Jen Burney

All Publications

• The Influence of Wildfire Smoke on Ambient PM2.5 Chemical Species Concentrations in the Contiguous US. Environmental science & technology Krasovich Southworth, E., Qiu, M., Gould, C. F., Kawano, A., Wen, J., Heft-Neal, S., Kilpatrick Voss, K., Lopez, A., Fendorf, S., Burney, J. A., Burke, M. 2025

  Abstract

  Wildfires significantly contribute to ambient air pollution, yet our understanding of how wildfire smoke influences specific chemicals and their resulting concentration in smoke remains incomplete. We combine 15 years of daily species-specific PM2.5 concentrations from 700 air pollution monitors with satellite-derived ambient wildfire smoke PM2.5, and use a panel regression to estimate wildfire smoke's contribution to the concentrations of 27 different chemical species in PM2.5. Wildfire smoke drives detectable increases in the concentration of 25 out of the 27 species with the largest increases observed for organic carbon, elemental carbon, and potassium. We find that smoke originating from wildfires that burned structures had higher concentrations of copper, lead, zinc, and nickel relative to smoke from fires that did not burn structures. Wildfire smoke is responsible for an increasing share of ambient concentrations of multiple species, some of which are particularly harmful to health. Using a risk assessment approach, we find that wildfire-induced enhancement of carcinogenic species concentrations could cause increases in population cancer risk, but these increases are very small relative to other environmental risks. We demonstrate how combining ground-monitored and satellite-derived data can be used to measure wildfire smoke's influence on chemical concentrations and estimate population exposures at large scales.

  View details for DOI 10.1021/acs.est.4c09011

  View details for PubMedID 39899563

• Estimating the impacts of climate change: reconciling disconnects between physical climate and statistical models CLIMATIC CHANGE Polonik, P., Ricke, K., Burney, J. 2025; 178 (2)

  View details for DOI 10.1007/s10584-025-03868-w

  View details for Web of Science ID 001422039200001

• Climate change exacerbates the environmental impacts of agriculture. Science (New York, N.Y.) Yang, Y., Tilman, D., Jin, Z., Smith, P., Barrett, C. B., Zhu, Y. G., Burney, J., D'Odorico, P., Fantke, P., Fargione, J., Finlay, J. C., Rulli, M. C., Sloat, L., Jan van Groenigen, K., West, P. C., Ziska, L., Michalak, A. M., Lobell, D. B., Clark, M., Colquhoun, J., Garg, T., Garrett, K. A., Geels, C., Hernandez, R. R., Herrero, M., Hutchison, W. D., Jain, M., Jungers, J. M., Liu, B., Mueller, N. D., Ortiz-Bobea, A., Schewe, J., Song, J., Verheyen, J., Vitousek, P., Wada, Y., Xia, L., Zhang, X., Zhuang, M. 2024; 385 (6713): eadn3747

  Abstract

  Agriculture's global environmental impacts are widely expected to continue expanding, driven by population and economic growth and dietary changes. This Review highlights climate change as an additional amplifier of agriculture's environmental impacts, by reducing agricultural productivity, reducing the efficacy of agrochemicals, increasing soil erosion, accelerating the growth and expanding the range of crop diseases and pests, and increasing land clearing. We identify multiple pathways through which climate change intensifies agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, creating a potentially powerful climate change-reinforcing feedback loop. The challenges raised by climate change underscore the urgent need to transition to sustainable, climate-resilient agricultural systems. This requires investments that both accelerate adoption of proven solutions that provide multiple benefits, and that discover and scale new beneficial processes and food products.

  View details for DOI 10.1126/science.adn3747

  View details for PubMedID 39236181

• Empirical modeling of agricultural climate risk PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Burney, J., Mcintosh, C., Lopez-Videla, B., Samphantharak, K., Maia, A. 2024; 121 (16): e2215677121

  Abstract

  Effective policies for adaptation to climate change require understanding how impacts are related to exposures and vulnerability, the dimensions of the climate system that will change most and where human impacts will be most draconian, and the institutions best suited to respond. Here, we propose a simple method for more credibly pairing empirical statistical damage estimates derived from recent weather and outcome observations with projected future climate changes and proposed responses. We first analyze agricultural production and loan repayment data from Brazil to understand vulnerability to historical variation in the more predictable components of temperature and rainfall (trend and seasonality) as well as to shocks (both local and over larger spatial scales). This decomposed weather variation over the past two decades explains over 50% of the yield variation in major Brazilian crops and, critically, can be constructed in the same way for future climate projections. Combining our estimates with bias-corrected downscaled climate simulations for Brazil, we find increased variation in yields and revenues (including more bad years and worse outcomes) and higher agricultural loan default at midcentury. Results in this context point to two particularly acute dimensions of vulnerability: Intensified seasonality and local idiosyncratic shocks both contribute to worsening outcomes, along with a reduced capacity for spatially correlated ("covariate") shocks to ameliorate these effects through prices. These findings suggest that resilience strategies should focus on institutions such as water storage, financial services, and reinsurance.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.2215677121

  View details for Web of Science ID 001208861000003

  View details for PubMedID 38588420

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC11032456

• Age-Dependent Variations in Kawasaki Disease Incidence in Japan JAMA NETWORK OPEN DeHaan, L. L., Copeland, C. D., Burney, J. A., Nakamura, Y., Yashiro, M., Shimizu, C., Miyata, K., Burns, J. C., Cayan, D. R. 2024; 7 (2): e2355001

  Abstract

  The etiology of Kawasaki disease (KD) remains elusive, with immunologic and epidemiologic data suggesting different triggers in individuals who are genetically susceptible. KD remains the most common cause of acquired heart disease in pediatric patients, and Japan is the country of highest incidence, with an increasing number of cases.To investigate whether an analysis of the epidemiologic KD record in Japan stratified by age and prefecture (subregion) may yield new clues regarding mechanisms of exposure to etiologic agents associated with KD.This cross-sectional study was conducted using a dataset of patients with KD with detailed information on location and age at onset created through nationwide surveys of hospitals caring for pediatric patients with KD throughout Japan. Pediatric patients hospitalized in Japan for KD from 1970 to 2020 were included. Data were analyzed from January 2022 to January 2024.Pediatric patients with KD.The KD dataset was analyzed by patient age (infants [aged <6 months], toddlers [aged 6 to <24 months], children aged 2 years [aged 24 to <36 months], and children and adolescents aged 3 years or older [aged ≥36 months]), with investigations of seasonal cycles, interannual variations, and correlations across regions.Among 422 528 pediatric patients (243 803 males [57.7%] and 178 732 females [42.3%]; median [IQR] age, 23.69 [11.96-42.65] months), infants, toddlers, and patients aged 3 years or older exhibited different rates of increase in KD incidence, seasonality, and degrees of coherence of seasonality across prefectures. Although the mean (SD) incidence of KD among infants remained relatively stable over the past 30 years compared with older patients (1.00 [0.07] in 1987-1992 to 2.05 [0.11] in 2011-2016), the mean (SD) incidence rate for children and adolescents aged 3 years or older increased 5.2-fold, from 1.00 (0.08) in 1987 to 1992 to 5.17 (0.46) in 2014 to 2019. Patients aged 3 years or older saw a reduction in mean (SD) incidence, from peaks of 5.71 (0.01) in October 2014 through June 2015 and July 2018 through March 2019 to 4.69 (0.11) in 2016 to 2017 (17.8% reduction) not seen in younger children. The seasonal cycle varied by age group; for example, mean (SD) incidence peaked in July and August (5.63 [0.07] cases/100 000 individuals) for infants and in December and January (4.67 [0.13] cases/100 000 individuals) for toddlers. Mean (SD) incidence changed dramatically for toddlers beginning in the early 2010s; for example, the normalized mean (SD) incidence among toddlers for October was 0.74 (0.03) in 1992 to 1995 and 1.10 (0.01) in 2016 to 2019. Across Japan, the seasonal cycle of KD incidence of older children and adolescents exhibited mean (SD) correlation coefficients between prefectures as high as 0.78 (0.14) for prefecture 14 among patients aged 3 years or older, while that of infants was much less (highest mean [SD] correlation coefficient, 0.43 [0.23]).This study found distinct temporal signatures and changing spatial consistency of KD incidence across age groups, suggesting different age-related mechanisms of exposure. Some results suggested that social factors may modulate exposure to etiologic agents of KD; however, the increase in KD incidence in older children coupled with the correlation across prefectures of KD incidence suggest that the intensity of an environmental exposure that triggers KD in this age group may have increased over time.

