Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

5-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Agricultural, Environmental, and Sustainability Sciences

First Advisor

Alexis Racelis

Second Advisor

Anna Erwin

Third Advisor

Juhee Lee

Abstract

Extreme weather events, including severe heat and cold waves —increasingly threaten public health, economic stability, and energy equity. This two-part study examines the interplay between extreme weather, energy poverty, and green infrastructure (tree canopy coverage) in Texas, a state characterized by climatic extremes and socioeconomic diversity.

This study consists of four chapters. The first chapter in the Introduction includes the research background, existing research, research gaps, research questions, and potential contributions. Followed by two core chapters. Chapter II aims to assess the impact of extreme weather on energy poverty at the household level. Chapter III aims to identify whether tree canopy coverage has a mitigation effect on extreme weather events, which are conducted on the county scale. The last chapter is the Conclusion, which contains the main findings, and emphasizes the significance of the study, and policy implications. The research samples are all collected from Texas.

To support this study, we conducted regression analyses to investigate the relationship between factors, including four characteristics of extreme weather events (frequency, duration, intensity, and season), energy poverty, and tree canopy coverage. Followed by the heterogenous analyses for social-economics, demographic, and geographic factors.

Our findings indicate that extreme weather significantly increases energy poverty through higher event frequency and longer duration, while greater intensity appears to reduce it. Season variation shows no notable effect. Moreover, households with higher social vulnerability and those in Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) regions face disproportionable challenges, with coastal areas experiencing the greatest burdens, particularly during extreme heat.

Additionally, the analyses from Chapter III show that tree canopy coverage significantly reduced the frequency, intensity, and season of extreme heat and cold waves. Notably, the mitigation effects are more pronounced in metropolitan counties and those with a higher elderly population for cold waves. In contrast, inland counties experience significant reductions in the season and duration of heat waves.

Comments

Copyright 2025 Yongwen Yang. https://proquest.com/docview/3240615884

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