News Archive
Dataset database now searchable on the web
This catalog provides
a comprehensive list of global change-related data sets made
available during 2001 from federal agencies. The fifth in a series
of yearly publications, this catalog represents an important step in
the interagency process of making data and information from the U.S.
Global Change Research Program available to researchers, the
commercial world, policy makers, and the public. This 2001 edition is
now stored in a searchable database. To search the database, click here.
On-line editions of Newly Available Agency Data Sets That
Are Significantly Global Change Related are available
for 1997,
1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001.
U.S. Global Change Research Program, Data and
Information Working Group (DIWG). Original document available here. Searchable database
available here.
data policies
National Academies Announces Symposium on the Role of Scientific and Technical Data and Information in the Public Domain
The Symposium on the Role of Scientific and Technical Data and
Information in the Public Domain will be held 5-6 September 2002,
at the National Academy of Sciences Auditorium, 2100 C Street NW, in
Washington, DC. The Symposium will bring together leading experts and
managers from the public and private sectors who are involved in the
creation, dissemination, and use of STI to discuss: the role, value,
and limits of public-domain STI in the research and education context;
the various legal, economic, and technological pressures on producers of
public domain STI, and their potential effects on research and education;
the existing and proposed approaches for preserving the public domain or
providing "open access" to STI in the United States; and other important
issues in this area that may benefit from further analysis.The meeting
will be free and open to the public, but advance registration is required.
National Academy of Sciences. Additional
information and registration instructions available here
or contact the project director, Paul Uhlir, tel. (202) 334-2807 or puhlir@nas.edu.
data policies
Data and Information Working Group (DIWG) Releases Data Guidelines
The U.S. Global Change Research Program's Data and Information Working
Group (DIWG) has released a set of data guidelines pertaining to global
change research data that advocates a "full and open" sharing of global
data sets for global change research. Adopted on June 5th, the policy
statements encourage the development and validation of high-quality,
long-term global change related data sets. In addition, the guidelines
require easy access to data holdings and archives, and encourage the use
of national and international standards for the processing and
communication of global data sets. Included with the guidelines is a
suggested data product requirement statement federal grants, cooperative
agreements, and contracts.
USGCRP Data and Information Working Group
(DIWG). The full text of the USGCRP DIWG Data Guidelines is available
here.
publications
State Dept. Releases Third Climate Action Report
In June 1992, the United States signed, and later ratified in October,
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Pursuant to the national communication reporting requirements under
Articles 4.2 and 12 of the Convention and to guidelines later adopted by
the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP), the United States submitted
the first U.S. Climate Action Report (CAR) to the UNFCCC Secretariat
in 1994 and the second in 1997. The U.S. Government has prepared the
third national communication which recently completed public review.
The third CAR provides an update on key activities conducted by the
U.S. since the second CAR, an inventory of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions
and sinks, an estimate of the effects of mitigation measures and policies
on future emissions levels, and a description of U.S. involvement in
international programs, including associated contributions and funding
efforts. In addition, the text discusses U.S. national circumstances
that affect U.S. vulnerability and responses to climate change. Finally,
the CAR presents information on the U.S. Global Change Research Program,
Global Climate Observing Systems (GCOS), and adaptation programs.
U.S. Department of State. The full text of the
report is available here.
global change news
Dept. of Energy Sends Greenhouse Gas Registry Recommendations to White House
Energy, Commerce, EPA, Agriculture seek to improve, expand reporting and crediting system and reduce greenhouse gas emissions
The Secretary of Energy, joined by the Secretaries of Commerce and
Agriculture and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency,
submitted recommendations to President Bush that provide a blueprint to
improve and expand a voluntary reporting system that encourages greenhouse
gas emission reductions and creates a new, transferable credit system
for those reductions. The initiative is an important tool for achieving
President Bush's national goal to reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of
the American economy by 18 percent by 2012. The proposed recommendations
are outlined in a letter to the President from all four cabinet officers.
The new recommendations follow the President's comprehensive climate
change policy, released earlier this year, which requested recommendations
for improvements to the current voluntary emissions reduction registration
program operated under section 1605(b) of the 1992 Energy Policy
Act. The recommendations highlight the need to create standardized,
widely accepted, transparent accounting methods, support independent
verification of registry reports, and provide credits for a broad range
of actions. Improving the registry and providing transferable credits
for reductions would help motivate firms to undertake cost-effective
voluntary reductions of greenhouse gas emissions.
U.S. Department of Energy.
The full text of the press release is available here.
A copy of the letter to the White House is available here [PDF].
publications
EPA Clean Air Markets Division Publishes Brochure on Capping and Trading Emissions
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Air Markets Division
has just published a new brochure, Clearing The Air: The Facts about
Capping and Trading Emissions. The brochure describes the Acid Rain
Program and efforts to cap emissions. Here is an excerpt:
In 1980, rising public concern
about the extensive health and environmental impacts of acid rain
prompted Congress to commission a ten-year study on its causes and
effects. After years of debate and extensive research under the study,
Congress established the Acid Rain Program under Title IV of the 1990
Clean Air Act Amendments. The program called for major reductions
in electric-generating facilities' emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2)
and nitrogen oxides (NOx) - the key components of acid rain - while
establishing a new approach to environmental protection through the use
of market incentives.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA). The full text of the brochure is available here [PDF].
For paper copies, call the Acid Rain Hotline at 202-564-9620.
global change news
National Science Foundation Draft Environmental Agenda Available for Comments
Ten-year plan for interdisciplinary research and education; comments due 10 August
The NSF Advisory Committee on Environmental Research and Education
(AC-ERE) is seeking public comment on a draft 10-year agenda for
interdisciplinary environmental research and education at NSF.
The draft agenda "attempts to integrate a large and thoughtful body of
community-generated recommendations and identify areas of opportunity
for NSF research and education efforts." It states, "from a long-term
perspective, the desired outcome of environmental research and education
is to maintain and improve the robustness, health and well-being of
environmental systems." A goal of the agenda is to strengthen the linkage
and interaction between scientific knowledge and societal benefits.
The draft agenda emphasizes an integrated synthesis of environmental
knowledge: "An integral part of this approach is the collection and
effective communication of environmental knowledge across spatial,
temporal and societal scales to researchers, students, resource and
industrial man-agers, policy makers, and other users."
National Science Foundation.
The full text of the draft report is available here.
Comments may be submitted on-line here
and are due by 10 August.
global change news
President Announces Clear Skies & Global Climate Change Initiatives
On 14 February, President George W. Bush announced a new approach to the
challenge of global climate change. According to the White House, this
approach is designed to harness the power of markets and technological
innovation. In a speech delivered at NOAA offices in Silver Spring,
Maryland, the President said, ". . . we must clean our air, and we must
address the issue of global climate change. We must also act in a serious
and responsible way, given the scientific uncertainties. While these
uncertainties remain, we can begin now to address the human factors that
contribute to climate change. Wise action now is an insurance policy
against future risks." The President's announcement included a proposed
effort to cut power plant emissions, called the Clear Skies Initiative,
as well as other initiatives designed to reduce greenhouse gas intensity,
spur investments in renewable energy, and stimulate development of
technologies to combat global climate change.
White House. The full text of the President's
speech and additional information about the proposed initiatives are
available as follows:
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