  View details for DOI 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.55001

  View details for Web of Science ID 001160780600007

  View details for PubMedID 38319657

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC10848069

• Air quality equity in US climate policy PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Polonik, P., Ricke, K., Reese, S., Burney, J. 2023; 120 (26): e2217124120

  Abstract

  The United States government has indicated a desire to advance environmental justice through climate policy. As fossil fuel combustion produces both conventional pollutants and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, climate mitigation strategies may provide an opportunity to address historical inequities in air pollution exposure. To test the impact of climate policy implementation choices on air quality equity, we develop a broad range of GHG reduction scenarios that are each consistent with the US Paris Accord target and model the resulting air pollution changes. Using idealized decision criteria, we show that least cost and income-based emission reductions can exacerbate air pollution disparities for communities of color. With a suite of randomized experiments that facilitates exploration of a wider climate policy decision space, we show that disparities largely persist despite declines in average pollution exposure, but that reducing transportation emissions has the most potential to reduce racial inequities.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.2217124120

  View details for Web of Science ID 001031821300006

  View details for PubMedID 37339204

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC10293853

• Warming reduces global agricultural production by decreasing cropping frequency and yields NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE Zhu, P., Burney, J., Chang, J., Jin, Z., Mueller, N. D., Xin, Q., Xu, J., Yu, L., Makowski, D., Ciais, P. 2022; 12 (11): 1016-+

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41558-022-01492-5

  View details for Web of Science ID 000865703700003

• Geographically resolved social cost of anthropogenic emissions accounting for both direct and climate-mediated effects. Science advances Burney, J., Persad, G., Proctor, J., Bendavid, E., Burke, M., Heft-Neal, S. 2022; 8 (38): eabn7307

  Abstract

  The magnitude and distribution of physical and societal impacts from long-lived greenhouse gases are insensitive to the emission source location; the same is not true for major coemitted short-lived pollutants such as aerosols. Here, we combine novel global climate model simulations with established response functions to show that a given aerosol emission from different regions produces divergent air quality and climate changes and associated human system impacts, both locally and globally. The marginal global damages to infant mortality, crop productivity, and economic growth from aerosol emissions and their climate effects differ by more than an order of magnitude depending on source region, with certain regions creating global external climate changes and impacts much larger than those felt locally. The complex distributions of aerosol-driven societal impacts emerge from geographically distinct and region-specific aerosol-climate interactions, estimation of which is enabled by the full Earth System Modeling Framework used here.

  View details for DOI 10.1126/sciadv.abn7307

  View details for PubMedID 36149961

• Daily Local-Level Estimates of Ambient Wildfire Smoke PM2.5 for the Contiguous US. Environmental science & technology Childs, M. L., Li, J., Wen, J., Heft-Neal, S., Driscoll, A., Wang, S., Gould, C. F., Qiu, M., Burney, J., Burke, M. 2022

  Abstract

  Smoke from wildfires is a growing health risk across the US. Understanding the spatial and temporal patterns of such exposure and its population health impacts requires separating smoke-driven pollutants from non-smoke pollutants and a long time series to quantify patterns and measure health impacts. We develop a parsimonious and accurate machine learning model of daily wildfire-driven PM2.5 concentrations using a combination of ground, satellite, and reanalysis data sources that are easy to update. We apply our model across the contiguous US from 2006 to 2020, generating daily estimates of smoke PM2.5 over a 10 km-by-10 km grid and use these data to characterize levels and trends in smoke PM2.5. Smoke contributions to daily PM2.5 concentrations have increased by up to 5 mug/m3 in the Western US over the last decade, reversing decades of policy-driven improvements in overall air quality, with concentrations growing fastest for higher income populations and predominantly Hispanic populations. The number of people in locations with at least 1 day of smoke PM2.5 above 100 mug/m3 per year has increased 27-fold over the last decade, including nearly 25 million people in 2020 alone. Our data set can bolster efforts to comprehensively understand the drivers and societal impacts of trends and extremes in wildfire smoke.

  View details for DOI 10.1021/acs.est.2c02934

  View details for PubMedID 36134580

• Exposures and behavioural responses to wildfire smoke. Nature human behaviour Burke, M., Heft-Neal, S., Li, J., Driscoll, A., Baylis, P., Stigler, M., Weill, J. A., Burney, J. A., Wen, J., Childs, M. L., Gould, C. F. 2022

  Abstract

  Pollution from wildfires constitutes a growing source of poor air quality globally. To protect health, governments largely rely on citizens to limit their own wildfire smoke exposures, but the effectiveness of this strategy is hard to observe. Using data from private pollution sensors, cell phones, social media posts and internet search activity, we find that during large wildfire smoke events, individuals in wealthy locations increasingly search for information about air quality and health protection, stay at home more and are unhappier. Residents of lower-income neighbourhoods exhibit similar patterns in searches for air quality information but not for health protection, spend less time at home and have more muted sentiment responses. During smoke events, indoor particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations often remain 3-4* above health-based guidelines and vary by 20* between neighbouring households. Our results suggest that policy reliance on self-protection to mitigate smoke health risks will have modest and unequal benefits.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41562-022-01396-6

  View details for PubMedID 35798884

• Epidemiological and Clinical Features of Kawasaki Disease During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United States JAMA NETWORK OPEN Burney, J. A., Roberts, S. C., DeHaan, L. L., Shimizu, C., Bainto, E., Newburger, J. W., Dominguez, S., Jone, P., Jaggi, P., Szmuszkovicz, J. R., Rowley, A. H., Samuy, N., Scalici, P., Tremoulet, A. H., Cayan, D. R., Burns, J. C., KIDCARE Study Investigators 2022; 5 (6): e2217436

  Abstract

  Public health measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic had widespread effects on population behaviors, transmission of infectious diseases, and exposures to environmental pollutants. This provided an opportunity to study how these factors potentially influenced the incidence of Kawasaki disease (KD), a self-limited pediatric vasculitis of unknown etiology.To examine the change in KD incidence across the United States and evaluate whether public health measures affected the prevalence of KD.This multicenter cohort study included consecutive, unselected patients with KD who were diagnosed between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2020 (multicenter cohort with 28 pediatric centers), and a detailed analysis of patients with KD who were diagnosed between January 1, 2002, and November 15, 2021 (Rady Children's Hospital San Diego [RCHSD]).For the multicenter cohort, the date of fever onset for each patient with KD was collected. For RCHSD, detailed demographic and clinical data as well as publicly available, anonymized mobile phone data and median household income by census block group were collected. The study hypothesis was that public health measures undertaken during the pandemic would reduce exposure to the airborne trigger(s) of KD and that communities with high shelter-in-place compliance would experience the greatest decrease in KD incidence.A total of 2461 KD cases were included in the multicenter study (2018: 894; 2019: 905; 2020: 646), and 1461 cases (median [IQR] age, 2.8 years [1.4-4.9 years]; 900 [61.6%] males; 220 [15.1%] Asian, 512 [35.0%] Hispanic, and 338 [23.1%] White children) from RCHSD between 2002 and 2021 were also included. The 28.2% decline in KD cases nationally during 2020 (646 cases) compared with 2018 (894 cases) and 2019 (905 cases) was uneven across the United States. For RCHSD, there was a disproportionate decline in KD cases in 2020 to 2021 compared with the mean (SD) number of cases in earlier years for children aged 1 to 5 years (22 vs 44.9 [9.9]; P = .02), male children (21 vs 47.6 [10.0]; P = .01), and Asian children (4 vs 11.8 [4.4]; P = .046). Mobility data did not suggest that shelter-in-place measures were associated with the number of KD cases. Clinical features including strawberry tongue, enlarged cervical lymph node, and subacute periungual desquamation were decreased during 2020 compared with the baseline period (strawberry tongue: 39% vs 63%; P = .04; enlarged lymph node: 21% vs 32%; P = .09; periungual desquamation: 47% vs 58%; P = .16). School closures, masking mandates, decreased ambient pollution, and decreased circulation of respiratory viruses all overlapped to different extents with the period of decreased KD cases. KD in San Diego rebounded in the spring of 2021, coincident with lifting of mask mandates.In this study of epidemiological and clinical features of KD during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, KD cases fell and remained low during the period of masking and school closure. Mobility data indicated that differential intensity of sheltering in place was not associated with KD incidence. These findings suggest that social behavior is associated with exposure to the agent(s) that trigger KD and are consistent with a respiratory portal of entry for the agent(s).

