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global change workshop
Workshop: Gaining Knowledge from Environmental Data
May 1-3 Workshop on the Data-Information-Knowledge Continuum sponsored by U.S. Global Change Research Program
Environmental research programs such as the U.S. Global Change Research Program attempt to improve our understanding of natural processes and the impact of human actions on Earth processes. Ideally, knowledge gained guides our decisions in achieving society's goals to live in harmony with nature. We gather data to test hypotheses and to measure change over time and space. Data centers compile, organize, preserve and distribute these data to scientists so they may advance our knowledge of changes in the global environment and advise decision-makers on the impacts of policy alternatives.

This workshop addresses what we must do at environmental data centers to actively assist scientists and policy makers to gain knowledge from data. In a plenary session with national leaders from science, policy, data centers and industry, we will address the big picture--why gaining knowledge from data is so important to the Nation--and its implications for data centers. Two sessions will tackle specific issues related to Data and Information, how they contribute to gaining knowledge about the environment, and implications for data center management strategy. A third session on Knowledge pulls together the pieces and identifies issues and challenges for data centers to address with the science community. The last morning will provide a forum for discussion and recommendations for data centers, for agencies, and for environmental research programs. A national leader (TBD) will articulate the crucial role of data centers in gaining knowledge through environmental science.

global change data
New Database of Biomass Carbon Published
The U.S. Department of Energy's Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) has published Geographical Distribution of Biomass Carbon in Tropical Southeast Asian Forests: A Database (NDP-068). The database consists of estimates of geographically referenced carbon densities of forest vegetation in tropical Southeast Asia for 1980. A geographic information system (GIS) was used to incorporate spatial databases of climatic, edaphic, and geomorphological indices and vegetation to estimate potential (i.e., in the absence of human intervention and natural disturbance) carbon densities of forests. The resulting map was then modified to estimate actual 1980 carbon density as a function of population density and climatic zone. The database covers the following 13 countries: Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia (Campuchea), India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

global change data
NOAA Releases Climate Atlas
NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) has released and is selling the new Climate Atlas of the Contiguous United States on CD-ROM. It replaces a popular paper Atlas last published in 1968. The new CD Atlas contains 737 color maps of climatic elements such as temperature, precipitation, snow, wind, pressure, etc., chosen to portray the climate of the contiguous US. The period of record of the data for most of the maps is 1961-1990. The Atlas provides access to extensive documentation and help directly from its interface. The same documentation and help are available from NCDC's Atlas Documentation and Help page.

global change news
Southeast Regional Assessment Report Available for Review
The Southeast Regional Assess Report, a part of the U.S. National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change, is now available for public review until June 5. An electronic copy of the draft report can be obtained from the U.S. National Assessment Website.

global change news
House Science Committee Holds First Hearing on Climate Change
Scientists in the Spotlight
In the first full committee hearing on an environmental topic held March 14, House Science Committee Chair Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) focused on the state of the science of climate change. His approach departed from many previous hearings in the House and Senate that pitted "believers" against "skeptics", a tactic which makes good political theater but seldom creates a basis for policy making. Boehlert outlined a three-fold purpose for the hearing, to examine: 1) the state of our understanding of climate science, 2) the gaps in our understanding that limit our ability to detect, attribute, and predict climate change, and 3) the adequacy of the federal government's approach to filling these gaps.

Three scientists comprised a single panel of witnesses at the hearing: Daniel Albritton, Director of NOAA's Aeronomy Lab in Boulder, Berrien Moore, Director of the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space at the University of New Hampshire, and Charles Kennel, Director of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and chair of the Committee on Global Change Research, National Academy of Sciences.

global change news
Bush Will Not Require Power Plants to Reduce Carbon Emissions
Letter to senators reiterates opposition to Kyoto Protocol
President Bush says his administration will not require U.S. power plants to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide -- a greenhouse gas believed by many scientists to be a key contributor to global warming. In a March 13 letter to four Republican senators, Bush said he did not believe "that the government should impose on power plants mandatory emissions reductions for carbon dioxide, which is not a 'pollutant' under the Clean Air Act."

Bush said he remained committed to an energy policy that sought to improve air quality by requiring power plants to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury, which are already regulated as pollutants. In his letter, the president cited a recent Energy Department study which he said concluded that regulating carbon dioxide emissions "would lead to an even more dramatic shift from coal to natural gas for electric power generation and significantly higher electricity prices compared to scenarios in which only sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides were reduced.

There appears to be a new crack in the Antarctic's icy armor. The massive iceberg-to-be was captured by a NASA satellite that's also tracing hidden continental features that shape the future of the world's largest ice sheets. Landsat 7, a cooperative mission between NASA and the United States Geological Survey, Reston, VA, completed its second annual continent-wide mapping of Antarctica last month. With its capability to see features as small as 15 meters (50 feet) across, Landsat 7 provides the most detailed observations available of the remote continent, many parts of which have never been mapped at this resolution before. "This multi-year archive of Landsat 7 images is an invaluable investment in research on Antarctica," says glaciologist Robert Bindschadler of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, a member of the Landsat 7 science team. "We only have one chance to capture today's changes on this dynamic continent, and with this targeted mapping strategy, we're committed to doing that." NASA plans to conduct annual Antarctic surveys.

publications
"Foundations Report" from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Assessment Released
Report examines potential impacts of climate change for the Mid-Atlantic U.S.
In March 2000, The Pennsylvania State University released the "Overview" report for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Assessment. This Regional Assessment is one component of the U.S. Global Change Research Program's (USGCRP) First National Assessment, "Climate Change Impacts on the United States: The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change." The "Overview" report provided a summary of the findings of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Assessment, sponsored by the U.S. EPA's Global Change Research Program within the Office of Research and Development.

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