Dissertations / Theses: 'Climatic resilience'

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Bahadur, Aditya Vansh. "Policy climates and climate policies : analysing the politics of building resilience to climate change." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2014. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/48873/.

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This thesis seeks to examine the politics of building resilience to climate change by analysing the manner in which policy contexts and initiatives to build climate change resilience interact. For analysis, the ‘policy context' is broken into its three constituent parts- actors, policy spaces and discourses. This permits the addition of new knowledge on how discourses attached to resilience are dissonant with those prevailing in ossified policy environments in developing countries; the influence of actor networks, epistemic communities, knowledge intermediaries and policy entrepreneurs in helping climate change resilience gain traction in policy environments; and the dynamic interaction of interest, agendas and power within decision-making spaces attached to resilience-building processes. This analysis takes place by employing a case-study of a major, international climate change resilience initiative unfolding in two Indian cities. Using data gathered through a variety of rigorous qualitative research methods employed over 14 months of empirical inquiry the thesis highlights issues of politics and power to argue that they are significant determinants of processes to deal with climate impacts. More specifically, it expands current understandings of engaging with climate impacts by exposing gaps in resilience thinking and argues against a technocratic approach to designing and executing resilience policies. In doing so it also demonstrates that resilience, with its emphasis on systems thinking, dealing with uncertainty and community engagement brings new challenges for policy makers. As the study is located in the urban context, it highlights the manner in which fragmented urban policy environments, dense patterns of settlement in cities, urban livelihood patterns and prevailing epistemic cultures can pose obstacles for a policy initiative aimed at building resilience to climate change. Finally, the research underlines the importance of coupling resilience with local narratives of dealing with shocks and stresses, argues for genuine iteration and shared learning during decision-making and highlights the need to celebrate multiple visions of resilience. Findings from this research can help inform a growing number of policy initiatives aimed at deploying resilience to help those battling the exigencies of a changing climate in some of the world's most vulnerable areas.

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Williams, Emma Clare, and Emma Clare Williams. "Prescribed Fire Can Increase Multi-Species, Regional-Scale Resilience to Increasing Climatic Water Deficit." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/622901.

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Dry mixed conifer forests of southwestern North America are projected to be particularly vulnerable to ongoing persistent warm drought conditions, and related increases in wildfire frequency, size and severity, due in part to consequences of over a century of fire exclusion. Prescribed fire is applied actively in many landscapes to reduce hazardous fuel loads and continuity, restore forest community composition and structure, and increase tree resilience to drought stress. However, fire can also adversely affect tree growth by damaging cambial, root, and canopy tissues, leading to tradeoffs in the use of fire as a tool for forest resilience. Radial growth is an indicator of climatic and ecological stress and can thus provide a relative measure of resilience to stress and disturbances; but, the mechanisms driving tree resilience to prescribed fire and concurrent drought are poorly understood. Thinning effects of prescribed fire may increase tree resilience to drought by increasing water, light and nutrient availability and production of defense mechanisms. However, trends over the last century indicate warming temperatures are increasing tree sensitivity to fire by reducing post-fire growth (lower resilience) and increasing the likelihood of mortality. Trees can be resistant to fire exposure, and where growth changes occur they can be transient or persistent. We studied the interactions between tree- and stand-level fire effects on the growth responses of surviving Abies concolor, Pinus jefferyi, Pinus ponderosa, and Pseudotsuga menziesii over 24 years of variable climatic conditions in ten National Parks across the western and southwest United States. We used linear mixed effects models to identify mechanisms influencing resistance and resilience responses to fire and interannual climate, using climatic water deficit (CWD) as an index of climatic stress. Compared to pre-fire growth, trees exposed to fire increased growth during periods of greater water deficits. Tree growth responses were variable among and within species and size classes, but contingent on time-since-fire and the climate during the recovery period. Negative fire effects on tree resistance were generally transient, while climate and pre-existing stand conditions were persistent controls on tree resilience. These results suggest that antecedent and subsequent climate conditions modulate post-fire forest response. Consideration of climate variation could improve the strategic use of prescribed fire for tree resilience to drought, and a deeper understanding of factors contributing to prefire growth may elucidate the mechanisms driving post-fire growth responses.

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Hoppe-Speer, Sabine Clara-Lisa. "Response of mangroves in South Africa to anthropogenic and natural impacts." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1012123.

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The total mangrove area cover in South Africa is 1631.7 ha, with the largest area cover in a few estuaries in the KwaZulu-Natal Province (1391.1 ha) and the remainder recorded in the Eastern Cape Province with 240.6 ha. This represents 0.05 percent of Africa‟s mangrove area cover and although small adds irreplaceable value to the biodiversity of South Africa. Mangroves are threatened by over-utilization through harvesting for firewood and building materials as well as excessive browsing and trampling by livestock. The objective of this study was to investigate the response of mangroves to different stressors from natural change as well as anthropogenic pressures. This was done by identifying pressures, measuring area cover, population structure and environmental parameters such as sediment characteristics. Mangroves in 17 estuaries along the east coast were investigated. Population structure and the area covered by mangroves in 2011/2012 were compared with data from the same area for 1999. Detailed studies were conducted in St. Lucia Estuary to investigate the response of mangroves to reduced tidal flooding; mangrove expansion at a latitudinal limit in a protected area at Nahoon Estuary was studied and the effect of cattle browsing on mangroves was measured at Nxaxo Estuary. The St. Lucia Estuary (28°S; 32°E) represented a unique study site as the mouth has been closed to the sea since 2002 and the mangrove habitats have been non-tidal. St. Lucia Estuary is both a Ramsar and World Heritage site and therefore understanding the response of mangroves to changes in the environment is important. In 2010 sediment characteristics and mangrove population structure were measured at four sites which were chosen to represent different salinity and water level conditions. The site fringing the main channel had the highest density of mangrove seedlings and saplings. The dry site had a lower density of mangroves with mostly only tall adult trees and few saplings. Mangrove tree height and density increased at sites with high sediment moisture and low surface sediment salinity. Few seedlings and saplings were found at sites with dry surface sediment and high salinity. Long term data are needed to assess the influence of mouth closure on recruitment and survival of the mangrove forest at St. Lucia Estuary; however this study has shown that sediment characteristics are unfavourable for mangrove growth at sites now characterized by a lack of tidal flooding. It is not known when exactly the mangroves were planted in Nahoon Estuary (32°S; 27° E), East London, but it is suspected that this was in the early 1970s. Avicennia marina (Forrsk.)Vierh. was planted first, followed a few years later by the planting of Bruguiera gymnorrhiza (L.) Lam. and Rhizophora mucronata (L.) among the larger A. marina trees. Surprisingly the mangrove population appears to be thriving and this study tested the hypothesis that mangroves have expanded and replaced salt marsh over a 33 year period. This study provides important information on mangroves growing at higher latitudes, where they were thought to not occur naturally due to lower annual average temperatures. It further provides insights on future scenarios of possible shifts in vegetation types due to climate change at one of the most southerly distribution sites worldwide. The expansion of mangroves was measured over a 33 year period (1978 - 2011) using past aerial photographs and Esri ArcGIS Desktop 10 software. In addition, field surveys were completed in 2011 to determine the population structure of the present mangrove forest and relate this to environmental conditions. The study showed that mangrove area cover increased linearly at a rate of 0.06 ha-1 expanding over a bare mudflat area, while the salt marsh area cover also increased (0.09 ha-1) but was found to be variable over time. The mangrove area is still small (< 2 ha) and at present no competition between mangroves and salt marsh can be deduced. Instead the area has the ability to maintain high biodiversity and biomass. Avicennia marina was the dominant mangrove species and had high recruitment (seedling density was 33 822 ± 16 364 ha-1) but only a few Bruguiera gymnorrhiza and Rhizophora mucronata individuals were found (< 10 adult trees). The site provides opportunities for studies on mangrove / salt marsh interactions in response to a changing climate at the most southern limit of mangrove distribution in Africa. This research has provided the baseline data, permanent quadrats and tagged trees to be used in future long-term monitoring of population growth and sediment characteristics. At Nxaxo Estuary (32°S; 28°E) the response of mangrove trees (Avicennia marina) to cattle browsing and trampling was investigated by using cattle exclusion plots. Exclusion plots were established by fencing in five 25 m2 quadrats and adjacent to each experimental quadrat a control quadrat (not fenced in, 25 m2) was set-up. Trees were tagged and measured annually from 2010 to 2012. Sediment salinity, pH, moisture, organic content, compaction as well as sediment particle size was also measured in each quadrat. Sediment characteristics did not vary between control and experimental plots but did show changes between the years. The mangrove trees in the cattle exclusion plots grew exponentially over a period of two years. There was a significant increase in mean plant height (5.41 ± 0.53 cm), crown volume (0.54 ± 0.01 m3) and crown diameter (7.09 ± 0.60 cm) from 2010 to 2012. Trees in the control plots had significantly lower growth (p < 0.05). There was a decrease in plant height (-0.07 ± 0.67cm1) and only small increases in crown volume (0.14 ± 0.1 m3) and crown diameter (2.03 ± 2.61 cm). The research showed that browsing on mangroves by cattle stunts growth and causes a shrubby appearance as a result of coppicing. The browsed trees were dwarfed with horizontal spreading of branches and intact foliage close to the ground while the plants in the cattle exclusion plots showed an increase in vertical growth and expansion. In the cattle exclusion plots there was a significantly higher percentage of flowering (67 percent) and fruiting (39 percent) trees in 2012 compared to the control sites where 34 percent of the plants were flowering and 5.4 percent of the plants carried immature propagules. Observations in the field also indicated that cattle had trampled a number of seedlings thus influencing mangrove survival. The study concluded that browsing changes the morphological structure of mangrove trees and reduces growth and seedling establishment. This is an additional stress that the mangroves are exposed to in rural areas where cattle are allowed to roam free. Seventeen permanently open estuaries provide habitat for mangrove forests along the former Transkei coast. This part of the Eastern Cape is mostly undeveloped and difficult to access. Mangrove area cover, species distribution, population structure and health of the mangrove habitat were compared with results from previous studies in 1982 and 1999. The mangrove Bruguiera gymnorrhiza had the densest stands and was widely distributed as it was present in 13 of the 17 estuaries. Avicennia marina was dominant in those estuaries which had the largest area cover of mangroves and was present in 10 estuaries, while Rhizophora mucronata was rare and only present in five estuaries. Anthropogenic and natural impacts were noted within the mangrove habitats in each of these estuaries. Harvesting of mangrove wood, livestock browsing and trampling and footpaths occurred in most of the estuaries (> 70 percent). It was observed that browsing on trees resulted in a clear browse-line and browsing on propagules mainly by goats resulted in reduced seedling establishment in most of the estuaries except those in protected areas. Mangroves had re-established in estuaries where they had been previously lost but mouth closure due to drought and sea storms resulted in the mass die back of mangroves in the Kobonqaba Estuary. There was a total loss of 31.5 ha in mangrove area cover in the last 30 years and this was a total reduction of 10.5 ha (11 percent) for every decade. This is high considering that the present total mangrove area cover is only 240.6 ha for all the Transkei estuaries. In this study it was concluded that the anthropogenic impacts such as livestock browsing and trampling as well as harvesting in these estuaries contributed most to the mangrove degradation as these are continuous pressures occurring over long periods and are expected to increase in future with increasing human population. Natural changes such as sea storms occur less frequently but could result in large scale destruction over shorter periods. Examples of these are mouth closure that result in mangrove mass mortality as well as strong floods which destroy forest by scouring of the banks.

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Pereira, Taryn, Sheona Shackleton, and Felix Kwabena Donkor. "Integrating Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) for greater local level resilience: lessons from a multi-stakeholder think-tank." Rhodes University, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/62027.

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The last few years have seen one of the most severe droughts in recent times in the southern African region, and news headlines are increasingly full of warnings about heavy storms, fires and floods. There is no doubt that extreme hydro-meteorological events, and their multiple and potentially disastrous impacts, are at the forefront of the public consciousness at the present time and are one of the key concerns regarding the impacts of climate change in the region. While the links between extreme climate events, disaster risk reduction (DRR - see Box 1) and climate change adaptation (CCA - see Box 2) are recognised in the South African Climate Change White Paper, this is not the case for the whole region. Furthermore, even if there is national recognition of the need to synergise these two spheres of endeavour, this does not always trickle down to effective policy, planning and implementation at the local level.

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Sibanda, Patience. "Climate change mitigation and resilience by four major supermarkets in East London, South Africa." Thesis, University of Fort Hare, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10353/5406.