  View details for DOI 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.17436

  View details for Web of Science ID 000812387100002

  View details for PubMedID 35713905

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC9206189

• Globally ubiquitous negative effects of nitrogen dioxide on crop growth. Science advances Lobell, D. B., Di Tommaso, S., Burney, J. A. 2022; 8 (22): eabm9909

  Abstract

  Nitrogen oxides (NOx) are among the most widely emitted pollutants in the world, yet their impacts on agriculture remain poorly known. NOx can directly damage crop cells and indirectly affect growth by promoting ozone (O3) and aerosol formation. We use satellite measures of both crop greenness and NOx during 2018-2020 to evaluate crop impacts for five major agricultural regions. We find consistent negative associations between NO2 and greenness across regions and seasons. These effects are strongest in conditions where O3 formation is NOx limited but remain significant even in locations where this pathway is muted, suggesting a role for direct NOx damage. Using simple counterfactuals and leveraging published relationships between greenness and growth, we estimate that reducing NOx levels to the current fifth percentile in each region would raise yields by ~25% for winter crops in China, ~15% for summer crops in China, and up to 10% in other regions.

  View details for DOI 10.1126/sciadv.abm9909

  View details for PubMedID 35648854

• Land-use emissions embodied in international trade. Science (New York, N.Y.) Hong, C., Zhao, H., Qin, Y., Burney, J. A., Pongratz, J., Hartung, K., Liu, Y., Moore, F. C., Jackson, R. B., Zhang, Q., Davis, S. J. 2022; 376 (6593): 597-603

  Abstract

  International trade separates consumption of goods from related environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and land-use change (together referred to as "land-use emissions"). Through use of new emissions estimates and a multiregional input-output model, we evaluated land-use emissions embodied in global trade from 2004 to 2017. Annually, 27% of land-use emissions and 22% of agricultural land are related to agricultural products ultimately consumed in a different region from where they were produced. Roughly three-quarters of embodied emissions are from land-use change, with the largest transfers from lower-income countries such as Brazil, Indonesia, and Argentina to more industrialized regions such as Europe, the United States, and China. Mitigation of global land-use emissions and sustainable development may thus depend on improving the transparency of supply chains.

  View details for DOI 10.1126/science.abj1572

  View details for PubMedID 35511968

• Disparate air pollution reductions during California's COVID-19 economic shutdown NATURE SUSTAINABILITY Bluhm, R., Polonik, P., Hemes, K. S., Sanford, L. C., Benz, S. A., Levy, M. C., Ricke, K. L., Burney, J. A. 2022

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41893-022-00856-1

  View details for Web of Science ID 000779238700003

• Untangling irrigation effects on maize water and heat stress alleviation using satellite data HYDROLOGY AND EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCES Zhu, P., Burney, J. 2022; 26 (3): 827-840

  View details for DOI 10.5194/hess-26-827-2022

  View details for Web of Science ID 000759320000001

• Temporal clustering of Kawasaki disease cases around the world SCIENTIFIC REPORTS Burney, J. A., DeHaan, L. L., Shimizu, C., Bainto, E., Newburger, J. W., DeBiasi, R. L., Dominguez, S. R., Portman, M. A., Melish, M., Bratincsak, A., Fabi, M., Corinaldesi, E., Yu, J., Gee, P., Kitano, N., Tremoulet, A. H., Cayan, D. R., Burns, J. C., Kawasaki Dis Climate Study Grp 2021; 11 (1): 22584

  Abstract

  In a single-site study (San Diego, CA, USA), we previously showed that Kawasaki Disease (KD) cases cluster temporally in bursts of approximately 7 days. These clusters occurred more often than would be expected at random even after accounting for long-term trends and seasonality. This finding raised the question of whether other locations around the world experience similar temporal clusters of KD that might offer clues to disease etiology. Here we combine data from San Diego and nine additional sites around the world with hospitals that care for large numbers of KD patients, as well as two multi-hospital catchment regions. We found that across these sites, KD cases clustered at short time scales and there were anomalously long quiet periods with no cases. Both of these phenomena occurred more often than would be expected given local trends and seasonality. Additionally, we found unusually frequent temporal overlaps of KD clusters and quiet periods between pairs of sites. These findings suggest that regional and planetary range environmental influences create periods of higher or lower exposure to KD triggers that may offer clues to the etiology of KD.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41598-021-01961-5

  View details for Web of Science ID 000720679400072

  View details for PubMedID 34799633

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC8605018

• Cleaner air has contributed one-fifth of US maize and soybean yield gains since 1999 ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS Lobell, D. B., Burney, J. A. 2021; 16 (7)

  View details for DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/ac0fa4

  View details for Web of Science ID 000673370900001

• Widespread Race and Class Disparities in Surface Urban Heat Extremes Across the United States EARTHS FUTURE Benz, S., Burney, J. 2021; 9 (7)

  View details for DOI 10.1029/2021EF002016

  View details for Web of Science ID 000677819700007

• Drivers and projections of global surface temperature anomalies at the local scale ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS Benz, S. A., Davis, S. J., Burney, J. A. 2021; 16 (6)

  View details for DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/ac0661

  View details for Web of Science ID 000662882300001

• Improving production and quality of life for smallholder farmers through a climate resilience program: An experience in the Brazilian <i>SertAo</i> PLOS ONE Maia, A., Burney, J., Morales Martinez, J., Cesano, D. 2021; 16 (5): e0251531

  Abstract

  We use a combination of economic and wellbeing metrics to evaluate the impacts of a climate resilience program designed for family farmers in the semiarid region of Brazil. Most family farmers in the region are on the verge of income and food insufficiency, both of which are exacerbated in prolonged periods of droughts. The program assisted farmers in their milk and sheepmeat production, implementing a set of climate-smart production practices and locally-adapted technologies. We find that the program under evaluation had substantive and significant impacts on production practices, land management, and quality of life in general, using several different quasi-experimental strategies to estimate the average treatment effect on the treated farmers. We highlight the strengths and limitations of each evaluation strategy and how the set of analyses and outcome indicators complement each other. The evaluation provides valuable insights into the economic and environmental sustainability of family farming in semiarid regions, which are under growing pressure from climate change and environmental degradation worldwide.

