UNC-Chapel Hill Climate Change Resources // Carolina Digital Repository

Works (783)

41. Green is Good, but Why? A Content Analysis of Climate Change in Children's Literature

Title Tesim:: Green is Good, but Why? A Content Analysis of Climate Change in Children's Literature
Creator:: Jones, Kelly
Date of publication:: April 10, 2023
Abstract Tesim:: This study is a content analysis of climate change in children’s books. Prior research has found that certain depictions may make the issue feel far away from children’s daily lives. Others have been criticized for assigning the weight of responsibility of the problem to children. This study elaborated by analyzing how climate communication via children’s books compares to scientific knowledge, ecocritical frameworks, and research on effective communication with children. Using a rubric based on these standards, 20 children’s books from recommended reading lists were assessed. Overall, common themes showed a lack of comprehensive explanations of the causes, mechanisms, and solutions and underrepresentation for the most impacted groups. Publishers, authors, librarians, and teachers can address these issues through selecting and advocating for high quality books on climate science and by designing programming to fill the gaps until there is more impactful, informative, and inclusive climate literature.
Resource type:: Masters Paper
Affiliation Label Tesim:: School of Information and Library Science
Degree:: Master of Science in Library Science
Type:: http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text
DOI:: https://doi.org/10.17615/9t03-5e34
Graduation Year:: 2023
Language Label:: English
ORCID:
Other Affiliation:
Person:: Hughes-Hassell, Sandra and Jones, Kelly
Rights Statement Label:: In Copyright
Subject:: Content analysis (Communication), Children's literature, and Climatic changes

42. Associations Between Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Dietary Greenhouse Gas Emissions among US Adults from 2007-2010

Title Tesim:: Associations Between Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Dietary Greenhouse Gas Emissions among US Adults from 2007-2010
Creator:: Rhea Jayaswal
Date of publication:: April 9, 2023
Abstract Tesim:: Objectives: Food systems are a key driver of climate change and poor health. A major food system shift over the last few decades is increased ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption. High UPF consumption is extensively linked with poor diet quality and chronic diseases, but the environmental impacts of UPFs are less explored. We used a nationally representative survey to evaluate the association between UPF consumption and greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs) among US adults. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with two pooled waves of data (2007-2008 and 2009-2010) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Foods were classified according to NOVA based on degree of processing. We divided participants into quintiles based on proportion of diet from UPFs using mean of two-day dietary recall. Foods reported in NHANES were matched with GHGEs using the database of Food Recall Impacts on the Environment for Nutrition and Dietary Studies (dataFRIENDS). Dietary GHGEs were measured in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents per person per day per 1000 grams of food (kg CO2-eq). Multivariate linear regression models were used to test the association between quintiles of UPF consumption and dietary GHGEs. We estimated the survey-weighted distribution of sociodemographic characteristics (age, sex, income, education, and race/ethnicity) by quintile of UPF consumption and GHGE. Results: Consuming a greater proportion of diet from UPFs was associated with greater dietary GHGEs (ptrend<0.001). The estimated relative GHGEs for the lowest quintile of UPF consumption were 1.19 (95% CI: 1.12, 1.27) kg CO2-eq, compared to 1.71 (95% CI: 1.65, 1.77) kg CO2-eq for the highest UPF quintile, showing a 43% increase. Adults who were younger, had lower incomes, had less education, and who were non-Hispanic Black were more likely to be in the highest quintile of UPF intake. Adults who were male, had lower incomes, had less education, and who were non-Hispanic Black were more likely to be in the highest quintile of relative GHGEs. Conclusions: Diets with a greater proportion of UPFs tend to be higher in GHGEs. These results suggest that policies to reduce UPFs could have health and environmental co-benefits, though more research is needed to understand the mechanisms behind why UPFs are associated with GHGEs.
Resource type:: Honors Thesis
Affiliation Label Tesim:: Department of Nutrition
Degree:: Bachelor of Science in Public Health
Type:: http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text
DOI:: https://doi.org/10.17615/g1ev-be19
Graduation Year:: 2023
Keyword:: NHANES, Greenhouse gas emissions, Climate change, Sustainable diets, Ultra-processed foods, and Food systems
Language Label:: English
ORCID:
Other Affiliation:: Carolina Population Center and
Person:: Taillie, Lindsey Smith and Rhea Jayaswal
Rights Statement Label:: In Copyright

