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Climate Change Dissertation Topics

Published by Carmen Troy at January 4th, 2023 , Revised On August 11, 2023

Are you a student and want to add your share into climate change activism? Do what is important: Increase others awareness. Many climate change activists around the world are putting efforts into saving this earth from getting any further destructed by the increasing temperature. As a student, studying and informing people about its implications can be a great contribution to helping the earth.

Climate change is believed to be the most striking problem that will massively affect life on the earth. Climate change refers to the long term change in the weather pattern of the earth that is basically rising temperature due to the destruction of the ozone layer in the stratosphere.

So, if you have planned to write your dissertation on climate change, here are a few useful ideas that can help you get started with your research.

You may also want to start your dissertation by requesting a  brief research proposal  from our writers on any of these topics, which includes an  introduction  to the problem,  research question , aim and objectives,  literature review , along with the proposed  methodology  of research to be conducted. Let us know if you need any help in getting started.

Check our  example dissertation  to get an idea of  how to structure your dissertation .

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2022 Climate Change Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: investigating the impacts of climate change on the deterioration of human health – a study on increasing cardiovascular diseases in the uk..

Research Aim: The aim of this study is to critically analyse how climate change deteriorates human health specially referring to the increasing cardiovascular diseases in the UK.

Objectives:

• To critically analyse the common effects of climate change on human health.
• To investigate how climate change is being a threat to human health in the UK and increasing the risks of cardiovascular diseases.
• To suggest strategies about how climate change can be controlled and its adverse impacts can be mitigated to address the growing problem of cardiovascular diseases in the UK.

Topic 2: A study on the growing relevance of sustainable transport as a solution for adverse consequences of climate change in the UK.

Research Aim: This study aims to share the concept of sustainable transport thereby interpreting how it is being relevant as a solution for adverse consequences of climate change in the UK.

• To exemplify the concept of sustainable transport and its potential impacts on the environment.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of introducing sustainable transport to address the negative impacts of climate change in the UK.
• To recommend strategies to bring sustainable transport into action to address adverse consequences of climate change in the UK.

Topic 3: Examining the initiatives to restrict the impacts of CFC emission on drastic changes in climate - a study on banning CFC in the UK.

Research Aim: The present research study aims to conduct a detailed analysis of the initiatives by the UK government to restrict CFC emission that drastically changes the climate. This study will specifically focus on the government’s strategic initiative to ban CFC.

• To make a comprehensive analysis of different initiatives taken by the UK government to minimise CFC emission.
• To explain how CFC emission can be restricted by the government’s strategy of banning CFC as a way to mitigate climate change.
• To share innovative ideas to minimise CFC emission, ban CFC and increase awareness about its impacts.

Topic 4: Critical analysis of the drastic move by the UK government towards cleaner energy solutions to mitigate climate change – a study on the solar and wind energy generation.

Research Aim: The study aims to critically analyse the drastic move UK government towards cleaner energy solutions to mitigate climate change. This study will extensively focus on solar and wind energy generation.

• To analyse the importance of adopting cleaner energy solutions to mitigate climate change.
• To describe the initiatives of the UK government to develop cleaner energy solutions like solar and wind energy to address climate change.
• To recommend strategies and best ways to generate solar and wind energy as best possible cleaner energy solutions against climate change.

Topic 5: A study on the far-reaching effects of climate change on food production in the UK – a case study of Nestle’s food production.

Research Aim: The aim of this study is to exemplify the impacts of climate change on food production in the UK and the study will specifically emphasise the food production practices of Nestle.

• To critically interpret how climate change is impacting food production in the UK.
• To describe how the food production of Nestle is being affected by climate change in the UK.
• To provide a set of recommendations to Nestle for addressing climate change thereby minimising its adverse effects on food production.

Topic no.1: Global warming and greenhouse gas emission

Research aim: When radiations from the planet’s atmosphere warm the planet’s surface to a temperature that it would be without temperature, it is called the greenhouse effect. The emission of greenhouse gasses leads to greenhouse gas emissions.

The aim of the research is to identify and analyse greenhouse gas emissions and their long term ramifications on global warming. The researcher will

Topic no.2: Repercussions of climate change on lives of people

Research aim: Climate change is not a war that will end sometime, and everything will get to its place in order. It is a phenomenon that is taking us an inch closer to destruction every day. With the rapid climate change, things will not remain the same as ever.

The aim of the research is to identify, analyse, and discuss the effects of climate change on people’s lives.

Topic no.3: Climate change and marine life

Research aim: Climate change does not only affect life on the land but life inside the sea significantly. The aim of the research is to identify how climate change can affect marine life and lead marine life to incur significant changes in their habitat.

Topic no.4: Effects of global warming on agriculture

Research aim: The aim of the research is to study and evaluate the effects of global warming on agriculture. The research will also aim to find out the significant impacts on the countries that rely on agriculture and what are the necessary steps that they are required to take to avoid the results.

Topic no.5: Global warming and natural disasters:

Research aim: The many natural disasters occurring in the world are due to global warming. The aim of the research is to study the interrelationship of global warming and natural disasters and study how natural disasters can be stopped by controlling global warming.

Topic no.6: Analysis of climate change activism

Research aim: Climate change activism is the need of the hour as the least we can do for saving the earth is stopping climate change from getting worse. Climate change activism is running all over the world. The aim of the research is to analyse and evaluate how this activism works, is it effective, and identify the areas that need to be improved for making it more powerful.

Topic no.7: Analysing global policies about climate change

Research aim: The aim of the research is to analyse and evaluate how stakeholders and those in power respond to climate change and what are the policies(if) they have made. The research will also analyse if the policies are any effective to control global warming.

Topic no.8: Global warming and Africa

Research aim: The aim of the research is to study the effects of global warming that challenging life in Africa today and what it would be if it were uncontrolled today.

Topic no.9: Impact of climate change on the gulf countries

Research aim: Gulf countries, especially landlocked countries, can be affected massively due to global warming. The aim of the research will be to analyse and assess the impact of climate change on Gulf countries.

Topic no.10: Climate change across the world

Research aim: It is important to understand the current state of climate change to take the imperative steps on time. The research will study and analyse the climate change that has occurred and impacted life and earth and provide suggestions for controlling it immediately.

How Can ResearchProspect Help?

ResearchProspect writers can send several custom topic ideas to your email address. Once you have chosen a topic that suits your needs and interests, you can order for our dissertation outline service which will include a brief introduction to the topic, research questions , literature review , methodology , expected results , and conclusion . The dissertation outline will enable you to review the quality of our work before placing the order for our full dissertation writing service !

