5 Search Results

Worldwide economic losses from extreme weather events (EWE) have increased over recent decades, with significant geographic heterogeneity in damages. The IPCC defines the risk from EWE as a function of the climate hazard, socioeconomic exposure, and vulnerability. Although these three drivers vary at fine spatial scales, spatial variability largely has been overlooked in assessments of the drivers of economic loss from EWE. Using cluster analysis, we developed a novel socio-climate hazard typology (SCT) that integrates locally defined climate hazard and socioeconomic exposure and social vulnerability typologies. The results identified 838 unique SCT types impacted by EWE across the Gulf Coastalmore » United States during 1981–2010. We regressed the SCT types and their constituent hazard and socioeconomic components against the cumulative economic loss (1981–2010) from EWE for each SCT type. Across the landscape, economic damages of SCT types were determined by unique, spatially explicit combinations of different risk factors, even in explaining the same level of economic loss. For example, multi-billion-dollar damages in the central Gulf Coast and peninsular Florida were explained by different drivers of risk, with damages in the former explained by additive interaction between climate hazard and multiplicative interaction between climate hazard and socioeconomic exposure and vulnerability, and in the latter explained by socioeconomic exposure and vulnerability. These results highlight the need to diagnose additive and multiplicative interactions among drivers of EWE risk in a spatially explicit context.« less

Shale gas production is a water and energy-intensive process that has expanded rapidly in the United States in recent years. This study compared the life cycle water consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from hydraulic fracturing in the Barnett region of Texas, located in one of the most drought prone regions of the United States. Four wastewater treatment scenarios were compared for produced water management in the Barnett region. For each scenario, the cradle-to-gate life cycle global warming potential and water scarcity footprint was estimated per mega joule of gas produced. Overall, the results show a trade-off between water and carbonmore » impacts, because energy is required for treatment of water. A reduction of 49 percent in total water consumed or a 28 percent reduction in the water scarcity footprint in the shale gas production process can be achieved at a cost of a 38 percent increase in global warming potential, if the wastewater management shifted from business as usual to complete desalination and reuse of produced water. The results are discussed in the context of wastewater management options available in Texas.« less

With likely increases in probable maximum precipitation (PMP) in a changing environment, critical infrastructures such as major reservoirs and nuclear power plants are subject to elevated risk. To understand how factors such as PMP variability, climate change, land use land cover (LULC) change, antecedent soil moisture conditions, and reservoir storage may individually or jointly affect the magnitude of probable maximum flood (PMF), we conducted integrated hydrometeorological simulations involving both the Weather Research Forecasting model and the distributed hydrologic model (DHSVM) over the Alabama–Coosa–Tallapoosa (ACT) River Basin in the southeastern United States. A total of 120 relative humidity–maximized PMP storms undermore » historic and projected future climate conditions were used to drive DHSVM in current and projected future LULC conditions. Overall, PMP and PMF are projected to increase significantly over the ACT River Basin. Sources of meteorological forcing data sets and climate change were found to be the most sensitive factors affecting PMF, followed by antecedent soil moisture, reservoir storage, and then LULC change. In conclusion, the ensemble of PMP and PMF simulations, along with their sensitivity, allows us to better quantify the potential risks associated with hydroclimatic extreme events to critical infrastructures for energy–water security.« less

Climate adaptation research is expanding very quickly within an increasingly reflexive society where the relationship between academia and other social institutions is in a state of flux. Tensions exist between the two dominant research orientations of research about and research for adaptation. In particular, the research community is challenged to develop processes for successfully executing transdisciplinary research for adaptation when academic institutions and researchers are largely structured around traditional, disciplinary expertise and funding models. One tool for helping to manage this tension is a third, more reflexive, orientation toward adaptation research that is emerging in the literature. Finally, this newmore » ‘research on adaptation research’ promises to help enhance understanding of the research enterprise itself and how it can become more adaptive.« less

Human agency is an essential determinant of the dynamics of agroecosystems. However, the manner in which agency is represented within different approaches to agroecosystem modeling is largely contingent on the scales of analysis and the conceptualization of the system of interest. While appropriate at times, narrow conceptualizations of agroecosystems can preclude consideration for how agency manifests at different scales, thereby marginalizing processes, feedbacks, and constraints that would otherwise affect model results. Modifications to the existing modeling toolkit may therefore enable more holistic representations of human agency. Model integration can assist with the development of multi-scale agroecosystem modeling frameworks that capturemore » different aspects of agency. In addition, expanding the use of socioeconomic scenarios and stakeholder participation can assist in explicitly defining context-dependent elements of scale and agency. Finally, such approaches, however, should be accompanied by greater recognition of the meta agency of model users and the need for more critical evaluation of model selection and application.« less