43. The effects of development and temperature on immunity in Manduca sexta

Title Tesim:: The effects of development and temperature on immunity in Manduca sexta
Creator:: Williams, Madison
Date of publication:: April 7, 2023
Abstract Tesim:: Both immunity and development are temperature-dependent, but how development and temperature interact to affect immunity has yet to be explored. Here we measure immunity changes during the 4th instar in Manduca sexta larvae under low (18°C), control (25°C), and high (32°C) temperatures. Different immune pathways differed in their responses across development, with the melanization immune response increasing over the course of the instar. Melanization also differed from the control temperature at high, but not low temperatures. There was no significant relationship found between immunity and development or temperature for the encapsulation immune pathway. These results suggest immunity in insects may be weakened as climate change increases the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events as well as average temperatures.
Resource type:: Honors Thesis
Affiliation Label Tesim:: Department of Biology and Environment, Ecology, and Energy Program - Environmental Science
Degree:: Bachelor of Science
Type:: http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text
DOI:: https://doi.org/10.17615/1nwx-yp93
Graduation Year:: 2023
Keyword:: Development, immunity, Temperature, and Manduca sexta
Language Label:: English
ORCID:
Other Affiliation:
Person:: Kingsolver, Joel, Malinski, Katherine, and Williams, Madison
Rights Statement Label:: In Copyright

44. Improved Estimation of the Gross Primary Production of Europe by Considering the Spatial and Temporal Changes in Photosynthetic Capacity from 2001 to 2016

Title Tesim:: Improved Estimation of the Gross Primary Production of Europe by Considering the Spatial and Temporal Changes in Photosynthetic Capacity from 2001 to 2016
Creator:: Wang, Li, Wu, Qiaoli, Song, Conghe, Zhang, Yulong, Chen, Shaoyuan, Jiang, Jie, and Ju, Weimin
Date of publication:: 2023
Abstract Tesim:: The value of leaf photosynthetic capacity (Vcmax) varies with time and space, but state-of-the-art terrestrial biosphere models rarely include such Vcmax variability, hindering the accuracy of carbon cycle estimations on a large scale. In particular, while the European terrestrial ecosystem is particularly sensitive to climate change, current estimates of gross primary production (GPP) in Europe are subject to significant uncertainties (2.5 to 8.7 Pg C yr−1). This study applied a process-based Farquhar GPP model (FGM) to improve GPP estimation by introducing a spatially and temporally explicit Vcmax derived from the satellite-based leaf chlorophyll content (LCC) on two scales: across multiple eddy covariance tower sites and on the regional scale. Across the 19 EuroFLUX sites selected for independent model validation based on 9 plant functional types (PFTs), relative to the biome-specific Vcmax, the inclusion of the LCC-derived Vcmax improved the model estimates of GPP, with the coefficient of determination (R2) increased by 23% and the root mean square error (RMSE) decreased by 25%. Vcmax values are typically parameterized with PFT-specific Vcmax calibrated from flux tower observations or empirical Vcmax based on the TRY database (which includes 723 data points derived from Vcmax field measurements). On the regional scale, compared with GPP, using the LCC-derived Vcmax, the conventional method of fixing Vcmax using the calibrated Vcmax or TRY-based Vcmax overestimated the annual GPP of Europe by 0.5 to 2.9 Pg C yr−1 or 5 to 31% and overestimated the interannually increasing GPP trend by 0.007 to 0.01 Pg C yr−2 or 14 to 20%, respectively. The spatial pattern and interannual change trend of the European GPP estimated by the improved FGM showed general consistency with the existing studies, while our estimates indicated that the European terrestrial ecosystem (including part of Russia) had higher carbon assimilation potential (9.4 Pg C yr−1). Our study highlighted the urgent need to develop spatially and temporally consistent Vcmax products with a high accuracy so as to reduce uncertainties in global carbon modeling and improve our understanding of how terrestrial ecosystems respond to climate change.
Resource type:: Article
Affiliation Label Tesim:: Department of Geography
DOI:: https://doi.org/10.17615/dz14-gv26
Edition:: Publisher
Identifier:: https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs15051172
ISSN:: 2072-4292
Journal Issue:: 5
Journal Title:: Remote Sensing
Journal Volume:: 15
Keyword:: photosynthetic capacity, land surface greening, gross primary production, Europe, and terrestrial biosphere model
Language Label:: English
License Label:: Attribution 4.0 International
ORCID:
Other Affiliation:: Beijing Normal University, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, , University of Tennessee, Peking University, and Nanjing University
Page Start:: 1172
Person:: Wang, Li, Wu, Qiaoli, Song, Conghe, Zhang, Yulong, Chen, Shaoyuan, Jiang, Jie, and Ju, Weimin
Publisher:: MDPI
Rights Statement Label:: In Copyright
Source:: 58214137-86c9-4211-9a0f-6a3cbd3e4475

