Teses / dissertações sobre o tema "Global environmental change"
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Elzen, Michael Gerardus Jacobus den. "Global environmental change an integrated modelling approach /". Utrecht : Maastricht : International Books ; University Library, Maastricht University [Host], 1994. http://arno.unimaas.nl/show.cgi?fid=5746.
Texto completo da fonteLeung, Wai-hung, e 梁偉鴻. "Global climate change: environmental implications for Hong Kong". Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1996. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B3125343X.
Texto completo da fonteLeung, Wai-hung. "Global climate change : environmental implications for Hong Kong /". Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1996. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B17457294.
Texto completo da fonteДядечко, Алла Миколаївна, Алла Николаевна Дядечко, Alla Mykolaivna Diadechko, Дарина Володимирівна Боронос, Дарина Владимировна Боронос e Daryna Volodymyrivna Boronos. "Environmental, social and economic aspects of global climate change". Thesis, Вид-во СумДУ, 2009. http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/16882.
Texto completo da fonteБоронос, Дарина Володимирівна, Дарина Владимировна Боронос, Daryna Volodymyrivna Boronos, Вікторія Георгіївна Боронос, Виктория Георгиевна Боронос e Viktoriia Heorhiivna Boronos. "Environmental, social and economic aspects of global climate change". Thesis, Видавництво СумДУ, 2008. http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/8127.
Texto completo da fonteWatson, Kevin, University of Western Sydney, of Arts Education and Social Sciences College e School of Education and Early Childhood Studies. "Environmental attitudes : the Influence of culture". THESIS_CAESS_EEC_Watson_K.xml, 2002. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/727.
Texto completo da fonteDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Thomas, Christopher Kent. "Global warming and world ecosystem distribution : toward quantifying ecosystem change". Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/67126.
Texto completo da fonteCantin, Danielle 1967. "Response of Pinus banksiana (Lamb.) families to a global change environment". Thesis, McGill University, 1994. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=68159.
Texto completo da fonteThe CO$ sb2$T$ sp circ$ environment had a significant effect on most biomass components of seedlings and water-use efficiency but not on height and other growth variables. The nitrogen fertilization was generally the most significant effect of the treatments for most growth variables.
All the families responded in a similar way to variations in the growing environments except for WUE. Family differences were more important for measurements of height and growth variables than for biomass components. The architecture of seedlings was also highly variable between families. Norm of reaction graphs were built for several growth variables to outline which families were overall most successful in an enriched CO$ sb2$T$ sp circ$ environment. Of the 15 families studied, four of them were classified as most successful in a projected high CO$ sb2$T$ sp circ$ climate.
Braganza, Karl 1971. "Climate change detection and attribution using simple global indices". Monash University, School of Mathematical Sciences, 2002. http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/7783.
Texto completo da fonteLi, Ying. "Projecting Future Heat-Related Mortality in the United States under Global Climate Change". Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2015. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/20.
Texto completo da fonteLi, Ying, e Joseph Kusi. "Projecting Future Heat-Related Mortality in the United States under Global Climate Change". Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2015. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/18.
Texto completo da fonteJiménez, Godínez Miguel Ángel. "Global change and local economic restructuring : the case of Mexico City". Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2015. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3080/.
Texto completo da fonteLewin, Joanna Alice. "Global Environmental Change and the Politics of Sustainable Consumption in New Zealand". The University of Waikato, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10289/2787.
Texto completo da fonteLacy, Mark J. "Security and climate change : international relations and the limits of realism /". London [u.a.] : Routledge, 2005. http://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip051/2004021926.html.
Texto completo da fonteOgunbode, Charles Adedayo. "Social and personal psychological influences on individual engagement with global climate change". Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/15519.
Texto completo da fonteHayek, Carolyn. "A Framework for Climate Change Policies in the United States". Thesis, Boston College, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/563.
Texto completo da fonteThesis advisor: Peter Auger
Climate change is quickly becoming an important global concern with considerable and varied long-term consequences. In order to lessen the effects of this phenomenon it is necessary to institute regulatory policies that control carbon dioxide emissions, since they have been shown to directly correlate with temperature changes. Despite the prevalence of climate change initiatives, both internationally and within the United States, there is no comprehensive national policy with respect to the issue. The public and political conditions in the United States are presently ideal for the institution of a federal climate change policy, the most effective of which involves the incorporation of multiple emissions reductions measures
Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2007
Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Biology
Discipline: College Honors Program
Norton, L. R. "The responses of plant populations to climate change". Thesis, University of East Anglia, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.320820.
