Essays in Environmental Economics and Policy

This dissertation is concerned with the impacts of environmental stressors on people’s health and welfare. In particular, it focuses on air pollution and temperatures anomalies. Air pollution is considered the fifth leading mortality risk factor worldwide (Cohen et al., 2017). Despite impressive improvements in air quality over the last half-century, air pollution remains a global challenge, especially in rapidly urbanizing countries. On an even larger scale, anthropocentric emissions of greenhouse gases have been pushing a shift in the world’s climate that is projected to widen in the coming decades. The ability of economies to cope with changing temperatures is paramount to limiting the damages from climate change. The three chapters of this thesis should be read in the framework set by these challenges. In each chapter, a specific question is brought to the surface, and the road to address it is outlined. Chapter 1 investigates the negative effect of air pollution on physical ability. A large share of the world’s population is employed in manual labor. Yet, our understanding of the productivity cots of air pollution for physically intense work remains limited. The chapter identifies in track and field competitions a natural experiment where cognition plays a minor role. Combining half a million competition results with weather and air quality data, it estimates the change in physical performance induced by variations in air pollution. Chapter 2 considers the methodological tools available to estimate the causal change in air pollution concentrations following a reduction in emissions. It recognizes the challenges to identification posed by fluctuations and trends in atmospheric conditions and proposes a machine learning approach to address them. The chapter then applies this strategy to quantify the reduction in pollution and related health benefits induced by the COVID-19 lockdown of Lombardy, Italy, in spring 2020. This work is a joint effort with Lara Aleluia Reis (RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment), Valentina Bosetti (Bocconi University), and Massimo Tavoni (Politecnico di Milano). Chapter 3 is concerned with the persistence of the effects of temperature anomalies on economic growth. If an adverse temperature shock damages the determinants of economic growth, we can expect losses from climate change - a permanent shift in the mean temperature - to be cumulative over time and, therefore, very costly. Despite the primary importance of this question for modeling the climate-economy interactions, data constraints and data-hungry approaches have led to inconclusive answers. This chapter presents a new and more efficient method to test for the persistence of effects; using three different GDP datasets, evidence emerges that temperature effects are indeed persistent. This chapter has been the output of joint work with Bernardo A. Bastien-Olvera and Frances C. Moore of the University of California at Davis

Study of single muons with the Large Volume Detector at Gran Sasso Laboratory

The present study is based on the sample of about 3 mln single muons observed by LVD at underground Gran Sasso Laboratory during 36500 live hours from June 1992 to February 1998. We have measured the muon intensity at slant depths from 3 km w.e. to 20 km w.e. Most events are high energy downward muons produced by meson decay in the atmosphere. The analysis of these muons has revealed the power index of pion and kaon spectrum: 2.76 \pm 0.05. The reminders are horizontal muons produced by the neutrino interactions in the rock surrounding LVD. The value of this flux is obtained. The results are compared with Monte Carlo simulations and the world data.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in "Physics of Atomic Nuclei

Upper Limit on the Prompt Muon Flux Derived from the LVD Underground Experiment

We present the analysis of the muon events with all muon multiplicities collected during 21804 hours of operation of the first LVD tower. The measured depth-angular distribution of muon intensities has been used to obtain the normalization factor, A, the power index, gamma, of the primary all-nucleon spectrum and the ratio, R_c, of prompt muon flux to that of pi-mesons - the main parameters which determine the spectrum of cosmic ray muons at the sea level. The value of gamma = 2.77 +/- 0.05 (68% C.L.) and R_c < 2.0 x 10^-3 (95% C.L.) have been obtained. The upper limit to the prompt muon flux favours the models of charm production based on QGSM and the dual parton model.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, RevTex. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Definitive childlessness in women with multiple sclerosis: a multicenter study

The frequency of definitive childlessness in women with multiple sclerosis (MS) may be higher than in the general population. MS may also affect decisions on the delivery procedure and on breast-feeding issues. Aim of the study was to assess the frequency of childlessness and its possible causes, the proportion of cesarean deliveries (CD), and the frequency of breast-feeding in patients and controls who have reached the end of their reproductive period. Female MS patients (>43 years) and controls (>45 years) filled out a questionnaire. We enrolled 303 patients and 500 controls. MS was associated with a higher frequency of childlessness (22 vs 13%) and less patients were in a stable relationship (83 vs 89%). There was no difference in the reported rates of infertility and miscarriages, while elective abortions were more frequent in patients (20 vs 12%). MS did not significantly affect the frequency of CD or of breast-feeding. MS-related reasons for childlessness, reported by 16% of childless patients, included disability/fear of future disability, fear of genetically transmitting MS, fear of not starting/discontinuing treatments, and discouragement by physician. Definitive childlessness is more frequent in women with MS compared to controls. A portion of voluntary childlessness may be avoided through correct/tailored information to patients

A genome-wide linkage scan provides evidence for both new and previously reported loci influencing common migraine.