45. Fire frequency and vulnerability in California

Title Tesim:: Fire frequency and vulnerability in California
Creator:: Field, Christopher B. and Hino, Miyuki
Date of publication:: 2023
Abstract Tesim:: Wildfires pose a large and growing threat to communities across California, and understanding fire vulnerability and impacts can enable more effective risk management. Government hazard maps are often used to identify at-risk areas, but hazard zones and fire experience may have different implications for communities. This analysis of three decades of fire footprints, hazard maps, and census and real estate data shows that communities with high fire experience differ substantially from communities with high fire hazard. High-hazard communities average higher incomes than low- and no-hazard communities; conversely, communities with high fire experience average lower incomes than those with little to no experience. Home values have grown more slowly in communities with high fire experience, translating to differences in total appreciation of $165M-$630M per year relative to communities with no fire experience. Warming over the remainder of the century could add tens of thousands of homes to high-experience zones. This relationship between income and fire experience may be a reflection of the impacts of repeated fires relative to mapped hazards or single fires, or it could point to a relationship between income and the success of fire prevention or suppression. The discrepancies between dimensions indicates that considering fire frequency can support efforts to equitably target risk management resources.
Resource type:: Article
Affiliation Label Tesim:: Department of City and Regional Planning
DOI:: https://doi.org/10.17615/fwr7-h833
Edition:: Publisher
Identifier:: https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000087
ISSN:: 2767-3200
Journal Issue:: 2
Journal Title:: PLOS Climate
Journal Volume:: 2
Keyword:: Cartography, California, Census, Fire engineering, Wildfires, Medical risk factors, Fire suppression technology, and Housing
Language Label:: English
License Label:: Attribution 4.0 International
ORCID:
Other Affiliation:: Stanford University and
Page Start:: e0000087
Person:: Field, Christopher B. and Hino, Miyuki
Publisher:: Public Library of Science
Rights Statement Label:: In Copyright
Source:: 3e88764b-513a-4983-8e93-9ff2a48ccd33

46. State of Knowledge: Energy Access in Malawi

Title Tesim:: State of Knowledge: Energy Access in Malawi
Creator:: Energy Poverty PIRE in Southern Africa (EPPSA)
Date of publication:: April 19, 2023
Abstract Tesim:: Key Messages: Malawi has one of the lowest rates of household electrification in the world at 15%. 97% of households rely on solid fuels for cooking. Energy reliability is an issue due to interruptions in electricity supply; blackouts and brownouts are common. 95% of Malawi’s electricity generation comes from hydropower; there is a large deficit in supply relative to demand. Transmission capacity of Malawi’s electrical grid exceeds installed capacity by 170% percent. The Government of Malawi is working to diversify the energy generation profile through investment in renewable energies including wind and solar. A rapidly growing and urbanizing population will dramatically increase energy demand in coming years. Health centers have reasonably good energy access; schools lag behind. Industrial needs are not met by current energy systems. Electricity access is concentrated in urban areas; the Malawi Rural Electrification Program (MAREP) seeks to increase access in rural areas. The National Energy Policy aims to increase the affordability and reliability of energy nationwide by reaching 80% electricity access by 2035, in part through investment in solar and other renewable energy sources. Malawi’s energy policy has strong linkages to related sectors including health, climate, forestry, and gender. Malawi’s energy department has not been decentralized in line with other government departments. Several major international donors play a key role in funding, implementation and technical support in the energy sector. Household energy is a major focus of many international and local NGO and private sector efforts. Hydropower, Malawi’s main source of electricity generation, is highly vulnerable to climate events (droughts, floods). Heavy reliance on biomass contributes to climate change with greenhouse gas emissions from burning woodfuels, and due to lost forest carbon stocks. Malawi’s 2016 National Climate Change Management Policy directly addresses energy. Malawi’s census and other population representative surveys have information on energy access; spatial datasets supplement what we know about household demand for energy. Research on the social science dimensions of energy in Malawi is increasing with a focus on cooking, health, and lighting.
Resource type:: Report
Affiliation Label Tesim:: Carolina Population Center
Type:: http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text
DOI:: https://doi.org/10.17615/wy2b-hk49
Language Label:: English
ORCID:
Other Affiliation:
Person:: Energy Poverty PIRE in Southern Africa (EPPSA)
Rights Notes:: In Copyright
Rights Statement Label:: In Copyright

47. Storms, security, and salt Exploring the economic implications of sea level rise on communities in Coastal North Carolina