  View details for DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0251531

  View details for Web of Science ID 000664632300026

  View details for PubMedID 34019563

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC8139507

• Paris Agreement's Ambiguity About Aerosols Drives Uncertain Health and Climate Outcomes EARTHS FUTURE Polonik, P., Ricke, K., Burney, J. 2021; 9 (5)

  View details for DOI 10.1029/2020EF001787

  View details for Web of Science ID 000656968900017

• Using Crowd-Sourced Data to Assess the Temporal and Spatial Relationship between Indoor and Outdoor Particulate Matter ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Krebs, B., Burney, J., Zivin, J., Neidell, M. 2021; 55 (9): 6107-6115

  Abstract

  Using hourly measures across a full year of crowd-sourced data from over 1000 indoor and outdoor pollution monitors in the state of California, we explore the temporal and spatial relationship between outdoor and indoor particulate matter (PM) concentrations for different particle sizes. The scale of this study offers new insight into both average penetration rates and drivers of heterogeneity in the outdoor-indoor relationship. We find that an increase in the daily outdoor PM concentration of 10% leads to an average increase of 4.2-6.1% in indoor concentrations. The penetration of outdoor particles to the indoor environment occurs rapidly and almost entirely within 5 h. We also provide evidence showing that penetration rates are associated with building age and climatic conditions in the vicinity of the monitor. Since people spend a substantial amount of each day indoors, our findings fill a critical knowledge gap and have significant implications for government policies to improve public health through reductions in exposure to ambient air pollution.

  View details for DOI 10.1021/acs.est.0c08469

  View details for Web of Science ID 000648515400050

  View details for PubMedID 33878861

• Climate resilience programmes and technical efficiency: evidence from the smallholder dairy farmers in the Brazilian semi-arid region CLIMATE AND DEVELOPMENT Gori Maia, A., Silveira, R., Veneo Campos Fonseca, C., Burney, J., Cesano, D. 2022; 14 (3): 197-207

  View details for DOI 10.1080/17565529.2021.1904812

  View details for Web of Science ID 000643794600001

• Characterization of Groundwater Recharge and Flow in California's San Joaquin Valley From InSAR-Observed Surface Deformation WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH Neely, W. R., Borsa, A. A., Burney, J. A., Levy, M. C., Silverii, F., Sneed, M. 2021; 57 (4): e2020WR028451

  Abstract

  Surface deformation in California's Central Valley (CV) has long been linked to changes in groundwater storage. Recent advances in remote sensing have enabled the mapping of CV deformation and associated changes in groundwater resources at increasingly higher spatiotemporal resolution. Here, we use interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) from the Sentinel-1 missions, augmented by continuous Global Positioning System (cGPS) positioning, to characterize the surface deformation of the San Joaquin Valley (SJV, southern two-thirds of the CV) for consecutive dry (2016) and wet (2017) water years. We separate trends and seasonal oscillations in deformation time series and interpret them in the context of surface and groundwater hydrology. We find that subsidence rates in 2016 (mean -42.0 mm/yr; peak -345 mm/yr) are twice that in 2017 (mean -20.4 mm/yr; peak -177 mm/yr), consistent with increased groundwater pumping in 2016 to offset the loss of surface-water deliveries. Locations of greatest subsidence migrated outwards from the valley axis in the wetter 2017 water year, possibly reflecting a surplus of surface-water supplies in the lowest portions of the SJV. Patterns in the amplitude of seasonal deformation and the timing of peak seasonal uplift reveal entry points and potential pathways for groundwater recharge into the SJV and subsequent groundwater flow within the aquifer. This study provides novel insight into the SJV aquifer system that can be used to constrain groundwater flow and subsidence models, which has relevance to groundwater management in the context of California's 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).

  View details for DOI 10.1029/2020WR028451

  View details for Web of Science ID 000644063800033

  View details for PubMedID 33867591

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC8047915

• The adaptive benefits of agricultural water markets in California ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS Arellano-Gonzalez, J., AghaKouchak, A., Levy, M. C., Qin, Y., Burney, J., Davis, S. J., Moore, F. C. 2021; 16 (4)

  View details for DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/abde5b

  View details for Web of Science ID 000632864300001

• Temporal Clusters of Kawasaki Disease Cases Share Distinct Phenotypes That Suggest Response to Diverse Triggers JOURNAL OF PEDIATRICS Burns, J. C., DeHaan, L. L., Shimizu, C., Bainto, E., Tremoulet, A. H., Cayan, D. R., Burney, J. A. 2021; 229: 48-+

  Abstract

  To test the hypothesis that cases of Kawasaki disease within a temporal cluster have a similar pattern of host response that is distinct from cases of Kawasaki disease in different observed clusters and randomly constructed clusters.We designed a case-control study to analyze 47 clusters derived from 1332 patients with Kawasaki disease over a 17-year period (2002-2019) from a single clinical site and compared the cluster characteristics with those of 2 control groups of synthetic Kawasaki disease clusters. We defined a "true" Kawasaki disease cluster as at least 5 patients within a 7-day moving window. The observed and synthetic Kawasaki disease clusters were compared with respect to demographic and clinical characteristics and median values for standard laboratory data using univariate analysis and a multivariate, rotated empirical orthogonal function analysis.In a univariate analysis, the median values for age, coronary artery z-score, white blood cell count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, and age-adjusted hemoglobin for several of the true Kawasaki disease clusters exceeded the 95th percentile for the 2 synthetic clusters. REOF analyses revealed distinct patterns of demographic and clinical measures within clusters.Cases of Kawasaki disease within a cluster were more similar with respect to demographic and clinical features and levels of inflammation than would be expected by chance. These observations suggest that different triggers and/or different intensities of exposures result in clusters of cases of Kawasaki disease that share a similar response pattern. Analyzing cases within clusters or cases who share demographic and clinical features may lead to new insights into the etiology of Kawasaki disease.

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jpeds.2020.09.043

  View details for Web of Science ID 000610242700013

  View details for PubMedID 32976897

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC7506475

• The changing risk and burden of wildfire in the United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Burke, M., Driscoll, A., Heft-Neal, S., Xue, J., Burney, J., Wara, M. 2021; 118 (2)

  Abstract

  Recent dramatic and deadly increases in global wildfire activity have increased attention on the causes of wildfires, their consequences, and how risk from wildfire might be mitigated. Here we bring together data on the changing risk and societal burden of wildfire in the United States. We estimate that nearly 50 million homes are currently in the wildland-urban interface in the United States, a number increasing by 1 million houses every 3 y. To illustrate how changes in wildfire activity might affect air pollution and related health outcomes, and how these linkages might guide future science and policy, we develop a statistical model that relates satellite-based fire and smoke data to information from pollution monitoring stations. Using the model, we estimate that wildfires have accounted for up to 25% of PM 2.5 (particulate matter with diameter <2.5 mum) in recent years across the United States, and up to half in some Western regions, with spatial patterns in ambient smoke exposure that do not follow traditional socioeconomic pollution exposure gradients. We combine the model with stylized scenarios to show that fuel management interventions could have large health benefits and that future health impacts from climate-change-induced wildfire smoke could approach projected overall increases in temperature-related mortality from climate change-but that both estimates remain uncertain. We use model results to highlight important areas for future research and to draw lessons for policy.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.2011048118

  View details for PubMedID 33431571

• Global and regional drivers of land-use emissions in 1961-2017. Nature Hong, C. n., Burney, J. A., Pongratz, J. n., Nabel, J. E., Mueller, N. D., Jackson, R. B., Davis, S. J. 2021; 589 (7843): 554–61

