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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 2, FEBRUARY 1991

REPORTS...
GENERAL INTEREST AND POLICY

Item #d91feb34

Prospects for Future Climate: A Special US/USSR Report on Climate and Climate Change, M.C. MacCracken, M.I. Budyko et al., Eds., 270 pp., 1990. Lewis Pub. Inc., P.O. Drawer 519, Chelsea MI 48118.

Prepared over the past two years under the auspices of Working Group VIII (The Influence of Environmental Changes on Climate) of the 1972 US/USSR Agreement on Protection of the Environment. Covers all the major areas of concern relating to climate change. The activities of Working Group VIII have produced such results as: improved documentation of climate changes in the extratropical Northern Hemisphere over a period of several million years to the present; increased availability and analyses of data sets over the past 100 years; measurements and geological estimates of CO₂ changes over past geologic periods; intensified reconstructions and analyses of paleoclimatic conditions; improvements in models.

Item #d91feb35

World Resources 1990-1991: A Guide to the Global Environment, World Resour. Inst., 383 pp., 1990, $17.95. Published by Oxford Univ. Press. World Resources Data Diskette, 3.5" and 5.25" high-density, IBM compatible, $89.95, plus $3 handling (includes free copy of print edition). Order from World Resour. Inst.

The printed version contains a special focus chapter, "Climate Change: A Global Concern," and features on tropical forest destruction, national rankings of greenhouse gas emissions, a review of the state of science of climate change. The data summarized in the tables of the printed version are available on the diskette, which includes over 300 indicators for 147 countries on basic economic factors, population, natural resources, environment, food and agriculture. Data can be downloaded for use with spreadsheet or word processing software.

Item #d91feb36

The Americas in a New World: The 1990 Report of the Inter-American Dialogue, 55 pp., Dec. 1990. Published by Aspen Inst.; available from Inter-Amer. Dialogue, 11 Dupont Circ. NW, S. 502, Washington DC 20036 (202-265-5350); $8.

The Dialogue, chaired by Sol M. Linowitz (former U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States) and Caniel Oduber (former President of Costa Rica), is made up of citizens of the U.S., Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. The chapter on global warming states that hemispheric cooperation could set the stage for forging needed global arrangements. However, no Latin American government will act without a clear U.S. commitment to join other industrialized countries in curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Necessary near-term financial mechanisms are discussed.

Item #d91feb37

Minding the Carbon Store: Weighing U.S. Forestry Strategies to Slow Global Warming, M. Trexler, Jan. 1991. Order from World Resour. Inst.; $12.50 plus $3 handling.

Provides a comprehensive overview of how specific tree planting and related biotic proposals (such as making durable goods from wood rather than plastic) could affect global warming. Recommends converting 15 million acres of southeastern pasture to trees; expanding biomass-to-energy demonstration projects; creating a Forestry Reserve Program for economically marginal pasture and crop lands; promoting urban tree planting in certain areas.

Item #d91feb38

Human Sources of Global Change: Priority Research Initiatives for 1990-1995 (Occas. Paper No. 3), R.W. Kates, W.C. Clark et al., approx. 90 pp., June 1990. Available from Inst. Intl. Studies, Brown Univ., Box 1970, 2 Stimson Ave., Providence RI 02912; 401-863-2809.

After review and revision, this paper from the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council's Committee on Global Change is expected to be the basis for a book chapter to be published by the NAS/NRC. Among its numerous recommendations, the Committee selected eight to receive the highest priority in three areas: development of integrative models of human sources of emissions and land cover change for earth systems models; support of model development with key studies of important processes; providing critical data for model development and processes studies.

Item #d91feb39

The Greenhouse Effect: Formulating a Convention, W.A. Nitze, 40 pp., Oct. 1990. Available from The Royal Inst. of Intl. Affairs, 10 St. James's Square, London SW1 4LE (tel: 071 930 2233), £10 plus £2 postage; or from Environ. Law Inst., 1616 P St. NW, S. 200, Washington DC 20036; 202-328-5150; $20.

Based on the author's experiences in helping organize the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and in representing the U.S. Presents an approach to formulating a convention that would combine initial targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions with an assessment process and a requirement that national and regional strategies be prepared.

Item #d91feb40

Developing Practical Measures to Prevent Climate Disruption (CENTED No. 6), R. Goble, G. Thompson, 30 pp., Aug. 1990. Available from Ctr. Technol. Environ. Develop., Clark Univ., Worcester MA 01610.

Little is known about practical implementation of measures to control greenhouse gas emissions. Suggests establishing prototype programs to test the economic, technical and social feasibility of control measures. Discusses four such projects: reduction of emissions in a medium-sized city, and in an area with endangered tropical forest; demonstration of hydrogen production with photovoltaic cells; testing the concept of a special bank to fund investments that reduce emissions.

Item #d91feb41

1991 Briefing Book on Environmental and Energy Legislation, 160 pp., 1991. Available from Environ. Energy Study Inst., 122 C St. NW, S. 700, Washington DC 20001 (202-628-1400); $50.

Originally prepared for members of Congress and their staff. Includes background and legislative status of issues; summaries of major laws including the new Clean Air Act; a primer on the federal budget process.