Title Tesim:: Storms, security, and salt Exploring the economic implications of sea level rise on communities in Coastal North Carolina
Creator:: Guilliams, Kayla
Date of publication:: July 21, 2022
Abstract Tesim:: In this non-traditional thesis project, I explore three overarching implications of sea-level rise on coastal communities in North Carolina. Across Eastern NC, residents are seeking buyouts but are waiting up to five years to seem them proliferate as floods repeatedly damage homes in the area. In places on the Outer Banks, families who have lived in the area for generations are struggling to stay afloat as flood insurance becomes more and more expensive. And across the Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula, farmers are seeing saltwater intrusion disrupt their way of life.
Resource type:: Masters Thesis
Affiliation Label Tesim:: Hussman School of Journalism and Media
Degree:: Master of Arts
Type:: http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text
DOI:: https://doi.org/10.17615/2zn3-a113
Graduation Year:: 2022
Keyword:: Climate change, Sea level rise, and Explanatory journalism
Language Label:: English
License Label:: All rights reserved
ORCID:
Other Affiliation:: and UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School
Person:: Allen, Kerri, Thornburg, Ryan, Sheppard, Kate , and Guilliams, Kayla
Rights Statement Label:: In Copyright

48. Modeling Precipitation, Acute Gastrointestinal Illness, and Environmental Factors in North Carolina, USA

Title Tesim:: Modeling Precipitation, Acute Gastrointestinal Illness, and Environmental Factors in North Carolina, USA
Creator:: Downs, Kristen D.
Date of publication:: 2022
Abstract Tesim:: Increasing intensity and frequency of extreme weather events due to climate change underscores the importance of understanding the influence of hydroclimatic variability on health. Meteorological drivers affect rates of acute gastrointestinal illness (AGI), but the association between precipitation and AGI, the sensitivity to modeling decisions, and the effects of sociodemographic and environmental risk factors are not well characterized. Furthermore, methodological differences may reduce inter-study comparability and can affect model estimates.In this dissertation, we reviewed the methodologies of recent time series AGI-weather studies, including outcome and exposure variables, data sources, spatiotemporal aggregation, and model specification. To investigate the sensitivity of the association between AGI and precipitation to exposure definitions and effect measure modification (EMM), we used AGI emergency department (ED) visit and weather data (2008-2015) from North Carolina (NC) to develop daily, ZIP code-level quasi-Poisson generalized linear models and distributed lag models. We compared multiple precipitation metrics: absolute (total precipitation), extreme (90th, 95th, and 99th percentiles with and without zero-precipitation days), and antecedent (cumulative wet-dry days; 8-week wet-dry periods). We assessed for potential EMM by physiographic region, the density of hogs in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), and percent of population on private drinking water wells.Depending on exposure definition, we observed an overall cumulative decrease of 1-18% in AGI ED rates following extreme precipitation events (over 0-7 days), with stronger effects associated with heavier rainfall, and a 2% (95% CI: 1.02, 1.03) increase after antecedent (8-week) wet periods. Inverse statewide results following extreme precipitation—dominated by the demographic weight of urban centers in the Piedmont region—were consistent with dilution effects posited by the concentration-dilution hypothesis but obscured dramatic sub-state variation. While EMM by private wells was inconclusive, region and hog density strongly modified the associations observed, with increased AGI ED rates following 95th percentile precipitation in the mountains (18%), coastal plains (19%), and areas exposed to hog CAFOs (7-15%). Our results reveal the vulnerability of mountainous, coastal, and CAFO-impacted areas in NC to rainfall-exacerbated AGI risk. This dissertation highlights the hazards of data aggregation and importance of precipitation exposure definitions and effect measure modification when modeling climate-health relationships.
Resource type:: Dissertation
Affiliation Label Tesim:: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering
Degree:: Doctor of Philosophy
Degree Granting Institution:: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate School
Deposit Record:: 39dd2c57-56e8-4e60-9039-cd9d43013720
Type:: http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text
DOI:: https://doi.org/10.17615/m6rm-2x21
Graduation Year:: 2022
Keyword:: Public health, climate change, concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO), water supply, weather, Environmental science, Epidemiology, precipitation, and diarrhea
Language Label:: English
ORCID:
Other Affiliation:
Person:: Whittington, Dale , Konrad, Charles, West, Jason, Characklis, Gregory, Waller, Anna, Levy, Karen, Richardson, David, and Downs, Kristen D.

