Library: 2003

The Economics of Climate Change: A Primer.[PDF] 

Report (dtd April 2003) from the Congressional Budget Office.

Significant U.S. Weather and Climate Events for 2003

Greater heat, more hurricanes stir 2003 weather. NOAA reports 2003 was marked by contrasting conditions across the United States while global temperatures remain high. (18KB PDF file)

Black Soot and Snow: A Warmer Combination

New research from NASA scientists suggests emissions of black soot alter the way sunlight reflects off snow. According to a computer simulation, black soot may be responsible for 25 percent of observed global warming over the past century. (78KB PDF file)

Summary of the Ninth Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change

The ninth Conference of the Parties (COP-9) to the United Nations Framework Convention on ClimateChange (UNFCCC) and the nineteenth sessions of the COP's Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) were held at the Fiera Milan Congress Center in Milan, Italy, from 1-12 December 2003. (388KB PDF file)

Paula J. Dobriansky, Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs: "Therefore it is our intention to implement policies that will foster these technology-based solutions -- that is the way we will address the challenge of global climate change. Significantly, we also believe that climate change should not be pursued in isolation, but should be handled as an integral part of a broad strategic paradigm of sustainable development, which features a balanced mix of environmentally sound, pro-economic growth policies. At the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg and at the COP-8 meeting last year in New Delhi, we found strong and growing support for this position among developing countries." (64KB PDF file)

Environmental Effects of Ozone Depletion and Its Interaction with Climate Change (2003 progress report)

Pursuant to Article 6 of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer under the Auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Environmental Effects Assessment Panel reported that ozone depletion, which caused increased surface ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation, consequently affected living organisms and also materials. New studies had confirmed and strengthened previous findings that UV-B radiation had serious adverse effects on the skin, eyes and immune system. Also, interactions between ozone depletion and climate change had environmental consequences, and the Panel had warned that ultraviolet damage to phytoplankton and other marine organisms might reduce the oceans' capacity as a sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide and so increase global warming. (45KB PDF file)

Atmospheric Levels of Methane Stabilizing

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that atmospheric concentrations of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, have begun to level out after two centuries of increases. Methane levels have been constant for four years now, but scientists are not certain why the steady increases of the gas in the atmosphere since the dawn of the industrial age have stopped. One theory is that a decrease in fossil fuel production in the former Soviet Union may account for the decline. About 70 percent of methane emissions are connected with human activities -- the burning of fossil fuels, intestinal gas from livestock and farm animals, and the cultivation of rice paddies. (13KB PDF file)

U.S. Pursuing Clean Coal Projects with Other Countries

Remarks by Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham: "The United States is today in the process of implementing and enacting President Bush's far-reaching national energy policy -- a policy that will help guarantee our nation's energy security by ensuring supplies of dependable, affordable and environmentally sound energy for the future..." (45KB PDF file)

U.S. Officials Say Plans Continue for Earth Observation System

U.S. officials say plans are moving forward to create a system that links thousands of satellites, aircraft and Earth-based monitoring stations around the globe to provide more accurate predictions of climate change, crop production, disease outbreaks and natural hazards. (33KB PDF file)

U.S. Praises India for Climate Change Partnership

Harlan Watson, the U.S. senior climate negotiator and special representative, praised India for its cooperation with the United States in advancing the science and technology of climate change. "Our bilateral partnership with India is particularly important because it allows us to share experiences and knowledge to advance climate change science and technology," Watson said in a conference on U.S.-India Cooperation on Climate Change in New Delhi November 11. (34KB PDF file)

Statement of David W. Conover Before House Science Committee

As part of the President’s National Climate Change Technology Initiative, launched on June 11, 2001, the President directed the Secretary of Energy, in coordination with the Secretary of Commerce and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, to lead a multi-agency review of the Federal R&D portfolio and make recommendations. The Climate Change Technology Program (CCTP) was established in 2002 to implement the President’s Initiative. The CCTP is a multi-agency research and development (R&D) coordination activity, organized under the auspices of the Cabinet-level Committee on Climate Change Science and Technology Integration (CCCSTI). Participating Federal agencies include the Departments of Energy, Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Health and Human Services, Interior, State, and Transportation, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation. (56KB PDF file)

