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- All Subjects: Climate Change
Description
Global climate change (GCC) is among the most important issues of the 21st century. Adaptation to and mitigation of climate change are some of the salient local and regional challenges scientists, decision makers, and the general public face today and will be in the near future. However, designed adaptation and mitigation strategies do not guarantee success in coping with global climate change. Despite the robust and convincing body for anthropogenic global climate change research and science there is still a significant gap between the recommendations provided by the scientific community and the actual actions by the public and policy makers. In order to design, implement, and generate sufficient public support for policies and planning interventions at the national and international level, it is necessary to have a good understanding of the public's perceptions regarding GCC. Based on survey research in nine countries, the purpose of this study is two-fold: First, to understand the nature of public perceptions of global climate change in different countries; and secondly to identi-fy perception factors which have a significant impact on the public's willingness to sup-port GCC policies or commit to behavioral changes to reduce GHG emissions. Factors such as trust in GCC information which need to be considered in future climate change communication efforts are also dealt with in this dissertation. This study has identified several aspects that need to be considered in future communication programs. GCC is characterized by high uncertainties, unfamiliar risks, and other characteristics of hazards which make personal connections, responsibility and engagement difficult. Communication efforts need to acknowledge these obstacles, build up trust and motivate the public to be more engaged in reducing GCC by emphasizing the multiple benefits of many policies outside of just reducing GCC. Levels of skepticism among the public towards the reality of GCC as well as the trustworthiness and sufficien-cy of the scientific findings varies by country. Thus, communicators need to be aware of their audience in order to decide how educational their program needs to be.
ContributorsHagen, Bjoern (Author) / Pijawka, David (Thesis advisor) / Brazel, Anthony (Committee member) / Chhetri, Netra (Committee member) / Guhathakurta, Subhrajit (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Dust storms have far-reaching human and economic impacts; spreading disease, raspatory and cardiovascular disruption, destruction of property and crops, and death. Understanding of this phenomenon is can help with operational and academic endeavors and alleviate some of these impacts. To accomplish this goal, this dissertation poses a central question: Do dust storms have discreet geographic and temporal characteristics that can aid academic and operational analysis of these storms? To answer this question three case studies were undertaken. The first study constructed an archive of 549 dust rain events across Europe to determine a seasonal pattern. It was discovered that the largest number of events occurred in the Spring season (MAM). Then three individual events across Europe were examined to highlight the synoptic events that control these dust rains. Each event can be closely tied to the movement of the migratory Rossby waves and linked to Saharan dust from North Africa. The second study was a construction of Central Sonoran Desert dust storms from 2009 to 2022 tied to the NAM. HYSPLIT back-trajectories linked the strongest events to source regions mainly from the Southwest along the Gila River from the Gulf of California. As the storms weaken in intensity they drift to the South and Southeast traveling along the Santa Cruz River and its tributaries. The third study was a case study of three large events in the Central Sonoran Desert along the Gila River. This study examines the effects of the local topography, specifically the stand-alone mountain complexes that can block or funnel dust as it moves through the Gila River Valley. In each instance the South Mountain Complex and the Sierra Estrella served as a dust shield containing the highest dust concentrations to the south side of the Gila River Valley. This dissertation has analyzed several of the different elements of dust storms. These elements include the synoptic patterns that drive dust storms, the source regions of dust storms, and the ground level topography that can control their movement. Fundamentally, these findings can enhance our academic understanding of dust storms as well as our operational ability to forecast.
ContributorsWhite, Joshua Randolph (Author) / Cerveny, Randall S. (Thesis advisor) / Balling Jr., Robert C. (Committee member) / Brazel, Anthony (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024