Topic no.11: Climate change and the efforts of UN

Research aim: The aim of the research is to find out how United Nations is working to cope up with the striking problem of climate change. It will analyse and explore the key effort made by the institution that leads to sustainable results.

Topic no.12: The financial cost of climate change

Research aim: Climate change has a lot to do with humans, and affecting them financially is one of them. The financial costs that humans may need to pay to recover and control the massive destructions posed by climate change will be immensive. The main goal of the research would be to estimate and calculate the financial cost of climate change that humans will pay steadily over time.

Also Read: Finance and Accounting Dissertation Topics

Topic no.13: Efforts to control climate change

Research aim: The time should not be wasted regretting over what has already happened but investing in doing useful planning and execution to stop it from getting worse. The aim of the research will aim to find out the primly important efforts essential to control climate change.

Topic no.14: Impact of climate change on Asia

Research aim: Asia, being the largest and densely populated continent, may have faced serious results of climate change. The aim of the research is to identify the social, physical, and economic impact of climate change on Asia.

Topic no.15: Media and climate change activism:

Research aim: Media is sometimes called the fifth pillar of the state, and there is no way one can deny that media plays immense importance in making a matter more important in people’s eyes. The aim of the research would be to understand and analyse how global media is playing a significant role in boosting or leading climate change activism. It will also suggest how inclusive role media can play to make a

Topic no.16: Climate injustice; the theoretical model

Research aim: Climate injustice is a theoretical framework that talks about the ethical dimension of climate change. According to this approach, the activists are calling climate change an ethical problem as it is an environmental problem.

The aim of the research is to study and analyse the application of climate injustice and how much it is relevant in today’s context. It will also critically analyse the scope of theory in future.

Topic no.17: Greenhouse effect and ozone depletion:

Research aim: The aim of the research is to find out the relationship between the greenhouse effect and ozone depletion.

Topic no.18: How well-informed people are about climate change

Research aim: The aim of the research is to find out how many people in a particular area are aware of climate change as a serious environmental threat. The research will help analyse if climate activism is effective or not.

Topic no.19: climate change and the rapid increase in industrialisation

Research aim: Industrialisation has contributed a lot to climate change in the last few decades. The aim of the research is to study the prospects in the field of industrialisation and if climate change is in consideration of the stakeholders.

Topic no.20: climate change and global security

Research aim: It is inevitable that climate change will affect humans in all possible ways. The aim of the research will be to undersatand climate change and its impacts on life security, such as natural disasters, diseases, and famine, etc.

Conducting research can be one of the most exciting things, but when it comes to writing, students become dreadful. But do not worry, we have got your back. Whether you want a section of the dissertation to be written impeccably or the whole of it, we are here. Don’t wait; click here .

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How to find climate change dissertation topics.

To find climate change dissertation topics:

• Study IPCC reports and recent research.
• Analyze local/global impacts and adaptations.
• Explore policy and technological aspects.
• Consider interdisciplinary angles.
• Brainstorm solutions or communication strategies.
• Select a topic resonating with your passion and expertise.

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Top 100 Climate Change Topics To Write About

Climate change issues have continued to increase over the years. That’s because human activities like fossil fuel usage, excavation, and greenhouse emissions continue to drastically change the climate negatively. For instance, burning fossil fuels continues to release greenhouse emissions and carbon dioxide in large quantities. And the lower atmosphere of the earth traps these gasses thereby affecting the global climate. To enhance their awareness of the impact of global warming, educators ask learners to write academic papers and essays on different climate change topics.

According to statistics, global warming affects the climate in different ways. However, the earth has experienced a general temperature increase of 0.85 degrees centigrade over the last 100 years. Such statistics show that this increase will eventually pass the acceptable thresholds in the next 10 years or less. And this will have dire consequences on human health and the global climate. As such, writing a paper about a topic on climate change is a great way to educate the masses.

However, some learners have difficulties choosing topics for their papers and essays on climate change. That’s because this is a relatively new subject. Nevertheless, students that are pursuing ecology, political, and biology studies are conversant with this subject. If struggling to decide what to write about, consider this list of topics related to climate change.

Climate Change Topics for Short Essays

Perhaps, your educator has asked you to write a short essay on climate change. Maybe you’re yet to decide what to write about because every topic you think about seems to have been written about. In that case, use this list of climate change topics for inspiration. You can write about one of these topics or develop it to make it more unique.

• How climate change is responsible for the disappearing rainforest
• The effects of global warming on air quality within the urban areas
• Global warming and greenhouse emissions- Possible health risks
• Is climate change responsible for irregular weather patterns?
• How has climate change affected the food chain?
• The negative effects of climate change on human wellbeing
• How global warming affects agriculture
• How climate change works
• Why is climate change dangerous to human health?
• How to minimize global warming effects on human health
• How global warming affects the healthcare
• Effects of climate change of life quality in rural and urban areas
• How warmer temperatures support allergy-related illnesses
• How climate change is a risk to life on earth
• How climate change and natural disasters correlate
• How climate change affects the population of the earth
• How climate change relates to global warming
• How global warming has caused extreme heating in most urban areas
• How wildfires relate to climate change
• How ocean acidification and climate change affect the world’s habitat

These climate change essay topics cover different aspects of human activities and their effects on the earth’s ecosystem. As such, writing a research paper or essay on any of these topics requires extensive research and analysis of information. That’s the only way you can come up with a solid paper that will impress the educator to award you the top grade.

Climate Change Issues that Make for Good Topics

Maybe you want to research issues that relate to climate change. Most people may have not considered such issues but they are worthy of climate change debate topics. In that case, consider these issues when choosing your climate topics for papers and essays.

• Climate change and threat to natural biodiversity are equally important
• Climate change in Miami and Saudi Arabia- How the effects compare
• Climate change as a human activity’s effect on the environment
• Preventing climate change by protecting forests
• Climate change in China- How the country has declined to head to the global call about saving Mother Nature
• Common causes of climate change
• Common effects of climate change
• The definition of climate change
• What is anthropogenic climate change
• Describe climate change
• What drives climate change?
• Renewable energy sources and climate change
• Human and economics induced climate change
• Climate change biology
• Climate change and business
• Science, Spin, and climate change
• Climate change- How global warming affects populations
• Climate change and social concepts
• Extreme weather and climate change- How they relate
• Global warming as a complex issue in climate change

These are great climate change topics for research papers and essays. However, writing about these topics requires extensive research. You should also be ready to spend energy and time finding relevant and latest sources of information before you write about these topics.