  Abstract

  Historically, human uses of land have transformed and fragmented ecosystems1,2, degraded biodiversity3,4, disrupted carbon and nitrogen cycles5,6 and added prodigious quantities of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the atmosphere7,8. However, in contrast to fossil-fuel carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, trends and drivers of GHG emissions from land management and land-use change (together referred to as 'land-use emissions') have not been as comprehensively and systematically assessed. Here we present country-, process-, GHG- and product-specific inventories of global land-use emissions from 1961 to 2017, we decompose key demographic, economic and technical drivers of emissions and we assess the uncertainties and the sensitivity of results to different accounting assumptions. Despite steady increases in population (+144 per cent) and agricultural production per capita (+58 per cent), as well as smaller increases in emissions per land area used (+8 per cent), decreases in land required per unit of agricultural production (-70 per cent) kept global annual land-use emissions relatively constant at about 11 gigatonnes CO2-equivalent until 2001. After 2001, driven by rising emissions per land area, emissions increased by 2.4 gigatonnes CO2-equivalent per decade to 14.6 gigatonnes CO2-equivalent in 2017 (about 25 per cent of total anthropogenic GHG emissions). Although emissions intensity decreased in all regions, large differences across regions persist over time. The three highest-emitting regions (Latin America, Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa) dominate global emissions growth from 1961 to 2017, driven by rapid and extensive growth of agricultural production and related land-use change. In addition, disproportionate emissions are related to certain products: beef and a few other red meats supply only 1 per cent of calories worldwide, but account for 25 per cent of all land-use emissions. Even where land-use change emissions are negligible or negative, total per capita CO2-equivalent land-use emissions remain near 0.5 tonnes per capita, suggesting the current frontier of mitigation efforts. Our results are consistent with existing knowledge-for example, on the role of population and economic growth and dietary choice-but provide additional insight into regional and sectoral trends.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41586-020-03138-y

  View details for PubMedID 33505037

• Temperature-driven harvest decisions amplify US winter wheat loss under climate warming GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY Zhu, P., Burney, J. 2021; 27 (3): 550-562

  Abstract

  Most studies quantifying the impacts of climatic variability and warming on crop production have focused on yields and have overlooked potential areal and frequency responses, potentially biasing future projections of food security in a warming world. Here we analyze US winter wheat production from 1970 to 2017 and find that harvest area ratio (harvested area/planted area, HAR) has declined while yields have risen, standing in stark contrast to other US staple crops. Although lower profitability due to declining wheat prices appears to explain the HAR trend, fluctuating wheat yields-largely explained by temperature exposure-drive the interannual variation of HAR. Our analysis suggests that warming-induced declines in HAR are comparable in magnitude to heat-related yield losses, and lower wheat prices amplify the sensitivity of HAR to warming and yield variation. Although irrigation mitigates some temperature-driven yield effects, it does little to change HAR, likely due to infrastructure cost and limited influence on relative profitability. Our results suggest that an accurate quantification of climate impacts on crop production must account for harvested area response, and that future adaptation strategies should not only target crop choice and management but also harvest incentives.

  View details for DOI 10.1111/gcb.15427

  View details for Web of Science ID 000590600100001

  View details for PubMedID 33145917

• Fine-scale spatiotemporal variation in subsidence across California's San Joaquin Valley explained by groundwater demand ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS Levy, M. C., Neely, W. R., Borsa, A. A., Burney, J. A. 2020; 15 (10)

  View details for DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/abb55c

  View details for Web of Science ID 000576072600001

• The COVID-19 lockdowns: a window into the Earth System NATURE REVIEWS EARTH & ENVIRONMENT Diffenbaugh, N. S., Field, C. B., Appel, E. A., Azevedo, I. L., Baldocchi, D. D., Burke, M., Burney, J. A., Ciais, P., Davis, S. J., Fiore, A. M., Fletcher, S. M., Hertel, T. W., Horton, D. E., Hsiang, S. M., Jackson, R. B., Jin, X., Levi, M., Lobell, D. B., McKinley, G. A., Moore, F. C., Montgomery, A., Nadeau, K. C., Pataki, D. E., Randerson, J. T., Reichstein, M., Schnell, J. L., Seneviratne, S., Singh, D., Steiner, A. L., Wong-Parodi, G. 2020; 1 (9): 470-481

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s43017-020-0079-1

  View details for Web of Science ID 000649448400008

• Dust pollution from the Sahara and African infant mortality NATURE SUSTAINABILITY Heft-Neal, S., Burney, J., Bendavid, E., Voss, K. K., Burke, M. 2020

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41893-020-0562-1

  View details for Web of Science ID 000544156000008

• The downstream air pollution impacts of the transition from coal to natural gas in the United States (vol 3, pg 152, 2020) NATURE SUSTAINABILITY Burney, J. A. 2020; 3 (6): 481-490

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41893-020-0548-z

  View details for Web of Science ID 000537034200004

• The downstream air pollution impacts of the transition from coal to natural gas in the United States NATURE SUSTAINABILITY Burney, J. A. 2020; 3 (2): 152-+

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41893-019-0453-5

  View details for Web of Science ID 000507792200003

• The impact of a Solar Market Garden programme on dietary diversity, women's nutritional status and micronutrient levels in Kalale district of northern Benin PUBLIC HEALTH NUTRITION Alaofe, H., Burney, J., Naylor, R., Taren, D. 2019; 22 (14): 2670–81

  Abstract

  To examine the impacts of a Solar Market Garden 1-year solar-powered drip irrigation (SMG) programme in Kalalé district of northern Benin on mothers' nutritional status and micronutrient levels.Using a quasi-experimental design, sixteen villages were assigned to four groups: (i) SMG women's groups (WG); (ii) comparison WG; (iii) SMG non-WG (NWG); and (iv) comparison NWG. Difference-in-differences (DID) estimates were used to assess impacts on mothers' food consumption, diversity, BMI, prevalence of underweight (BMI < 18·5 kg/m2) and anaemia, and deficiencies of iron (ID) and vitamin A (VAD).Kalalé district, northern Benin.Non-pregnant mothers aged 15-49 years (n 1737).The SMG programme significantly increased mothers' intake of vegetables (DID = 25·31 percentage points (pp); P < 0·01), dietary diversity (DID = 0·74; P < 0·01) and marginally increased their intake of flesh foods (DID = 10·14 pp; P < 0·1). Mean BMI was significantly increased among SMG WG compared with the other three groups (DID = 0·44 kg/m2; P < 0·05). The SMG programme also significantly decreased the prevalence of anaemia (DID = 12·86 pp; P < 0·01) but no impacts were found for the prevalence of underweight, ID and VAD.Improving mothers' dietary intake and anaemia prevalence supports the need to integrate gender-based agriculture to improve nutritional status. However, it may take more than a year, and additional nutrition and health programmes, to impact the prevalence of maternal underweight, ID and VAD.

  View details for DOI 10.1017/S1368980019001599

  View details for Web of Science ID 000483702200017

  View details for PubMedID 31280754

• Techno-ecological synergies of solar energy for global sustainability NATURE SUSTAINABILITY Hernandez, R. R., Armstrong, A., Burney, J., Ryan, G., Moore-O'Leary, K., Diedhiou, I., Grodsky, S. M., Saul-Gershenz, L., Davis, R., Macknick, J., Mulvaney, D., Heath, G. A., Easter, S. B., Hoffacker, M. K., Allen, M. F., Kammen, D. M. 2019; 2 (7): 560-568

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41893-019-0309-z

  View details for Web of Science ID 000474685000013

• Clustering and climate associations of Kawasaki Disease in San Diego County suggest environmental triggers SCIENTIFIC REPORTS Rypdal, M., Rypdal, V., Burney, J. A., Cayan, D., Bainto, E., Skochko, S., Tremoulet, A. H., Creamean, J., Shimizu, C., Kim, J., Burns, J. C. 2018; 8: 16140