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Climate change is a human development challenge. Its negative impacts have the potential to reverse the human development gains made in Africa. South Africa, just like many other countries in the Global South, is being negatively affected by climate change. The country`s economy is largely dependent on agriculture, extractive industries and manufacturing, all of which are vulnerable to climate change in different ways. This vulnerability means different public and private stakeholders must institute sustainable climate change mitigation and adaptation measures so as to ameliorate climate change impacts. Gradually transforming to an environmentally friendly ‘green economy’ and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions are some of South Africa’s climate change mitigation priorities. Just like the public sector, the private sector has a major role to play in this transition to a low carbon economy through minimising its carbon emissions in their operations. Against this background, this qualitative research examines the role played by four major supermarkets (Shoprite, Spar, Pick n Pay and Woolworths), in climate change mitigation and resilience building. It does so through an appraisal of their mitigation and resilience programs. The four supermarkets were purposively selected in East London, Eastern Cape. Data collection combined heavy reliance on desktop discourse analysis with field interviews in the form of purposively sampled key informant interviews. The results show that the four major supermarkets are implementing a variety of climate change mitigation and resilience strategies. These include reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, prioritisation of renewable energy, recycling and environmentally friendly packaging, promotion of sustainable ways of farming and improved fuel efficiency in their transport systems. In terms of policy improvement, the study recommends that there is need for supermarkets to learn from each other’s’ climate change mitigation initiatives so as to advance South Africa’s ‘green economy’ agenda.

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Duveneck, Matthew Joshua. "Managing for Resistance and Resilience of Northern Great Lakes Forests to the Effects of Climate Change." PDXScholar, 2014. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/1551.

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Climate change is expected to drastically change the environmental conditions which forests depend. Lags in tree species movements will likely be outpaced by a more rapidly changing climate. This may result in species extirpation, a change in forest structure, and a decline in resistance and resilience (i.e., the ability to persist and recover from external perturbations, respectively). In the northern Great Lakes region of North America, an ecotone exists along the boreal-temperate transition zone where large changes in species composition exist across a climate gradient. Increasing temperatures are observed in the more southern landscapes. As climate change is expected to substantially affect mid-continental landscapes, this region is especially vulnerable to climate change. My research assessed the effects of climate change under business as usual (BAU) management as well as alternative management strategies. To do so, I simulated forest change in two landscapes (northeastern Minnesota and northern lower Michigan) under three climate change scenarios (current climate, low emissions, and high emissions), and four management scenarios (BAU, modified silviculture, expanded reserves, and climate suitable planting) with a spatially-explicit forest simulation model from year 2000 to year 2150. Specifically, I explored how climate change would affect relationships between tree species diversity and productivity; how expanded reserves and modified silviculture may affect aboveground biomass (AGB) and species diversity; how climate suitable planting may affect functional diversity, and AGB; and how alternative management may affect the resistance and resilience of forests to multiple disturbances interacting with climate change. Under the BAU management scenario, I found that current and low emissions climate scenarios did not affect the relationship between species diversity and productivity; however, under a high emissions climate scenario, a decline in simulated productivity was coupled with a stronger positive relationship between diversity and productivity. Under the high emissions climate scenario, overall productivity declined in both landscapes with specific species declines projected for boreal species such as balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and black spruce (Picea mariana). Under alternative management scenarios, I simulated a limited ability to increase tree species and functional diversity, AGB, and net primary productivity under climate change. The limits of management were especially apparent under the high emissions climate scenario. In a novel approach to measuring resilience, I plotted the recovery of both initial species composition and AGB to stochastic fire events for each simulation. This approach assessed both a general response (i.e. AGB) with a more specific response (i.e. species composition). My results suggest that climate change will reduce the resilience of northern Great Lake forest AGB and species composition and that management effects will be largely outweighed by the declines expected due to climate change. My results highlight the necessity to consider even more innovative and creative solutions under climate change (e.g., planting species from even further south than I simulated).

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Hamer, Nick, and Sheona Shackleton. "Interaction of multiple stressors: vulnerability, coping and adaptation within the context of climate change and HIV/AIDS in South Africa: Investigating strategies to strengthen livelihoods and food security and build resilience." Rhodes University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/50065.

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Government policy development and implementation is often designed to address different sectors of society in isolation, so social, economic and environmental issues are considered as being distinct from one other. Recently it has been acknowledged that 'working in silos' is not conducive for good governance and so efforts have been made for better co-ordination between different government departments and different spheres of government. Our research findings show the knock on effects of one problem into other areas of people's lives, highlighting why it is vital for policies and programmes to be far better co-ordinated. The different challenges and stresses that people face in their lives interact with one another in complex ways, undermining their capacity to cope with and adapt to future changes, such as those expected under climate change.

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MacKendrick, Katharine. "Climate Change Adaptation Planning for Cultural and Natural Resource Resilience: a Look at Planning for Climate Change in Two Native Nations in the Pacific Northwest U.S." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/10022.

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xii, 172 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.
The literature indicates that for indigenous peoples the environmental impacts of climate change and some proposed solutions threaten lifeways, subsistence, economic ventures, future growth, cultural survivability, rights, land ownership, and access to resources. However, limited understanding and awareness of the vulnerability and capacity of American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and of climate change impacts at the local level affect climate policymaking, planning, and equity. Case studies with the Coquille and Hoopa Valley Indian tribes in the Pacific Northwest U.S. explore the key considerations in planning for climate change adaptation, particularly for cultural and natural resource resilience. Document analysis and semi-structured interviews offer insight on the risks the tribes face and the role of traditional and local knowledge and experience in planning for climate change adaptation. Conclusions offer information useful in planning for climate impacts, local-level climate adaptation research, and climate policy development at the local to global levels.
Committee in Charge: Dr. Michael Hibbard, Chair; Dr. Cassandra Moseley; Kathy Lynn

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Nzante, Ekiyie. "Improving socio-ecological resilience strategies of climate change in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropole." Thesis, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1018823.

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The Kyoto Protocol of UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) postulated that anthropogenic causes are the main drivers of global climate change. This Kyoto Protocol was ratified by South Africa, with South Africa accepting all the binding commitments. Since then South Africa has promulgated legislations which cater for the environment and the reduction of the greenhouse gases respectively, with the aim of promoting sustainable development. The South African constitution has recognised the environment in Section 24. This is the birth place of the “Environmental Clauses” which do not only speak to the national government but are also broken down to the provincial and local government. This study was grounded within the field of Development studies and undertook a case study of improving the socio-ecological resilience strategies of climate changes in Nelson Mandela Bay Metropole (NMBM). The study employed the use of semi-structure interviews whereby a questionnaire was used to guide the researcher in the interview process. A total of 23 officials were interviewed, ranging from governmental departments (municipality) through civil societies to private consultants, in order to avoid the generation of biases. The data obtained from respondents were presented, analysed, and discussed. From the data collected, it was possible to single out certain barriers to climate change resilience initiative in NMBM. Some of these barriers include the lack of awareness of climate change resilience issues, lack of political will, lack of funding, and the poor concern given to climate change issues since the municipality does not consider it a core issue. Based on the study findings, the main recommendation offered to NMBM was the creation of a Sustainable Development Framework, which will provide a perfect platform for development, acknowledge the threat posed by the negative effects of climate change, and enhance opportunities to execute climate change projects in NMBM.

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Solórzano, Sánchez Ana Evanisi. "Linking social protection and resilience to climate change : a case study of the conditional cash transfer programme 'Oportunidades' in rural Yucatan, Mexico." Thesis, University of Sussex, 2015. http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/58080/.

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This thesis examines the linkages between social protection and resilience to climate change among poor rural households. To date there is a very limited understanding of the potential role of social protection programmes in contributing to an increase in resilience of the rural poor with respect to climate change. An improved understanding of these links can help to build the knowledge base that is needed to help the poorest members of the society to adapt to the impacts of climate change. This gap in understanding is addressed in this thesis through a case study of the conditional cash transfer programme Oportunidades in two rural communities in Yucatan, Mexico, a region highly exposed to hurricanes and droughts. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected by means of household surveys, life-history interviews, key informant interviews, group discussions and participant observation. A social protection-resilience analytical framework was developed in order to guide the data collection and analysis. This framework is informed by a dynamic understanding of resilience, which integrates two resilience dimensions: the absorptive capacity (the ability to resist and recover from a shock) and the adaptive capacity (the ability to adapt to the effects of a shock). This framework is based on the proposition that social protection reduces vulnerability and, by doing so, this can also help to increase poor households resilience to climate change. The thesis found that the main role of Oportunidades is to provide a regular and predictable safety net that protects households from short-term risk, thus increasing households' absorptive capacity. The impact on the adaptive capacity of households is indirect and differentiated according to their respective poverty profiles. Furthermore, the research shows that certain features of the theory of change of Oportunidades, and its design, reduce the potential impact of the programme, creating trade-offs between the different resilience dimensions. This is the case because resilience to climate change and social protection literatures are derived from distinctive approaches, which frame vulnerability differently. The thesis concludes by making a case for social protection to be complemented by other interventions in a systemic approach that should explicitly consider climate change, in order to increase resilience and achieve sustainable poverty reduction.

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Allcock, Samantha Lee. "Living with a changing climate : Holocene climate variability and socio-evolutionary trajectories, central Turkey." Thesis, University of Plymouth, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/1591.

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Collaborative studies between Quaternary scientists and archaeologists increasingly provide new and informative discussions about the nature and timing of cultural change and links with variation in the natural world (particularly climate). In the Eastern Mediterranean region, connecting the human past with palaeoclimate is an important research theme but the complex interactions between them are still poorly understood and past climate records have often been collected from regions distant from the human record. The thesis aims to derive a record of past climatic and environmental changes from lake sediment cores and synthesise this with archaeological data in order to reconstruct human-climate interactions at the regional scale. Annually laminated sediment data collected from Nar Gölϋ crater-lake and archaeological archives from the same region, Cappadocia (Turkey) allow problems of chronological uncertainty between records of the human past and palaeoclimatic archives, and spatially variable datasets to be addressed. New sediment cores collected from Nar Lake in 2010 cover the last ~14000 years based on varve counting and climate-stratigraphic correlation. The changing chemical composition of these sediments has been obtained using high-resolution Itrax XRF core scanning, mainly at 200μm resolution over 21.6m. Temporal differences in Ca and Sr are interpreted as a record of regional moisture levels, while Ti and Fe are elemental proxies that detail changes in catchment in-wash. These and other sedimentary data (e.g. total carbon analysis) document lake evolution from a predominately stable and moist early Holocene climate dominated by high authigenic Ca precipitation to a drier and less stable IV late Holocene dominated by increased authigenic Sr and Mg (and higher lake salinity levels). The most arid climatic conditions occurred during Bronze and early Iron Age times, but frequent and intense centennial-scale climatic shifts between wet and dry are also evidenced during the last 2600 years from Ca/Sr data. Peaks in Fe and Ti, along with Si, K and Rb indicate two distinct phases of increased sediment influx into Nar Lake, namely ~9200 to ~8000 yr. BP (ceramic Neolithic) and again – more importantly – during the last 2600 years (Iron Age and later). These appear to be related primarily to increased human impact on vegetation and soils in the lake-catchment, but volcanic activity and intense rainfall events and/or water deficits may also have played a role. To determine the degree to which climatic variability and cultural change are interlinked, the geochemical record from Nar Lake is correlated against long-term settlement histories which have been derived from systematic archaeological site survey and excavation data from Cappadocia. One of the key outcomes of the project is an examination of periods of climatic stability and instability which are identified by amplitudinal changes from the mean state using correlation of coefficient statistics on the Nar Lake geochemical record. This information about the predictability of climate has been coupled to data in settlement density and location within the resiliency model framework of Holling and Gunderson (2002). Together these data suggest that a series of four long-term adaptive cycles (Neolithic, Chalcolithic-Bronze Age, Iron Age-Classical, Byzantine-Ottoman) characterise the dynamic inter-play between people, climate and their environment. In each adaptive cycle, environmental change contributed (both positively and negatively) to community resilience, although at no point during the Holocene is climatic variability seen as the sole driver of societal change. There were times such as the post-Roman Dark Age (1300 to 1100 yr. B.P.) when increased climatic variability and environmental degradation may have heightened social vulnerability.

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Ismayilov, Orkhan M. "Economic Resilience, Disasters, and Green Jobs: An Institutional Collective Action Framework." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2017. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1062807/.

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This dissertation is about economic resilience of local governments to natural disasters. Specifically, the dissertation investigates resilience on regional level. Moreover, the dissertation also investigates growth in the green job sector in local governments. The findings indicate that local governments working with each other helps green job creation. In addition, the dissertation finds that green jobs, following disasters, experience three percent growth. This dissertation is important because it investigates the relationship between climate- related disasters and green jobs, which is an area that is under-investigated.

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Pesic, Nikola. "Geo-climatic potential for advanced natural ventilation comfort cooling approach in mid-rise office buildings in the north-western Mediterranean." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, 2020. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/670793.