Interesting Climate Change Topics for Papers and Essays

Perhaps, you want to write an essay or paper about something interesting. In that case, consider this list of interesting climate change research paper topics.

• Climate change across the globe- What experts say
• Development, climate change, and disaster reduction
• Critical review- Climate change and agriculture
• Schools should include climate change as a subject in geography courses
• Consumption and climate change- How the wind blows in Indiana
• How the United Nations responds to climate change
• Snowpack and climate change
• How climate change threatens global security
• The effects of climate change on coastal areas’ tourism
• How climate change relates to Queensland Australia’s floods
• How climate change affects the tourism and hospitality industry
• Possible strategies for addressing the effects of climate change on urban areas
• How climate change affects indigenous people
• How to avoid the threats of climate change
• How climate change affects coral triangle turtles
• Climate change drivers in the Asian countries
• Economic discourse analysis methodology in climate change
• How climate change affects New Hampshire businesses
• How climate change affects the life of an individual
• The economic cost of the effects of climate change

These are fantastic climate change paper topics to explore. Nevertheless, you must be ready to research your topic extensively before you start writing your academic paper or essay.

Major Topics on Climate Change for Academic Writing

Perhaps, you’re looking for topics related to climate change that you write major papers about. In that case, you should consider these global climate change topics.

• Early science on climate change
• How the world can manage the effects of climate change
• Environmental issues relating to climate change
• Views comparison about the climate change problem
• Asset-based community development and climate change
• Experts’ evaluation of climate change
• How science affects climate change
• How climate change affects the ocean life
• Scotland’s vulnerability to climate change
• How energy conservation can solve the climate change problem
• How climate change affects the world economy
• International collaboration and climate change
• International relations view on climate change
•  How transportation affects climate change
• Climate change and technology
• Climate change policies and human rights
• Climate change from an anthropological perspective
• Climate change as an international security issue
• Role of the United Nations in addressing climate change
• Climate change and pollution

This category has some of the best climate change thesis topics. That’s because most people will be interested in reading papers on such topics due to their global perspectives. Nevertheless, you should prepare to spend a significant amount of time researching and writing about any of these topics on climate change.

Climate Change Topics for Presentation

Perhaps, you want to write papers on topics related to climate change for presentation purposes. In that case, you need topics that most people can resonate with. Here is a list of topics about climate change that will interest most people.

• How can humans stop global warming in the next ten years
• Could humans have stopped global warming a decade ago?
• How has the environment changed over the years and how has this change caused global warming?
• How did the Obama administration try to limit climate change?
• What is the influence of chemical engineering on global warming?
• How is urbanization connected to climate change?
• Theories that explain why some nations ignore climate change
• How global warming affects the rising sea levels
• How anthropogenic and natural climate change differ
• How the war against terrorism differs from the war on climate change
• How atmospheric change influences global climate change
• Negative effects of global climate change on Minnesota
• The greenhouse effect and ozone depletion
• How greenhouse affects the earth’s environment
• How can individuals reduce the emissions of greenhouse gasses
• How climate change will affect humans in their lifetime
• What are the social, physical, and economic effects of climate change
• Problems and solutions to climate change on the Pacific Ocean
• How climate change relates to species’ extinction
• How the phenomenon of denying climate change affects animals

This list prepared by our  research helpers has some of the best essay topics on climate change. Pick one of these ideas, research it, and then compose a winning paper.

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Sustainability Dissertation Topics

Students can use the campus to test solutions to real-world sustainability challenges as part of a Living Lab project. Here are some sustainability dissertation ideas.

19 November 2022

Dissertation topics

Living lab for a positive climate .

Our goal is to have net zero-arbon buildings by 2024 and to be a net zero-carbon institution by 2030.

Research topics include:

• Review UCL buildings for climate change resilience and implement adaptation measures
• Research into enhancing video conferencing for large events
• Sourcing renewable energy providers for gas to enable a zero-carbon heating supply
• Research on academic travel reduction initiatives
• Research on UCL’s new Climate Accountability Scheme (combining a carbon price with behavioural nudges) to incentivise climate action by departments.
• Reducing the climate impact of UCL’s hospitality

Living lab on reducing waste and consumption

Our goal is to reduce waste per person by 20% and to become a single-use plastic-free campus by 2024.

• How to eliminate plastic across UCL
• How to increase recycling at UCL (campaign)
• Labels and messaging on food

Consumers are becoming more aware of sustainability considerations in food production and consumption. In addition to the traditional dietary and nutritional requirements, consumers are seeking labels and certifications to know where and how food is made, what it is made from, its carbon footprint and sustainability credentials. UCL would like to investigate what information we should supply, how this should be displayed, communicated and marketed, to allow our communities to make informed decisions and promote a flexitarian diet. It is anticipated this would require the following activity:

• Developing questionnaires for opinions on carbon footprinting, carbon pricing and other sustainability information they want to know about, to inform point-of-sale purchasing choices in outlets.
• Comparing marketing of food as “vegan” or “plant-based” and the impacts on consumer’s perceptions.
• Investigating the notion of “label fatigue “where consumers are overwhelmed by information on packaging, and the impact of the project on this.
• Baselining data on food choices.
• Developing a labelling system for packaging/ refectory display boards – using data and survey responses.
• Trialling the labelling system.
• Surveying responses.
• Recording food choices and comparing to baseline, to identify behavioural change.

Living lab on biodiversity

Our aim is to create 10,0000m2 of extra biodiverse space by 2024 – equivalent to more than one and a half football pitches as well as increasing health and wellbeing for the Bloomsbury community.

Research topics include: 

• Research on different types of green infrastructure e.g. green walls, roofs, community gardens, and where UCL could implement them.
• Research on biodiversity and wildlife across UCL’s estate.
• Research on air pollution levels across UCL’s estate

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Step 1: choose your topic.

• Take a look at the sustainability research topics list to see if they interest you.
• If you require data on energy, travel, procurement, UCL’s sustainability engagement programmes or water please email Sustainable UCL to request this.
• If you have alternative research topic ideas for a sustainable living lab dissertation or project please contact us.

Step 2: Discuss with your department

• Speak with your supervisor or someone in your department about undertaking a living lab dissertation and refining your topic.
• They can advise you on scales, time scales and marking criteria.