  Abstract

  Kawasaki Disease (KD) is the most common cause of pediatric acquired heart disease, but its etiology remains unknown. We examined 1164 cases of KD treated at a regional children's hospital in San Diego over a period of 15 years and uncovered novel structure to disease incidence. KD cases showed a well-defined seasonal variability, but also clustered temporally at much shorter time scales (days to weeks), and spatiotemporally on time scales of up to 10 days and spatial scales of 10-100 km. Temporal clusters of KD cases were associated with strongly significant regional-scale air temperature anomalies and consistent larger-scale atmospheric circulation patterns. Gene expression analysis further revealed a natural partitioning of KD patients into distinct groups based on their gene expression pattern, and that the different groups were associated with certain clinical characteristics that also exhibit temporal autocorrelation. Our data suggest that one or more environmental triggers exist, and that episodic exposures are modulated at least in part by regional weather conditions. We propose that characterization of the environmental factors that trigger KD in genetically susceptible children should focus on aerosols inhaled by patients who share common disease characteristics.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41598-018-33124-4

  View details for Web of Science ID 000449767300001

  View details for PubMedID 30420674

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC6232126

• Estimating global agricultural effects of geoengineering using volcanic eruptions. Nature Proctor, J., Hsiang, S., Burney, J., Burke, M., Schlenker, W. 2018

  Abstract

  Solar radiation management is increasingly considered to be an option for managing global temperatures1,2, yet the economic effects of ameliorating climatic changes by scattering sunlight back to space remain largely unknown3. Although solar radiation management may increase crop yields by reducing heat stress4, the effects of concomitant changes in available sunlight have never been empirically estimated. Here we use the volcanic eruptions that inspired modern solar radiation management proposals as natural experiments to provide the first estimates, to our knowledge, of how the stratospheric sulfate aerosols created by the eruptions of El Chichon and Mount Pinatubo altered the quantity and quality of global sunlight, and how these changes in sunlight affected global crop yields. We find that the sunlight-mediated effect of stratospheric sulfate aerosols on yields is negative for both C4 (maize) and C3 (soy, rice and wheat) crops. Applying our yield model to a solar radiation management scenario based on stratospheric sulfate aerosols, we find that projected mid-twenty-first century damages due to scattering sunlight caused by solar radiation management are roughly equal in magnitude to benefits from cooling. This suggests that solar radiation management-if deployed using stratospheric sulfate aerosols similar to those emitted by the volcanic eruptions it seeks to mimic-would, on net, attenuate little of the global agricultural damage from climate change. Our approach could be extended to study the effects of solar radiation management on other global systems, such as human health or ecosystem function.

  View details for PubMedID 30089909

• Robust relationship between air quality and infant mortality in Africa. Nature Heft-Neal, S., Burney, J., Bendavid, E., Burke, M. 2018

  Abstract

  Poor air quality is thought to be an important mortality risk factor globally1-3, but there is little direct evidence from the developing world on how mortality risk varies with changing exposure to ambient particulate matter. Current global estimates apply exposure-response relationships that have been derived mostly from wealthy, mid-latitude countries to spatial population data 4 , and these estimates remain unvalidated across large portions of the globe. Here we combine household survey-based information on the location and timing of nearly 1million births across sub-Saharan Africa with satellite-based estimates 5 of exposure to ambient respirable particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5mum (PM2.5) to estimate the impact of air quality on mortality rates among infants in Africa. We find that a 10mugm-3 increase in PM2.5 concentration is associated with a 9% (95% confidence interval, 4-14%) rise in infant mortality across the dataset. This effect has not declined over the last 15 years and does not diminish with higher levels of household wealth. Our estimates suggest that PM2.5 concentrations above minimum exposure levels were responsible for 22% (95% confidence interval, 9-35%) of infant deaths in our 30 study countries and led to 449,000 (95% confidence interval, 194,000-709,000) additional deaths of infants in 2015, an estimate that is more than three times higher than existing estimates that attribute death of infants to poor air quality for these countries2,6. Upward revision of disease-burden estimates in the studied countries in Africa alone would result in a doubling of current estimates of global deaths of infants that are associated with air pollution, and modest reductions in African PM2.5 exposures are predicted to have health benefits to infants that are larger than most known health interventions.

  View details for PubMedID 29950722

• Pilot of a mobile money school fee payment system in rural Benin PLOS ONE Adida, C. L., Bouko, A., Verink, A., Chockalingam, G., Burney, J. 2018; 13 (6): e0198240

  Abstract

  We present a rationale for, and results from, the pilot of a direct individual-to-institution remittance system in the context of school fee payment in rural Benin. Data confirm that school fees act as an impediment to educational attainment, and in very rural poor settings such as northern Benin, students often depend on extended family and kinship networks to pay fees. But existing remittance options are costly, in terms of fees, time, and risk. We pilot a new technology bundle in a single public high school in northeastern Benin, and evaluate its effectiveness. Here we describe the technical and institutional implementation of the project, as well as our findings from the first year of operation. We discuss takeaways and implications for scale-up.

  View details for DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0198240

  View details for Web of Science ID 000434786600019

  View details for PubMedID 29889839

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC5995370

• Cognition impact of sand and dust storms highlights future research needs? LANCET PLANETARY HEALTH Bharadwaj, P., Burney, J. 2018; 2 (5): E196-E197

  View details for DOI 10.1016/S2542-5196(18)30071-8

  View details for Web of Science ID 000525869900007

  View details for PubMedID 29709280

• High Spatial Resolution Visual Band Imagery Outperforms Medium Resolution Spectral Imagery for Ecosystem Assessment in the Semi-Arid Brazilian Sertao REMOTE SENSING Goldblatt, R., Ballesteros, A., Burney, J. 2017; 9 (12)

  View details for DOI 10.3390/rs9121336

  View details for Web of Science ID 000419235700130

• Impact of a rural solar electrification project on the level and structure of women's empowerment ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS Burney, J., Alaofe, H., Naylor, R., Taren, D. 2017; 12 (9)

  View details for DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/aa7f38

  View details for Web of Science ID 000410459000002

• Prevalence of anaemia, deficiencies of iron and vitamin A and their determinants in rural women and young children: a cross-sectional study in Kalale district of northern Benin PUBLIC HEALTH NUTRITION Alaofe, H., Burney, J., Naylor, R., Taren, D. 2017; 20 (7): 1203–13

  Abstract

  To identify the magnitude of anaemia and deficiencies of Fe (ID) and vitamin A (VAD) and their associated factors among rural women and children.Cross-sectional, comprising a household, health and nutrition survey and determination of Hb, biochemical (serum concentrations of ferritin, retinol, C-reactive protein and α1-acid glycoprotein) and anthropometric parameters. Multivariate logistic regression examined associations of various factors with anaemia and micronutrient deficiencies.Kalalé district, northern Benin.Mother-child pairs (n 767): non-pregnant women of reproductive age (15-49 years) and children 6-59 months old.In women, the overall prevalence of anaemia, ID, Fe-deficiency anaemia (IDA) and VAD was 47·7, 18·3, 11·3 and 17·7 %, respectively. A similar pattern for anaemia (82·4 %), ID (23·6 %) and IDA (21·2 %) was observed among children, while VAD was greater at 33·6 %. Greater risk of anaemia, ID and VAD was found for low maternal education, maternal farming activity, maternal health status, low food diversity, lack of fruits and vegetables consumption, low protein foods consumption, high infection, anthropometric deficits, large family size, poor sanitary conditions and low socio-economic status. Strong differences were also observed by ethnicity, women's group participation and source of information. Finally, age had a significant effect in children, with those aged 6-23 months having the highest risk for anaemia and those aged 12-23 months at risk for ID and IDA.Anaemia, ID and VAD were high among rural women and their children in northern Benin, although ID accounted for a small proportion of anaemia. Multicentre studies in various parts of the country are needed to substantiate the present results, so that appropriate and beneficial strategies for micronutrient supplementation and interventions to improve food diversity and quality can be planned.

