability hotspots. Therefore, it is imperative to reassess this response option in the light of its past negative reputation, the success of current initiatives, and decision makers' evolving perception of relocation as an adaptation option. The main objective of this dissertation research is to determine the need for, interest in, and prospects for community relocations as an adaptation option; explore ways to address limitations associated with this alternative, and identify opportunities that could emerge from the relocation process. This study reviews experiences from the past and current relocation efforts and gauges the current level of interest in and support for this adaptation option among policy makers and planners. It also provides conceptual models - the relocation scenario, its digitalized simulation, the Climate Change Relocation Leaf, and the Relocation Suitability Index - designed to help communities, policy makers and planners explore this alternative. The research commences with a comprehensive literature review of theoretical knowledge, past experiences, current case studies, and the existing state of institutional, political, and social perspectives related to climate change migration and relocation. It continues with a comparative content analysis of climate change adaptation plans to elucidate the relocation rhetoric utilized in the selected texts at what frequency and in what context. Next, the study represents the climate change relocation models and a scenario developed to engage decision-makers and stakeholders in assessing the need for and possibility of relocation. Lastly, the project concludes with the development of a conceptual and tabular framework for the Relocation Suitability Index and subsequent simulation designed to compare possible relocation host sites systematically based on their absorption capacity. / Ph. D.

Water management in the Washington Metropolitan Area (WMA) is challenging because the system relies on flow in the Potomac river, which is largely uncontrolled and augmented by the Jennings-Randolph reservoir, located 9-10 days travel time upstream. Given this lag, release decisions must be made collectively by federal, state and local stakeholders amid significant uncertainty, well in advance of accurate weather forecasts with no ability to recapture excess releases. Adding to this uncertainty are predictions of more severe and sporadic rainfall over the next century, caused by anthropogenic climate change. This study aims to evaluate the potential impacts of demand and climate change on the WMA water supply system, identifying changes in system vulnerability over the next century and developing adaptation strategies designed to maximize efficiency in a nonstationary system. A daily stochastic streamflow generation model is presented, which succesfully replicates statistics of the historical streamflow record and can produce climate-adjusted daily time-series. Using these time series, a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm is used to optimize the system's operating rules given current and future conditions, considering several competing objectives. / Ph. D.

The advent of climate change promises extreme disruptions to existing concepts of political time, namely the distinction between the modes of time adopted by modern nation-states, natural time, and the everyday life of human beings. Yet the nation-state remains the primary actor through which climate politics is shaped. India is one the most prominent actors in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and also likely to be one of the most climate-affected societies moving forward. Over the 30-year history of India's engagement at the UNFCCC, there has been a shift from constructing a secular, past-oriented imaginary to a sacred, future-oriented one. The state has fostered these temporal imaginaries through three discursive registers: international politics, climate science, and conservative Hindu ideology. These imaginaries act as a heuristic tool with which to analyze the changing dynamics of political temporality in an era of rapid and extreme climate change. / Doctor of Philosophy / Climate change challenges fundamental notion of political time, the temporal relationship that embeds actors and processes. Yet this topic is underanalyzed in academic literature, especially when it comes to non-Western states. India has been one of the most prominent actors at the United Nations climate negotiations and also likely to be heavily affected by extreme climate shifts. Over the 30-year history of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Indian government has framed the temporality of climate change in two ways. First, from 1988-2004, it constructed and followed a secular, past-oriented imaginary of climate change. Beginning in 2005, and accelerating with the election of Prime Minister Modi in 2014, the government has begun to construct and follow a sacred, future-oriented imaginary. In this way, the State has moved from rhetorically framing climate change as a significant problem to an opportunity that can be met if India and other societies follow conservative Hindu precepts.

This research uses a mixed methods approach to analyze recent climate and land use changes, and farmers\' perceptions of climate change and its impacts on traditional agriculture in the village of Keur Samba Guéye (KSG). This work looks at the influence of social beliefs in adoption of new strategies by small farmers in this region, a topic that has received little or no study to date. Traditional agriculture in KSG is not very productive at present because of the impoverishment of the area and traditional agricultures strong dependency on natural climatic conditions. In this research, I identified recent climatic trends, documented changes in land use/land cover (LULC) from 1989 to 2011, and assessed farmers\' perceptions of climate change and their responses to such changes. To document climate trends and LULC, I analyzed climate data of twelve meteorological stations located across the country and created a classification of satellite images of KSG for two time periods. To examine farmers\' perceptions and agricultural practices, I conducted surveys of the farmers of KSG and in surrounding villages. Most farmers reported negative impacts of climate change on their agriculture activities, and interest in adopting new agricultural strategies despite long-standing tradition. Increasing temperatures and irregularity of rainfall may have negatively impacted crop yields, but more climate data are needed to clarify this phenomenon. LULC has been influenced by both climate change and human pressure; agricultural land has declined, while bare soils have increased. Several recommendations are provided that may help farmers to cope with changing climate. / Master of Science

