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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 5, MAY 1990

REPORTS...
GENERAL INTEREST AND POLICY

Item #d90may27

Report of the International Workshop on a Framework Convention and Associated Protocols: A Nongovernmental Perspective, approx. 60 pp., Feb. 1990. Climate Inst., 316 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, S. 403, Washington DC 20003 (202-547-0104); no charge.

The product of a February 1990 meeting held immediately prior to the plenary session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in Washington (see Global Climate Change Digest, NEWS, Apr. 1990), developed by over 80 participants from the scientific, legal, environmental and industrial communities of a number of countries. Contains draft language for a framework convention for the protection of climate, with annexes on research and monitoring, information exchange and agriculture; a coastal protocol; and a protocol on resolving disputes over shared water resources.

Item #d90may28

Addressing Global Climate Change: The Emergence of a New World Order, A. Timoshenko, N. Robinson, 70 pp., Jan. 1990. Prepared by the Environ. Law Inst. (Wash., D.C.) for Off. Intl. Activities, U.S. EPA, 401 M St. SW (A-106), Washington DC 20460 (202-382-4870); inquire regarding public availability.

The adoption of political innovations at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development are necessary to adequately address climate change. A broad plan for balancing ecological security with sustainable development should be approved, as well as resolutions for a new level of international organizational and financial provisions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change should continue to evaluate climate change research and monitor the evolution of a framework convention for climate protection after its planned termination next fall.

Item #d90may29

Global Warming: Towards a Strategy for Ontario, 32 pp., March 1990. Available (no charge) from Min. Energy, Ont. Min. Environ., 56 Wellesley St. West, 12th Fl., Toronto, Ont. M7A 2B7 (416-965-0302).

This discussion paper is open for public comment before July 31, 1990, and will lead to a policy "white paper" on global warming by the end of 1990 after public hearings and a late spring workshop. The Ontario government proposes reducing greenhouse gas emissions below 1989 levels by the year 2000, as a step toward meeting the objective of the 1988 Toronto conference (20% by 2005). A phase-out of five CFCs by the year 1998 is proposed as well. Also discussed are other initiatives to which the province is already committed, a number of possible further steps and over thirty topics for research.

Item #d90may30

Economic Report of the President, U.S. Presidential Council of Economic Advisors, 1990. Available (no charge) from Publications, Executive Off. President, 725 17th St. NW, Rm. 2200, Washington DC 20503 (202-395-7332).

Contains almost 20 pages on global environmental issues. The portion on climate change concludes that uncertainty on the topic is still so large that there are no grounds for immediate reductions in greenhouse emissions; rather, policies that may slow emissions but can be justified on other grounds are the best approach until uncertainties are reduced.

Item #d90may31

Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program Plan (DOE/ER-0441), U.S. Dept. Energy (Atmospheric and Climate Res. Div.), 116 pp., Feb. 1990. Available from NTIS (Nat. Tech. Info. Svc.), 5285 Port Royal Rd., Springfield VA 22161 (703-487-4650); $21.95. Exec. summary (19 pp., DOE/ER-0442) $13.95.

The ARM Program will focus observational and analytical research to improve general circulation models for prediction of climatic change from greenhouse gases. Ground observations of cloud distribution and a range of physical parameters, made on a scale much smaller than the typical GCM grid cell, will be compared with model calculations to improve representation of cloud and radiative processes. The plan includes contributions from the DOE national laboratories and other federal agencies, the academic community and the private sector, and has been extensively peer-reviewed.

Item #d90may32

The Case for Issue-Oriented Information Analysis Centers in Support of the U.S. Global Change Program, P. Kanciruk, M. Farrell, 29 pp., July 1989. Carbon Dioxide Info. Analysis Ctr., U.S. Dept. Energy, Oak Ridge Nat. Lab., Oak Ridge TN 37831 (615-574-0390).

Discusses data management at three levels: the individual researcher, traditional data centers, and information analysis centers (IACs). The highly interdisciplinary nature of global change demands the establishment of a number of IACs to support both research and policymaking. Among other advantages, they would produce augmented, higher level data products not attempted by researchers and above the talents of policy makers.