49. Hypoxia tolerance, but not low pH tolerance, is associated with a latitudinal cline across populations of Tigriopus californicus

Title Tesim:: Hypoxia tolerance, but not low pH tolerance, is associated with a latitudinal cline across populations of Tigriopus californicus
Creator:: Deconinck, A. and Willett, C.S.
Date of publication:: 2022
Abstract Tesim:: Intertidal organisms must tolerate daily fluctuations in environmental parameters, and repeated exposure to co-occurring conditions may result in tolerance to multiple stressors correlating. The intertidal copepod Tigriopus californicus experiences diurnal variation in dissolved oxygen levels and pH as the opposing processes of photosynthesis and cellular respiration lead to coordinated highs during the day and lows at night. While environmental parameters with overlapping spatial gradients frequently result in correlated traits, less attention has been given to exploring temporally correlated stressors. We investigated whether hypoxia tolerance correlates with low pH tolerance by separately testing the hypoxia and low pH stress tolerance separately of 6 genetically differentiated populations of T. californicus. We independently checked for similarities in tolerance for each of the two stressors by latitude, sex, size, and time since collection as predictors. We found that although hypoxia tolerance correlated with latitude, low pH tolerance did not, and no predictor was significant for both stressors. We concluded that temporally coordinated exposure to low pH and low oxygen did not result in populations developing equivalent tolerance for both. Although climate change alters several environmental variables simultaneously, organisms’ abilities to tolerate these changes may not be similarly coupled.
Resource type:: Article
Affiliation Label Tesim:: Department of Biology
DOI:: https://doi.org/10.17615/f5kb-er60
Edition:: Publisher
Identifier:: https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0276635
ISSN:: 1932-6203
Journal Issue:: 10-Oct
Journal Title:: PLoS ONE
Journal Volume:: 17
Keyword:: circadian rhythm, Tigriopus, nonhuman, Oxygen, Copepoda, Tigriopus californicus, pH, latitude, controlled study, hypoxia, Hydrogen-Ion Concentration, sex, prediction, climate change, copepod, Article, animal, oxygen, Drug Tolerance, female, Hypoxia, rearing, size, physiological stress, male, time, drug tolerance, animal experiment, Animals, and climate
Language Label:: English
License Label:: Attribution 4.0 International
ORCID:
Other Affiliation:
Person:: Deconinck, A. and Willett, C.S.
Rights Statement Label:: In Copyright
Source:: covid_oa_2022-12_31

50. Morphological, physiological, and transcriptional responses of the freshwater diatom Fragilaria crotonensis to elevated pH conditions

Title Tesim:: Morphological, physiological, and transcriptional responses of the freshwater diatom Fragilaria crotonensis to elevated pH conditions
Creator:: Wilhelm, Steven W., Truchon, Alexander R., Paerl, Hans W., Stark, Gwendolyn F., Martin, Robbie M., Rossignol, Karen L., Niknejad, David J., and Zepernick, Brittany N.
Date of publication:: 2022
Abstract Tesim:: Harmful algal blooms (HABs) caused by the toxin-producing cyanobacteria Microcystis spp., can increase water column pH. While the effect(s) of these basified conditions on the bloom formers are a high research priority, how these pH shifts affect other biota remains understudied. Recently, it was shown these high pH levels decrease growth and Si deposition rates in the freshwater diatom Fragilaria crotonensis and natural Lake Erie (Canada-US) diatom populations. However, the physiological mechanisms and transcriptional responses of diatoms associated with these observations remain to be documented. Here, we examined F. crotonensis with a set of morphological, physiological, and transcriptomic tools to identify cellular responses to high pH. We suggest 2 potential mechanisms that may contribute to morphological and physiological pH effects observed in F. crotonensis. Moreover, we identified a significant upregulation of mobile genetic elements in the F. crotonensis genome which appear to be an extreme transcriptional response to this abiotic stress to enhance cellular evolution rates–a process we have termed “genomic roulette.” We discuss the ecological and biogeochemical effects high pH conditions impose on fresh waters and suggest a means by which freshwater diatoms such as F. crotonensis may evade high pH stress to survive in a “basified” future.
Resource type:: Article
Affiliation Label Tesim:: Institute of Marine Sciences
DOI:: https://doi.org/10.17615/k0nx-3v62
Edition:: Publisher
Identifier:: https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.1044464
ISSN:: 1664-302X
Journal Title:: Frontiers in Microbiology
Journal Volume:: 13
Keyword:: harmful algal blooms, pH stress, climate change, diatoms, and lake basification
Language Label:: English
License Label:: Attribution 4.0 International
ORCID:
Other Affiliation:: University of Tennessee and
Person:: Wilhelm, Steven W., Truchon, Alexander R., Paerl, Hans W., Stark, Gwendolyn F., Martin, Robbie M., Rossignol, Karen L., Niknejad, David J., and Zepernick, Brittany N.
Rights Statement Label:: In Copyright
Source:: covid_oa_2022-12_26

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