Step 3: Contact Sustainable UCL

• Arrange a meeting with Sustainable UCL to ensure your project can make a valuable contribution to UCL.
• Sustainable UCL can provide data and put you in touch with relevant operational staff such as catering members and plumbers to test out your ideas.
• You can invite your supervisor to this meeting, but it is not a requirement.

Step 4: Undertake your dissertation

• Sustainable UCL can meet a further 2 times or 2 hours maximum to support your dissertation or project.

Step 5: Sharing data and findings

• One of the principles of the Living Lab Project is to make available any additional data you generate for others to build on, so the work can keep ‘living’
• Once your dissertation is completed, we require a concise 2-3 page briefing or presentation on your findings so that we can implement your ideas onto campus or future students and staff can build on your research. Living Lab projects usually spark plenty of ideas for further research, including aspects you were not able to cover during the project.

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The dissertation projects of the DK  (in the first phase from 2014 to 2018) contribute to finding answers to three questions:

• How do we understand and deal with climate change uncertainties in the natural and social sciences as well as from the perspective of normative theories?
• What are critical thresholds of environmental, social and economic systems considering their vulnerability and how are these thresholds related to the normative threshold of sufficiency, that is, the threshold of well-being below which persons’ basic rights are infringed or violated?
• What are scientifically sound, technologically and institutionally feasible, economically efficient, and ethically defensible and sustainable strategies to cope with climate change, particularly taking into account the problems of implementation in an environment characterized by uncertainties and thresholds?

Phd projects dealing with research question 1

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Across UBC, faculty and students contribute to research on climate change. See below for recent theses on a few select topics, and search cIRcle , UBC's open access repository, for publications, theses/dissertation, and presentations to find more.

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Hot Topics on Climate Change

On June 1, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump announced he will withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement. In spite of this announcement, the fact remains that a global climate change agreement under the United Nations was adopted in December 2015 in Paris. Prior to Trump’s presidency, countries—including the United States— had submitted their “intended nationally determined contributions” (INDCs) for the next one-and-a-half decades. These INDCs lower global greenhouse gas emissions compared to existing policies. However, when projected further into the future, the INDCs still suggest a median warming of roughly 2.5 to 3.0°C by 2100. This exceeds the “well-below 2°C” aim of the Paris Agreement, and year-2030 emissions are higher than what energy-economic analyses indicate would minimize overall costs in view of the necessary long-term reductions. Should the United States really depart the Paris Agreement, which can only technically happen on November 4, 2020 (at the earliest), the situation will only get worst.

Many hot topics have marked the year when it comes to climate change. And it is very likely —more than 90 percent probability—using Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) technical language, that these topics, and many others, will continue to be increasingly hot in the United States and elsewhere during 2017 and beyond.

The Climate in 2016

Climate conditions were not that great in 2016. Last year the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that the global surface temperature was record warm in 2015. This presses the record set the year before by 0.16°C, the largest margin ever by which one year has beaten another on the records (NOAA 2016). And climate trends continued to break marks in 2016, according to NASA (2016).

Only in the course of this year will we know for certain, but a preliminary November 2016 WMO report assessed that 2016 will likely be the hottest year on record, with global temperatures reaching even higher marks than the record-breaking temperatures of 2015 (WMO 2016). Global average temperature by the end of 2016 was already running 1.2°C above pre-industrial levels, a number perilously close to the 1.5°C target aim of the Paris climate agreement of December 2015.

On other fronts, while global temperatures warmed, here in the United States the political climate also began to heat up. Exactly a month and a half after the landmark Paris Agreement officially took effect on November 4, 2016—when one hundred nations, accounting for 69 percent of global greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, had formally joined the treaty (UNFCCC 2016)—Mr. Donald John Trump was formally elected by the United States Electoral College on December 19, 2016 as the country´s 45th President. 

The hot topic here is that, on various recent occasions, President Trump expressed his skepticism about human-induced climate change. This included a tweet expressing a view that “the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive,” and various other public manifestations. Trump stated that with his “America First Energy Plan” he would revert all of President Obama´s policies on climate change, which would include cancelling the country’s participation in the Paris Agreement, ending U.S. funding of the United Nations climate change programs, and abandoning the Clean Power Plan—in order to bring back the coal industry. 

Mr. Trump’s leadership choices for the Department of Energy, the Department of Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency—the three most important, energy-policy-related Federal State institutions—have either denied or strongly challenged the science of climate change. In fact, at the same time that many world leaders are creating dedicated policies to support climate change mitigation and supporting renewable energy sources in order to open new economic sectors, some world leaders perceive this movement as a threat to existing, more conservative, economic forces, like the ones associated with the fossil-fuel industry (Nature 2016b). And indeed, on June 1, 2017, when President Trump proclaimed that the United States was quitting the Paris Climate Agreement, he very much pleased some of the forces within his administration that goaded him to do so.

The Paris Agreement: The Starting Point of a Three-Year Process

Under the December 2015 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Paris Agreement, more than 190 nations committed to take ambitious action 1) to hold the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, 2) to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C, and 3) to achieve net zero emissions in the second half of this century (UNFCCC 2016a). This means that, from emissions of roughly 50 GtCO2eq/yr today, in the second half this century these emissions will not only need to be zeroed completely, but turned negative. 

This will only be possible with massive carbon sequestration, which is the process of removing carbon from the atmosphere and depositing it in a reservoir. The candidate sectors for this process are the land use sector, with the afforestation and reforestation of large areas of the globe, and the power sector, with the use of carbon dioxide removal technologies, such as fossil-fuel-based and biomass-based power plants with carbon capture and sequestration facilities. 

Already earlier, in preparation of the agreement, countries had submitted their “intended nationally determined contributions” (INDCs) for the agreed 2025 to 2030 period, promising to lower global GHG emissions compared to already existing policies. These INDCs outline national plans to address climate change after 2020. They address a range of issues of which targets and actions for mitigating GHG emissions are a core component. 

The Paris Agreement is a general document, with a framework and overarching goals for global climate action. It is the beginning of a longer process. Some of its loose ends were tied up during the 22nd Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 22) in Marrakech in November of 2016  (UNFCCC 2016b)—which served as the first meeting of the governing body of the Agreement. But ironing out Paris Agreement details will take some time. Countries participating in COP 22 aim to have the process established by 2018, with a review of progress planned for this same year. But the only concrete outcomes of COP 22 were procedural in nature, with parties to the Convention adopting work plans for further discussions.