Texto completo da fonteMcKenzie, Janetta. "The Ultimate Collective Problem: Why National Security Can’t Solve Global Climate Change". Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/17702.
Texto completo da fonteJurgielewicz, Lynne. "Global environmental change and international law : prospects for progress in the legal order". Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 1994. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3175/.
Texto completo da fonteScott, A. H. "'Relevant' social science the case of global environmental change research in UK universities". Thesis, University of Sussex, 2012. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.549669.
Texto completo da fonteJian, Jinshi. "Global soil respiration: interaction with macroscale environmental variables and response to climate change". Diss., Virginia Tech, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/92195.
Texto completo da fontePh. D.
Carbonne, Chloé. "Role of environmental variability on the response of Mediterranean corals to global change". Electronic Thesis or Diss., Sorbonne université, 2022. http://www.theses.fr/2022SORUS531.
Texto completo da fonteThe increase of atmospheric CO2 is driving changes in the ocean’s physical and chemical properties. The projections by the IPCC under the high CO2 emission scenario RCP 8.5 suggest global sea surface temperature warming of 3.2°C and a decrease in pH of 0.3 units by the end of the century. Such changes have important consequences for ecosystems and the services they provide to humans. The Mediterranean Sea is a hot-spot of global change with warming sea surface temperature projected to be 20% higher than global projections and an increase in extreme events such as marine heatwaves. The main goal of this thesis is to determine the effects of present and future coastal environmental conditions on Mediterranean corals. Natural populations of corals from two volcanic CO2 vents in Ischia (Italy) are used. Local acidification of seawater occurs around the vents with pH values close to those expected by the end of the century. This research is focused on two Mediterranean long-lived corals that have key relevance for conservation as habitat-forming species: the zooxanthellate Cladocora caespitosa and the azooxanthellate Astroides calycularis. The main research questions are: (1) how present-day and future warming and/or acidification affect the physiology of Cladocora caespitosa and Astroides calycularis at every life stage (adult, gametogenesis, larvae, and recruits) and (2) does previous exposure to low pH at CO2 vents enhance their tolerance to future ocean acidification. To answer these questions, we combined environmental data, ecological field surveys at CO2 vent sites and reference sites with ambient pH, and laboratory experiments with controlled temperature and pH. This thesis provides new insights into the responses of adult colonies to warming on. I assess the physiological impact and potential recovery to different warming scenarios and heatwaves events, based on nine years of temperature data collected at the study site. I then study whether past exposure to low pH conditions confers tolerance to ocean acidification on the two species, with colonies sampled at the CO2 vent and ambient pH sites and maintained in the laboratory under present day and low pH conditions. I also focus on sexual reproduction and early life stages of the two Mediterranean corals to better understand how they respond to ocean warming and acidification. First, I characterize the development and post-settlement growth of larvae of A. calycularis under high and ambient temperatures and ambient and low pH. I then take a closer look at tolerance to acidification by exposing larvae from the CO2 vents and ambient pH site to different pH conditions. I also explore whether differences in gene expression between the populations and pH treatments exist. Finally, I compare gametogenesis of C. caespitosa’s colonies from the CO2 vent and ambient sites through histological analysis to test the impact of low pH on gametogenesis and spawning. The results suggest that the impacts of warming and acidification on adult colonies of C. caespitosa and A. calycularis are moderate, with a tolerance to acidification and a recovery after summer heat. However, the impact of global change on the early life stages of A. calycularis and on the reproduction of C. caespitosa is worrying and could compromise the sustainability of the populations. My results suggest that C. caespitosa and A. calycularis living at the CO2 vents sites of Ischia are not acclimatized to ocean acidification. Furthermore, exposure to low pH at the vent sites impairs individuals’ physiology (reproduction, early life stages development, morphology of the colony) and population growth. Given the susceptibility of both species to global change, the results highlight the risk of changes in the composition of Mediterranean communities in the near future and the urge to establish general conservation measures and long-term monitoring
Uhre, Andreas Nordang. "On Transnational Actor Participation in Global Environmental Governance". Doctoral thesis, Stockholms universitet, Statsvetenskapliga institutionen, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-89748.
Texto completo da fonteNordrum, Amy L. "“War on Global Warming”: Militarized Language in Environmental Journalism". Ohio University Honors Tutorial College / OhioLINK, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ouhonors1273610932.
