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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 2, NUMBER 4, APRIL 1989

NEWS...
CLIMATE AND WATER

Item #d89apr8

A panel of experts organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has concluded a 30-month study funded by the National Science Foundation on the effects of greenhouse warming on water resources and recommended policy responses in the United States. It concludes that there is great uncertainty about possible effects, but extremes such as droughts and floods will probably be more likely, and effects will be greatest in the arid West. The 80 percent of Americans who depend on municipal water systems will be supplied, but may have to pay more for their water. It recommends that "governments at all levels should re-evaluate legal, technical and economic procedures for managing water resources in the light of the climate changes that are highly likely," encouraging flexible institutions including markets that can allocate water for its most beneficial use. Specific recommendations are made for scientific research and other actions by governments, business and industry, and private individuals.

Climate and Water (P.E. Waggoner, Ed.) will be published by Wiley and Sons, New York this year and contains 18 individually authored chapters on the study findings. Limited quantities of a 39-page detailed summary are available from David Burns, Dir., AAAS Clim. Proj., 1333 H St. NW, Washington DC 20005 (202-326-6664). (See also Science, p. 461, Jan. 27, 1989.)