Latent class analysis was performed on migraine symptom data collected in a Dutch population sample (N = 12,210, 59% female) in order to obtain empirical groupings of individuals suffering from symptoms of migraine headache. Based on these heritable groupings (h(2) = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.41-0.57) individuals were classified as affected (migrainous headache) or unaffected. Genome-wide linkage analysis was performed using genotype data from 105 families with at least 2 affected siblings. In addition to this primary phenotype, linkage analyses were performed for the individual migraine symptoms. Significance levels, corrected for the analysis of multiple traits, were determined empirically via a novel simulation approach. Suggestive linkage for migrainous headache was found on chromosomes 1 (LOD = 1.63; pointwise P = 0.0031), 13 (LOD = 1.63; P = 0.0031), and 20 (LOD = 1.85; P = 0.0018). Interestingly, the chromosome 1 peak was located close to the ATP1A2 gene, associated with familial hemiplegic migraine type 2 (FHM2). Individual symptom analysis produced a LOD score of 1.97 (P = 0.0013) on chromosome 5 (photo/phonophobia), a LOD score of 2.13 (P = 0.0009) on chromosome 10 (moderate/severe pain intensity) and a near significant LOD score of 3.31 (P = 0.00005) on chromosome 13 (pulsating headache). These peaks were all located near regions previously reported in migraine linkage studies. Our results provide important replication and support for the presence of migraine susceptibility genes within these regions, and further support the utility of an LCA-based phenotyping approach and analysis of individual symptoms in migraine genetic research. Additionally, our novel "2-step" analysis and simulation approach provides a powerful means to investigate linkage to individual trait components

Muon `Depth -- Intensity' Relation Measured by LVD Underground Experiment and Cosmic-Ray Muon Spectrum at Sea Level

We present the analysis of the muon events with all muon multiplicities collected during 21804 hours of operation of the first LVD tower. The measured angular distribution of muon intensity has been converted to the `depth -- vertical intensity' relation in the depth range from 3 to 12 km w.e.. The analysis of this relation allowed to derive the power index, $\gamma$, of the primary all-nucleon spectrum: $\gamma=2.78 \pm 0.05$. The `depth -- vertical intensity' relation has been converted to standard rock and the comparison with the data of other experiments has been done. We present also the derived vertical muon spectrum at sea level.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, to be published on Phys. Rev.

Aplicación del análisis de ciclo de vida a eventos masivos : Festival Lollapalooza Chile