Texto completo da fonteValverde, A. L. James 1965. "Uncertain inference, estimation, and decision-making in integrated assessments of global climate change". Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1997. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/44499.
Texto completo da fonteIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 198-204).
by L. James Valverde A., Jr.
Ph.D.
Belmont, Jonathon. "The study of carbon and nutrients in forests : a foundation for examining global change /". [Bloomington, Ind.] : Indiana University, 2004. http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/fullcit/3162225.
Texto completo da fonteTitle from PDF t.p. (viewed Dec. 1, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-01, Section: B, page: 0177. Chair: J. C. Randolph.
Comte, Adrien. "Coral reefs ecosystem services under global environmental change : interdisciplinary approaches to guide science and action". Thesis, Brest, 2018. http://www.theses.fr/2018BRES0002/document.
Texto completo da fonteGlobal environmental change (GEC) in the ocean threatens marine ecosystems and the people who depend on them. A growing scientific effort is attempting to evaluate the impacts of environmental changes on ecosystems and ecosystem services and guide policy-making to respond to this global issue. Focusing on social-ecological systems of coral reefs, this thesis critically reviews the approaches put forward in the literature to understand gaps and to design new methodologies, assessments, and indicators to guide science and policy. Our findings show that a regionally targeted strategy of research should address complexity and provide more realistic projections about the impacts of GEC on coral reefs ecosystems and ecosystem services. We map global-scale indicators to understand where human dependence on coral reef ecosystems will be affected by globally-driven threats expected in a high-CO2 world. We then analyze how science is responding to the challenge posed by GEC on coral reefs and to identify gaps in research.Finally, we attempt to operationalize an overlooked component of vulnerability assessments, ecological adaptive capacity, to serve as a tool to help assess where local actions can be effective in the context of climate change. This manuscript contributes to theoretical and methodological advances to evaluate impacts, vulnerability and adaptation to GEC. It develops interdisciplinary approaches for the study of social-ecological systems and ecosystem services, targeting coral reefs as a case study. Finally, it synthesizes critically the emergence of a scientific field on solutions to GEC for coral reef social-ecological systems
Street, Jalika C. "Predicting Ecological Behavior in the Era of Climate Change". Digital Archive @ GSU, 2011. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/psych_theses/84.
Texto completo da fonteRasetti, Michele. "Global economic and environmental consequences of the European biofuels policy". Doctoral thesis, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11566/243026.
Texto completo da fonteFor many years, biofuels have been considered a cleaner, greener alternative to fossil fuels in order to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the transportation sector. For this reason, in recent years, many European policies has tried to promote biofuels production and consumption. However, some concerns on the actual sustainability of biofuels have arisen. In particular, scientific studies have pointed out that additional emissions from indirect land-use change (iLUC) could cancel out biofuels benefits on climate change. Fueled by these concerns, the objective of this dissertation is to forecast the global economic and environmental consequences of an increase in European biodiesel consumption from 2001 to 2020 levels, applying the parameters established by the EU RE Directive and verify if the sustainability criteria imposed by the RED itself will be satisfied. For this purpose, I used the GTAP-BIO general equilibrium model, a model capable of analyzing the linkages between biofuels, agriculture, international trade, and the environmental consequences in terms of land-use change and greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions. The results of the simulation confirm the already strong concerns on the sustainability of first generation biofuels brought to light by other scientific studies. The demand of biodiesel in Europe after the implementation of the RED targets is so high that the EU needs to import heavily biodiesel feedstock from other regions and this is one of the causes which entails a welfare loss. Additionally, the increase in biodiesel consumption in the European Union entails a diversion of intermediates products and factor endowments from other sectors, in particular for those sectors that compete for land. The decrease in supply for food and feed crops (which are substituted by fuel crops) drives their prices (and the relative output prices i.e. food/feed) to go up. The conflict between food and biofuel sectors is also the driving force for the indirect land use change (iLUC), which is a market-mediated effect, since the price increase creates incentives to convert areas formerly not used for food production (i.e. forests and pasture) into agricultural land. We estimate that most cropland conversion arises within Europe, mainly at the expense of forests. Looking at the GHG emissions triggered by these land use changes, the results suggest a total emission of 168 gCO2/MJ per year over 20 years of biodiesel production, which would mean that the GHG reduction requirements established by the policies could not be fulfilled.