India to Host Climate Technology Bazaar Nov 10-13

International representatives will gather in New Delhi November 10-13 for the Climate Technology Bazaar and workshops on how to anticipate or adjust to climate change. According to a media note released by the U.S. State Department November 5, Harlan L. Watson, the State Department's senior climate negotiator, will lead the U.S. delegation to the bazaar, which will gather 120 national and international exhibitors of "state of the art" climate-friendly technologies, and about 5,000 visitors. (40KB PDF file)

Study Says African Dust Affects Climate in U.S. and Caribbean

A new study says that trade wind dust transported from West Africa can have significant implications for climate, atmospheric quality and public health in the Caribbean and the southeastern United States. A November 7 press release says results of the study, reported by researchers of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and published in the November 7 issue of the journal Science, show that trade wind dust transported from West Africa to Barbados in the eastern Caribbean is strongly linked to rainfall patterns in West Africa. The study says decreased rainfall in Africa results in a sharp increase in dust transported across the Atlantic the following year. (16KB PDF file)

USDA Supports Greenhouse Gas Sequestration Incentives

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is launching a campaign to encourage farmers and other private landowners to adopt land management practices that will store carbon and reduce greenhouse gases. The effort aims to encourage farmers to help lessen global warming. In a June 6 press release, the agency reports that its increased land conservation efforts with a focus on carbon sequestration efforts will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester roughly 12 million tons of greenhouse gases by 2012. (20KB PDF file)
 

Environmental Effects of Ozone Depletion and Its Interactions with Climate Change: 2002 Assessment

This assessment deals with environmental effects of ozone depletion, with special attention to the consequences of interactions between ozone depletion and climate change. It was written by members of an international panel, reviewed by scientists from a number of countries, and is based on research performed by many more colleagues from a wide variety of scientific disciplines.
 

US-Caribbean Climate Change Project Announced

The United States is helping finance a project in conjunction with the World Bank's Global Environment Facility (GEF) to counter the destructive effects of global warming in the Caribbean. The "Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change Project" will benefit 12 small island and low-lying countries in the region, the Bank said in an April 18 statement. Those countries are: Antigua & Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. (14KB PDF file)
 

The Bush Administration's Actions on Global Climate Change

This fact sheet describes a broad range of domestic and international actions that are underway that address the President's commitment to reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of the American economy. (26KB PDF file)
 

U.S. Companies Launch Initiatives to Combat Climate Change

U.S. firms are creating trading programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A growing number of U.S. corporations and states are taking actions aimed at sharply reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that trap heat within the Earth's atmosphere. (19KB PDF file)
 

UN/WMO Calls for Timely Global Action on Climate Change

On 20 March 2003, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Godwin O.P. Obasi said all nations need to work together to prevent and mitigate the adverse impact of climate-related events, such as floods, droughts and tropical cyclones. (18KB PDF file)
 

U.S. Plans for Pollution-Free Power Plant

U.S. officials have announced a public-private effort to construct a prototype electric and hydrogen production plant and the formation of a new international forum to advance carbon capture and storage technologies as ways to reduce the world's heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions. (18KB PDF file)
 

U.S. Industry Initiatives Aim to Reduce Greenhouse Gas

A February 12 Department of Energy fact sheet lists the initiatives being undertaken by major business and industrial sectors of the U.S. economy to meet President Bush's challenge to reduce America's greenhouse gas intensity by 18 percent over the next decade. (23KB PDF file)
 

United States Global Climate Change Policy

The United States strategy will set America on a path to slow the growth of greenhouse gas emissions, and -- as the science justifies -- to stop, and then reverse that growth. (63KB PDF file)
 

FutureGen - A Carbon Sequestration and Hydrogen Research Initiative

The integrated sequestration and hydrogen research initiative is a $1 billion government/industry partnership to design, build and operate a nearly emission-free, coal-fired electric and hydrogen production plant. The 275-megawatt prototype plant will serve as a large-scale engineering laboratory for testing new clean power, carbon capture, and coal-to-hydrogen technologies. (392KB PDF file)
 

Climate, Voluntary Innovative Sector Initiatives: Opportunities Now

Climate VISION directly responds to President Bush's announcement made nearly one year ago, Feb. 14, 2002, to address the long-term challenge of global climate change. As part of this strategy, he committed to reducing America's greenhouse gas intensity - the ratio of emissions to economic output - by 18 percent during the next decade, and challenged American businesses and industries to undertake broader efforts to help meet that goal. Climate VISION is part of the global climate change strategy to work with energy partners to meet the President's greenhouse gas intensity goals. Climate VISION represents a beginning to seek greater reductions and the participation of other industry sectors going forward. (20KB PDF file)
 

