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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 3, NUMBER 3, MARCH 1990

REPORTS...
IMPACTS

Item #d90mar44

Climate Impact Response Functions--Report of a Workshop Held at Coolfont, West Virginia, Sep. 11-14, 1989, approx. 50 pp., Dec. 1989. Available (no charge) from National Climate Program Office, NOAA, Universal Bldg., S. 518, 1825 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington DC 20235 (202-673-5360).

Coordinated by several federal agencies under the auspices of the IPCC. During the workshop the invited participants determined quantitative estimates of impacts, as a function of degree of climate change, for the US, USSR, PRC, Brazil, Australia and the EEC. Sectors considered were agriculture, forestry, water resources and coastal infrastructure. The main benefit of the exercise is thought to lie in producing definitions of the problem.

Item #d90mar45

Sea-Level Rise: Tonga, Tuvalu (Kiribati), J. Lewis (Univ. Bath, UK), Dec. 1988. For the Commonwealth Expert Group on Climate Change and Sea-level Rise. Discusses the specific situation of this Pacific chain of nine atoll islands, and issues that pertain to all island nations. (See article in Ambio, 18(8), pp. 458-459, 1989.)

Item #d90mar46

Climate Change Impacts upon Agriculture and Resources: A Case Study of California, D.J. Dudek, 1989. Environmental Defense Fund, 257 Park Ave. S, New York NY 10010 (202-387-3500); $20 ($10 members).

A contribution to the recent EPA report to Congress, this study calculated the impacts of increased CO₂ and reduced water supplies on four crop groups in 14 growing areas of California. Statewide, yields would be reduced, with economic losses of 14-17%. A change from the state's present rigid system of water distribution to one that encourages water exchanges and conservation would reduce adverse impacts.

Item #d90mar47

Water for Agriculture: Facing the Limits (Worldwatch Paper 93), S. Postel, 54 pp., Dec. 1989. Worldwatch Inst., 1776 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington DC 20036 (202-452-1999); $4 (bulk discounts available).

Worsening supplies of water and rising irrigation costs are jeopardizing global food supplies; climate change would intensify the problems presently created by practices such as overpumping groundwater reservoirs and water diversion projects. A top policy priority in third world and developed countries is reduction of governmental water subsidies.

Item #d90mar48

Global Climate Change--What It Could Mean for Prairie Agriculture, E.E. Wheaton, 115 pp., 1989. Saskatchewan Res. Council, 30 Campus Dr., Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 0X1, Can.

Examines effects on wind erosion of soil, droughts, biomass productivity and wheat yields. Spring wheat yields could be reduced about 16% in a warmer climate, or more if precipitation in the region did not increase as expected from models. Recommendations for improving climatic information and for agricultural and research policy are given.

Item #d90mar49

Les besoins en eau pour l'arrosage des pelouses; Répercussions d'un changement climatique sur l'industrie du golf au Québec, both in French, 1989. For Environment Canada by Lamothe & Périard, Consultants en climatologie, 731-5 Chanoine Scott, Ste-Foy, Québec G1V 3M9, Can. (418-659-1409). Inquire for price. The first study estimates the impacts of climate change on municipal water supplies through increased lawn watering; the second concerns effects on the golfing industry.

Item #d90mar50

Water Resources in the Twenty-first Century: A Study of the Implications of Climate Uncertainty (Circ. 1030), 25 pp., 1989. Available (no charge) from USGS Books, Fed. Ctr., Box 25425, Denver CO 80225. Describes the U.S. Geological Survey's program for climatic and hydrological research.