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The objective of this investigation is to evaluate the geo-climatic potential for comfort cooling energy savings in mid-rise office buildings applying advanced natural ventilation (ANV) approach based on the stack-effect. The region of interest is the Mediterranean coastline of Catalonia with selected reference geographical locations—the cities of Barcelona, Terrassa and Tarragona. In the first part of this research is evaluated the climatic potential for natural ventilation (CPNV) for each location, as a theoretical level of availability of natural ventilation (NV) based on the model of adaptive thermal comfort. For a comparison of geo-climatic potentials in a wider regional context, additional reference locations are chosen along the Northern Mediterranean: Valencia, Marseille, Rome, Koper, Split, Athens and Nicosia. Generated results confirm that NV is feasible mainly from April to October while in July and August is considerably limited due to unfavourable climate conditions. The second part of the work examines cooling energy savings of the hypothetical mid-rise office-type building model “A”. Applied building performance simulations (BPS) demonstrates achieved total yearly cooling energy savings in the region of Catalonia between 22% and 51%. The same model positioned along the Northern Mediterranean displays cutting in yearly cooling energy loads in a wider range—from 6% to 51%.The following section evaluates levels of climate change vulnerability applying climate scenarios for the selected time-slices—the years 2050 and 2080. It is indicated that the potential of ANV will be reduced close to zero in July and August in 2080. However, the introduction of selected assisted cooling techniques demonstrates that this impact can be absorbed approximately back to the previously evaluated scale in the horizon of 2050. In the last part of the investigation, the new defined building model “B” displays an improvement of comfort cooling energy efficiency: selected NV techniques are merged in order to take advantage of lower nocturnal outdoor temperatures by passive means, whose potential is reflected on the decrease of active day-time cooling loads. For this purpose, the positioned model in Barcelona achieves the yearly reduction of cooling energy loads by 65% in present-time weather conditions. At the conclusion, under projected climate configurations for 2050 and 2080, in Barcelona Terrassa and Tarragona, the series of BPS displays a higher level of climate resilience and the overall reduction of cooling energy loads within 53% and 59%. The key-contribution and the novelty of this research is in the performed series of experimental BPS of the building model “A” where are detected ANV system’s weaknesses as a result of estimated unfavourable climate effects. Relative to observed limited cooling performances, ANV is shifted from an autonomous comfort cooling concept to being a part of a complex ventilative system with specific day- and night-time cycles. Such a new established design approach based on dynamic heat storage is associated with an introduction of lower nocturnal and early morning outdoor air temperatures, as being less affected with future regional climate change. An achieved advantageous momentum in energy performances is categorized through strengths and opportunities. Thereby, the building model “B”, the outcome of this investigation, represents the climate responsive building form with an integrated climate sensitive comfort cooling system, which delivers a higher level of energy efficiency—seen as an acquired factor of resilience towards estimated climate change threats. Such a conceptualised hypothetical building prototype may prove to be a beneficial contributor in the current process of rapid deployment of renewable energy sources in the regional building sector, observed as well from the perspective of the ongoing European Union’s energy transition.
El objetivo de esta investigación es evaluar el potencial geo-climático para el ahorro de energía de enfriamiento de confort en los edificios de oficinas de mediana altura aplicando el concepto de ventilación natural avanzada (ANV). El enfoque es en la costa Mediterránea de Cataluña y las ubicaciones geográficas seleccionadas: Barcelona, Terrassa y Tarragona. La primera parte de investigación evalúa el potencial climático de ventilación natural (CPNV), un nivel teórico de disponibilidad de ventilación natural (NV) aplicando el modelo de confort térmico adaptativo. Para una comparación de los potenciales geo-climáticos en un contexto regional más amplio, están elegidas las ubicaciones a lo largo del Mediterráneo Norte: Valencia, Marsella, Roma, Koper, Split, Atenas y Nicosia. Los resultados confirman que NV es factible principalmente desde abril hasta octubre, mientras que en julio y agosto es considerablemente limitada. La segunda parte del trabajo examina los ahorros de energía de enfriamiento de un hipotético modelo “A” del edificio de oficinas de media altura. Las simulaciones de rendimiento de edificios (BPS) en la región de Cataluña demuestran una reducción anual de cargas de enfriamiento entre 22% y 51%. El mismo modelo posicionado a lo largo del Mediterráneo Norte muestra la reducción de las cargas anuales en un rango más amplio, entre 6% y 51%. La siguiente sección evalúa los niveles de vulnerabilidad al cambio climático aplicando escenarios climáticos para los años 2050 y 2080. Se indica que el potencial de ANV se reducirá cerca de cero en julio y agosto de 2080. Sin embargo, la introducción de unas técnicas de enfriamiento asistidas demuestra que ese impacto puede ser absorbido aproximadamente a la escala previamente evaluada en el horizonte de 2050. La última parte de investigación exhibe que el modelo “B” tiene un mejor nivel de la eficiencia energética del enfriamiento de confort: se fusionan técnicas de NV seleccionadas para aprovechar las temperaturas exteriores nocturnas más bajas por medios pasivos, cuyo potencial se refleja sobre la disminución de las cargas de enfriamiento activo diurno. Para este propósito, el modelo posicionado en Barcelona consigue la reducción anual de las cargas de enfriamiento en un 65% en las condiciones meteorológicas actuales. En conclusión, bajo las configuraciones climáticas proyectadas para 2050 y 2080, en Barcelona, Terrassa y Tarragona, la serie de BPS muestra un mayor nivel de resiliencia climática con la reducción de las cargas de enfriamiento entre 53% y 59%. El aporte clave de la investigación se encuentra en BPS experimentales del modelo “A” donde se detectan las debilidades del sistema ANV como consecuencia del cambio climático estimado. En relación con los rendimientos de enfriamiento limitados, ANV se cambia de un concepto autónomo a ser parte de un sistema de ventilación más complejo con los ciclos específicos diurnos y nocturnos. Este nuevo enfoque de diseño establecido basado en el almacenamiento dinámico de calor se asocia con una introducción del aire exterior con temperaturas más bajas durante la noche y las primeras horas de la mañana, como menos afectado por el futuro cambio climático regional. Un impulso ventajoso logrado en el desempeño energético se categoriza a través de las fortalezas y oportunidades. Por lo tanto, el modelo "B" representa la forma del edificio receptivo al clima con un sistema de enfriamiento de confort integrado sensible, lo que ofrece un mayor nivel de eficiencia energética, visto también como un factor adquirido de resiliencia frente a las amenazas estimadas del cambio climático. Tal prototipo de edificio hipotético puede resultar como un contribuyente beneficioso en el proceso actual de despliegue rápido de fuentes de energía renovables en el sector de la construcción regional, observado también desde la perspectiva de la transición energética en curso de la Unión Europea

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Mascarenhas, Nina(Nina Theresa). "Collaborative governance in regional climate resilience planning : a case study of the Resilient Mystic Collaborative." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2020. https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/128969.

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Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, September, 2020
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 51-53).
by Nina Mascarenhas.
M.C.P.
M.C.P. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning

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Liebergesell, Mario, Björn Reu, Ulrike Stahl, Martin Freiberg, Erik Welk, Jens Kattge, J. Hans C. Cornelissen, and Josep Peñuelas. "Functional resilience against climate-driven extinctions." Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig, 2016. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:15-qucosa-204141.

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Future global change scenarios predict a dramatic loss of biodiversity for many regions in the world, potentially reducing the resistance and resilience of ecosystem functions. Once before, during Plio-Pleistocene glaciations, harsher climatic conditions in Europe as compared to North America led to a more depauperate tree flora. Here we hypothesize that this climate driven species loss has also reduced functional diversity in Europe as compared to North America. We used variation in 26 traits for 154 North American and 66 European tree species and grid-based co-occurrences derived from distribution maps to compare functional diversity patterns of the two continents. First, we identified similar regions with respect to contemporary climate in the temperate zone of North America and Europe. Second, we compared the functional diversity of both continents and for the climatically similar subregions using the functional dispersion-index (FDis) and the functional richness index (FRic). Third, we accounted in these comparisons for grid-scale differences in species richness, and, fourth, investigated the associated trait spaces using dimensionality reduction. For gymnosperms we find similar functional diversity on both continents, whereas for angiosperms functional diversity is significantly greater in Europe than in North America. These results are consistent across different scales, for climatically similar regions and considering species richness patterns. We decomposed these differences in trait space occupation into differences in functional diversity vs. differences in functional identity. We show that climate-driven species loss on a continental scale might be decoupled from or at least not linearly related to changes in functional diversity. This might be important when analyzing the effects of climate-driven biodiversity change on ecosystem functioning.

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Watson, Stephen C. L. "The impact of multiple stressors on coastal biodiversity and associated ecosystem services." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/16817.

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Marine and coastal ecosystems are subject to diverse and increasingly intensive anthropogenic activities, making understanding cumulative effects critically important. However, accurately accounting for the cumulative effects of human impacts can be difficult, with the possibility of multiple stressors interacting and having greater impacts than expected, compounding direct and indirect effects on individuals, populations, communities and ecosystems. Assessment of multiple stressors therefore requires extensive scientific research that directly tests how single or multiple ecological components are affected by stressors, both singly and when combined, and as a consequence, cumulative effects assessments are now increasingly included in environmental assessments. Currently, there is a need to assess these at larger spatial scales, with additional research also urgently needed on the responses of ecological components, processes and functions to single and cumulative stressors. As cumulative environmental impacts could be better addressed by regional stressor effects assessments that combine methods for predicting multiple pressures on ecosystem recovery alongside degradation, this study used several separate approaches that can be used in parallel to give support for local management measures. I tested four completely different methods - a range of multi-metric indices, a food web model (Ecopath), a predictive model (Ecosim) and a Bayesian Belief Network model. Each approach was tested and compared in two shallow water estuarine systems, in Scotland and England, initially concerning the impact of nutrient enrichment and subsequent recovery and was followed by an investigation of how the addition of multiple stressors (nutrient levels, temperature and river-flow rates) would impact the future state of each system. The response to stressors was highly context dependent, varying between and within geographic locations. Overall, each of the four different approaches complemented each other and gave strong support for the need to make big reductions in the pressures and to consider trade-offs between impacting pressures. The models and tools also indicate that in order to reach an improved overall environmental state of each ecosystem, a focus on nutrient reductions are likely to be the most effective of the controls on stressors explored and that cumulative effects of the management of nutrient inputs and increased water temperatures and river-flow are likely to exist.

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Xiao, Qian. "Climate resilient city." Thesis, KTH, Arkitektur, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-254675.

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Schmidt, Stephan Wayne. "INTEGRATING SOLAR ENERGY AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT RESILIENCE PLANNING." DigitalCommons@CalPoly, 2014. https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1211.

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Resilience and solar energy are separately growing in popularity for urban planners and similar professionals. This project links the two discrete terms together and examines the extent to which solar energy can improve local government resilience efforts. It includes a detailed literature review of both topics, as well as the methodology and findings related to a survey and interviews of local government officials and key stakeholders across the country related to hazard mitigation and energy assurance planning. This research finds that integrating the use of solar energy can improve local government resilience efforts related to mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery activities in the following ways: by being incorporated into hazard mitigation strategies as a means to maintain critical operations, thereby reducing loss of life and property; by being utilized in comprehensive planning efforts to increase capacity and decrease reliance and stress upon the grid, thereby reducing the likelihood of blackout events; by being used in tandem with backup storage systems as an integral part of energy assurance planning, which can help ensure critical functions continue in times of grid outage; by being used to provide power for response activities such as water purification, medicine storage and device charging; and by being used as an integral part of rebuilding communities in a more environmentally-conscious manner. The result of the research is a document entitled Solar Energy & Resilience Planning: a practical guide for local governments, a guidebook for local government officials wishing to have more information about incorporating solar energy into current resilience initiatives; it is included at the end of the report as Appendix C.

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Sadauskis, Rolands. "Building resilience to climate-driven regime shifts." Thesis, Stockholms universitet, Stockholm Resilience Centre, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-64551.

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There is increasing concern about potential climate-driven regime shifts– large abrupt shifts in social-ecological systems that could have large impacts onecosystems services and human well-being. This paper aims to synthesize the potentialpathways for building resilience to such regime shifts. Ten examples from the RegimeShift Database provided the cases for analysis. Causal loop diagrams were used toanalyze feedback mechanisms at different scales and identify “leverage points” –places to intervene in the system in order to build resilience. Sixteen of these leveragepoints were identified, most of which relate to agricultural management. Mostfeedback mechanisms include at least one leverage point highlighting the potential forbuilding resilience to climate-induced regime shifts. The most common leverage pointsidentified in our analyses were vegetation cover, algae volume and atmospherictemperature. These leverage points were compared to mitigation strategies discussedby the IPCC. This comparison indicates that current climate change mitigationstrategies do not alter most of the leverage points directly. This suggests that IPCCstrategies should be broadened in order to reduce the risk of regime shifts, and theassociated impacts on human well-being.

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Daniels, Christa. "Landscape Visualization: Influence on Engagement for Climate Resilience." Antioch University / OhioLINK, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1519208099464983.

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Opedal, Oystein Hjorthol. "Topographic complexity and biotic resilience to climate change." Thesis, Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Institutt for biologi, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-21406.

