Undocumented migration in response to climate change

In the face of climate change-induced economic uncertainties, households may em-ploy migration as an adaptation strategy to diversify their livelihood portfolio through remit-tances. However, it is unclear whether such climate-related migration will be documented or undocumented. In this study we combined detailed migration histories with daily temperature and precipitation information from 214 weather stations to investigate whether climate change more strongly impacted undocumented or documented migrations from 68 rural Mexican mu-nicipalities to the U.S. from 1986−1999. We employed two measures of climate change, the warm spell duration index (WSDI) and precipitation during extremely wet days (R99PTOT). Results from multi-level event-history models demonstrated that climate-related international migration from rural Mexico was predominantly undocumented. We conclude that programs to facilitate climate change adaptations in rural Mexico may be more effective in reducing undo-cumented border crossings than increasing border fortification

Server‐side workflow execution using data grid technology for reproducible analyses of data‐intensive hydrologic systems

Many geoscience disciplines utilize complex computational models for advancing understanding and sustainable management of Earth systems. Executing such models and their associated data preprocessing and postprocessing routines can be challenging for a number of reasons including (1) accessing and preprocessing the large volume and variety of data required by the model, (2) postprocessing large data collections generated by the model, and (3) orchestrating data processing tools, each with unique software dependencies, into workflows that can be easily reproduced and reused. To address these challenges, the work reported in this paper leverages the Workflow Structured Object functionality of the Integrated Rule‐Oriented Data System and demonstrates how it can be used to access distributed data, encapsulate hydrologic data processing as workflows, and federate with other community‐driven cyberinfrastructure systems. The approach is demonstrated for a study investigating the impact of drought on populations in the Carolinas region of the United States. The analysis leverages computational modeling along with data from the Terra Populus project and data management and publication services provided by the Sustainable Environment‐Actionable Data project. The work is part of a larger effort under the DataNet Federation Consortium project that aims to demonstrate data and computational interoperability across cyberinfrastructure developed independently by scientific communities.Plain Language SummaryExecuting computational workflows in the geosciences can be challenging, especially when dealing with large, distributed, and heterogeneous data sets and computational tools. We present a methodology for addressing this challenge using the Integrated Rule‐Oriented Data System (iRODS) Workflow Structured Object (WSO). We demonstrate the approach through an end‐to‐end application of data access, processing, and publication of digital assets for a scientific study analyzing drought in the Carolinas region of the United States.Key PointsReproducibility of data‐intensive analyses remains a significant challengeData grids are useful for reproducibility of workflows requiring large, distributed data setsData and computations should be co‐located on servers to create executable Web‐resourcesPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137520/1/ess271_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137520/2/ess271.pd

Domestic and International Climate Migration from Rural Mexico

Evidence is increasing that climate change and variability may influence human migration patterns. However, there is less agreement regarding the type of migration streams most strongly impacted. This study tests whether climate change more strongly impacted international compared to domestic migration from rural Mexico during 1986-99. We employ eight temperature and precipitation-based climate change indices linked to detailed migration histories obtained from the Mexican Migration Project. Results from multilevel discrete-time event-history models challenge the assumption that climate-related migration will be predominantly short distance and domestic, but instead show that climate change more strongly impacted international moves from rural Mexico. The stronger climate impact on international migration may be explained by the self-insurance function of international migration, the presence of strong migrant networks, and climate-related changes in wage difference. While a warming in temperature increased international outmigration, higher levels of precipitation declined the odds of an international move

Amplification or suppression: Social networks and the climate change-migration association in rural Mexico

Increasing rates of climate migration may be of economic and national concern to sending and destination countries. It has been argued that social networks the ties connecting an origin and destination may operate as migration corridors with the potential to strongly facilitate climate change-related migration. This study investigates whether social networks at the household and community levels amplify or suppress the impact of climate change on international migration from rural Mexico. A novel set of 15 climate change indices was generated based on daily temperature and precipitation data for 214 weather stations across Mexico. Employing geostatistical interpolation techniques, the climate change values were linked to 68 rural municipalities for which sociodemographic data and detailed migration histories were available from the Mexican Migration Project. Multi-level discrete-time event-history models were used to investigate the effect of climate change on international migration between 1986 and 1999. At the household level, the effect of social networks was approximated by comparing the first to the last move, assuming that through the first move a household establishes internal social capital. At the community level, the impact of social capital was explored through interactions with a measure of the proportion of adults with migration experience. The results show that rather than amplifying, social capital may suppress the sensitivity of migration to climate triggers, suggesting that social networks could facilitate climate change adaptation in place. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Integrating the Demographic and Health Surveys, IPUMS-I, and TerraPopulus to Explore Mortality and Health Outcomes at the District Level in Ghana, Malawi, and Tanzania

In this paper, we first show how the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) can be integrated with other data sources to expand the types of variables available for analysis of population and health outcomes. Second, we demonstrate one particular example of such integration by modelling the social, physical, and built environment determinants of health outcomes at the district level in Ghana, Malawi, and Tanzania.  To do so, we created district-level measures of a number of variables from the DHS, and then merged them with district-level data from the IPUMS, an environmental data set called TerraPopulus, and other sources.  We find that it is feasible to combine the DHS with other data sources, and that many health and environment indicators are heterogeneous within countries, justifying further analysis at low levels of geography and suggesting benefits to using such techniques to design fine-grained programmatic interventions

The Influence of Internal Migration on Exposure to Extreme Weather Events in Mexico