Morgan, Brett J. R. "Think Global, Reconfigure the Local: How Intermediaries Articulate Pro-Environmental Values and Practices". Thesis, Department of Gender and Cultural Studies, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/18227.
Texto completo da fonteWatson, Kevin. "Environmental attitudes : the Influence of culture". Thesis, View thesis View thesis, 2002. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/727.
Texto completo da fonteBunn, Andrew Godard. "Temporal and spatial patterns at alpine treeline in the Sierra Nevada USA implications for global change /". Diss., Restricted to MSU On campus access only, 2004. http://etd.lib.montana.edu/etd/2004/bunn/BunnA0805.pdf.
Texto completo da fonteJames, Rachel Anne. "Implications of global warming for African climate". Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:5c49af92-1739-422c-b8f2-e4433c792cc6.
Texto completo da fonteTousignant, Denise. "Selection response to global change of Brassica juncea (L.) czern". Thesis, McGill University, 1993. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=69693.
Texto completo da fonteLARREA, Gonzalo. "Climate change and development : the global administrative law of the UNFCCC financial mechanism". Doctoral thesis, European University Institute, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/1814/74271.
Texto completo da fonteExamining Board : Prof. Joanne Scott (European University Institute); Prof. Deirdre Curtin (European University Institute); Prof. Mar Campins (University of Barcelona); Prof. Peer Zumbansen (McGill University)
This research deals with the legal responsibility of states to provide climate finance to developing countries in order to facilitate climate mitigation and adaptation. The research demonstrates that the area of climate finance has not escaped globalization, where global actors operating at a level beyond the state (the UNFCCC and several Climate Funds) have increasingly taken over some of the climate finance functions previously performed by states. Against this backdrop, the thesis also examines the role of international bodies in providing climate finance, assesses to what extent these bodies are accountable to affected local stakeholders, and puts forward recommendations to foster increased accountability. The research project employs Global Administrative Law (GAL) as a normative framework for assessing and fostering accountability. This thesis is relevant, first and foremost, as an examination of the extent to which global climate finance is adequate for addressing climate change impacts in developing countries. To this end, it engages in a detailed analysis of the international legal framework for climate change and of the relevant financial instruments. It also engages in a normative evaluation of these instruments using the standards proposed by GAL. In keeping with this, the research gives substance and a better definition to these standards. As such, the thesis has the potential to contribute not only to the literature on climate finance, but also to the literature on GAL. It also sheds light on the relationship between climate finance and GAL, a topic that has been largely neglected in the academic literature so far.
Hadley, Kershaw Eleanor. "Co-producing Future Earth : ambiguity and experimentation in the governance of global environmental change research". Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2018. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49869/.
Texto completo da fonteLunch, Claire Kerl. "Primary productivity in an annual grassland ecosystem : responses to global change and local environmental variation /". May be available electronically:, 2009. http://proquest.umi.com/login?COPT=REJTPTU1MTUmSU5UPTAmVkVSPTI=&clientId=12498.
Texto completo da fonteBosello, Francesco <1968>. "Mitigation and adaptation strategies in response to global climate change: three essays in environmental economics". Doctoral thesis, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/10579/618.
Texto completo da fonteCocking, Christopher. "Raising awareness of global environmental change : a comparison of perceived efficacy of involvement in direct and indirect environmental collective action". Thesis, University of Surrey, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.298147.
Texto completo da fonteSteynor, Anna C. "The impact of global climate change on the runoff and ecological sustainability of the Breede River". Thesis, University of Cape Town, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6754.
Texto completo da fonteThe Breede River catchment in the South Western Cape is already under pressure for its water resources due to its supporting a variety of different land uses. The predominant land use in this catchment is agriculture, which demands the majority of river water for irrigation. The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry are currently investigating the future demand for water from the river, in this respect it is important to know what effect climate change will have on the change in river flow. Self Organising Maps (SOMs) are used to identify changes in the circulation systems contributing to the rainfall of the region and from this the potential change is assessed for the Breede River flow under future climate change. It is assessed that the runoff in the Breede River is expected to change under all the models of ECHAM4, CSIRO and HadAM. The magnitude of this alteration is calculated by using the change in the SOM node frequencies between the present and the future data. This is then subtracted from the present runoff data supplied by DWAF. A source of runoff decrease in the future is agricultural irrigation. The increase in irrigation under climate change is determined by inserting future climate data into an agricultural model. Once the increased amount of water used in irrigation is determined, it is subtracted from the projected future runoff. From this it is determined whether the river will be ecologically sustainable under climate change.