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Topographically complex alpine terrains create a mosaic of diverse microclimates over short distances. This study investigated the extent of small-scale variation in temperature and soil moisture using dense arrays of temperature loggers and moisture measurements, and how this microclimatic variation influenced vascular-plant species richness and intra-specific trait variation across five pairs of 40x40 m landscape plots of contrasting complexity in alpine tundra at Finse, Norway. Spatial variation in mean temperature within landscape plots was in the range of 2-4 °C, similar to what is expected across large altitudinal or latitudinal distances, suggesting an important “buffering capacity” of such landscapes in the event of climate warming. Rough landscapes contained more species than flatter ones, while patterns of within-species phenotypic variation were less clear and differed between species. These results suggest that local reshuffling and short-distance migration will be important biotic responses to climate change in this system, with assumed associated changes in biotic interactions and ecosystem function. The study also highlights the importance of mountains as target areas for biodiversity conservation.

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Rojo, Juan. "URBAN CLIMATE RESILIENCE AND THE PROMISE OF BIG DATA SOLUTIONS : ASSESSING BIG DATA APPLICATION INTO MADRID’S URBAN CLIMATE CHANGE RESILIENCE SCENARIO." Thesis, KTH, Urbana och regionala studier, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-286117.

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In the midst of a climate crisis like the one the world is facing right now, it is essential to try to find new tools that allow better decision-making both to mitigate climate change and to adapt to it. To this day, data science has yet to develop the necessary knowledge to tackle climate change, even though there are large databases with climate data available. With the technological revolution that society is experiencing, and the large amounts of data generated every moment, it is inevitable to think that the necessary responses will inevitably require greater collection and use of data, along with the tools, knowledge, and infrastructure needed. Cities, as great centers of knowledge, population density and innovation, must take the lead to promote data science and Big Data and incorporate them into building urban resilience. For the combination to be productive, both concepts must also be understood in a holistic and complemented way, resilience and Big Data. Both dynamic and relatively new concepts must find the point of union and scientists investigating adaptation must reach out to data scientists to find the skills necessary to clean the data as well as organize, analyze and manage it. Pairing Big Data insights with a well-established and localized urban resilience context can reveal deeper understanding of climate vulnerability, leading to the adaptation of better early-warning systems, more rigorous monitoring and evaluation and ultimately more robust adaptation response based on more accurately defined problems. This study analyzes both concepts, fully understanding what Big Data is, and studying urban climate resilience in a specific setting: the city of Madrid. In this way, the results of this study allow the clear identification of the varied applications of Big Data for a given environment of climate change threats, such as heatwaves, loss of biodiversity and flooding, describing their main data sources, methods, and standing criteria. In addition, the major characteristics of the Big Data use process are explained in the decision-making mechanism, describing the barriers and key drivers of data access, assessment, and application. Such considerations include the correct integration of the different stakeholders in the data collection, cleaning and application processes, ethical considerations of privacy, use and ownership, as well as good governance issues such as fostering citizen participation, encouraging innovation and urging the creation of a solid and robust management infrastructure that promotes the proper operation of the data conditions. The use of Big Data can be a fundamental tool for the development of more robust, flexible and reflexive resilience strategies, which keep climate threats projections updated, allowing adaptation measures to be more relevant and suited for a system’s shocks and stresses. This study broadens the knowledge on which are the correct data sources, the relevance of these data on their application in urban climate resilience and specific Big Data considerations for the city of Madrid.

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Chelleri, Lorenzo. "Worban Resilience and (un)sustainability. Exploring the nexus between resilience and urban systems." Doctoral thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10803/284025.

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Este trabajo representa una primera exloración de las interpretaciones generales y especificas que se le atributen a la relación ciudad-resiliencia. Como expresa el titulo, WORBAN es un nuevo catchword que quiere llamar la atención sobre la dimensión global de las ciudades fusionando los términos WORld y urBAN. Debido a la existente variedad de enfoques sobre la resiliencia hemos decidido explorar diferentes casos de estudios, desde ciudades en países en desarrollo hasta como este concepto se pueda aplicar en el planeamiento de ciudad en OCSE. No obstante la potencial borrosidad debida a la amplitud de conceptos y casos distintos desarrollados por esta tesis, un hilo conductor muy definido acompaña el lector a lo largo de todo el recorrido de la tesis: la evolución del concepto de resiliencia asociado respetivamente a la vulnerabilidad al cambio climático, al crecimiento incontrolado (en países en vía de desarrollo) y finalmente en los casos de renovación urbana en grande ciudad globales. En una primera parte la tesis hace un exhaustivo estado de la cuestión sobre el concepto de resiliencia y la emergente metáfora de ciudades resilientes. En la segunda parte se desarrolla, como si se tratase de un proceso de aprendizaje desde lo más sencillo a lo más complejo, tres casos de estudios que tratan respetivamente: a) Resiliencia urbana relacionada con la escala temporal: se trata el concepto de resiliencia y vulnerabilidad (a los impactos del cambio climático). El caso de estudio de Holanda expone el link muy fuerte que el enfoque de protección (resiliencia como resistencia del sistema) tiene con el corto plazo, enfatizando la necesidad y utilidad de relacionar la resiliencia no con estrategias de protección, si no de adaptación y transformación del sistema para hacer frente a la sostenibilidad y sobrevivencia en el largo plazo. b) Resiliencia urbana y sostenibilidad: se relaciona la resiliencia de las ciudades en expansión (gracias a la economía global) en países en vía de desarrollo con los efectos de escalas espaciales que suponen estas transiciones urbanas. Desde este punto de vista el caso de estudio de Marruecos enfatiza el problema emergente de ¿“la resiliencia para quien”?, en cuanto los efectos de escala de la resiliencia de este nuevo perfil de ciudad, globalmente conectada a cadenas de productos y ventas, ya no se sustenta desde los recurso locales. De hecho profundas transformaciones insostenibles y socialmente excluyentes son provocadas por este shift del metabolismo urbano, principalmente por indirectos cambios en los sistemas de valores y en la redistribución del acceso de los servicios de los ecosistemas a escala regional. c) La resiliencia tras la renovación urbana en ciudades globales emergentes: se relaciona la resiliencia con asuntos de poder, un poder que influye en los complejos proceso de producción de los nuevos espacios estratégico metropolitano. El caso de Barcelona subraya el gap entre resiliencia general y especifica, en cuanto diferencia entre voluntades de actores urbanos potentes (key stakeholders) y los ciudadanos locales y sus necesidades (peculiares que pueden ir en contra de los intereses de los actores estratégicos de la ciudad). Desde la suma de la primera parte de review teórico y desde los casos de estudios podemos finalmente considerar la resiliencia urbana como “un marco conceptual multidisciplinar para explorar las capacidades de reacción, reconstrucción, adaptación y transformación de (y en) las ciudades”. En hacer esto, la aplicación de este marco teórico ha reconocido la importancia de considerar la autosuficiencia, la redundancia (disminución de la eficiencia y aumento de la diversidad funcional), el proceso de aprendizaje y la innovación como factores claves de cara a transición hacia ambientes urbanos sostenibles y resilientes. Finalmente, la cuestión fundamental de enfocar siempre de manera critica el estudio de la resiliencia urbana atreves de los criterios ¿“resiliencia de quien y de cara a que”? y de ¿”resiliencia para quien”?.
This Doctoral Thesis represents a first explorative research work over the generic and specific possible interpretations and meanings referred to the relationships between resilience and urban systems. As the title’s catchword introduces, WORBAN is about the world and urban systems resilience as a result of the complex cross scales nature and dimensions of cities, nested in global networks, which definitely represent the mayor driver of global environmental change. Due to the existing variety of multidisciplinary resilience theoretical perspectives we decided to navigate different possible applications and examples of urban resiliency, from developing countries urban growth to urban planning processes in OCSE. Notwithstanding the potential fuzziness of such too broad framework, a specific conceptual common thread develops along the three case studies, the evolution of (urban) resilience perspectives relating it to (urban) vulnerability, (urban) growth and (urban) renewal capacities. A strong literature review is proposed in the first part of the thesis in order to explore the state of the art on resilience and urban resilience emerging paradigms. In the second part, as in the case of a learning process from the easier to the more complex urban resilience perspective, the case studies explain respectively: a) The urban resiliency and timeline: relating resilience to vulnerability and Climate Change threats. The Netherland example builds strong evidences over the short term links with recovery and (system) protection resilient strategies, underlining the usefulness and necessity of framing urban long term resilience toward system structural and functional changes (transitions). b) The urban resiliency and sustainability: relating resilience to fast urbanization processes in developing countries due to global economy and its cross scale effects. The Moroccan case study underline the “resilience for whom” emergent critical perspective, because of the cross scale consequences of the new urban resiliency (and transition) based on global commodity chains better than be sustained from local and regional resources. Deep unsustainable and inequitable transformations emerge from such urban metabolism shift, related to social justice because of a cultural and behavioural induced changes and essential ecosystem services access and benefits re-distribution. c) The urban resiliency behind urban renewal in global cities: relating resilience to power issues in shaping new forms and functions in emerging global cities. Barcelona case study wants to put at the forefront of urban resilience discussion the gap between generic urban resilience (maintain the global network strategic position benefitting markets chains tradeoffs) versus local citizen resilience and needs. From both theoretic reviews and case studies insights we can definitely consider urban resilience as “a multidisciplinary framework to explore the reactive, recovery, adaptive and transformability capacities of (and in) urban systems”. In doing so, the application of this framework has underlined the need of recognizing the benefits of self-sufficiency, redundancy (less efficiency), learning capacities and innovations as core principles for sustainable urban resiliency and transitions. Last but not least, the fundamental research question (and urban resilience focus) must always critically arise the issue of ”resilience of what to what”, and “resilience for whom” that we try to address.

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O'Brien, Geoff. "Disaster management, climate change and variability and social resilience." Thesis, Northumbria University, 2008. http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/3142/.

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Accelerated climate change and increasing climate variability caused by increasing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions is the single largest threat to the international goals of sustainable development, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and disaster risk reduction. Global discourses recognise the need for effective and sustainable responses to produced climate risks. The risk types likely to occur are known, but only in broad terms. That they are produced by human action is accepted; but their scale, severity, longevity and frequency are not known. The challenge for policymakers is developing an effective framework within which sustainable responses can be formulated. Addressing the problems of produced risks requires a comprehensive approach to risk management to be effective. The mechanisms within the climate change, sustainable development and disaster risk reduction discourses are not sufficiently effective or integrated to respond to this challenge. Fundamental reform to current modes of risk reduction is needed, but this can only be achieved by a shift in the dominant perspective on formulating sustainable responses. This requires a shift to an enabling policy framework that encourages bottom-up resilient responses. Resilience is argued as a tool for policy development that can enhance adaptive capacity to current climate risks and shape energy policy to respond to mitigate future climate risks.

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Alfraidi, Yahya. "Developing building design resilience strategies to climate change risks." Thesis, University of Liverpool, 2015. http://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/2011360/.

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A resilient building design assessment tool is developed and presented to assist architects in preparing designs to meet the challenges of climate change. The tool incorporates a set of resilience factors that have been selected as a result of information gathered from an extensive literature review (from 1980 on) and a detailed questionnaire sent out to a sample of architects working in the field, together with a statistical analysis of the collected data. Climate change poses the built environment with an increasing threat of more frequent and severe meteorological events, including heavy precipitation, flooding, powerful storms and winds, lengthy and intense heat waves, and globally rising temperatures. The literature review revealed that there have as yet been few attempts to develop systematically models that integrate climate change risks (CCRs) with corresponding resilience factors in order that CCR resilience can be included in all aspects of a building and its site from the outset. The methodology adopted in this research is based on a critical analysis of the literature and the development of a prototype assessment model. Central to the success of this model is the capture of a set of resilience factors (SFs). As a first step, the researcher clustered climate change risks (CCRs) into four categories: physical, social, economic and management. Next, six aspects of resilience as applied to buildings were identified: site, layout, structure, envelope, system and operation. To ensure that appropriate resilience factors were chosen and incorporated into the model, the author extracted the most relevant factors from the review and divided them among the six key building aspects. In total 85 SFs were incorporated into the model. A questionnaire was prepared and sent out to a large number of practicing and academic architects of differing levels of experience. A statistical analysis of the replies, which included a scoring by the respondents of the effectiveness of each resilience factor, was used to refine and reduce the number of resilience factors, to 28, for inclusion in the assessment tool. The tool was then trialled on three projects to demonstrate its capabilities and effectiveness in assessing the resilience of a building against CCRs. It is hoped that the tool described here will, with further refinements and improvements, become a practical aid to architects faced with designing buildings in a world of increasingly severe hydro-meteorological events.

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Griffiths, Rebecca Siân. "Farmers' resilience to climate change in the Welsh Marshes." Thesis, University of Worcester, 2015. http://eprints.worc.ac.uk/4539/.

