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CASRI
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Work Space for the Central Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative (CASRI), a partnership of diverse interests with a common goal of restoring historic red spruce-northern hardwood ecosystems across the high elevation landscapes of Central Appalachia.
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Expertise Search
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CASRI
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Expertise Search
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Climate Change: Future Federal Adaptation Efforts Could Better Support Local Infrastructure Decision Makers
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The federal government invests billions of dollars annually in infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, facing increasing risks from climate change. Adaptation—defined as adjustments to natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climate change— can help manage these risks by making infrastructure more resilient. GAO was asked to examine issues related to infrastructure decision making and climate change. This report examines (1) the impacts of climate change on roads and bridges, wastewater systems, and NASA centers; (2) the extent to which climate change is incorporated into infrastructure planning; (3) factors that enabled some decision makers to implement adaptive measures; and (4) federal efforts to address local adaptation needs, as well as potential opportunities for improvement. GAO reviewed climate change assessments; analyzed relevant reports; interviewed stakeholders from professional associations and federal agencies; and visited infrastructure projects and interviewed local decision makers at seven sites where adaptive measures have been implemented.
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Resources
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General Resources Holdings
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Ecosystem Service Markets 101: Supply and Demand for Nature
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Establishing markets for ecosystem services—the benefits that nature provides, such as clean air, water, and wildlife habitat—has gained traction in some circles as a way to finance the conservation of these public goods. Market influences on supply and demand work in tandem to encourageecosystem protection. Jeff Kline and Trista Patterson, scientists with the Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station, have identified several criteria needed for ecosystem service markets to achieve their potential. These include regulatory limits on environmental damage, ecosystem services that are amenable to trading, and manageable transaction costs related to administering market programs and the necessary measuring and monitoring of marketed resources. If these criteria are not met, other conservation methods such as conservation easements, landowner incentive programs for environmental enhancement or protection, or taxes on environmental damage may be more effective. Discussions about ecosystem services often focus on increasing supply— storing more carbon or delivering more water, for example. However, net pressures on ecosystems can also be reduced by addressing consumption. Many energy efficiencies can be achieved
by promoting awareness, informed choices, and behavior change. The PNW Research Station is examining
both supply and demand approaches to ecosystem protection by encouraging the development of ecosystem services markets and identifying ways to reduce its own environmental footprint.
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Resources
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Climate Science Documents
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1.5°C or 2°C: a conduit’s view from the science-policy interface at COP20 in Lima, Peru
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An average global 2°C warming compared to pre-industrial times is commonly understood as the most important target in climate policy negotiations. It is a temperature target indicative of a fiercely debated threshold between what some consider acceptable warming and warming that implies dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system and hence to be avoided. Although this 2°C target has been officially endorsed as scientifically sound and justified in the Copenhagen Report issued by the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2009, the large majority of countries (over two-thirds) that have signed and ratified the UNFCCC strongly object to this target as the core of the long-term goal of keeping temperatures below a certain danger level. Instead, they promote a 1.5°C target as a more adequate limit
for dangerous interference. At COP16 in Cancun, parties to the convention recognized the need to consider strengthening the long-term global goal in the so-called 2013–2015 Review, given improved scientific knowledge, including the possible adoption of the 1.5°C target. In this perspective piece, I examine the discussions of a structured expert dialogue (SED) between selected Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) authors, myself included, and parties to the convention to assess the adequacy of the long-term goal. I pay particular attention to the uneven geographies and power differentials that lay behind the ongoing political debate regarding an adequate target for protecting ecosystems, food security, and sustainable development.
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Climate Science Documents
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Evaporative cooling over the Tibetan Plateau induced by vegetation growth
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Here, we show that in contrast to arctic regions, increased growing season vegetation activity over the TP may have attenuated surface warming. This negative feedback on growing season vegetation temperature is attributed to enhanced evapotranspiration (ET). The extra energy available at the surface, which results from lower albedo, is efficiently dissipated by evaporative cooling. The net effect is a decrease in daily maximum temperature and the diurnal temperature range, which is supported by statistical analyses of in situ observations and by decomposition of the surface energy budget. A daytime cooling effect from increased vegetation activity is also modeled from a set of regional weather research and forecasting (WRF) mesoscale model simulations, but with a magnitude smaller than observed, likely because the WRF model simulates a weaker ET enhancement. Our results suggest that actions to restore native grasslands in degraded areas, roughly one-third of the plateau, will both facilitate a sustainable ecological development in this region and have local climate cobenefits. More accurate simulations of the biophysical coupling between the land surface and the atmosphere are needed to help understand regional climate change over the TP, and possible larger scale feedbacks between climate in the TP and the Asian monsoon system.
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Resources
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Climate Science Documents
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SASRI
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The Southern Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative is a partnership with the goal of restoring historic red spruce hardwood ecosystems across the Southern Appalachians.
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Expertise Search
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Forests & Grasslands Workspace
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This space is reserved for the scientific community of practice (COP) with interests focused on forests and grasslands. All folders and content within this Work Space are private and can only be seen by registered members of the group. If you wish to participate in active discussions and information sharing, you can join this COP by clicking on the "Join a Group" button on the top right.
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LP Members
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Workspaces
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Forests & Grasslands
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LP Members
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Workspaces
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Caves, Karst & Minelands Workspace
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This space is reserved for the scientific community of practice (COP) with interests focused on caves, karst, and minelands. All folders and content within this Work Space are private and can only be seen by registered members of the group. If you wish to participate in active discussions and information sharing, you can join this COP by clicking on the "Join a Group" button on the top right.
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Workspaces