Climate change is a natural cyclical phenomenon and throughout our planet's existence there have been sustained periods of heating and cooling. These periods are often referred to as "ice ages" and "interglacials" respectively. Scientists attributed warms oceans and carbon dioxide released from the oceans as the reason for global warming in the past. However, human activities of the recent past, mainly the burning of fossil fuel has seen an amplification of global temperature at a scale never seen before. This unprecedented change in our environment, as per scientists will have adverse side effects and have a long-term impact in our world. The most likely effects of climate change will be; heatwave, drought, glacier melts, sea level rise, erratic precipitation and erosions depending on a particular geographical location. The socio-economic impact of climate change could be a severe one too. Heat and drought could have major impact on agriculture, food and forests. United Nations data released in 2016 suggests that by the year 2050, more than 50 percent of the world's population will face a dearth of fresh water sources. It is also predicted that water scarcity will most likely result in diseases, unemployment and poverty. Energy use is also likely to increase with the greater need for air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winters. In cases where a region can't cope with these consequences, mass migration in search of better conditions is also likely. Physical and economic infrastructure will be tested by severe weather, flooding, wildfires and other phenomena. Data published by the United Nations in 2014 estimated that more than 50% of the world's total population lives in the urban areas and soon that number is likely to increase to 60%. In conjunction with climate change, this will mean more strain on already stretched resources in urban ecosystems. Also, with data suggesting that many people will migrate due to unemployment and poverty because of climate change, it is highly likely urban regions will have to accommodate that population too. The intertwined nexus of freshwater shortage, food, water and energy security is an issue we are already grappling with today, which is likely to be exacerbated in the future. These issues cannot be reviewed and analyzed as separate phenomena, but rather as a single intertwined phenomenon. The solution of the problem, hence, should be treated as the same. / Master of Architecture / This thesis, initially, investigates the phenomenon of climate change, and the likely challenges that it might pose in the future. Sustained periods of heating and cooling is a natural cyclical process, but human activities of the recent past has amplified global warning. This, according to scientists, will impact earth in the long run, and will have climatological and socio economic consequences. Water scarcity, droughts, sea level rise, mass migration are identified as problems that could intensify in the future. At various regions across the world, we are already facing these issues at different scales. This thesis, hence identifies the most pertinent future challenges and simulates those with existing societal challenges. The aim of the thesis is to provide an integrated and holistic plan to address the issues at hand with a view that the approach would also adapt to and mitigate issues in the future. Natural cycles and resources are used as a model to develop a mechanism to create a built environment for a small, self sustaining community. The proposed design is a prototype for a particular climatic scheme, but could be altered to fit other climatic criteria. The scheme through, research, addresses contemporary societal needs and tries to provide a solution contingencies of climate change.

Thesis advisor: Marilyn Cochran-Smith / Changes in climate are being experienced by people globally, and increasingly pushing into school science. Educators struggle to make sense of the critical thinking and agency youth will need to face such changes. To this end climate change curriculum, teaching and learning in schools has garnered significant attention in educational research in the last decade. This is particularly important given that formal education is viewed as an important canvas for building the capacity of young people. However, curriculum materials are mostly understudied and taken for granted. In addition, there is also a paucity of scholarship from the global South with respect to climate change education. To address the need for climate change education as well as inclusion of international perspectives, this dissertation presents an analysis of climate change content in select textbooks and supplementary educational materials from Bangladesh, California & Ghana, and three widely different jurisdictions. Using a cultural politics framework, I explored the following questions related to climate change content in textbooks and supplementary materials: (1) How is climate change portrayed in select official/state approved textbooks (2) How is climate change portrayed in supplementary materials? (3) What are the similarities and differences the textbooks and supplementary materials? Using a classical content analysis approach, I show that the content in all three textbooks acknowledged the contributions of human activity to climate change, for example discussing the primary role of human activity to the warming of the planet. However, there were some distinct differences when it came to discussions around the scientific consensus on climate change. While Bangladesh fully noted the scientific consensus, California presented mixed messaging and Ghana did not reference the scientific consensus at all. The textbooks from the three jurisdictions included local and global climate change impacts and policy solutions. My analysis also showed that the two supplementary materials from the United States used different frames to challenge each other’s messaging. And while Heartland Institute cast doubt on the scientific consensus, the Paleontological Research Institution embraced it. Lastly, the United Nations, as an exemplar of content intended for an international audience, was constructed similar to the textbooks in attempting to balance local and global perspectives on climate policy solutions. Importantly, I argue that textbooks and supplementary materials need to provide robust content that attends to the context-specific complexity of climate change. I discuss cultural influences on climate change education. Finally, I conclude with recommendations for the inclusion of more localized ideas on climate change impact and policies / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

