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Landmark Document from Feds on Climate Change
Our friend Bill Brown in Taos at NMGlobalWarming.org reports on the U.S. federal government's Climate Change Science Program Report.
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Greetings, All -- The USA federal government's Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) released a new report yesterday on the impacts of climate change on the United States. While providing information on trends and projections for the future, the report also states how climate has already changed throughout the USA because of the impacts of human activity on our planet.
The CCSP reiterates what has long been known to science: The primary reason for climate change is human-generated increases in greenhouse gas concentrations.
The CCSP was authorized by federal legislation known as the Global Change Research Act of 1990. This Act spawned collaborative federal research and later the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), through which the USA has made a total investment of almost $20 billion during the past thirteen years -- the world's largest investment in scientific research in the areas of climate change and global change. "The USGCRP, in collaboration with several other national and international science programs, has documented and characterized several important aspects of the sources, abundances and lifetimes of greenhouse gases; has mounted extensive space-based monitoring systems for global-wide monitoring of climate and ecosystem parameters; has begun to address the complex issues of various aerosol species that may significantly influence climate parameters; has advanced our understanding of the global water and carbon cycles (but with major remaining uncertainties); and has developed several approaches to computer modeling of the global climate."
The Summary of the 271-page document begins:
"Over the past several years, our understanding of global environmental change and our ability to estimate its future effects has improved significantly. In order to summarize the key conclusions of this research, the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) has undertaken a national scale “Scientific Assessment of the Effects of Global Change on the United States.” The conclusions in this assessment build on the vast body of observations, modeling, decision-support, and other types of activities conducted under the auspices of CCSP. It draws on findings from previous assessments of the science, including reports and products by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), CCSP, and others. Together with CCSP’s 21 Synthesis and Assessment Products, this is arguably the most comprehensive assessment to date of the effects of global change, and especially climate, on the United States. This fact sheet summarizes the key findings of the Assessment."
To download the Summary and/or the Full Report, or simply to learn about the history, quality and scope of the USA's Climate Change Research Program, see: http://www.climatescience.gov/
The CCSP considers this a landmark document, representing summary work of its almost two decades of research. Please take the time to read the Summary even if you do not wade through the full report.
-- Bill Brown
www.nmglobalwarming.org
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
where we think each person can make a difference
to help heal our earth.
Photo - "Height of the Land Lake near White Earth, Minnesota, 2006. Our friend Bill Brown in Taos at NMGlobalWarming.org reports on the U.S. federal government's Climate Change Science Program Repo... more -
"The Climate Project presenter Bill Brown remains busy in retirement" - ...
Here's an interview on theclimateproject.org with our friend Bill Brown up in Taos at New Mexico Global Warming.
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06/03/08
Bill Brown, a former earth scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey, figured he'd spend his retirement relaxing in New Mexico with his wife, Lisa. Then he became a volunteer presenter for The Climate Project. Brown recently discussed his experience as a presenter with TCP Communications Manager Alex Carey.
To request a presentation by Brown or another of TCP's 1,000 dedicated and knowledgeable presenters, click here.
Alex Carey: What led you to become interested in the issues surrounding climate change and, more generally, in the environment?
Bill Brown: I have worked professionally on environmental impacts of human activities since the 1960s. The focus of our work in the ‘60s and ‘70s was cleaning up this nation’s waters at a time when many of our major rivers were no more than open sewers. By the early ‘90s, I was working in the emerging science of Industrial Ecology – the science of sustainability – and discovering then that carbon management would be the principal issue of the 21st century.
AC: You're now retired. What did you do before you entered retirement?
BB: I was an earth scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey for 36 years. I led projects throughout the U.S. – primarily in the American West – and in seven other countries. In the later part of my career I worked as a research team manager, researcher on global minerals and energy, budget analyst for the Department of the Interior, and researcher on the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
AC: How did you find out about The Climate Project?
BB: I was the science advisor for a high-profile campaign to protect New Mexico’s spectacular Valle Vidal from being turned into a natural gas factory. Our ultimate and stunning success in gaining an Act of Congress to protect our Valle Vidal was a powerful statement on the deficiencies of U.S. energy policy. The Valle Vidal work prompted people in my community to recommend that I apply to represent our region in The Climate Project....
Click link above to read rest of interview with our friend Bill Brown.
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From TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com Here's an interview on theclimateproject.org with our friend Bill Brown up in Taos at New Mexico Global Warming. ... more -
"Global Limits of Biomass Energy" Reports Science Daily
Current environmental energy news from scientist Bill Brown, TouchArt's friend up in Taos at New Mexico Global Warming and The Climate Change Project.
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Greetings, All -- Below are a couple of briefs containing tightly summarized information and data on biomass power potential and a current vision of solar power potential.
Carnegie Institution of Science researchers make the reasonable case that sustainable biomass energy production on suitable land (primarily abandoned cropland and pastureland) could provide about five percent of human demands for primary energy. However, biomass development in excess of this amount -- particularly using land and water needed to grow food or converting existing ecosystems to biomass production -- could threaten food security and exacerbate climate change.
[Carnegie Institution of Science: http://www.ciw.edu/related_links]
In the second article, Ausra CEO Robert Fishman http://ausra.com/] indicates one potential for solar power (solar thermal power as contrasted with solar photovoltaic power) contingent upon policy decisions on clean energy tax credits and carbon taxes. [This corresponds to what I try to tell people about economics: we can make policy decisions that move us toward the kind of energy economy we want.] Fishman's statement re the "crossover point" could be interpreted to say that clean energy will remain competitive with obsolescent fossil fuel energy, whereas it is more likely that new technology clean energy will grow rapidly while old technology energy from inefficient and polluting sources will continue to decline.
-- Bill Brown
www.nmglobalwarming.org
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From TouchArt.net and One Earth Blog at www.OneEarthBlog.Blogspot.com Current environmental energy news from scientist Bill Brown, TouchArt's friend up in Taos at New Mexico Global Warming and The Cl... more -
Taos Ski Valley opens to snowboarders
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Bottles Cans and Tires
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Off the Grid
An electrician in Taos, New Mexico explains how a solar energy system can replace relying on your local utility to light up your life.
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Christian Ristow is an artist who builds robots, art cars, and various other kinds of dangerous, bad-ass art.
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