Income, inequality, and criteria air pollutants in the CAMA counties

Socioeconomic factors have long been incorporated into environmental research to examine the effects of human dimensions on coastal natural resources. Boyce (1994) proposed that inequality is a cause of environmental degradation and the Environmental Kuznets Curve is a proposed relationship that income or GDP per capita is related with initial increases in pollution followed by subsequent decreases (Torras and Boyce, 1998). To further examine this relationship within the CAMA counties, the emission of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, as measured by the EPA in terms of tons emitted, the Gini Coefficient, and income per capita were examined for the year of 1999. A quadratic regression was utilized and the results did not indicate that inequality, as measured by the Gini Coefficient, was significantly related to the level of criteria air pollutants within each county. Additionally, the results did not indicate the existence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve. Further analysis of spatial autocorrelation using ArcMap 9.2, found a high level of spatial autocorrelation among pollution emissions indicating that relation to other counties may be more important to the level of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions than income per capita and inequality. Lastly, the paper concludes that further Environmental Kuznets Curve and income inequality analyses in regards to air pollutant levels incorporate spatial patterns as well as other explanatory variables. (PDF contains 4 pages

Summary Report: Hurricane Floyd Symposium

On the morning of Thursday, September 16, 1999, Hurricane Floyd made landfall at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. Rains associated with Hurricanes Dennis, Floyd, and Irene resulted in extensive flooding over a two-month period in eastern North Carolina, with most river basins exceeding the 500-year flood level. Flooding was worst along the Tar River, leaving the towns of Rocky Mount, Tarboro, Princeville, Greenville, and Washington devastated. In North Carolina, Floyd was directly responsible for 35 fatalities and several billions of dollars in property damages. This publication provides a summary of the presentations in the public forum and the research conference. The value of an endeavor like the symposium comes from how the information shapes the way we move forward. Therefore, this publication also serves as a benchmark so that we can measure our progress on hurricane risk mitigation

Summary Report: Hurricane Floyd Symposium

On the morning of Thursday September 16 1999 Hurricane Floyd made landfall at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. Rains associated with Hurricanes Dennis Floyd and Irene resulted in extensive flooding over a two-month period in eastern North Carolina with most river basins exceeding the 500-year flood level. Flooding was worst along the Tar River leaving the towns of Rocky Mount Tarboro Princeville Greenville and Washington devastated. In North Carolina Floyd was directly responsible for 35 fatalities and several billions of dollars in property damages. This publication provides a summary of the presentations in the public forum and the research conference. he value of an endeavor like the symposium comes from how the information shapes the way we move forward. Therefore this publication also serves as a benchmark so that we can measure our progress on hurricane risk mitigation