  View details for DOI 10.1017/S1368980016003608

  View details for Web of Science ID 000400596400007

  View details for PubMedID 28120735

• Ecosystem Services Mapping for Sustainable Agricultural Water Management in California's Central Valley ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Mafios, E., Burney, J. 2017; 51 (5): 2593-2601

  Abstract

  Accurate information on agricultural water needs and withdrawals at appropriate spatial and temporal scales remains a key limitation to joint water and land management decision-making. We use InVEST ecosystem service mapping to estimate water yield and water consumption as functions of land use in Fresno County, a key farming region in California's Central Valley. Our calculations show that in recent years (2010-2015), the total annual water yield for the county has varied dramatically from ∼0.97 to 5.37 km3 (all ±17%; 1 MAF ≈ 1.233 km3), while total annual water consumption has changed over a smaller range, from ∼3.37 to ∼3.98 km3 (±20%). Almost all of the county's water consumption (∼96% of total use) takes place in Fresno's croplands, with discrepancy between local annual surface water yields and crop needs met by surface water allocations from outside the county and, to a much greater extent, private groundwater irrigation. Our estimates thus bound the amount of groundwater needed to supplement consumption each year (∼1.76 km3 on average). These results, combined with trends away from field crops and toward orchards and vineyards, suggest that Fresno's land and water management have become increasingly disconnected in recent years, with the harvested area being less available as an adaptive margin to hydrological stress.

  View details for DOI 10.1021/acs.est.6b05426

  View details for Web of Science ID 000395963800014

  View details for PubMedID 28196322

• Association Between Women's Empowerment and Maternal and Child Nutrition in Kalalé District of Northern Benin. Food and nutrition bulletin Alaofè, H. n., Zhu, M. n., Burney, J. n., Naylor, R. n., Douglas, T. n. 2017; 38 (3): 302–18

  Abstract

  Evidence on effectiveness of women's empowerment (WE) to reduce undernutrition is limited in sub-Sahara Africa, and few studies incorporate multidimensional measures of WE.To examine whether a WE status, in sum and across leadership, decision-making, mobility, economic security, male involvement in housework, and nonfamily group domains, is associated with women and their children nutritional status in Kalalé district of northern Benin.Data were obtained from the 2014 Solar Market Garden baseline study: 767 paired reproductive-age women aged 15 to 49 years and children 6 to 59 months old. Exploratory principal component (cross-validate with confirmatory) factor analysis was first conducted to identify the structure of empowerment. Then, using a new survey-based index, regression analysis was conducted to examine associations between WE measures and maternal dietary diversity score (DDS) and body mass index (BMI), as well as their child's DDS, height-for-age z score (HAZ), weight-for-height z score (WHZ), and weight-for-age z score (WAZ).Positive associations were observed between women's composite empowerment, leadership, maternal DDS and BMI, and female child's DDS. However, opposite signs were found between economic security and child's DDS. Mobility was positively associated with female children's WHZ and male children's HAZ and WAZ, while decision-making was correlated with male child's WHZ and female children's WAZ.Women's empowerment can be associated with undernutrition. Efforts to improve nutrition may benefit from empowerment initiatives that promote women's self-confidence and decision-making in Benin. However, additional qualitative and longitudinal research may enhance understanding of WE in the present area.

  View details for PubMedID 28443373

• Solar-Powered Drip Irrigation Impacts on Crops Production Diversity and Dietary Diversity in Northern Benin FOOD AND NUTRITION BULLETIN Alaofe, H., Burney, J., Naylor, R., Taren, D. 2016; 37 (2): 164–75

  Abstract

  Meeting the food needs of Africa's growing population will require innovative and appropriate technologies whose effectiveness needs to be assessed.To evaluate the impact of Solar Market Gardens (SMGs) on crops production diversity and dietary diversity in the Kalalé district of Northern Benin.In 2007, SMGs were installed in 2 villages for women's agricultural groups as a strategy for enhancing food and nutrition security. Data were collected through interviews at installation and 1 year later from all women's group households (30-35 women/group) and from a random representative sample of 30 households in each village, for both treatment and matched-pair comparison villages.Comparison of baseline and endline data indicated increases in the variety of fruits and vegetables produced and consumed by SMG women's groups compared to other groups. The proportion of SMG women's group households engaged in vegetable and fruit production significantly increased by 26% and 55%, respectively (P < .05). After controlling for baseline values, SMG women's groups were 3 times more likely to increase their fruit and vegetable consumption compared with comparison non-women's groups (P < .05). In addition, the percentage change in corn, sorghum, beans, oil, rice and fish purchased was significantly greater in the SMG women's groups compared to other groups. At endline, 57% of the women used their additional income on food, 54% on health care, and 25% on education.Solar Market Gardens have the potential to improve household nutritional status through direct consumption and increased income to make economic decisions.

  View details for DOI 10.1177/0379572116639710

  View details for Web of Science ID 000376667800005

  View details for PubMedID 27009089

• The potential for land sparing to offset greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE Lamb, A., Green, R., Bateman, I., Broadmeadow, M., Bruce, T., Burney, J., Carey, P., Chadwick, D., Crane, E., Field, R., Goulding, K., Griffiths, H., Hastings, A., Kasoar, T., Kindred, D., Phalan, B., Pickett, J., Smith, P., Wall, E., Ermgassen, E., Balmford, A. 2016; 6 (5): 488-492

  View details for DOI 10.1038/NCLIMATE2910

  View details for Web of Science ID 000375125200016

• Cookstoves illustrate the need for a comprehensive carbon market ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS Sanford, L., Burney, J. 2015; 10 (8)

  View details for DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/10/8/084026

  View details for Web of Science ID 000366999400027

• Recent climate and air pollution impacts on Indian agriculture PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Burney, J., Ramanathan, V. 2014; 111 (46): 16319-16324

  Abstract

  Recent research on the agricultural impacts of climate change has primarily focused on the roles of temperature and precipitation. These studies show that India has already been negatively affected by recent climate trends. However, anthropogenic climate changes are a result of both global emissions of long-lived greenhouse gases (LLGHGs) and other short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs). Two potent SLCPs, tropospheric ozone and black carbon, have direct effects on crop yields beyond their indirect effects through climate; emissions of black carbon and ozone precursors have risen dramatically in India over the past three decades. Here, to our knowledge for the first time, we present results of the combined effects of climate change and the direct effects of SLCPs on wheat and rice yields in India from 1980 to 2010. Our statistical model suggests that, averaged over India, yields in 2010 were up to 36% lower for wheat than they otherwise would have been, absent climate and pollutant emissions trends, with some densely populated states experiencing 50% relative yield losses. [Our point estimates for rice (-20%) are similarly large, but not statistically significant.] Upper-bound estimates suggest that an overwhelming fraction (90%) of these losses is due to the direct effects of SLCPs. Gains from addressing regional air pollution could thus counter expected future yield losses resulting from direct climate change effects of LLGHGs.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.1317275111

  View details for Web of Science ID 000345153300037

  View details for PubMedID 25368149

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC4246269

• Climate change adaptation strategies for smallholder farmers in the Brazilian Sertao CLIMATIC CHANGE Burney, J., Cesano, D., Russell, J., La Rovere, E., Corral, T., Coelho, N., Santos, L. 2014; 126 (1-2): 45-59

  View details for DOI 10.1007/s10584-014-1186-0

  View details for Web of Science ID 000342427700005

• Methods for attributing land-use emissions to products CARBON MANAGEMENT Davis, S. J., Burney, J. A., Pongratz, J., Caldeira, K. 2014; 5 (2): 233-245

  View details for DOI 10.1080/17583004.2014.913867

  View details for Web of Science ID 000341349300014

• Getting serious about the new realities of global climate change BULLETIN OF THE ATOMIC SCIENTISTS Burney, J. A., Kennel, C. F., Victor, D. G. 2013; 69 (4): 49-57

  View details for DOI 10.1177/0096340213493882

  View details for Web of Science ID 000330524500006

• The case for distributed irrigation as a development priority in sub-Saharan Africa Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Burney, J. a., Naylo, R. L., Postel, S. L. 2013; 110 (31): 12513-12517

