ORCID
0000-0003-3561-4945
Date of Award
2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Natural Resources
First Advisor
Gillian L. Galford
Abstract
With the onset of global climate change, the United States (US) has begun to experience rising temperatures and more frequent extreme weather events, including heat waves, drought, hurricanes, and wildfires. These types of events can have devastating effects on infrastructure, agriculture, and lives, but there has been limited research in a US context on how these climate impacts affect important relationships between humans and their environment, such as migration in response to environmental factors, and the adoption of more resilient farming practices. I addressed this gap through three dissertation chapters. First, I explored relationships between human migration across US counties and environmental factors such as the climate, landscape, and long-term frequencies of natural hazards (Chapter 2). I found that, controlling for socioeconomic and environmental factors, higher county-level frequencies of heat waves and hurricanes were associated with reduced migration, but those of wildfires and relatively hot summers were associated with increased migration. Next, I explored how these patterns of environmental migration relate to household income (Chapter 3). I found more overall migration among lower income households, but higher state-level net migration rates for higher-income households, suggesting the former may have more migration ‘churn’ while the latter appear to move in a more directed fashion towards desirable areas. I also found that county-level net migration rates of people, and associated net flows of household income, tended to be lower following destructive hurricanes. Finally, I investigated spatial and temporal patterns of US field crop diversity, an important factor in agricultural resilience (Chapter 4). I found that there are distinct regional differences in county-level field crop diversity, with the highest diversity levels in the northern Great Plains. I also found that county-level diversity has decreased slightly over the last 25 years, particularly in some of the least diverse regions. My research contributes new insights into current human-environment relationships, an important first step towards understanding how those relationships might be affected by ongoing climate change, and towards building a more resilient society.
Language
en
Number of Pages
194 p.
Recommended Citation
Clark, Mahalia Brodey, "Spatial Analysis Of Human-Environment Interactions In The Context Of Climate Change" (2025). Graduate College Dissertations and Theses. 1981.
https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/1981