However, the real result of the Paris Agreement and of COP 22 (and their long-term success) will depend on assessments of whether or not the already committed pledges, and the ones to come, will have the expected effect on reducing aggregate GHG emissions. Success will mean that the world achieved the temperature objective of holding global warming to well below 2°C and is continuing to “pursue efforts“ to limit it to 1.5°C.

Temperature Increase as a Consequence of the INDCs

It should come as no surprise that limiting global warming to any level implies that the total amount of GHG emissions that can ever be emitted into the atmosphere is finite, given the technical and economic limitations of carbon sequestration possibilities to compensate for that. For example, for a higher than 66 percent chance (meaning “likely”) of limiting global warming to below the internationally agreed temperature limit of 2°C, carbon budget estimates range around 590 to1,240 Gt CO2 from 2015 onward (Rogelj et al 2016b). 

According to IPCC language, a statement that an outcome is “likely” means that the probability of this outcome can range from ≥66 percent (fuzzy boundaries implied) to 100 percent probability. This implies that all alternative outcomes are “unlikely” (0 to 33 percent probability). To put this carbon-budged range in perspective, given current annual emissions of about 40 Gt CO2 globally, this means that the world has a budget of no more than 15 to 60 years of CO2 emissions left at the level of today´s emissions to limiting global warming to 2°C. Only the successful deployment of carbon sequestration practices and technologies could extend this time frame. 

More specifically, for keeping warming to below 2°C, some two thirds of the total CO2 budget have already been emitted, with an urgent need for global CO2 emissions to start to decline, so as not to foreclose the possibility of holding warming to below 2°C. The Paris Agreement acknowledges both of these insights and aims, on the one hand, to reach global peaking of GHG emissions as soon as possible and, on the other hand, to achieve “a balance” between anthropogenic emissions and removals of GHGs in the second half of this century (UNFCCC 2016a).

The purpose of this digest is to assess the extent to which the proposed INDCs impact global GHG emissions by 2030, and explore the consistency of these reductions with the “well below 2°C” objective of the Paris Agreement. This analysis draws heavily on a previous published work (Rogelj et al 2016a), in which I was one of the authors, and where we updated and expanded INDC modelling results that were collected in the framework of the 2015 UNEP Emissions Gap Report (UNEP 2015), in which I was also one of the authors.

The number of INDCs considered by the studies we assessed ranged from the initial 118 INDCs submitted by October 1, 2015 to the final 160 INDCs from the different parties submitted by December 12, 2015 (Rogelj et al 2016a). These INDCs cover emissions from Parties to the Convention responsible for roughly 85 to 88 percent to more than 96 percent of global emissions in 2012. Furthermore, we look at projections of global-mean temperature increase over the twenty-first century that would be consistent with the INDCs, and at post-2030 implications of the INDCs for limiting warming to no more than 2°C.

We used four scenario groups to frame the implications of the INDCs for global GHGs in 2030: 1) no-policy baseline scenarios, 2) current-policy scenarios, 3) INDC scenarios, and 3) least-cost 2°C scenarios:

• No-policy baseline scenarios are emissions projections that assume that no new climate policies have been put into place from 2005 onwards. In this analysis, the no-policy baseline scenarios are selected from the scenario database that accompanied the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) (available at: https://tntcat.iiasa.ac.at/AR5DB/ ) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) By design, these no-policy baseline scenarios exclude climate policies, but may include other policies that can influence emissions and are implemented for other reasons, like some energy efficiency or energy security policies.
• Current-policy scenarios consider the most recent estimates of global emissions and take into account implemented policies. These scenarios were drawn from three global INDC analyses (see Rogelj et al 2016a for more details).  Not all countries and sectors are covered by these official and independent country-specific data sources. If this is the case, the median estimate of the three global studies for the ‘current-policy baseline’ for that country or sector is assumed.
• INDC scenarios are at the core of this analysis. They project how global GHG emissions would evolve under the INDCs. These projections are based on the eight global INDC analyses (see Rogelj et al 2016a for more details), which in their calculations use official estimates from the countries themselves.
• 2°C scenarios are idealized global scenarios which are consistent with limiting warming to well below 2°C, keeping open the option of strengthening the global temperature target to 1.5°C. These scenarios are based on a subset of scenarios from the IPCC AR5 Scenario Database that meet the following criteria: they have a greater than 66 per cent chance of keeping warming to below 2°C by 2100; until 2020, they assume that the actions countries pledged earlier under the UNFCCC Cancun Accord are fully implemented; and after 2020, they distribute emission reductions across regions, gases and sectors in such a way that the total discounted costs of the necessary global reductions are minimised, often referred to as least-cost or cost-optimal trajectories.

All scenarios are here expressed in terms of billion tons of global annual CO2 equivalent emissions (Gt CO2e/yr), with. CO2 equivalence of other GHGs calculated by means of 100-year global warming potentials (GWP-100) (Rogelj et al 2016a).

INDC Aggregate Emissions Impact

Different countries report their INDCs differently. Some provide ranges instead of a single number of emissions reductions. Many INDCs lack necessary details, including clarity on sectors and gases covered, on the base year or a reference from which reductions would be measured, or accounting practices related to land use and the use of specific market mechanisms. Also, some of the actions listed in INDCs are, implicitly or explicitly, conditional on other factors, like the availability of financial or technological support. The interpretation of all these factors influences the range of possible outcomes. So, conditional and unconditional INDC scenarios have to be distinguished from each other, although some argue that, implicitly, all INDCs are conditional, with “some being more conditional than others.” This is because, even if a country submits an unconditional INDC, later in time facts out of a country’s control may change its future priorities. Even so, we will keep here a distinction between conditional and unconditional INDCs.

Unconditionally, the INDCs are expected to result in global GHG emissions of about 55 (52 to 57; 10 to 90 percent range) billion tons of annual CO2 equivalent emissions (Gt CO2e/yr; see four scenerio groups above and Figure 1 below) in 2030. This is a reduction of around 9 (7 to 13) Gt CO2e/yr by 2030 relative to the median no-policy baseline scenario estimate and around 4 (2 to 8) Gt CO2e/yr relative to the median current-policy scenario estimate. To have these numbers in context, global GHG emissions in 2010 are estimated at about 48 (46 to 50) Gt CO2e/yr (UNEP 2015), and our median no-policy baseline estimate reaches about 65 Gt CO2e/yr by 2030.

A number of countries place conditions on all or part of their INDC. Some included a range of reduction targets in their INDC and attached conditions to the implementation of the more ambitious end. Others indicate that their entire INDC is conditional. Of the INDCs submitted, roughly half came with both conditional and unconditional components, a third was conditional only, and the rest did not make any distinction. 