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Climate change will exacerbate challenges facing food security in the UK. Increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events will further impact upon farm systems. At the heart of the impending challenges to UK agricultural production, farmers’ resilience will be tested to new limits. Research into farmers’ resilience to climate change in the UK is distinctly underdeveloped when compared to research in developing and other developed nations. This research gap is addressed through exploration of farmers’ resilience in the Welsh Marches, establishing the role of risk perceptions, local knowledge and adaptive capacity in farmers’ decision-making to limit climate shocks. Further contributions to agricultural geography are made through experimentation of a ‘cultural-behavioural approach’, seeking to revisit the behavioural approach in view of the cultural-turn. The Welsh Marches, situated on the English-Welsh border, has been selected as a focal point due to its agricultural diversity, and known experiences of extreme weather events. A phased mixed methodological approach is adopted. Phase one explores recorded and reported experiences of past extreme weather events in local meteorological records and local newspaper articles. Phase two consists of 115 survey-questionnaires, 15 in-depth semi-structured interviews, and a scenario based focus group with selected farmers from the Welsh Marches. This allows farmers’ resilience to climate change in the past, present and future to be explored. Original contributions to knowledge are made through demonstrating the value of focusing upon the culture of a specific farm community, applying a ‘bottom-up’ approach. The priority given to the weather in farmers’ decision-making is identified to be determined by individual relationships that farmers’ develop with the weather. Yet, a consensus of farmers’ observations has established recognition of considerable changes in the weather over the last 30 years, acknowledging more extremes and seasonal variations. In contrast, perceptions of future climate change are largely varied. Farmers are found to be disengaged with the communication of climate change science, as the global impacts portrayed are distant in time and place from probable impacts that may be experienced locally. Current communication of climate change information has been identified to alienate farmers from the local reality of probable future impacts. Adaptation options and responses to extreme weather and climate change are identified from measures found to be already implemented and considered for the future. A greater need to explore local knowledge and risk perception in relation to farmers’ understanding of future climate challenges is clear. There is a need to conduct comparable research in different farm communities across the UK. Progression into establishing the role of farmers’ resilience in responding effectively to future climate challenges has only just begun.

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Boucek, Ross E. "Investigating Sub-tropical Community Resistance and Resilience to Climate Disturbance." FIU Digital Commons, 2016. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2993.

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Changes in global climate will likely increase climate variability. In turn, changes in climate variability have begun to alter the frequency, intensity, and timing of climate disturbances. Continued changes in the climate disturbance regime experienced by natural systems will undoubtedly affect ecological processes at every hierarchical scale. Thus, in order to predict the dynamics of ecological systems in the future, we must develop a more mechanistic understanding of how and in what ways climate disturbance affects natural systems. In South Florida, two climate disturbances recently affected the region, a severe cold spell in 2010, and a drought in 2011. Importantly, these disturbances affected an ecosystem of long-term, comprehensive, and persistent ecological study in the Shark River estuary in the Everglades National Park. The aims of my dissertation were to (1) assess the relative severity of these two climate disturbances, (2) identify effects of these disturbances on community structuring, (3) compare community change from the 2010 cold spell with community change from another extreme cold spell that affected sub-tropical China in 2008, (4) assess the effects of the drought on predator prey interactions in the Shark River and (5) apply a spatial approach to predicting population resistance to these events. My results show that the 2010 cold spell was the most severe cold event to affect the Shark River in the last 80 years, while the drought was the worst drought to occur in the last 10 years. The cold spell drove community change that was predictable based on the traits of component species, whereas community change was less predictable using trait-based approaches. When comparing community change from the extreme 2010 event in Florida with the event in China, I identified three consistencies related to community change from extreme cold events that occurred across both events that will help build generalized understanding of community resistance to increasingly extreme climate events in the future. From the trophic study, I found that the drought reduced prey for estuarine piscivores. Not only was prey biomass reduced, the drought drove a compositional shift in prey communities from fish to invertebrates, which are lower in calories. Last, I found that animal movement may create temporally dynamic resistance scenarios that should be accounted for when developing predictive models.

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Katich, Kristina Noel. "Urban climate resilience : a global assessment of city adaptation plans." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/49698.

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Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2009.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-80).
As policy makers accept climate change as an irrefutable threat, adaptation planning has emerged as a necessary action for countries, states, and municipalities. This thesis explores adaptive responses to climate change in 17 cities, comparing municipal plans created to "battle" a global problem at the local level. Incorporating capitals and megacities from both the developed and developing worlds, this analysis studies whether municipal responses to the impacts of climate change adhere to the conventional understanding of who needs to adapt and how they are planning for adaptation. The three assumptions challenged in this analysis are (1) that mitigation is primarily a responsibility of the global north while adaptation is the primary response of the global south, (2) that adaptive action is planned in response to vulnerability, and (3) that mitigation action and groups pave the way for subsequent adaptation through the creation of knowledge and global networks on climate issues. Through a comparison of the levels of resource and hazard assessment, objective frameworks, levels of coordination, citizen involvement mechanisms, and concern for equity that city governments are using to develop climate action plans, I argue that municipalities are not using the resources and priorities ascribed to them by the global community. Instead, global networks and programs, as they are now, encourage the creation of perfunctory adaptation statements, rather than specific actions.
(cont.) Global mitigation relationships are effectively muddling and suppressing the creative development of local strategies for climate change adaptation. Keywords: climate change, adaptation, resilience, vulnerability, municipal adaptation plan, city adaptation plan, risk
by Kristina Noel Katich.
M.C.P.

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Detroit, Ryan N. "Disaster Proof: The Ephemeralization of Prefabricated Architecture for Climate Resilience." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1554120881444618.

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Rafael, Sandra Isabel Moreira. "Urban air quality and climate change: vulnerability, resilience and adaptation." Doctoral thesis, Universidade de Aveiro, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10773/23029.

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Doutoramento em Ciências e Engenharia do Ambiente
As cidades, áreas que albergam cerca de 70% da população europeia, enfrentam hoje um conjunto de desafios associados a alterações do metabolismo urbano, que num contexto de alteração climática (AC), afectam o microclima urbano e a qualidade do ar (QA). Compreender a interação entre as AC, qualidade do ar e fluxos urbanos de calor (FUC) é um tópico de investigação emergente, reconhecido como área de interesse para a definição e implementação de políticas locais. O principal objetivo do presente trabalho é promover uma avaliação integrada das interações entre medidas de resiliência urbana e as AC, e respectiva influência no microclima urbano, QA e FUC, tendo como caso de estudo a cidade do Porto (Portugal). Pretende-se ainda impulsionar o desempenho dos modelos numéricos para que estes representem realisticamente os fenómenos físicos que ocorrem nas áreas urbanas. Para atingir este objetivo, o sistema de modelos WRF-SUEWS foi aplicado para a área de estudo para avaliar a influência de diferentes níveis de área urbanizada nas trocas de calor entre a superficie e a atmosfera. O modelo foi validado mediante a comparação dos seus resultados com dados medidos obtidos em campanhas de monitorização de fluxos. A influência das variáveis meteorológicas nos FUC, e a forma como estas, por sua vez, são influenciadas pela superfície urbana foi também avaliada. Para tal, o sistema WRF-SUEWS foi aplicado para 1-ano representativo de um período de clima presente (1986-2005) e de clima futuro de médio prazo (2046-2065). O cenário climático futuro foi projetado tendo por base o cenário RCP8.5. Esta análise permitiu quantificar e mapear os efeitos das AC nos FUC na cidade do Porto. Face à necessidade corrente de aumentar a resiliência urbana a futuros eventos meteorológicos extremos (e.g. ondas de calor), o sistema WRF-SUEWS foi ainda aplicado (com uma resolução espacial de 200 m) para avaliar a influência de medidas de resiliência nos FUC. Conhecendo a importância da morfologia urbana para as características do seu próprio clima, um conjunto de parameterizações urbanas (LSM, SUEWS e UCM) foram analisados para área de estudo, por forma a obter uma representação realista das características urbanas no modelo WRF e, consequentemente, obter um melhor desempenho na modelação da QA à escala local. Os resultados revelaram que o modelo UCM é a parameterização urbana que melhor representa os fluxos turbulentos de calor, a temperatura e velocidade do vento à superfície. Como resultado, o modelo CFD VADIS, inicializado pelo modelo WRF-UCM, foi aplicado com uma elevada resolução espacial (3 m) a um bairro típico da cidade do Porto. As simulações realizadas permitiram caracterizar o estado atual da QA na área de estudo, bem como avaliar a influência de diferentes medidas de resiliência nos padrões de velocidade do vento e na concentração de poluentes atmosféricos (PM10, NOX, CO e CO2). Este trabalho constitui uma ferramenta científica inovadora no que diz respeito ao conhecimento dos processos físicos que ocorrem à escala urbana, proporcionando uma visão integradora entre AC, QA e FUC. Estes resultados são relevantes para o apoio à decisão política do que respeita à implementação de estratégias que permitam aumentar a resiliência urbana, nas suas diversas vertentes, a um clima em mudança
Cities, home of about 70% of the European population, are facing important challenges related to changes in urban structure and its metabolism, and to pressures induced by climate change (CC) effects, which are affecting urban microclimate and air quality. The better understanding of the interactions between CC, air quality and urban surface energy balance (USEB) is an emerging priority for research and policy. The main objective of the current study is to provide an integrated assessment of the interaction between resilience measures and CC effects, and its influence on the urban microclimate and air quality as well as on the USEB, having as case study the city of Porto (Portugal). The ultimate goal is to improve the accuracy of numerical modelling to better represent the physical processes occurring in urban areas. For this purpose, the relevant parameters to both USEB and air quality were analysed. The WRF-SUEWS modelling setup was applied to the study area to assess the influence of different levels of urbanization on the surface-atmosphere exchanges. To validate the modelling setup, the results were compared with measurements carried out on field campaigns. The way of how the meteorological variables affect the USEB and how, in turn, these variables are themselves affected by urban surface was also assessed. The modelling setup was applied for 1-year period statistically representative of a present (1986-2005) and medium-term future (2046-2065) climate. The climate projection was produced under the RCP8.5 scenario. This analysis gives insights of how the urban-surface exchanges will be affected by CC, allowing the mapping of the FUC over the study area. As result of the need of increase cities resilience to future extreme weather events (e.g. heat waves), the WRF-SUEWS model (with a spatial resolution of 200 m), was applied to Porto city to evaluate the influence of a set of resilience measures on the USEB. Knowing the importance of urban surfaces to its own microclimate, a set of urban parameterization schemes (LSM, SUEWS and UCM) were analysed for the study area, to achieve a more accurate representation of urban features in the WRF model and, in consequence, to improve the capability of air quality modelling at urban/local scale. The results point out that the UCM is the urban parameterization that provides a more realistic representation of the turbulent energy fluxes and the near-surface air temperatures and wind speed. As result, a CFD modelling (VADIS), forced by WRF-UCM, was used to provide a set of numerical simulations with a high spatial resolution (3 m) over a typical neighbourhood in the Porto city. These simulations allow the characterization of the current air quality status over the study area, as well as the assessment of the influence of different resilience measures in the wind flow and air pollutants dispersion (PM10, NOX, CO and CO2). Overall, this research work is a step forward in understanding the physics of urban environments, providing also a linkage between CC, air quality and USEB. These findings are highly advantageous to support policy makers and stakeholders helping them to choose the best strategies to mitigate extreme weather events and air pollution episodes and so increase cities resilience to a future climate.

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Haight, Jeffrey D. "Landscape Planning for Climate Change Resilience in the Southern Rockies." DigitalCommons@USU, 2018. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/7289.

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The unique species, ecosystems and landscapes of the Western United States are experiencing unprecedented pressures from climate change, creating new challenges for conservation. As temperatures rise and patterns of precipitation shift, plant and wildlife species have been shifting their ranges to new areas in search of more suitable climates, building groupings of species that are historically unfamiliar. These climate -driven migrations place an additional burden on species that are already threatened from habitat loss and other human-related activities. The impacts of climate change are of particular concern in landscapes that have long been conserved and managed based on the ecological features that define them, including national parks, wildlife refuges, and wilderness areas. With many of these existing protected areas experiencing ecological shifts due to climate change, there is a growing need to identify the places within wider regions that will help species cope with impacts of changing climatic conditions. In some cases, those places are those where the pressures of climate change are least pronounced, what are referred to as “climate refugia.” At other times, helping plants and wildlife cope involves aiding their movement across the landscape in response to climate shifts, by preserving the connectivity between critical habitats and other highly important areas. While many efforts have been made to assess the potential of different areas as climate refugia and corridors, these practices have usually been carried out looking at individual species or ecosystems at a relatively local scale. Unfortunately, many of the decisions to conserve new parts of the landscape occur across much broader regions that span a multitude of species and ecosystems, ranging from individual states to entire continents. As a consequence, assessing climate refugia and corridors on a case-by-case basis for every ecological feature is neither feasible nor an efficient use of the limited resources available for conservation. Additionally, when deciding which areas are best suited for protecting native species and ecosystems from the impacts of climate change, one cannot ignore the existence of the other prevalent threats to conservation, such as habitat loss or invasive species. In this thesis, I have explored methods for widely incorporating climate change into the complex process of identifying high priority areas for conservation across broad regions. As a case study for this work, I chose the Southern Rockies Landscape Conservation Cooperative, a collaborative public and private effort for conserving and managing the ecological characteristics of a distinct region spanning seven states in the US Intermountain West. After broadly measuring climate change impact and connectivity in a manner that was not tied to any particular species, I simulated climate refugia and corridors that simultaneously represented the ranges of 31 separate wildlife species. Though further research is needed to better understand the full suite of threats to species persistence, the means already exist for conservation decision makers to account for climate change in their actions. I believe that my work supports that decision making process, providing a framework for identifying areas that are most critical for aiding diverse species and ecosystems in their responses to the pressures of climate change.