The atmospheric effect of greenhouse gas emissions is posing an increasing threat to the stability of the global climate. Like many developing nations, the western Africa nation of Nigeria faces risks from climate change, with potential effects on the environment upon which Nigerians rely and on broader social constructs, including the national economy. Nigeria's diverse topography, which stretches from dry northern regions of the sub-Sahara to lush southern rainforests along the Gulf of Guinea, accentuates susceptibility to a variety of climate-related hazards, including warming, irregular rainfall patterns, and extreme weather occurrences. Driven by the influence of tropical climates on the global climate system and the importance of climate variability and change specifically within Nigeria, this study of the Nigerian hydroclimate explicitly characterizes historical variability and change through analysis of in-situ daily climate data. Daily maximum and minimum air temperature and total precipitation data from 1982 through 2011 were obtained from the Nigeria Meteorological Service for 20 locations across the country. Given the limited temporal extent of the data, two popular satellite-derived precipitation products were tested for usability as supplements to the in-situ data. Each of the satellite-derived products depicts rainfall with an unrealistically high frequency and with a temporal trend that is opposite reality. Only in-situ data were analyzed further, beginning with a methodology to define the climatological wet and dry seasons across the country. The critical wet season across Nigeria was found to last between 120 days (north) and 200 days (south), beginning April/May and ending September/October, with wetness migrating from nearer the southern coastline northward through the country during the Northern Hemisphere summer, before retreating south again. As with seasonality, the spatial distribution of precipitation amount and frequency relates to distance northward from the southern coast. Wet season precipitation approaches 2500 mm from an average of more than 115 wet days along the coast, to only about 350 mm and 35 days across far northern Nigeria. Conversely, the dry season produces 300 mm from 30 wet days across the south, and only 80 mm from less than 10 days across the north. The wet season in Nigeria accounts for greater than 90% of annual precipitation and number of wet days. Nigeria experienced a warming and wetting of the climate during the 30-year study period, during both the wet and dry seasons. However, a change in the equitable distribution of precipitation across wet days (i.e., daily intensity) is not greatly evident, as it is for many other regions of the world. Thus, the likely benefit of greater precipitation does not appear to be mitigated by the risks associated with an increase in the frequency of high-intensity rainfall events. But tempering the positive precipitation signal is the likely detrimental effect of warming. Inter-annual variability in the wetness of the critical wet season is evident in the synoptic atmospheric expression of the inter-tropical convergence zone/discontinuity, but also in sea surface temperatures within the Gulf of Guinea. Historically, sea surface temperatures are considerably higher during the wettest wet season years compared to the driest years, possibly indicating a short-distance teleconnection that may offer seasonal predictability. / Master of Science / Nigeria is experiencing the consequences of global climate change caused by gases that trap heat in the atmosphere. Nigeria is endowed with a diverse terrain, with green rainy parts in the south and arid regions in the north. In Nigeria, the economy and the environment are both being impacted by climate change. Decades of climatic data from various regions of the nation were examined in this research. We discovered that Nigeria is generally becoming wetter and warmer. Most of the yearly precipitation falls during the rainy season, which runs from April to October. There hasn't been much of an increase in extremely heavy rain, though, because the intensity of the rainfall hasn't increased significantly. However, higher temperatures can lead to issues. The amount of rain that falls in Nigeria is also influenced by sea surface temperature in the Gulf of Guinea. This study sheds light on how Nigeria's weather is changing due to climate change, which may have negative effects on both people and the environment.

No / The impact of rapid climate change on contemporary human populations is of global concern. To contextualize our understanding of human responses to rapid climate change it is necessary to examine the archeological record during past climate transitions. One episode of abrupt climate change has been correlated with societal collapse at the end of the northwestern European Bronze Age. We apply new methods to interrogate archeological and paleoclimate data for this transition in Ireland at a higher level of precision than has previously been possible. We analyze archeological 14C dates to demonstrate dramatic population collapse and present high-precision proxy climate data, analyzed through Bayesian methods, to provide evidence for a rapid climatic transition at ca. 750 calibrated years B.C. Our results demonstrate that this climatic downturn did not initiate population collapse and highlight the nondeterministic nature of human responses to past climate change.