Emissions of Greenhouse Gases in the United States 2001: Executive Summary (January 2003)

This annual report is prepared by the US Department of Energy / Energy Information Administration's Office of Integrated Analysis and Forecasting, pursuant to requirements under Section 1605(a) of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPACT). Section 1605(a) of EPACT requires that the EIA, "shall develop, based on data available to, and obtained by the Energy Information Administration, an inventory of national aggregate emissions of each greenhouse gas for each calendar year of the baseline period of 1987 through 1990. The Administrator of the Energy Information Administration shall annually update and analyze such inventory using available data." The first report in this series, "Emissions of Greenhouse Gases 1985-1990," was published in September 1993. This report-the ninth annual report, as required by law, presents the Energy Information Administrations' latest estimates of emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other greenhouse gases. (77KB PDF file)
 

Climate Change Research and Development FY 2004 Budget

To advance and bring focus to short term objectives of climate change science, the Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI) was created by the President in 2002. The budget proposed $40 million for CCRI in 2003, and in 2004 this is increased by 355 percent to $182 million. The CCRI investment will develop resources to support policy making, provide computer resources for climate modeling for decision support studies, and enhance observations and data management for a climate observing system. (271KB PDF file)
 

Questions and Answers About the Stratospheric Ozone Layer

To help foster a continued interaction, this component of the "Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2002" presents 20 questions and answers about the often complex science of ozone depletion. The questions address the nature of atmospheric ozone, the chemicals that cause ozone depletion, how global and polar ozone depletion occur, and what could lie ahead for the ozone layer. The answers are based on the information presented in the 2002 and earlier Assessment reports. These reports and the answers provided here were all prepared and reviewed by a large international group of scientists. (2.1MB PDF file)
 

United States and European Union Joint Meeting on Climate Change Science and Technology Research

The United States and European Union identified cooperative research activities in the six areas at the first bilateral “U.S.-EU Joint Meeting on Climate Change Science and Technology Research” held in Washington on February 5-6, 2003: (1) carbon cycle research; (2) aerosol -climate interactions; (3) feedbacks, water vapor and thermohaline circulation; (4) integrated observation systems and data; (5) carbon capture and storage; and (6) hydrogen technology and infrastructure. Other non-greenhouse gas emitting energy sources (e.g., nuclear energy, renewable energies), although not discussed in detail, were mentioned as worthy for cooperation in future discussions. (63KB PDF file)
 

U.S.-China Working Group on Climate Change Announces Cooperative Research and Analysis

An official multi-agency U.S. delegation in China released a statement January 16 announcing that the United States and Chinese governments have agreed to cooperate on a broad range of climate change science and technology activities. According to the statement issued by the U.S. side of the U.S.-China Working Group on Climate Change, the two countries have identified 10 areas for cooperative research and analysis: non-CO2 gases, adaptation strategies, economic/environmental modeling, integrated assessment of potential consequences of climate change, hydrogen and fuel cell technology, carbon capture and sequestration, observation/measurement, institutional partnerships, energy/environment project follow-up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), and existing clean energy protocols/annexes. (26KB PDF file)
 

Our Changing Planet: The Fiscal Year 2003 U.S. Global Change Research Program and Climate Change Research Initiative

A report by the Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Change Research as a supplement to the President's FY 2003 budget. (1.7MB PDF file)
 

Lieberman-McCain Global Warming Legislation

This legislation aims to cap greenhouse gas emissions and use market forces to ease global warming. (17KB PDF file)
 

Evidence of Global Warming Effects

Global warming effects seen in animal and plant worlds. Strongest evidence of global warming provided in new research study. Study finds adjustments in habitats and breeding behaviors. (19KB PDF file)
 

Testimony of Dr. James Mahoney before the US Senate Commerce Committee

Dr. Mahoney appeared before the US Senate Commerce Committee in his capacity as Director of the US Climate Change Science Program. He presented testimony on the Administration's November 2002 "Discussion Draft Strategic Plan" for federal research on climate change, and on the workshop on the draft plan held in Washington, DC, on 3-5 December 2002. (165KB PDF file)