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Olsen, Kate. "Colorado River cutthroat habitat resistance and resilience to climate change." DigitalCommons@USU, 2013. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/1965.

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Colorado River cutthroat trout, Oncorhyncus clarki pleuriticus , occupy less than 12% of their historic range. Restoration and conservation of this species are currently under way across the upper Colorado River basin, but guidance to inform management decisions related to the impacts of climate change on cutthroat is lacking. Shifts in the thermal distribution of freshwater fish have been documented, and will continue to occur as cold water habitat is threatened by warming water temperatures. Coupled air and water temperature data allow for an estimation of potential resistance and resilience to warming, determining the effect that local air has on stream temperature. The United States Forest Service, cooperating with federal agencies, state agencies and private landowners, placed temperature loggers in the water and two air locations at 50 sites. To select a representative subset of sites, six habitat characteristics of each Colorado River cutthroat trout core conservation population were considered. These characteristics include solar input, elevation, watershed area, riparian vegetation, groundwater input, and the 30-year mean maximum July air temperature. Results from coupled temperature loggers indicate that the relationship between air and water temperature in the upper Colorado River basin is neither linear, nor one-to-one. Using Mohseni's (2003) equation, the relationship between air and water temperature was fit to a nonlinear regression curve. Analysis shows that the median rise in daily maximum water temperature is only 0.41°C for a 1.0°C increase in the median daily maximum air temperature. Air temperature exerts the most influence over water temperature; however, these results indicate that there are other characteristics that influence stream temperature. To determine these characteristics, analysis of the six habitat characteristics used for site selection in addition to aspect, slope, and latitude were used to model multiple temperature metrics. The best model, nonlinear water to air temperature relationship, had an R2 between actual and predicted values of 0.71. It also became clear that using multi-metric analysis would provide a much more robust indicator of resistance. This work will allow managers to consider potential climate change resistance or resilience in project prioritization, by understanding potential habitat characteristics to buffer stream warming.

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33

Banuelos, Liana (Liana M. ). "Overcoming Barriers to Institutionalize Climate Change Resiliency Practices : MassDOT." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/118266.

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Thesis: M.C.P., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2018.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 91-93).
The most pronounced climate change effects in northeastern United States will be increased precipitation events, more frequent heat waves, and substantial sea level rise. These temperature and flooding outcomes place substantial risk on vital infrastructure that supports economic development, public health, and access to resources and amenities within the state of Massachusetts. As such, there is a need to mitigate these risks through long-range planning and climate change adaptation strategies. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) recognizes that infrastructure must be fortified through these methods but has yet to establish a systematic approach for quantifying climate change impacts, evaluating the costs and benefits of selective intervention, and implementing adaptation strategies. However, MassDOT operates within a complex political setting of constraints and conditions that may or may not be conducive to particular implementation mechanisms. Additionally, the hydrologic modeling and spatial analysis needed to identify specific areas of transportation infrastructure that are especially vulnerable to climate change effects will not be completed until late 2018. Cognizant of these constraints, this thesis aims to (1) synthesize the best climate change resiliency strategies from other large infrastructure owners/DOTs and (2) draw upon lessons learned from other agencies to recommend strategies for overcoming barriers to institutionalization at MassDOT. In this way, the department will have a roadmap to addressing existing gaps and barriers to implementation once the climate adaptation and vulnerability assessment tool has been developed. By strategically protecting infrastructure that will have the greatest benefit to MassDOT's constituents at the least cost, the department will be able to minimize the impacts of climate change and maintain a satisfying level of service despite increasing climate stresses on infrastructure and operations.
by Liana Banuelos.
M.C.P.

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34

Joerin, Jonas. "Enhancing Climate-related Disaster Resilience of Urban Communities in Chennai, India." 京都大学 (Kyoto University), 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2433/157881.

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35

Barkley, Hannah Catherine. "A scientific framework for evaluating coral reef resilience to climate change." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/107209.

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Thesis: Ph. D., Joint Program in Oceanography/Applied Ocean Science and Engineering (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2016.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references.
The 21st century warming and acidification of tropical oceans will impact the structure and function of coral reef ecosystems. Consequently, conservation efforts are increasingly focused on identifying and protecting reef communities that demonstrate resilience to these changes. In this thesis, I develop a scientific framework for identifying climate change resilience in coral communities and, using Palau's coral reefs as a case study, demonstrate the application of this approach. First, I use coral skeletal records to evaluate the sensitivity of coral communities to episodes of severe thermal stress. This information reveals coral reef communities that consistently exhibit weak responses to multiple high temperature events. Second, I evaluate coral reef community structure across a strong, natural pH gradient using metrics informed by laboratory ocean acidification studies. The coral communities of Palau's Rock Island reefs show a level of pH tolerance that is unique amongst reefs studied to date. Third, I conduct laboratory and field experiments to constrain the pH thresholds of these resilient corals and investigate potential mechanisms for pH tolerance. Finally, I combine archipelago-wide coral temperature and pH sensitivity data to construct climate change resilience indices. My study succeeds in identifying a small number of coral communities that have the potential to withstand 2 1st century climate change and highlights the spatial variability in community responses to ocean warming and acidification. Critically, I present a set of scientific tools and approaches for identifying resilient coral reef communities that has applicability to coral reefs worldwide.
by Hannah Catherine Barkley.
Ph. D.

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Flores, Bernardo Monteiro. "Resilience of Amazonian forests: the roles of fire, flooding and climate." PROGRAMA DE P?S-GRADUA??O EM ECOLOGIA, 2016. https://repositorio.ufrn.br/jspui/handle/123456789/23363.

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A Amaz?nia foi recentemente mostrada como um sistema florestal resiliente por apresentar uma r?pida recupera??o da biomassa ap?s a perturba??o humana. Entretanto, mudan?as clim?ticas podem aumentar a freq??ncia de secas e inc?ndios, o que implica na possibilidade de que uma parte dessa imensa floresta mude para o estado de savana. Apesar da bacia Amaz?nica parecer razoavelmente homog?nea, 14% inunda sazonalmente. Na minha tese, combino an?lises de dados de sat?lite com medidas e experimentos em campo para acessar o papel desses ecossistemas inund?veis em moldar a resili?ncia da floresta Amaz?nica. Primeiro, eu analiso a distribui??o de cobertura de arvores em toda a Amaz?nia para revelar que savanas s?o mais comuns nessas plan?cies inund?veis. Esse padr?o sugere que comparadas ? terra-firme, ?reas inund?veis passam mais tempo no estado de savana. Ainda, florestas inund?veis parecem ter um limiar em 1500 mm de chuva anual no qual podem virar savanna, enquanto que esse limiar para a terra-firme parece ser em cerca de 1000 mm de chuva. Combinando medidas usando imagens de sat?lite e em campo, eu mostro que a maior freq??ncia de savanas em ecossistemas inund?veis pode ser devido ? uma maior sensibilidade ao fogo. Ap?s um inc?ndio florestal, ?reas inund?veis perdem mais cobertura de ?rvores e fertilidade do solo, e recuperam mais lentamente que em terra-firme (capitulo 2). Em plan?cies de inunda??o do Rio Negro, eu estudei a recupera??o florestal ap?s fogo repetido usando dados de campo da ?rea basal de ?rvores, riqueza de esp?cies, disponibilidade de sementes e cobertura herb?cea. Os resultados indicam que o fogo repetido pode facilmente aprisionar florestas inund?veis por ?gua preta em um estado de vegeta??o aberta devido a perda repentina da resili?ncia florestal ap?s o segundo fogo (capitulo 3). Analises do solo e da composi??o de ?rvores em florestas inund?veis revelam que o primeiro fogo inicia um processo de perda da fertilidade do solo que intensifica enquanto ?rvores de savana passam a dominar a comunidade. Essa mudan?a na composi??o de ?rvores ocorre em menos de quatro d?cadas, possivelmente acelerada por uma r?pida lixivia??o dos nutrientes do solo. A r?pida savaniza??o de florestas inund?veis ap?s o fogo implica na exist?ncia de mecanismos que favore?am o recrutamento de ?rvores de savana, como, por exemplo, filtros ambientais (capitulo 4). No capitulo 5 eu testo experimentalmente no campo o papel da limita??o de dispers?o e de filtros ambientais para o recrutamento de ?rvores em florestas inund?veis ap?s o fogo. Eu combino invent?rios de sementes de ?rvores nesses locais queimados, com experimentos usando sementes e mudas plantadas de seis esp?cies de ?rvores que ocorrem nesse ecossistema. O fogo repetido reduz fortemente a disponibilidade de sementes de ?rvores, mas essas tem sucesso quando plantadas apesar da presen?a de um solo degradado e alta cobertura herb?cea. Ainda, solos degradados em locais que queimaram duas vezes parecem limitar o crescimento da maioria das esp?cies de ?rvores, mas n?o de ?rvores de savana com ra?zes profundas. Nossos resultados sugerem uma limita??o das ?rvores de floresta em dispersar para locais queimados e abertos. O conjunto das evid?ncias apresentadas nesta tese sustenta a hip?tese de que florestas inund?veis da Amaz?nia s?o menos resilientes que florestas de terra-firme, e mais propensas ? mudar para o estado de savana. A pouca habilidade que essas florestas t?m em reter a fertilidade do solo e recuperar a estrutura florestal ap?s o fogo, pode acelerar a transi??o para savana. Tamb?m apresento evid?ncia de que ?rvores de florestas inund?veis possuem limita??o de dispers?o. An?lises em larga escala espacial da cobertura de ?rvores em fun??o da quantidade de chuva anual sugerem que savanas s?o mais propensas a expandir primeiro nas ?reas inund?veis se o clima da Amaz?nia ficar mais seco. A expans?o de savanas por ecossistemas inund?veis para o cerne da Amaz?nia poderia espalhar fragilidade de um local inesperado.

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37

Filipe, João Carlos Melanda. "Genetic variation and resilience to climate change in Mediterranean-type trees." Thesis, Filipe, João Carlos Melanda (2021) Genetic variation and resilience to climate change in Mediterranean-type trees. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2021. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/64408/.

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Climate models predict that temperature means will continuously increase globally, and that heatwaves and drought periods will become more frequent and intense, particularly in Mediterranean-type climates. The Southwest Western Australia (SWWA) Biodiversity Hotspot has extensive forest environments that have been subject to heatwaves and drought-induced forest mortality in recent years, impacting forest carbon sequestration and local ecological structure. Although, species may persist through enhanced physiological tolerance, phenotypic plasticity and/or genetic adaptation. Genetic variation is critical for ecological adaptive capacity - the potential and ability to adjust to, and persist through, external factors - and consequently, the evolutionary potential of the species. Evolution to a specific environment through natural selection results in patterns of local adaptation (when a local population experiences higher fitness compared to non-local counterparts). Local adaptation can be identified by either genome wide surveys that link genetic variants to climate variables or measuring plant traits indicative of plant performance and survival through reciprocal transplants in common environments. Exploring genetic adaptation patterns associated with physiological tolerance to climate can guide forest management approaches to enhance forests’ resilience to climate change, such as assisted gene migration. The genetic survey (Chapter 2) sampled natural jarrah populations and obtained 13,534 independent single nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) markers across the genome. Three genotype-association analyses were used to identify putatively adapted SNPs associated with independent climate variables. While overall levels of population differentiation were low (FST=0.04), environmental association analyses found a total of 2,336 unique SNPs associated with temperature and precipitation variables, with 1,440 SNPs annotated to genic regions. Considerable allelic turnover was identified for SNPs associated with temperature seasonality and mean precipitation of the warmest quarter, suggesting that both temperature and precipitation are important factors in adaptation. SNPs with similar gene functions, had analogous allelic turnover along climate gradients, while SNPs among temperature and precipitation variables had uncorrelated patterns of adaptation. These contrasting patterns provide evidence that there may be standing genomic variation adapted to current climate gradients, providing the basis for adaptive management strategies to bolster forest resilience in the future. The second experimental chapter (Chapter 3) explored seed germination response to temperature in jarrah and marri populations from wide-ranging climate origins, to estimate the thermal optima and constraints. Seeds from across the entire geographic distribution were collected from independent populations of each species. Patterns of germination observed differences between species on a thermal gradient plate (5-40°C) and provided a temperature range for explicit germination tests. Germination tests were carried out at five constant temperatures between 9 and 33°C. We discuss how the germination niche (1) differs between species, (2) varies among populations, and (3) relates to climatic origin. Temperature response of germination differed among species, specifically the optimum temperature for germination (jarrah – 23.4°C; marri - 31°C). Temperature response of germination also differed among populations within species and was related to the climate-origin only for marri. Lastly, for the third experimental chapter (Chapter 4), a reciprocal transplant common garden experiment was used to investigate variation in marri`s functional traits using hyperspectral data. Hyperspectral remote sensing has the potential to assess plant functional status rapidly and non-destructively across climatic gradients to support conservation and management strategies, such as assisted migration, for forests under climate change. This study explored the variability of functional traits in marri to estimate patterns of local adaptation. Trees from natural populations spanning marri’s geographic distribution were grown in two common garden plantation sites with different climate settings. High-resolution field-based spectral measurements were collected from leaves of adult plants at both sites in two seasons (summer and autumn). Partial least squares regression analyses of full reflectance spectra highlighted differences among populations, sites, and seasons in spectral regions associated with photosynthetic pigments and water content, among other spectral traits, related to leaf condition and stress responses. Variation in these traits was further explored with analyses of spectral indices tailored to pigment and water absorptions. Analyses of spectral indices variation identified significant differences between populations, suggesting there is heritable variation in climatic tolerances, but stronger effects of season and site.