For a number of countries, the targets included in their INDC submission suggest achieving emission levels above the estimated no-policy baseline or their current-policy scenario. These countries are thus expected to overachieve their INDC climate targets by default.

Uncertainties in the Estimates and Optimal 2°C Pathways

There is a wide range of possible estimates of future emissions under nominally similar scenarios. These differences are a result of a number of factors, including modeling methods, input data, and assumptions regarding country intent. In fact, four confounding factors in this respect can be identified: 1) global and national sectors coverage, 2) uncertainties in projections, 3) land-use emissions, and 4) historical emissions and metrics.

Once the GHG implications of the INDCs by 2030 are quantified, the question that remains is whether these levels are consistent with the Paris Agreement’s aim of holding warming to well below 2°C. The Paris Agreement’s aim of reaching net-zero GHG emissions in the second half of the century goes even further. For some non-CO2 emissions, only limited mitigation options have been identified. Therefore, net-zero CO2 emissions are always achieved before achieving net-zero GHG emissions. The Scenario Database that accompanied the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Chang (IPCC) is used to explore cost-optimal 2°C pathways from 2020 onward (four scenerios).

The comparison of these cost-optimal 2°C scenarios to the INDC projections shows a large discrepancy (Fig. 1). The median cost-optimal path towards keeping warming to below 2°C (starting reductions in 2020) and the emissions currently implied by the unconditional INDCs differ by about 14 (10–16) Gt CO2e/yr in 2030. Even if the conditions that are linked to some INDCs are met, this difference remains of the order of 11 Gt CO2e/yr. As they stand now, the INDCs clearly do not lead the world to a pathway towards limiting warming to well below 2°C.

Implications of INDCs Post 2030

A large share of the potential warming until 2100 is determined not just by the INDCs until 2025 or 2030, but also by what happens afterwards. Different approaches can be followed to extend INDCs into the future, which basically assume that climate action stops, continues, or accelerates. Stopping action is often modelled by assuming that emissions return to a no-climate-policy trajectory after 2030; continuing action by assuming that the level of post-2030 action is similar to pre-2030 action on the basis of a metric of choice; and accelerating action by post-2030 action that goes beyond such a level. Because of the path-dependence and inertia of the global energy system, the INDCs have a critical role in preparing what can come afterwards.

Each approach may lead to different global temperature outcomes, even when starting from the same INDC assessment for 2025 to 2030. As a conservative interpretation of the Paris Agreement, the assumption made here is that climate action continues after 2030 at a level of ambition that is similar to that of the INDCs. The assumption that climate action will continue or accelerate over time is supported by the Agreement’s requirement that the successive nationally determined contribution (NDC) of each country must represent a progression beyond the earlier contributions, and reflect the highest possible ambition of that country.

Under these assumptions of continued climate action, the 2030 unconditional-INDC emission range is roughly consistent with a median warming relative to pre-industrial levels of 2.6 to 3.1°C (median, 2.9°C; full scenario projection uncertainty, 2.2 to 3.5°C; Table 1), with warming continuing its increase afterwards. This is an improvement on the current-policy and no-policy baseline scenarios, whose median projections suggest about 3.2°C and more than 4°C of temperature rise by 2100, respectively.

The successful implementation of all conditional INDCs would decrease the median estimate by an additional 0.2°C, but keeps the outcome far from the targets the Paris Agreement is aiming for, with well-below 2°C and 1.5°C of warming. Moreover, all above-mentioned values represent median projections coming out of emission scenarios, which in themselves are a function of uncertain assumptions with respect to population growth (more growth, more emissions), economic growth (here too, more growth, more emissions) and even rates of technological improvements (more improvements, less emissions).

Because the climate response to GHG emissions remains uncertain, it is also possible that substantially higher temperatures will materialize with compelling likelihoods (Table 1). For example, at the 66th percentile level, warming under the unconditional INDCs is projected to be about 0.3 °C higher (3.2°C, with a range of 2.9 to 3.4°C). Finally, the INDC cases that are discussed here will exceed the available carbon budget for keeping warming to below 2°C by 2030 with 66 percent probability (that is, roughly 750 to 800 Gt CO2e implied emissions under the INDCs during the 2011 to 2030 period compared to the 750 to 1,400 Gt CO2e available).

The question thus arises whether global temperature rise can be kept to well below 2°C with accelerated action after 2030. Global scenarios that aim to keep warming to below 2°C and that achieve this objective from 2030 GHG emissions similar to those from the INDC range have been assessed in detail by recent large-scale model-comparison projects (Clarke et al 2014 and Riahi et al 2015), but show that even with accelerated action after 2030 options to keep warming to well below 2°C from current INDCs are severely limited, particularly if some key mitigation technologies, such as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) or CCS with biomass energy (BECCS), for example, do not scale up as anticipated.

Scenarios in which global warming is successfully contained show rapidly declining emissions after 2030, with global CO2 emissions from energy- and industry-related sources reaching net-zero levels between 2060 and 2080. The global economy is thus assumed to fully decarbonize in the time span of three to five decades and from 2030 levels that are higher than today’s. Furthermore, about two-thirds of these scenarios achieve a balance of global GHG emissions between 2080 and 2100. Because some non-CO2 emissions are virtually impossible to eliminate entirely (for example those from specific agricultural or animal agricultural sources), reaching such a balance will involve net-negative CO2 emissions at a global scale to compensate for any residual non-CO2 emissions, limiting global-average temperatures increase over time.

Exploring futures in which a global balance of GHG emissions can be achieved in the second half of this century with technically feasible and societally acceptable technologies represents a major research challenge emerging from the Paris Agreement. This challenge is particularly relevant to policy, because limiting emissions in 2030 does not only increase the chances of attaining the 2°C target, but also reduces the need to rely on unproven, potentially risky or controversial technologies in the future (Clark et al 2014 and Riahi et al 2015).

Final Considerations

The world has made its decision on Climate Change, despite some recent setbacks here and there. As a recent Editorial of the New York Times put it very clearly, “It´s hard to know how Mr. Trump will change climate policy, but it is almost certain that he won’t advance it” (The New York Times 2016). And indeed, if it is true that the United States will leave the Paris Agreement, for sure it will lose the ability to pressure other countries, including the large emerging economies like Brazil, China and India, to do more.