Young, Shona Linda. "Effects of global climate change on the recruitment of Anchovy in the Southern Benguela upwelling system". Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2001. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9749.
Texto completo da fonteChanges to global climate patterns, as predicted by many climatologists, will impact on ecosystems in numerous ways. The nutrient-rich waters of marine upwelling environments enable prolific plankton growth, which in turn supports vast shoals of pelagic fish. The nutrient supply is dependent on the strength and direction of winds, which govern the upwelling process as well as turbulence. A change in climate may thus affect the food supply and feeding conditions required by pelagic fish populations. This thesis investigates predicted changes in wind patterns in the southern Benguela system and assesses how these changes may impact on the recruitment of the Cape anchovy, Engraulis capensis. A general circulation model (NCAR Climate System Model) is used to compare a future simulation under double C02 conditions with a simulation of the present day wind regime. Climate change effects on anchovy in the other main upwelling systems, off the coasts of California, Peru and Morocco are also examined. Wind speeds and turbulence off the Agulhas Bank in the southern Benguela system are expected to remain suitable and potentially become even more conducive to spawning in the future. The results show similar mean wind speeds to present day values, a decrease in mean turbulence, a decrease in the frequency of extreme wind speeds and a decrease in the frequency of extreme turbulence during the anchovy spawning season (i.e. September-February). An increase in Lasker events is expected at the Eastern Bank Grid Cell, which suggests that this area may become the preferred spawning habitat in the future. The Cape Town Grid Cell also shows suitable conditions in the future simulation for anchovy spawning and may thus become an alternative spawning location. The West Coast shows an increase in alongshore wind stress and thus an increase in upwelling in the future simulation from November - February. This is likely to increase planktonic food availability and ultimately anchovy recruitment. Future simulations from the Climate System Model show that the upwelling systems off the coasts of California, Peru and Morocco are likely to continue supporting anchovy spawning and may become even more suitable in terms of wind and turbulence regimes.
Yang, Qian. "Applications of Satellite Geodesy in Environmental and Climate Change". Scholar Commons, 2016. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6440.
Texto completo da fonteVladimirova, Ekaterina. "Values for sustainable future: transforming values in the context of climate change and global environmental degradation". Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/241295.
Texto completo da fonteIniesta-Arandia, Irene, Federica Ravera, Stephanie Buechler, Isabel Díaz-Reviriego, María E. Fernández-Giménez, Maureen G. Reed, Mary Thompson-Hall et al. "A synthesis of convergent reflections, tensions and silences in linking gender and global environmental change research". SPRINGER, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/622830.
Texto completo da fonteVLADIMIROVA, EKATERINA. "Values for sustainable future: transforming values in the context of climate change and global environmental degradation". Doctoral thesis, Luiss Guido Carli, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/11385/200999.
Texto completo da fonteMatsuzawa, Setsuko. "The transnational diffusion of global environmental concerns via INGOs in China a new framework for understanding diffusion in authoritarian contexts /". Diss., Connect to a 24 p. preview or request complete full text in PDF format. Access restricted to UC IP addresses, 2007. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/ucsd/fullcit?p3259055.
Texto completo da fonteTitle from first page of PDF file (viewed June 11, 2007). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 183-197).
Hooten, Mevin B. "Hierarchical spatio-temporal models for ecological processes". Diss., Columbia, Mo. : University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/10355/4500.
Texto completo da fonteThe entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (April 26, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.
Herbstein, Tom Philip. "Insurance and the Anthropocene: like a frog in hot water". Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16571.
