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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 3, MARCH 1991

REPORTS...
IMPACTS ON SOCIETY

Item #d91mar68

On Assessing Winners and Losers in the Context of Global Warming, M.H. Glantz et al., 44 pp., 1990. Available (no charge) from Environ. & Societal Impacts Grp., NCAR, POB 3000, Boulder CO 80307 (303-497-1619; fax: 497-1137).

Report of a workshop (St. Julians, Malta, June 1990) sponsored by UNEP and the U.S. National Science Foundation, involving 21 international experts in the social and natural sciences. Working groups were formed on assessment methods, the role of perceptions in assessments, and issues of responsibility. Among the general conclusions: research is needed on including the role of the media in forming perceptions on global warming, and on the role of perceptions of political leaders; attention is needed on intra- and intergenerational issues; regional case studies are needed to develop methods of assessing winners and losers.

Cities at Risk, M. Kelly et al. (Univ. East Anglia, Norwich, U.K.), 1990. Available from Bureau of National Affairs Inc., 17 Dartmouth St., London SW1H 9BL, UK (tel: 44-71-222-8831; fax: 222-0294); £35.

Commissioned by BNA Inc. and drawn from an IPCC science working group report. London, New Orleans, and Alexandria (Egypt) are among the cities at risk from expected sea level rise, but there is a serious shortage of information on the extent of risk. Prompt responses by city and national authorities are needed because of the inherent lead time involved. Gives examples of how risks have increased because of past attempts to manipulate the coastal environment.

Item #d91mar69

Socio-Economic Assessment of the Physical and Ecological Impacts of Climate Change on the Marine Environment of the Atlantic Region of Canada--Phase II: Small Coastal Communities, P. Stokoe et al. Prepared for the Can. Climate Ctr.; may be purchased from School for Resour. & Environ. Stud., Dalhousie Univ., Halifax, N.S. B3H 3E2, Can.

Using eight case studies, impacts were considered in terms of fisheries, marine transportation, energy development, coastal infrastructure, and tourism and recreation. Concludes that few small coastal communities in the region are likely to be devastated; some negative impacts are expected such as on coastal infrastructure and freshwater supplies, and fisheries may be altered.

Item #d91mar70

The Implications of Long-Term Climatic Changes on Transportation in Canada. Prepared for Transport Canada; may be purchased from IBI Group, 240 Richmond St. West, 5th Fl., Toronto, Ont. M5V 1W1, Can.

Climatic change could cause significant northward expansion of settlement and related activities that would affect all modes of transport and have socio-economic implications for the North. This expansion would incur major capital costs, especially for the road and rail modes. Preliminary assessment suggests that net long-term climatic impacts on Canadian transportation may be beneficial, although costs could be substantial for environmental protection in the North and accommodating higher sea levels and lower Great Lakes levels.

Item #d91mar71

Drought and Climate Change (Res. Rep. 89-02), S.A. Changnon et al., 104 pp., Sep. 1989. Available from Midwestern Clim. Ctr., Ill. State Water Survey, 2204 Griffith Dr., Champaign IL 61820 (217-244-8226); $6. Individual staff papers include five on the relationships among climatic change, drought and water resources for agriculture, and on lessons of the past for climatic change and hydrologic issues.