On the global front, as discussed here, actions may still be too slow and/or too weak, but we can be optimistic and say that, in spite of some hurdles on the way, momentum is building. Covering more than 90 percent of the world’s GHG emissions with climate plans in the form of INDCs was a historic achievement. Now that the Paris Agreement came into force, and that the original INDCs are not simply “Intended” anymore (so, they are no longer INDCs but now Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs), it will continue with NDCs, subject to strong transparency of individual contributions and a global stock-take, in the light of equity and science, every five years.

However, the optimism accompanying this process has to be carefully balanced against the important challenges that current INDCs imply for post-2030 emissions reductions. Even starting now limiting warming to no more than 2°C relative to preindustrial levels constitutes an enormous societal challenge. While the contributions open a new era for climate policy under the Paris agreement, they also represent both an invitation and call, if not a need, for further action. Furthering deeper reductions in the coming decade, as well as preparing for a global transformation until mid-century are critical. In absence of incrementally stronger policy signals over the coming five years to a decade, the likelihood that our society will be able to meet the challenge of limiting warming to below 2°C with less than even odds will become extremely small.

Therefore, let us put this clear: Should the United States’ new administration, indeed step back from the previous administration commitment, two possibilities could arise. First, other major emitting nations could also follow suit, turning the Paris Agreement an absolutely irrelevant effort of international negotiation, driving the planet towards unknown climate consequences. Second, because the United States is the second largest GHG emitter, with some 15 percent of world´s total emissions, any climate-change global agreement to succeed would probably also require to have the United States on board, something that is now under a question mark. Therefore, the latter in itself is already a problem even if the former does not materialize. Interestingly enough, the very structure of the Paris Agreement, like the Kyoto Protocol, was designed largely to United States specifications, and also an answer to United States’ prayers.

The problem is that, in fact, political upsets could stall coordinated international mitigation action, with long-term consequences, eventually even rendering the 2°C target unachievable (Sanderson et at 2016). Interesting enough, although the governments of the world have requested the IPCC to assess, through a Special Report due in 2018 (IPCC 2016), the impacts of 1.5°C of warming, as well as ways to prevent temperatures from rising higher, many scientists have practically already written off the chances of limiting warming to 1.5 °C (Rogelj et al 2016b and Luderer et al 2016).

As discussed before, the Paris Agreement commits governments to keeping average global surface temperatures to between 1.5°C and 2°C above the preindustrial level, but warming has already passed the 1°C mark (WMO 2016). If the 2°C goal is already seen implausible by some, given a lack of more effective actions and current politics, let alone the even more ambitions 1.5°C target (Nature 2016a), let us hope that the economies of the world will be able to do their homework on time. We cannot travel the last mile with quick fixes, which would be too dependent on extremely risky and uncertain technologies, such as geoengineering, as some have begun to consider (Hubert et al 2016). Unfortunately, the recent move of the current United States Administration with respect to the Paris Agreement is not going to be of much help in that respect.

T his digest has been inspired by from Rogelj et al (2016a), of which Roberto Schaeffer is one of the authors. The author wishes to acknowledge extremely helpful comments from a reviewer of an earlier draft. Any remaining errors are the responsibility of the author alone.

Roberto Schaeffer

Clarke, L. et al. in Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (eds O. Edenhofer et al.) Ch. 6, 413-510 (Cambridge University Press, 2014). Hubert, AM., Kruger, T. Rayner, S. Code of conduct for geoengineering. Nature 537, 488 (2016). IPCC. Scoping Meeting for the IPCC Special Report on the Impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways. Geneva, Switzerland, 15-16 August. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sr15/ , accessed on 30 December (2016). Luderer, G., Kriegler, E., Delsa, L., Edelenbosch, O. Y., Emmerling, J., Krey, V., McCollum, D. L., Pachauri, S., Riahi, K., Saveyn, B., Tavoni, M., Vrontisi, Z., van Vuuren, D. P., Arent, D., Arvesen, A., Fujimori, S., Iyer, G. Keppo, I., Kermeli, K., Mima, S., Ó Broin, E., Pietzcker, R. C., Sano, F., Scholz, Y., van Ruijven, B. & Wilson, C. Deep decarbonisation towards 1.5 °C – 2 °C stabilisation. Policy findings from the ADVANCE project (first edition, 2016). NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/climate-trends-continue-to-bre… , accessed on 20 December (2016). Nature. Climate ambition. Nature 537, 585-586, 29 September (2016a). Nature. Let reason prevail. Nature 538, 289, 20 October (2016b). NOAA. http://www.noaa.gov/climate , accessed on 20 December (2016). Riahi, K. et al. Locked into Copenhagen pledges — Implications of short-term emission targets for the cost and feasibility of long-term climate goals. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 90, Part A, 8-23, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2013.09.016 (2015). Rogelj, J., den Elzen, M., Hohne, N., Fransen, T., Fekete, H., Winkler, H., Schaeffer, R., Sha, F., Riahi, K. & Meinshausen, M. Paris Agreement climate proposals need a boost to keep warming well below 2 °C. Nature 534, 631-639, doi:10.1038/nature18307 (2016a). Rogelj, J., Schaeffer, M., Friedlingstein, P., Gillett, N. P., van Vuuren, D. P., Riahi, K., Allen, M. & Knutti, R. Differences between carbon budget estimates unravelled. Nature Climate Change 6, 245-252-, doi: 10.1038/nclimate2868 (2016b). Sanderson, B. M. & Knutti, R. Delays in US mitigation could rulled out Paris targets. Nature Climate Change, advance publication, published online on 26 December, http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate3193.html , accessed on 28 December (2016). The New York Times. States Will Lead on Climate Change in the Trump Era. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/26/opinion/states-will-lead-on-climate-ch… , accessed on 26 December (2016). UNEP. The Emissions Gap Report 2015. 98 (UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya, 2015). UNFCCC. Adoption of the Paris Agreement. Report No. FCCC/CP/2015/L.9/Rev.1, http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/109r01.pdf , accessed on 20 December (2016a). UNFCCC. http://unfccc.int/meetings/marrakech_nov_2016/session/9676.php , assessed on 27 December (2016b). WMO. https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/provisional-wmo-statement-… , accessed on 20 December (2016).  

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Climate change thesis statement examples.

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Climate change is an urgent global issue, characterized by rising temperatures, melting glaciers, and extreme weather events. Writing a thesis on this topic requires a clear and concise statement that guides the reader through the significance, focus, and scope of your study. In this piece, we will explore various examples of good and bad thesis statements related to climate change to guide students in crafting compelling research proposals.