Texto completo da fonteThis thesis explores the relationship between the commercial insurance industry, global environmental change (GEC) and what Beck (1992; 1999) termed the 'risk society'. In recent decades, there have been growing concerns that many of the risks impacting contemporary society have undergone fundamental changes. Many of these risks are increasingly being linked to the unintended consequences of humankind's remarkable progress in science and technology, and have been described as debounded, given that they so often transcend both geographical and temporal boundaries (Beck 1992). Within the risk society, the commercial insurance industry - which relies on statistical (actuarial) analysis to help it assess and manage its risk exposure - has been described as demarcating the frontier barrier between bounded (i.e. insurable) and debounded (i.e. uninsurable) risk. However, this claim has been a highly contested one, leading to calls for more empirical data to help clarify how commercial insurance is actually responding under conditions of uncertainty. Of all the debounded risks, GEC has emerged as one of the risk society's most recognisable. Now understood to be a result of the anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gasses, particularly since the onset of the industrial revolution, its impacts have risen so sharply in recent decades that it has prompted claims that Earth has moved away from the era of the Holocene and into the Anthropocene (Crutzen 2002). Given that at least 40% of the cost of environmental catastrophes is now borne by commercial insurance, GEC provides an excellent opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of how the industry is responding to debounded risk at the risk society's frontier barrier. Early commentators suggested that the commercial insurance industry would be well motivated to respond proactively to GEC, by taking a more mitigative approach to managing its drivers at both the global and local levels. However, the industry, so far, has been described as more adaptive of its own business activities than mitigative. This raises questions about whether such claims are true across all three of the insurance industry's activities - as risk carriers, risk managers and as investors, why they have responded in such ways, and what implications this has for broadening our understanding of the complex relationship between commercial insurance, debounded risk and the risk society's frontier barrier. To consider these questions, a collective case study was undertaken with a variety of commercial insurance companies, re-insurers, asset managers, clients, brokers, industry associations and regulators across South Africa, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Belgium. The research identified how commercial insurers have indeed responded more by adaptation of their business activities than mitigation of the drivers of GEC. This is mainly through the use of defensive underwriting to help them manage their exposure. However, the research extends this analysis by highlighting some of the nuances of the industry's response. This includes its focus on centralisation, the influence of the existing paradigm framing its understanding of risk, and by highlighting the irony that the area of insurers' activities, initially believed to be most suited for responding to GEC (i.e. their investment portfolios), have, in practice, been the area recording the least response. In exploring why this is so, the study draws on understandings of the Anthropocene to argue that commercial insurers are finding their existing risk assessment tools progressively out-dated in a world where risk is no longer as predictable as it once was. This is further compounded by increasingly plural access to the risk society's science and technologies, which, in some instances, are undermining the role commercial insurance plays as society's primary financial risk manager. This raises questions around the role commercial insurance plays in demarcating the risk society's frontier barrier which, ultimately, has far broader implications for why so many of society's institutions are struggling to adapt to risk in the 21st Century.
Meque, Arlindo Oliva. "Investigating the link between southern African droughts and global atmospheric teleconnections using regional climate models". Doctoral thesis, University of Cape Town, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/16686.
Texto completo da fonteDrought is one of the natural hazards that threaten the economy of many nations, especially in Southern Africa, where many socio-economic activities depend on rain-fed agriculture. This study evaluates the capability of Regional Climate Models (RCMs) in simulating the Southern African droughts. It uses the Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI, computed using rainfall and temperature data) to identify 3-month droughts over Southern Africa, and compares the observed and simulated drought patterns. The observation data are from the Climate Research Unit (CRU), while the simulation data are from 10 RCMs (ARPEGE, CCLM, HIRHAM, RACMO, REMO, PRECIS, RegCM3, RCA, WRF, and CRCM) that participated in the Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) project. The study also categorizes drought patterns over Southern Africa, examines the persistence and transition of these patterns, and investigates the roles of atmospheric teleconnections on the drought patterns. The results show that the drought patterns can occur in any season, but they have preference for seasons. Some droughts patterns may persist up to three seasons, while others are transient. Only about 20% of the droughts patterns are induced solely by El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), other drought patterns are caused by complex interactions among the atmospheric teleconnections. The study also reveals that the Southern Africa drought pattern is generally shifting from a wet condition to a dry condition, and that the shifting can only be captured with a drought monitoring index that accounts for temperature influence on drought. Only few CORDEX RCMs simulate the Southern African droughts as observed. In this regard, the ARPEGE model shows the best simulation. The best performance may be because the stretching capability of ARPEGE helps the model to eliminate boundary condition problems, which are present in other RCMs. In ARPEGE simulations, the stretching capability would allow a better interaction between large and small scale features, and may lead to a better representation of the rain producing systems in Southern Africa. The results of the study may be applied to improve monitoring and prediction of regionally-extensive drought over Southern Africa, and to reduce the socio-economic impacts of drought in the region.
Butler, Colin David. "Inequality and sustainability". View thesis entry in Australian Digital Theses Program, 2002. http://thesis.anu.edu.au/public/adt-ANU20030324.171924/index.html.
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