Las presiones ambientales resultantes de las actividades sociales y económicas generadas por el consumo de materiales y/o energía, así como de los productos derivados y emisiones provenientes del sistema productivo -cualquiera sea este derivan en la alteración del medio ambiente. A la hora de evaluar y disminuir la huella ecológica de sistemas complejos (multiproductos) el Análisis de Ciclo de Vida (ACV) es una herramienta metodológica que permite visualizar, modelar, comprender, medir y más adelante gestionar los impactos de un completo sistema de producción. Este seminario consiste en una aproximación ACV aplicado al caso de estudio Lollapalooza Chile (el festival de música más multitudinario que se ha realizado en el pais a la fecha) y pretende ser un aporte al desarrollo aplicado de esta metodología para organizaciones. Se realizó una aproximación ACV de carácter cualitativo que permitió identificar los insumos y las salidas del sistema, mostrando que los potenciales impactos ambientales son múltiples y diversos, siendo los más relevantes las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero (GEl) y material particulado (PM 2,5 y PM 10), residuos sólidos y líquidos, así como el consumo de recursos naturales. El sistema impacta mayormente en las categorías de Cambio Climático (CC) y Agotamiento de los Recursos Abióticos (ARA).La áreas responsables de estos potenciales impactos -en orden decreciente- son: producción general; dirección comercial; gerencia; booking; arte y diseño; medio ambiente; producción artística; administración y finanzas; y, prensa y marketing. Al involucrar a la organización en el análisis se obtuvieron conclusiones sobre las capacidades de la organización, así como de los desafíos y oportunidades que posee la productora para dar pasos en materia ambiental. Las posibilidades para mejorar en las deferentés fases y operaciones son múltiples y habitan en diversas dimensiones. Sin embargo, aún hace falta determinar indicadores ambientales más específicos y contundentes, así como fortalecer el trabajo y la comunicación intra e inter organizacional. Destaca sobre todo la necesidad d6 incorporar números (datos) que permitan medir los impactos y comparar el desempeño ambiental de la organización año tras año, en función de una mejora continua.The environmental pressures resulting from the social and economic activities generated by the consumption of materials and/or energy, as well as by-products and emissions from the production system -whatever this may be- lead to changes in the environment. When evaluating and reducing the ecological footprint of complex systems (multiproducts), Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is a methodological tool that allows visualizing, modeling, understanding, measuring and later managing the impacts of a complete production system. . This seminar consists of an LCA approach applied to the Lollapalooza Chile case study (the most massive music festival that has been held in the country to date) and aims to be a contribution to the applied development of this methodology for organizations. An LCA approach of a qualitative nature was carried out that allowed identifying the inputs and outputs of the system, showing that the potential environmental impacts are multiple and diverse, the most relevant being the emissions of greenhouse gases (Gel) and particulate matter (PM 2 .5 and PM 10), solid and liquid waste, as well as the consumption of natural resources. The system impacts mainly in the categories of Climate Change (CC) and Depletion of Abiotic Resources (ARA). The areas responsible for these potential impacts -in decreasing order- are: general production; Commercial address; management; booking; art and Design; environment; artistic production; administration and finance; and, press and marketing. By involving the organization in the analysis, conclusions were obtained about the organization's capabilities, as well as the challenges and opportunities that the producer has to take steps in environmental matters. The possibilities to improve in the different phases and operations are multiple and live in various dimensions. However, it is still necessary to determine more specific and forceful environmental indicators, as well as to strengthen intra- and inter-organizational work and communication. Above all, it highlights the need d6 to incorporate numbers (data) that allow the impact to be measured and the environmental performance of the organization to be compared year after year, based on continuous improvementVersión original del auto

UM MUNDO DE POSSIBILIDADES: A PENÍNSULA IBÉRICA NO SÉCULO XI

O presente artigo tem por objetivo esclarecer os elementos contextuais formadores de uma nova realidade religiosa, cultural, política, social e econômica em Al-Andaluz no século XI – período subsequente ao desmantelamento de um núcleo de poder centrado em Córdoba. O foco da análise será o reino taifa de Sevilha e as trajetórias de al-Mu’tamid – terceiro governante da dinastia abbadita – e o poeta Ibn Ammâr, problematizando, dessa forma, seus contextos micro-histórico, internamente ao reino, e macro, na Península Ibérica e no mundo muçulmano

Impacts of agriculture on PM10 pollution and human health in the Lombardy region in Italy

Air pollution is one of the main environmental health concerns globally, with particulate matter (PM) as the primary threat. While many policies address emissions from transport and industry, there is growing evidence of agriculture’s significant impact on air quality. Evaluating how intensive farming impacts PM concentrations and public health is necessary for informed policy interventions. We focus on the Po Valley (Italy), characterized by intensive agricultural practices and substantial pollution levels. Our study examines secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA) concentrations between 2013 and 2020 in Lombardy. Our findings reveal key insights into the impact of intensive farming on air pollution and public health. First, we find that ammonium salts make up over 30% of the daily particulate matter &lt;= 10 μm (PM10), with annual levels [11.6–11.8 μg/m3] reaching half of the European Union’s proposed limit (20 μg/m3). Second, exposure tends to peak in low-wind conditions. In Milan, ammonia predominantly flows from the east, aligning with heavy livestock activity, while nitrogen oxides’ (NOx) impacts seem more localized. Rural SIA peaks correlate with winds from NOx-rich areas. These outcomes imply that targeted, single-sector policies might fall short of significantly reducing PM10 concentrations. Additionally, manure spreading raises SIA levels by 2–3 μg/m3 in urban backgrounds the following days. Local sources also stand out in back-trajectory modeling of concentrations. Finally, applying long-term concentration-response functions to ammonium salts as a fraction of PM10, our study suggests that pollution stemming from agricultural activities in Milan leads to approximately 589 [446–866] deaths annually, resulting in an average loss of 6,951 [5,267–10,222] life years. This equates to 43 [33–64] deaths and 511 [387–751] lost life years for every 100,000 residents