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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 4, NUMBER 4, APRIL 1991

REPORTS...
GENERAL

Item #d91apr45

Global Climatic Change: A New Vision for the 1990s, Jan. 1991. Vol. 1: Proposal Abstracts, 28 pp.; Vol. 2: Extended Project Descriptions, 88 pp. Available from R. Balling, Lab. Climatol., Ariz. State Univ., Tempe AZ 85287 (602-965-7533).

Presents 25 proposals for projects that reject the "popular vision" of apocalyptic climatic impacts (see News, this Global Climate Change Digest issue--Apr. 1991.) Examples are the impact of desertification on regional and global warming, the water vapor budget of the upper troposphere, social/political response to projected threats of greenhouse warming, and a long-term field experiment on sequestering of CO₂ by trees.

Item #d91apr46

Global Change SysTem for Analysis, Research and Training (START), IGBP Rep. No. 15, J.A. Eddy, T.F. Malone et al., Eds., 40 pp., Feb. 1991. Produced by UCAR Off. Interdisc. Earth Studies (Boulder, Colo.); available from IGBP Secretariat, Roy. Swed. Acad. Sci., Box 50005, S-104 05 Stockholm, Swed.

At a December meeting, scientists and funding administrators built on previous work through the IGBP and the Second World Climate Congress to plan regional research networks, each spanning a scientifically coherent area, and containing a research center as well as affiliated research sites. Three developing regions will receive highest priority for external funding: equatorial South America, northern Africa, and the tropical Asian monsoon regions.

Item #d91apr47

The Potential Effects of Climate Change in the United Kingdom, U.K. Dept. Environment, 124 pp., Feb. 1991. Available through H.M. Sta. Off. (HMSO), 49 High Holborn, London WC1V 6HB, Eng. (tel: 44-71-873-0011; fax: 873-8463); £8.50.

Carried out by the Climate Change Impacts Review Group as a complement to the IPCC study, this preliminary assessment forecasts ecological damage and economic disruption. Summers would be warmer, and the frequency of extreme droughts and storms would increase. Agriculture would have to adjust to drier conditions and other changes, and there would be significant migrations of species of birds, insects and plants. Impacts on the hydrological cycle would affect the water supplies, industries and forestry. Some impacts could benefit the construction and tourism industries and lower total energy demand. The government should develop new strategies to mitigate these impacts and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Extensive recommendations are included for research on impact assessment and determining the cost-effectiveness of response strategies.

Item #d91apr48

Japan and the Global Environment, A.S. Miller, C. Moore, 44 pp., Jan. 1991. Available from Univ. Maryland Ctr. for Global Change, Exec. Bldg., S. 401, 7100 Baltimore Ave., College Pk. MD 20740 (301-403-4165).

This analysis, funded by the U.S. EPA, concludes that Japan's environmental policy is weakest in conservation of nature and protection of global environment, reflecting lack of domestic environmental support and activism. It is strongest in pollution reduction and energy efficiency technologies, which could benefit the world significantly. How Japan addresses environmental issues today may relate to its need to find a moral basis for involvement in international affairs that transcends the single-minded pursuit of economic wealth of its post-war politics.