Good Examples

Focused Approach: “This thesis will analyze the impact of climate change on the intensity and frequency of hurricanes, using data from the last three decades.” Lack of Focus: “Climate change affects weather patterns.”

The good statement is specific, indicating a focus on hurricanes and providing a time frame. In contrast, the bad statement is too vague, covering a broad topic without any specific angle.

Clear Stance: “Implementing carbon taxes is an effective strategy for governments to incentivize companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.” Not So Clear: “Carbon taxes might be good for the environment.”

The good statement takes a clear position in favor of carbon taxes, while the bad statement is indecisive, not providing a clear standpoint.

Researchable and Measurable: “The thesis explores the correlation between the rise in global temperatures and the increase in the extinction rates of North American mammal species.” Dull: “Global warming is harmful to animals.”

The good statement is researchable and measurable, with clear variables and a focused geographic location, while the bad statement is generic and lacks specificity.

Bad Examples

Overly Broad: “Climate change is a global problem that needs to be addressed.”

This statement, while true, is overly broad and doesn’t propose a specific area of focus, making it inadequate for guiding a research study.

Lack of Clear Argument: “Climate change has some negative and positive effects.”

This statement doesn’t take a clear stance or highlight specific effects, making it weak and uninformative.

Unoriginal and Unengaging: “Climate change is real.”

While the statement is factual, it doesn’t present an original argument or engage the reader with a specific area of climate change research.

Crafting a compelling thesis statement on climate change is crucial for directing your research and presenting a clear, focused, and arguable position. A good thesis statement should be specific, take a clear stance, and be researchable and measurable. Avoid overly broad, unclear, unoriginal, or unengaging statements that do not provide clear direction or focus for your research. Utilizing the examples provided, students can navigate the intricate process of developing thesis statements that are not only academically rigorous but also intriguing and relevant to the pressing issue of climate change.

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• Stories We Tell, Stories We Eat: Mexican Foodways, Cultural Identity, and Ideological Struggle in Netflix’s Taco Chronicles  Sanchez, Bela ( University of Oregon , 2022-10-26 ) Food is a biological necessity imbued with numerous social, cultural, and economic implications for identity production and everyday meaning-making. Food television is a unique medium for the meanings of food and foodways ...
• Soil Nutrient Additions Shift Orthopteran Herbivory and Invertebrate Community Composition  Altmire, Gabriella ( University of Oregon , 2022-10-26 ) Anthropogenic alterations to global pools of nitrogen and phosphorus are driving declines in plant diversity across grasslands. As such, concern over biodiversity loss has precipitated a host of studies investigating how ...
• Multispecies Memoir: Self, Genre, and Species Justice in Contemporary Culture  Otjen, Nathaniel ( University of Oregon , 2022-10-04 ) Liberal humanism articulates an individual, rational, autonomous, universal, and singularly human subject that possesses various rights and freedoms. Although the imagined subject at the heart of liberal humanist philosophy ...
• Understanding How Changes in Disturbance Regimes and Long-Term Climate Shape Ecosystem and Landscape Structure and Function  Wright, Jamie ( University of Oregon , 2022-10-04 ) Long-term and anthropic climatic change intersecting with disturbances alters ecosystem structure and function across spatiotemporal scales. Quantifying ecosystem responses can be convoluted, therefore utilizing multiproxy ...
• Ikpíkyav (To Fix Again): Drawing From Karuk World Renewal To Contest Settler Discourses Of Vulnerability  Vinyeta, Kirsten ( University of Oregon , 2022-10-04 ) The Klamath River Basin of Northern California has historically been replete with fire-adapted ecosystems and Indigenous communities. For the Karuk Tribe, fire has been an indispensable tool for both spiritual practice and ...
• Grassland Restoration in Heterogeneous, Changing, and Human Dominated Systems  Brambila, Alejandro ( University of Oregon , 2022-10-04 ) Ecological restoration is a powerful tool to promote biodiversity and ecosystem function. Understanding underlying system variability and directional change can help predict outcomes of restoration interventions. Spatial ...
• Restoring What? And for Whom? Listening to Karuk Ecocultural Revitalization Practitioners and Uncovering Settler Logics in Ecological Restoration.  Worl, Sara ( University of Oregon , 2022-05-10 ) What does it mean to restore a landscape degraded by settler colonialism? How might a well intentionedprocess like ecological restoration end up causing harm from underlying settler colonial logics? This thesis explores ...
• Instigating Communities of Solidarity: An Exploration of Participatory, Informal, Temporary Urbanisms  Meier, Briana ( University of Oregon , 2021-11-23 ) This dissertationexamines the potential for participatory, informal urbanisms to buildcollaborative relations across ontological, cultural, and political difference. This research contributes to thefield of urban, environmental ...
• The Holy Oak School of Art and Ecology: A Proposal for Arts-Based Environmental Education Programming  Best, Krysta ( University of Oregon , 2021-11-23 ) The following is a proposal for arts-based environmental education programming in elementary schools, after-school programs, and day-camp programs, entitled the Holy School of Art and Ecology. Ecophenomenological, arts-based ...
• Settler Colonial Listening and the Silence of Wilderness in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area  Hilgren, Bailey ( University of Oregon , 2021-11-23 ) The Boundary Waters Canoe Area soundscape in northern Minnesota has a long and contested history but is most often characterized today as a pristine and distinctly silent wilderness. This thesis traces the construction and ...
• Species Dynamics and Restoration in Rare Serpentine Grasslands under Global Change  Hernandez, Eliza ( University of Oregon , 2021-11-23 ) Conserving rare serpentine grasslands is a challenge with ongoing nitrogen deposition. Nutrient-poor patches are fertilized by nitrogen-rich smog and exotic grasses can rapidly spread. Water resources are also being altered ...
• Place-making and Place-taking: An Analysis of Green Gentrification in Atlanta Georgia  Okotie-Oyekan, Aimée ( University of Oregon , 2021-11-23 ) Despite the benefits of urban greenspace, Atlanta’s Westside Park is causing gentrification and displacement pressures in Grove Park, a low-income African-American community in northwest Atlanta, Georgia. This study used ...
• Prairie Plant Responses to Climate Change in the Pacific Northwest  Reed, Paul ( University of Oregon , 2021-09-13 ) Understanding how plants respond to climate change is of paramount importance since their responses can affect ecosystem functions and patterns of biodiversity. At the population level, climate change may alter phenology ...

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