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Ospina, Parada Angelica. "Climate change adaptation and developing country livelihoods : the role of information and communication technologies." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2013. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/climate-change-adaptation-and-developing-country-livelihoods-the-role-of-information-and-communication-technologies(9b336c6a-d43d-4015-b106-4c002d0eb6b1).html.

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This research investigates the linkages that exist between climate change impacts, adaptation and information and communication technologies (ICTs) within developing country livelihoods. The analysis is based on an original conceptual framework that explores the notion of 'e-resilience' as a key property through which ICTs may strengthen the capacity of vulnerable systems to adapt and potentially transform in the face of increasing climate change impacts and uncertainty. By drawing key principles from the sustainable livelihoods framework, new institutionalism and Sen's capabilities approach, and based on a critical realist view of the world, the research provides a novel approach to the understanding of ICTs' role in contexts vulnerable to climate change. Based on the experience of Colombia's coffee producers, the analysis demonstrates that ICTs can contribute to the ability of vulnerable livelihoods to adapt to the impacts of climate change and variability through improved short-term informational efficiency and knowledge sharing, and long-term decision-making effectiveness, capacity building and behavioural change. The analysis explores the main factors that enable or constrain ICTs' contribution to the implementation of adaptive actions, arguing that the extent and impact of those contributions are best understood through the concept of e-resilience. As an increasingly relevant property of vulnerable systems, e-resilience integrates foundational (robustness, self-organisation and learning) and enabling attributes (redundancy, rapidity, scale, flexibility, diversity and equality) that may have been overlooked from a traditional 'asset-based' approach, while allowing a systemic (multi-scale/multi-temporal/multi-stressor) understanding of the context within which developing country stakeholders operate. The research findings reveal numerous linkages between ICTs' role and resilience building, suggesting that the e-resilience sub-properties strengthen the ability of vulnerable systems to enact adaptation actions, and better cope with the process of change and increasing uncertainty associated with (but not limited to) climate change. The analysis shows that, while ICT tools have not been explicitly integrated into national or sectoral climate change adaptation strategies, they are playing an increasing role in the adaptive capacity and resilience of developing country livelihoods. The study concludes by recognising the strengths and weaknesses of the e-resilience approach, providing recommendations to facilitate its use in development practice and suggesting key areas for future research.

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Varble, Sarah. "THE ROLE OF ADAPTATION AND INFORMATION IN AGRICULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENCE." OpenSIUC, 2014. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/dissertations/975.

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The combination of local farming practices (i.e. tiling, channelization) and global climate change has led to an increase in not only the severity, but also the frequency of extreme weather events in the Midwest, including droughts and floods. These can result in severe damage to watersheds, ecosystems, and communities. Climate change adaptations are vital to the maintenance of both sustainability and resilience of agro-ecosystems during severe weather events. They can allow agricultural producers to maintain the many functions of these systems, including food, fiber, and fuel production as well as water filtration, soil stability, carbon sequestration, and biodiversity. Implementation of these adaptations can be difficult for multiple reasons, but information sources, experts, and communities can assist with adoption through the diffusion of information. To assess the ability and willingness of agricultural producers to make these adaptations, and the role of information sources, I utilized survey data in three separate scenarios: 1.) producer interest in the adoption of switchgrass production, a novel adaptation; 2.) the adoption differences between producers who own farmland and those that rent farmland, and 3.) the opinions of experts and community members on the adoption of eight different climate change adaptations by farmers. The first study assesses the adoption of switchgrass, a dedicated biofuel perennial, which can be the first step in the transformation from an unsustainable, energy intensive production regime into a regime that provides both environmental sustainability (through water quality improvements) and financial stability for farmers. This study examines which characteristics predict interest in growing switchgrass through the analysis of a survey completed by farmers in the Clear Creek watershed in rural Iowa. Knowledge of switchgrass, education, and income are all highly correlated with interest in growing switchgrass. Long-term contracts with bio-refineries would also help farmers decrease adoption risk. Additionally, producers who use government agencies as information sources are more knowledgeable of switchgrass production. Results can help establish policies that could influence farmers to shift production from annual crops to perennial native biomass energy crops, and thus would increase the sustainability of the entire system. In areas where agricultural production is intensive, switchgrass production provides the potential to move from a contributor to climate change into a sector that contributes to the mitigation of climate change via reduction in energy-intensive input uses, production of renewable fuels, and sequestration of carbon in the soils. The second study focuses on conservation practice adoption among agricultural producers who rent land versus those who own the land they farm. Tenants and part-owners are farming an increasing number of acres in the United States, while full-owners are farming fewer acres. This shift in ownership is a potential cause for concern because some previous research indicated that tenant and part-owner farmers were not as likely to adopt conservation practices as farmers who owned the land they farmed. This study also uses survey data from the Clear Creek watershed in Iowa, and compares adoption of conservation practices and preferences for conservation information sources between farmers who rent some portion of the land they farm (tenants and part-owners) and farmers who own all of the land they farm (full-owners). Results show that renters are more likely to practice conservation tillage than full-owners, though they are less likely to rotate crops yearly. In addition, renters report using federal government employees (specifically, Natural Resource Conservation Service and Farm Service Agency employees) as their primary sources of conservation information, while full-owners most frequently rely on neighbors and friends and County Extension. These findings are significant for conservation policy because, unlike some past research, they indicate that renters are not resistant to conservation adoption. Finally, the last study examines the opinions of experts and community members about agriculture producers' ability and willingness to adopt adaptations in a large watershed in Iowa. A web-based survey of community members, government officials, and agricultural experts assesses perceptions of: barriers and drivers of adoption, and the adoption of specific adaptation practices. Through their knowledge of the community and their expertise in agriculture, the government, and the environment, the respondents are able to provide valuable information about climate change adaptations and the likelihood of adoption. Results show that transformative adaptations 1.) have more adoption barriers and 2.) will require severe weather events to occur more frequently than incremental adaptations for adoption to occur. This study will help to determine the factors that need to be addressed by governing agencies and resource management groups in order to reduce agro-ecosystem vulnerability to climate change events and provide adaptive capacity and resilience in the face of these emerging threats.

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Köchy, Martin, Martin Mathaj, Florian Jeltsch, and Dan Malkinson. "Resilience of stocking capacity to changing climate in arid to Mediterranean landscapes." Universität Potsdam, 2008. http://opus.kobv.de/ubp/volltexte/2008/1872/.

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Small livestock is an important resource for rural human populations in dry climates. How strongly will climate change affect the capacity of the rangeland? We used hierarchical modelling to scale quantitatively the growth of shrubs and annual plants, the main food of sheep and goats, to the landscape extent in the eastern Mediterranean region. Without grazing, productivity increased in a sigmoid way with mean annual precipitation. Grazing reduced productivity more strongly the drier the landscape. At a point just under the stocking capacity of the vegetation, productivity declined precipitously with more intense grazing due to a lack of seed production of annuals. We repeated simulations with precipitation patterns projected by two contrasting IPCC scenarios. Compared to results based on historic patterns, productivity and stocking capacity did not differ in most cases. Thus, grazing intensity remains the stronger impact on landscape productivity in this dry region even in the future.
Kleinvieh ist eine wichtige Lebensgrundlage für die Landbevölkerung in trockenen Regionen. Wie stark wird sich der Klimawandel auf die Tragfähigkeit der Weideflächen auswirken? Wir benutzten hierarchische Modellierung, um das Wachstum von Sträuchern und einjährigen Kräutern, das wichtigste Futter für Ziegen und Schafe, quantitativ auf die Fläche von Landschaften in der östlichen Mittelmeerregion zu dimensionieren. Die Produktivität ohne Beweidung stieg sigmoidal mit dem mittleren Jahresniederschlag. Je trockener die Landschaft, desto stärker verminderte Beweidung die Produktion. An einem Punkt knapp unter der Tragfähigkeit der Vegetation, sank die Produktion stark mit zunehmender Beweidung, weil die Samenproduktion der Kräuter zu gering war. Wir wiederholten die Simulationen mit Niederschlagsverteilungsmustern gemäß zweier gegensätzlicher IPCC-Szenarien. Zukünftige Produktivität und Tragfähigkeit unterschieden sich in den meisten Fällen nicht von Ergebnissen auf Grund von historischer Niederschlagsverteilung. Allerdings war die zukünftige Produktivität in trockenen Habitaten der semiariden und trocken-mediterranen Regionen niedriger. Somit hat auch in Zukunft die Besatzdichte die größere Auswirkung auf die Produktivität dieser trockenen Landschaft als das Klima. "This abstract is provided by the authors, and is for convenience of the users only. The author certifies that the translation faithfully represents the official version in the language of the journal, which is the published Abstract of record and is the only Abstract to be used for reference and citation."

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Mulyasari, Farah. "Enhancing Climate-related Disaster Resilience through Effective Risk Communication in Bandung, Indonesia." Master's thesis, 京都大学 (Kyoto University), 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2433/188880.

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Mackenzie, Muriel. "The promotion of resilience ad prevention of depression : impact of classroom climate." Thesis, University of Strathclyde, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.642845.

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Duncan, C. A. "Mangrove forest ecosystem services : biodiversity drivers, rehabilitation and resilience to climate change." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2017. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1553177/.

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Mangrove forests provide a significant contribution to human well-being; particularly through climate change mitigation and adaptation (CCMA) due to disproportionately high carbon sequestration and coastal protection from tropical storms. However, mangrove community structure drivers of these ecosystem services (ES), rehabilitation potential for high CCMA ES delivery, and their resilience to climate change impacts remain poorly understood and monitored. This thesis uses field- and satellite remote sensing-based methods and a dual focus at a Philippines-specific and West Africa to South Asian-scale to quantitatively assess mangrove CCMA ES delivery. The first three chapters provide a background, and literature review on ES delivery, ecological restoration and resilience to perturbations, mangrove ES, their anthropogenic and climate change threats, and current management. Chapters 4 and 5 detail the case study selection and methodologies employed. Chapter 6 focuses on the flora community structure drivers of mangrove ES delivery, and shows that divergent controls can drive trade-offs in the delivery of key CCMA benefits. Chapter 7 focuses on the potential of mangrove rehabilitation for high CCMA ES delivery, and shows that mangrove rehabilitation in abandoned aquaculture ponds can provide high relative CCMA benefits, revealing large areas of abandoned aquaculture with favourable tenure status for greenbelt rehabilitation. Chapter 8 focuses on remote monitoring of mangrove resilience to sea level rise, and the potential anthropogenic and abiotic factors influencing these, establishing a methodology for continued remote monitoring and revealing variability in resilience and resistance across forests. Overall, it is demonstrated that current mangrove management in the Philippines and globally may be insufficient to secure high CCMA ES delivery, due to (1) non- consideration of flora community structure, site-specific and areal requirements, (2) complexity in governance systems for reclamation of mangrove lands, and (3) a lack of spatial planning and zoning to accommodate mangrove resilience to climate-induced perturbations.

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Chu, Eric (Eric Kwok-Wai). "Urban adaptations observed : the politics of governing climate resilience in Indian cities." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/99081.