  Abstract

  Distributed irrigation systems are those in which the water access (via pump or human power), distribution (via furrow, watering can, sprinkler, drip lines, etc.), and use all occur at or near the same location. Distributed systems are typically privately owned and managed by individuals or groups, in contrast to centralized irrigation systems, which tend to be publicly operated and involve large water extractions and distribution over significant distances for use by scores of farmers. Here we draw on a growing body of evidence on smallholder farmers, distributed irrigation systems, and land and water resource availability across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to show how investments in distributed smallholder irrigation technologies might be used to (i) use the water sources of SSA more productively, (ii) improve nutritional outcomes and rural development throughout SSA, and (iii) narrow the income disparities that permit widespread hunger to persist despite aggregate economic advancement.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.1203597110

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC3732976

• Real-Time Assessment of Black Carbon Pollution in Indian Households Due to Traditional and Improved Biomass Cookstoves ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY Kar, A., Rehman, I. H., Burney, J., Puppala, S., Suresh, R., Singh, L., Singh, V. K., Ahmed, T., Ramanathan, N., Ramanathan, V. 2012; 46 (5): 2993-3000

  Abstract

  Use of improved (biomass) cookstoves (ICs) has been widely proposed as a Black Carbon (BC) mitigation measure with significant climate and health benefits. ICs encompass a range of technologies, including natural draft (ND) stoves, which feature structural modifications to enhance air flow, and forced draft (FD) stoves, which additionally employ an external fan to force air into the combustion chamber. We present here, under Project Surya, the first real-time in situ Black Carbon (BC) concentration measurements from five commercial ICs and a traditional (mud) cookstove for comparison. These experiments reveal four significant findings about the tested stoves. First, FD stoves emerge as the superior IC technology, reducing plume zone BC concentration by a factor of 4 (compared to 1.5 for ND). Indoor cooking-time BC concentrations, which varied from 50 to 1000 μg m(-3) for the traditional mud cookstove, were reduced to 5-100 μg m(-3) by the top-performing FD stove. Second, BC reductions from IC models in the same technology category vary significantly: for example, some ND models occasionally emit more BC than a traditional cookstove. Within the ND class, only microgasification stoves were effective in reducing BC. Third, BC concentration varies significantly for repeated cooking cycles with same stove (standard deviation up to 50% of mean concentration) even in a standardized setup, highlighting inherent uncertainties in cookstove performance. Fourth, use of mixed fuel (reflective of local practices) increases plume zone BC concentration (compared to hardwood) by a factor of 2 to 3 across ICs.

  View details for DOI 10.1021/es203388g

  View details for Web of Science ID 000301023700067

  View details for PubMedID 22369148

• Smallholder Irrigation as a Poverty Alleviation Tool in Sub-Saharan Africa WORLD DEVELOPMENT Burney, J. A., Naylor, R. L. 2012; 40 (1): 110-123

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.worlddev.2011.05.007

  View details for Web of Science ID 000298274700009

• Greenhouse gas mitigation by agricultural intensification PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Burney, J. A., Davis, S. J., Lobell, D. B. 2010; 107 (26): 12052-12057

  Abstract

  As efforts to mitigate climate change increase, there is a need to identify cost-effective ways to avoid emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Agriculture is rightly recognized as a source of considerable emissions, with concomitant opportunities for mitigation. Although future agricultural productivity is critical, as it will shape emissions from conversion of native landscapes to food and biofuel crops, investment in agricultural research is rarely mentioned as a mitigation strategy. Here we estimate the net effect on GHG emissions of historical agricultural intensification between 1961 and 2005. We find that while emissions from factors such as fertilizer production and application have increased, the net effect of higher yields has avoided emissions of up to 161 gigatons of carbon (GtC) (590 GtCO(2)e) since 1961. We estimate that each dollar invested in agricultural yields has resulted in 68 fewer kgC (249 kgCO(2)e) emissions relative to 1961 technology ($14.74/tC, or approximately $4/tCO(2)e), avoiding 3.6 GtC (13.1 GtCO(2)e) per year. Our analysis indicates that investment in yield improvements compares favorably with other commonly proposed mitigation strategies. Further yield improvements should therefore be prominent among efforts to reduce future GHG emissions.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.0914216107

  View details for Web of Science ID 000279332300071

  View details for PubMedID 20551223

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC2900707

• Solar-powered drip irrigation enhances food security in the Sudano-Sahel PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Burney, J., Woltering, L., Burke, M., Naylor, R., Pasternak, D. 2010; 107 (5): 1848-1853

  Abstract

  Meeting the food needs of Africa's growing population over the next half-century will require technologies that significantly improve rural livelihoods at minimal environmental cost. These technologies will likely be distinct from those of the Green Revolution, which had relatively little impact in sub-Saharan Africa; consequently, few such interventions have been rigorously evaluated. This paper analyzes solar-powered drip irrigation as a strategy for enhancing food security in the rural Sudano-Sahel region of West Africa. Using a matched-pair comparison of villages in northern Benin (two treatment villages, two comparison villages), and household survey and field-level data through the first year of harvest in those villages, we find that solar-powered drip irrigation significantly augments both household income and nutritional intake, particularly during the dry season, and is cost effective compared to alternative technologies.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.0909678107

  View details for Web of Science ID 000274296300011

  View details for PubMedID 20080616

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC2806882

• Transition edge cameras for fast optical spectrophotometry 2nd Galway Conference on High Time Resolution Astrophysics Romani, R. W., Bay, T. J., Burney, J., Cabrera, B. SPRINGER. 2008: 311–325

  View details for Web of Science ID 000252030500016

• The optical imaging TES detector array: Considerations for a cryogenic imaging instrument 11th International Workshop on Low-Temperature Detectors Bay, T. J., Burney, J. A., Barral, J., Brink, P. L., Cabrera, B., Castle, J. P., Miller, A. J., Nam, S. W., Romani, R. W., Tomada, A. ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV. 2006: 506–8

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.nima.2005.12.086

  View details for Web of Science ID 000236974700056

• Transition-edge sensor arrays for UV-optical-IR astrophysics 11th International Workshop on Low-Temperature Detectors Burney, J., Bay, T. J., Barral, J., Brink, P. L., Cabrera, B., Castle, J. P., Miller, A. J., Nam, S., Rosenberg, D., Romani, R. W., Tomada, A. ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV. 2006: 525–27

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.nima.2005.12.060

  View details for Web of Science ID 000236974700062

• Development and characterization of a TES optical imaging array for astrophysics applications 10th International Workshop on Low Temperature Detectors Burney, J., Bay, T. J., Brink, P. L., Cabrera, B., Castle, J. P., Romani, R. W., Tomada, A., Nam, S. W., Miller, A. J., Martinis, J., Wang, E., Kenny, T., Young, B. A. ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV. 2004: 533–36

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.nima.2003.11.307

  View details for Web of Science ID 000220606900143

• UV-IR science prospects with TES imaging arrays Workshop on Hubbles Science Legacy - Future Optical/Ultraviolet Astronomy from Space Romani, R. W., Burney, J., Brink, P., Cabrera, B., Castle, P., Kenny, T., Wang, E., Young, B., Miller, A. J., Nam, S. W. ASTRONOMICAL SOC PACIFIC. 2003: 399–402

  View details for Web of Science ID 000183133000061

• Development of superconducting transition edge sensors for time and energy resolved single photon counters with application to imaging astronomy Conference on Materials for Infrared Detectors III Bay, T. J., Burney, J. A., Brink, P. L., Cabrera, B., Castle, J. P., Romani, R. W., Tomada, A., Young, B. A., Nam, S. W., Miller, A. J., Martinis, J. M., Kenny, T., Wang, E. SPIE-INT SOC OPTICAL ENGINEERING. 2003: 192–200

  View details for Web of Science ID 000188460600018