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Climate Change
Science, Strategies, & Solutions
By the Pew Center on Global Climate Change
Edited by Eileen Claussen
October 2001
VSP
ISBN: 90-04-12024-6
400 pages
$137.50 hardcover
It is the greatest environmental challenge of the 21st Century. But what do we truly know about global climate change? And what can we do about it?
Most of the world's top scientists agree that emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from human activities such as industrial processes, fossil fuel combustion, and land-use changes are causing the earth to get warmer. Impacts of this warming may include damage to our coastal areas, accelerated rates of species loss, altered agricultural patterns, and increased incidences of infectious diseases. The effects of climate change --- and efforts to mitigate climate change --- could also have substantial economic ramifications.
The book presents the latest research and analysis from prominent scientists, economists, academics, and policy-makers, including:
Tom Wigley and Joel Smith, who, along with other authors of the Science and Impacts chapter, explain the basic science of climate change, the growing evidence that human activities are changing our climate, and the impacts of these changes;
Eileen Claussen, John Gummer, Henry Lee, and other authors of the Global Strategies chapter, who describe what nations are or are not doing to address climate change, and the state of international climate talks;
Robert Stavins, John Weyant, Ev Ehrlich, and other economists, who explain why economic analyses of climate policy are conducted, why the projected costs of addressing climate change vary so widely among economic models, and how changes driven by today's economy can influence climate policy;
Gov. Jean Shaheen and other authors of the Innovative Solutions chapter, who describe what state and local governments in the United States and multinational companies are doing to monitor and curb greenhouse gas emissions; and
Forest Reinhardt, who offers business leaders advice on steering their companies on a path that is healthy for business as well as the global climate.
Climate Change: Science, Strategies, and Solutions is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the state of our global environment.
Contents:
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- Foreword
- REFLECTIONS ON CLIMATE TALKS AT THE HAGUE
- SCIENCE AND IMPACTS
- Understanding the science and impacts of changes in global and regional climate
- The science of climate change
- Impacts on the U.S. agricultural sector
- Sea-level rise and its effects on coastal resources
- Potential impacts on U.S. water resources
- GLOBAL STRATEGIES
- Action around the World
- European Union: A review of five national programs
- Origins of U.S. climate policy: Factors and constraints
- Climate change mitigation in Japan
- Electric power futures in five developing countries
- ECONOMICS
- Economic analysis of global climate change policy: A primer
- Economic models: How they work and why their results differ
- Technological change and its effects on mitigation costs
- The new economy: Implications for climate change policy
- International emissions trading
- A business manager's approach to climate change
- INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS
- Innovative state programs: New Jersey and Oregon take the lead
- Solutions at the local level: Austin, Texas, as a case study
- Intel Corporation: Environmental leadership in industry
- Taking inventory of corporate greenhouse gas emissions
- CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS
- Climate change legislation in the United States
- Facts and Figures
- Index
Environmental Science