Between 2005 and 2010, 6.3 million migrants (approximately 6% of the population) moved domestically within Mexico. These shifts have potential implications for exposure to natural disasters. To examine this relationship, we use census microdata in conjunction with information on natural disaster events. The populations exposed to extreme weather events are first calculated based on observed disasters and demographic change between 2005 and 2010. This is compared to a hypothetical scenario with no migration between 2005 and 2010. The results presented in this research note demonstrate that while migration has slightly decreased overall exposure within Mexico, this influence is highly localized in select areas, with internal migration increasing exposure in key urban destinations. This highlights the need to better understand the interacting roles of household-scale migratory decision making and economic/urban growth policy in climate change mitigation, and provides guidance on geographic regions to target for more detailed analysis

Climate change as migration driver from rural and urban Mexico

Studies investigating migration as a response to climate variability have largely focused on rural locations to the exclusion of urban areas. This lack of urban focus is unfortunate given the sheer numbers of urban residents and continuing high levels of urbanization. To begin filling this empirical gap, this study investigates climate change impacts on U.S.-bound migration from rural and urban Mexico, 1986–1999. We employ geostatistical interpolation methods to construct two climate change indices, capturing warm and wet spell duration, based on daily temperature and precipitation readings for 214 weather stations across Mexico. In combination with detailed migration histories obtained from the Mexican Migration Project, we model the influence of climate change on household-level migration from 68 rural and 49 urban municipalities. Results from multilevel event-history models reveal that a temperature warming and excessive precipitation significantly increased international migration during the study period. However, climate change impacts on international migration is only observed for rural areas. Interactions reveal a causal pathway in which temperature (but not precipitation) influences migration patterns through employment in the agricultural sector. As such, climate-related international migration may decline with continued urbanization and the resulting reductions in direct dependence of households on rural agriculture

Characterization of traditional tabique constructions in Douro North Valley region

Generally, the traditional building techniques uses natural and local building materials such as stone, woodand earth and, are associated to building procedures that requires small amount of energy consumption and release an expressive noxious gases to atmosphere. The development of green building techniques that help the building industry contributing to a much more sustainable world may be inspired on these traditional building techniques as models. Each sector of societies including ourselves should pay a bill for environmental damaging. Each construction should have as associated environmental damaging cost and the selection process of a construction design solution should also be done in a sustainable bases in which the environmental parameters should be clearly identified and quantified. The tabique is one of the main Portuguese traditional building techniques, which is based on raw materials as earth and wood. In general, a tabique wall is formed by a simple timber structure covered by an earth based material. Earth has an important role in this system because it protects the internal timber structure as well as is a finishing. The Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro is the northeast region of Portugal and it is very rich in terms of tabique heritage construction. Meanwhile, the existing tabique constructions show a generalized advanced stage of deterioration. This aspect associated to the fact that there is still a lack of scientific studies done in this field motivated this research work, which its main objectives are to identify the building process of tabique elements and to identify/characterize the applied materials. It is intended to stimulate and to give guidance for future rehabilitation works in this field. Taking into account that this region has a large area, it was necessary to divide this work in six stages related to the six council associations, which are Alto Tâmega; Terra Quente Transmontana; Terra Fria do Nordeste Transmontano; Vale do Douro Norte; Vale do Douro Sul and Douro Superior. This work is focused on the council association of Vale do Douro Norte (Douro North Valley), and uses twelve constructions as study cases. This research work also intends to contribute for a better sustainable world by stimulating the applications of natural building materials and the reutilization of traditional building techniques which are environmental friendly

Response of the Gypsy Moth, Lymantria dispar to Transgenic Poplar, Populus simonii x P. nigra, Expressing Fusion Protein Gene of the Spider Insecticidal Peptide and Bt-toxin C-peptide

The response of the Asian gypsy moth Lymantria dispar (L.) (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) to a fusion gene consisting of the spider, Atrax robustus Simon (Araneae: Hexanthelidae) ω?-ACTX-Ar1 sequence coding for an ω?-atracotoxin and a sequence coding for the Bt-toxin C-peptide, expressed in transgenic poplar Populus simonii x P. nigra L. (Malphigiales: Salicaceae) was investigated. Individual performance, feeding selection, midgut proteinase activity and nutrition utilization were monitored. The growth and development of L. dispar were significantly affected by continually feeding on the transgenic poplar, with the larval instars displaying significantly shorter developmental times than those fed on nontransgenic poplar, but pupation was delayed. Mortality was higher in populations fed transgenic poplar leaves, than for larvae fed nontransgenic poplar leaves. The cumulative mortality during all stages of larvae fed transgenic leaves was 92% compared to 16.7% of larvae on nontransgenic leaves. The highest mortality observed was 71.7% in the last larval instar stage. A two-choice test showed that fifth-instar larvae preferred to feed on nontransgenic leaves at a ratio of 1:1.4. Feeding on transgenic leaves had highly significant negative effects on relative growth of larvae, and the efficiency of conversion of ingested and digested food. Activity of major midgut proteinases was measured using substrates TAME and BTEE showed significant increases in tryptase and chymotrypsinlike activity (9.2- and 9.0-fold, respectively) in fifth-instar larvae fed on transgenic leaves over control. These results suggest transgenic poplar is resistant to L. dispar, and the mature L. dispar may be weakened by the transgenic plants due to Bt protoxins activated by elevated major midgut proteinase activity. The new transgenic poplar expressing fusion protein genes of Bt and a new spider insecticidal peptide are good candidates for managing gypsy moth