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Thesis: Ph. D. in Environmental Policy and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2015.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 199-223).
An increasing number of international policymakers and funders have strongly advocated for programs that integrate and support both climate change adaptation and urban development, arguing that combining these two objectives will help ensure the long-term resilience of cities. This dissertation delves into the cases of Bhubaneswar, Indore, and Surat in India and looks at how urban local governments plan, implement, and advocate for locally grounded, contextually relevant adaptation and development priorities within their jurisdictions given such external mandates and incentives. My findings highlight two interrelated ways to theorize changing institutional relationships between climate adaptation, development planning, and urban political economy. First, through a process that I call street-level resilience making, I find that adaptation planning, implementation, and governance relies on the experimentation and co-creation of adaptation options between urban sectors and actors. Secondly, I show that urban adaptation is governed through power in translation, where different urban actors, groups, and communities contest intervening authorities through their ability to translate climate information, adaptation needs, and resilience-building options. In this context, cities are not in fact unidirectional recipients of external aid and support; rather, cities are taking ownership over how external funds get implemented, which urban actors participate in the process, and why certain sectors and populations receive more support than others. However, as cities gain authority over how external adaptation mandates get translated into concrete programs and interventions, this simultaneously creates more opportunities for local authorities to exclude certain populations in the process. The pursuit of urban resilience can therefore become a moniker for further co-optation of political power and for entrenching existing urban socioeconomic injustices. In response to rising urban inequalities attributed to current and pipeline adaptation interventions, I present a framework for evaluating climate justice from below. This concept takes into account how adaptation is mainstreamed into urban development and its relationship to broader socioeconomic transformations at a global scale. I conclude that the ability to mitigate existing power imbalances rests on the restructuring of governance arrangements available to marginalized communities to advocate for their own interests in the street-level resilience-making process.
by Eric Chu.
Ph. D. in Environmental Policy and Planning

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Meguieng, Sidze Sandrine. "Empowering Community Resilience to climate Change in Cameroon using Technology-enhanced Learning." Doctoral thesis, Saechsische Landesbibliothek- Staats- und Universitaetsbibliothek Dresden, 2017. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa-214501.

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Located in Central Africa, Cameroon is considered the driving force of the sub-region due to its strategic location in the center of the African continent. During the last five years, the country has been under the constant threat of a large range of disasters like floods, droughts, landslides, epidemics, etc. In such a context, the government is implementing several strategies for Disaster Risk Reduction in the country. Under the lead of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization, the Directorate of Civil Protection, coordinates Disaster Risk Reduction activities through a network of over 379 decentralized institutions and international partners (Ayanji, 2004). Despite a high level of deployment, these activities still prove to have a low level of efficiency on the field. Results from the literature review suggest that this may be due to strategies for public education and public awareness that do not mirror stakeholders’ needs, capacities, and background. There is a need to: (1) identify the failures of the pre-existing public education and public awareness strategy, (2) assess the educational needs and capacities of each category of actors, (3) select adequate instructional methods and tools and (4) ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of the newly proposed strategy. The aim of this work, which is a three-year PhD project funded by the AXA Research Fund, is therefore to propose a public education and public awareness model adapted to the Cameroonian context, using Technology Enhanced Learning to strengthen capacities and competencies of stakeholders involved in the problem of climate change. The study makes use of a mixed method approach. From the literature review, four categories of actors involved into the climate change education process in the country have first been identified namely (1) government, (2) educational institutions, (3) Non-Governmental Organizations and (4) communities. A sample population has been driven from each category using the Respondent Driven Sampling method. Then data were collected during a six-month field trip in Cameroon, using semi-structured interviews (McNamara, 1999), qualitative survey (Fowler, 2009), direct observation (Bernard, 2006) and focus group discussion (Krueger & Casey, 2009). Findings from data analyses, performed using Epi info software for quantitative data and MAXQDA software for qualitative data show that: the educational strategy is not clearly defined; there is a lack of adequate infrastructures; technologies available are not properly used: either they are not evenly accessible, or when accessible they do not match learners’ capacities and competencies. Finally, quality criteria for the evaluation of the existing educational strategy are not met, thus failing to ensure it sustainability. The conceptual solution proposed in this work makes use of the concept of learning communities, especially Community of Practice as proposed by Lave and Wenger (1991) to develop an information and knowledge sharing community system to establish best practices for improving community resilience to climate change impact. This Community of Practice will operate essentially offline with a selected domain, a well-defined and structured community, and a practice that makes use of identified technologies already available among communities and, most importantly, that mirrors the Cameroonian socio-cultural context. One unexpected factor that had to be taken into consideration while determining adequate technology tools, is the actors’ perception, or rather say actors’ (un)acceptance of “new technologies”, which render the design of the instructional model quite challenging
Kamerun ist ein Land in Zentralafrika. Aufgrund seiner strategischen Lage in der Mitte des afrikanischen Kontinents, gilt das Land als die treibende Kraft der Sub-Region. Während der letzten fünf Jahre wurde Kamerun Opfer von ständigen Bedrohungen einer Vielzahl von Katastrophen wie Überschwemmungen, Dürren, Erdrutsche, Epidemien, usw. In diesem Kontext hat die Regierung eine Reihe von Strategien zur Verringerung der Katastrophenrisiken imstande gebracht. Dies wurde unter der Leitung vom Ministerium der territorialen Verwaltung und Dezentralisierung und vom Amt für Katastrophenschutz durchgeführt. Weiterhin nahmen mehr als 379 dezentrale Institutionen und internationale Partner an diese bedeutende Aktion teil (Ayanji, 2004). Die bei diesem Großeinsatz getroffenen Maßnahmen haben aber bisher eine sehr geringe Effizienz auf dem Feld gebracht. Eine nähere Betrachtung im Zusammenspiel mit entsprechender Literatur lassen folgendes vermuten: die Strategien zur Sensibilisierung sind auf die Bedürfnisse, Kapazitäten und Hintergründe der Akteure nicht angepasst. Demnach sind folgende Tatsachen in Betracht zu ziehen: (1) Identifikation der Ausfälle der bevorstehenden Awareness-Strategie; (2) Bewertung den pädagogischen Bedürfnissen und Kapazitäten der einzelnen Kategorien von Akteuren; (3) Auswahl geeigneter Unterrichtsmethoden und Tools; (4) Gewährleisten der Wirksamkeit und Nachhaltigkeit der neu vorgeschlagenen Strategie. Diese Arbeit stammt aus einem dreijährigen Promotionsprojekt finanziert von der AXA Research Fund. Das Ziel der Arbeit ist der Vorschlag eines Awareness-Modells, das an dem kamerunischen Kontext angepasst ist, und das die Bildungstechnologie zur Stärkung der Kapazitäten und Kompetenzen der beteiligten Akteure des Klimawandels nutzt. Aus der Literatur sind vier Kategorien von Akteuren identifiziert worden: Die Regierung, Bildungseinrichtungen, nationale und internationale Organisationen, Gemeinschaften. Die Studie folgt einer Mixed-Method Forschung. Eine Stichprobe wurde aus jeder Kategorie von Akteuren mit Schneeballauswahl-Methode gezogen. Dann wurden Daten während einer 6-monatigen Studienreise in Kamerun gesammelt. Diese wurde in Begleitung mit semi-strukturierten Interview (McNamara, 1999), qualitativen Erhebung (Fowler, 2009), direkter Beobachtung (Bernard, 2006) und Gruppendiskussion (Krueger & Casey, 2009). Die Daten wurden analysiert mit Epi-info Software für quantitative Daten und MAXQDA Software für qualitative Daten. Die Ergebnisse zeigen Folgendes: - Die pädagogische Strategie ist nicht klar definiert - Mangel an angemessenen Infrastrukturen - Die verfügbaren Technologien sind nicht vorhanden und teilweise falsch eingesetzt. Sie sind entweder nicht gleichmäßig verwendet oder sie stimmen mit den Fähigkeiten der Lernenden nicht überein. - Qualitätskriterien für die Bewertung der bestehenden Ausbildungsstrategie sind nicht erfüllt Die vorgeschlagene konzeptionelle Lösung, die in dieser Arbeit verwendet wird, benutzt das Konzept der Learning Communities, insbesondere "Community of Practice" wie von Lave und Wenger (1991) beschrieben. Ziel ist es, ein Informations- und Wissensaustausch Community-System zur Förderung bewährter Verfahren im Sinne der Verbesserung der Gemeinschaft gegenüber Auswirkungen des Klimawandels zu schaffen. Diese Community of Practice wird offline mit einer ausgewählten Domäne, eine gut definierte und strukturierte Gemeinschaft, und eine gut gestaltete Praxis funktionieren. Ein unerwarteter Faktor, der bei der Bestimmung der angemessenen Technologie-Tools berücksichtigt werden müsste, ist die Wahrnehmung der Akteure oder besser gesagt die (Un-)Akzeptanz der "Neuen Technologien" durch die Akteure. Dies macht das Design des Instruktionsmodells zu einer richtigen Herausforderung

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Jofreh, Venus. "Assessing resilience of water supply systems under the impacts of climate change." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2014. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/72594/1/Venus_Jofreh_Thesis.pdf.

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This project was a step forward in developing the scientific basis for a methodology to assess the resilience of water supply systems under the impacts of climate change. The improved measure of resilience developed in this project provides an approach to assess the ability of water supply systems to absorb the pressure due changing climate while sustaining supply, and their speed of recovery in case of failure. The approach developed can be applied to any generic water supply system.

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Clement, Viviane. "From Adaptation to Transformation| A Resilience Perspective on Organizational Responses to Ecological Adversity." Thesis, The George Washington University, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10619173.

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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’ 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’ 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.

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de, Groot Caroline Sofie. "Security risks of climate change : Climate change induced conflicts in western Kenya." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Statsvetenskapliga institutionen, 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-364947.

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The purpose of this paper is to examine links between climate change and conflicts. The report aims to produce relevant insights on the security risks posed by climate change in the rural pastoral area Sarambei in western Kenya. The research was conducted in spring 2018 and founded by an MFS-scholarship from Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). The research examines the hypothesis that climate change is increasing the risk of insecurity. Through qualitative methods twenty respondents living in Sarambei and five experts were interviewed. The main finding of the study is that climate change is happening, affecting the people in Sarambei and are creating conflicts through water scarcity. However, it is difficult to say that climate change is the only source for these conflicts, but instead emerges from the interaction of multiple factors.

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Schattman, Rachel E. "Vermont Agricultural Resilience in a Changing Climate: an Investigation of Farmer Perceptions of Climate Change, Risk, and Adaptation." ScholarWorks @ UVM, 2016. http://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/616.

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Climate change forecasts tell of significant challenges ahead for agrifood systems at all scales, from global to highly local. Farmers are often at the forefront of these challenges. How farmers perceive climate related risks, and the actions they take to protect or adapt their lives and livelihoods are therefore a critical area of inquiry. The purpose of this dissertation is to describe how farmers in Vermont, in the Northeastern U.S., think about climate change, and how their experiences and perceptions influence engagement with adaptation or mitigation activities. To this end, my research questions included: (1) what are farmers already doing to address climate impacts on their farms? (2) Do farmers perceive climate change to be a risk, and if so what are they doing to address it? (3) Are farmers and agricultural technical service providers in agreement about the current performance of climate change adaptation strategies? (4) Can a qualitative typology of farmers describe the degree to which they are resilient in the face of climate change? I conducted this research in the context of a larger, collaborative effort called the Vermont Agricultural Resilience in a Changing Climate Initiative (VAR), based at the University of Vermont. VAR served as an umbrella for transdisciplinary, participatory action research activities that capitalized on a diversity of perspectives and expertise, including the embedded knowledge of farmers and agricultural technical service providers. The VAR team as a whole and in sub-teams utilized a selection of research approaches including preliminary research activities that contributed to the development of research questions addressed in this dissertation, and primary research approaches used to answer those questions. This dissertation report consists of the following chapters: Chapters 1-2 present and introduction and background information related to climate change and agriculture, including a review of national, regional and site conditions as well as an overview of research purpose, approaches, methods, and theoretical frameworks applicable to the exploration of the questions and interpretation of findings. Chapters 3-6 address the following topics: (1) a case study in transdisciplinary participatory action research applied to climate change and agriculture in Vermont, (2) an analysis of farmer perceptions of climate related risk and associated on-farm adaptation strategies, (3) a report of farmer perceptions of climate change and comparison of farmer and technical service provider evaluations of potential climate change best management practices, and (4) a qualitative typology of farmer resilience. This research is some of the first to address these topics from the perspective of farmers in the Northeastern U.S. Through these chapters, an important story is told about role that climate change plays in farm management today. The broader application of these findings is in the design of thoughtful programming and policies that support agrifood system resilience. I argue that social programs and policies that address agriculture and climate change should be informed by the experiences of farmers. When we weave together the knowledge of agricultural practitioners and our best scientific knowledge, we can better prepare for the changes in agrifood systems that a changing climate will require of us.

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Rajarshi, Dasgupta. "Enhancing Coastal Community's Disaster and Climate Resilience in the Mangrove Rich Indian Sundarban." 京都大学 (Kyoto University), 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2433/215362.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Climatic resilience'

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