Search Results

Reducing damage to trees from construction work.
Describes the damage often inflicted upon trees during construction projects, and explains how to plan projects accordingly to avoid these problems.
Controlling the Japanese beetle.
Describes the characteristics of the Japanese beetle, the damage it causes to plants, and methods of control.
Rural planning : the village.
Describes various types of planned villages and provides examples of features in such communities.
Ting and the Possible Futures
This is a children's book where the characters build a time machine that lets them visit alternate futures based on the decisions they make in the present. The story provides a glimpse of a post-apocalyptic dystopia as a result of severe global climate change, as well as a future utopian ideal that comes as a result of implementing massive changes to land use and food and energy production.
How Healthy is the Upper Trinity River?: Biological and Water Quality Perspectives
This conference report contains discussions and papers from a symposium hosted at Texas Christian University, in Fort Worth, Texas, examining the ecological health of the Upper Trinity River, and the impacts of various human activity, such as agriculture, urbanization, and waste management. The papers cover the effect of water quality on urban rivers, long-term water quality trends in the Trinity River, solutions that may improve water quality in the river, as well as biological, agricultural and waste-water issues.
Climate Change Impacts on the United States: The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change
This assessment examines how global climate climate change affects the United States, and describes strategies for adaptation.
IPCC Expert Meeting On Industrial Technology Development, Transfer And Diffusion
This meeting summary report presents the major findings and discussion from the IPCC Expert Meeting on "Industrial Technology Development, Transfer and Diffusion."
Report of the Joint IPCC WG II & III Expert meeting on the integration of Adaptation, Mitigation and Sustainable Development into the 4th IPCC Assessment Report
This report summarizes a meeting to develop the 4th IPCC Assessment Report. The meeting was attended by international experts in adaptation, mitigation and/or sustainable development.
IPCC Expert Meeting on Emission Scenarios
This report summarizes the Expert Meeting on Emission Scenarios to help inform the fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC.
Common Ground: Solutions for reducing the human, economic and conservation costs of human wildlife conflict
This report deals with the conflicts between wildlife and human development. Three cases studies are included, in Namibia, Nepal and Indonesia, respectively. Each location has different problems and contexts, but in all three countries, human lives and economic livelihoods are at stake, as well as the loss of habitat of threatened species. The authors advocate a species conservation approach based on land use planning integrated with human needs in order continue sustainable development.
Nitrogen-fixing bacteria and legumes.
Describes the importance of nitrogen-fixing bacteria on crops of legumes.
Soil and water conservation in the Pacific Northwest.
Describes types of erosion and methods for preventing the erosion of soil by water and wind.
Mosquito remedies and preventives.
Describes measures, substances, and materials, both offensive and defensive, that have been found most effective against mosquitoes.
Windbreaks and Shelterbelts for the Plains States.
Describes the monetary and physical benefits to farms and orchards when windbreaks and shelterbelts are used.
Intensive Projects Under the Cooperative Farm Forestry Act.
Describes the Farm Forestry Program and how it can be used to help farmers begin farm-woodland management projects.
Dust Storms Come From the Poorer Lands.
Describes the different classifications of land and the effect soil erosion has on the quality of land and its future for crop production. Contains the results of an extensive study.
The soil that went to town.
Describes the problem of soil erosion and methods for its prevention, in an elementary story format.
Arbor day, its purpose and observance.
Discusses Arbor Day as a holiday that recognizes the importance of United States forests and discusses a citizen's duty to preserve them and foster new growth of trees.
Coral Bleaching and Marine Protected Areas
Proceedings of a workshop to discuss coral reef research, monitoring, and marine protected area (MPA) management. It includes workshop summary information, specific papers presented during the event, and relevant appendixes.
A Balancing Act: China’s Role in Climate Change
Climate change has reached the apex of the global agenda at a time when China faces significant development and energy security challenges. The political leadership and leading intellectuals are debating the direction of a new development pathway that provides both growth to meet development objectives, and dramatically reduces energy intensity and pollution. While the official position has not changed significantly, there are four key aspects that illustrate how climate change is conceived by the Chinese leadership. This signals that China may come to play a much more important role in global mitigation of climate change than was thought only a couple of years ago.
Adapting to Climate Change in Europe and Central Asia
Contrary to popular perception, ECA faces significant threats from climate change, with a number of the most serious risks already in evidence. Vulnerability over the next ten to twenty years will be dominated by socio‐economic factors and legacy issues. Even countries and sectors that stand to benefit from climate change are poorly positioned to do so. The next decade offers a window of opportunity for ECA countries to make their development more resilient to climate change while reaping numerous co‐benefits.
Shrubs for Wildlife on Farms in the Southeast.
Describes the use of shrubs on farms to protect useful or beneficial wildlife and to prevent soil erosion.
Forest and Flame in the Bible.
A collection of biblical passages supporting the protection of forests, with descriptive text provided by the author.
What are we aiming at? : a forest conservation program.
Describes the need for a postwar program to increase timber production. Discusses the need for regulated conservation practices, incentives for responsible private forest management, and an increase in public forest land area.
Managing the small forest
A guide to the basic principles of forest management, for use by small forest owners.
It could happen again.
Describes the importance of soil conservation practices and their effect on wheat production.
Game management on the farm.
Describes ways that a farmer can support game on his land to make the best use of otherwise wasted land. Provides an overview of practical game management practices.
From the dust of the earth.
Describes how the things people enjoy in everyday life come from the soil, either directly or indirectly, and the value of participating in soil conservation.
Managing farm fields, wetlands, and waters for wild ducks in the South.
Provides instructions for establishing ponds and marshes in order to attract wild ducks to farmlands. Discusses the recreational benefits of watching and hunting ducks.
Planting and care of street trees.
Describes the importance of shade trees within city limits, including: how to plan the layout of street trees; the various types of trees best suited for city growth; and how to properly maintain city-grown trees.
Grass crops in conservation farming.
Describes the success of grassland improvement methods as demonstrated by experiment stations, agricultural technicians, farmers, and ranchers.
Conservation farming in the Slope-Hettinger Soil Conservation District, North Dakota.
Reports the results of a soil conservation survey and makes the case for increased conservation efforts. Provides information on identifying land types and suggests simple methods of soil conservation.
Visual materials on soil and water conservation.
An annotated list of films about soil and water conservation. Includes information about the films' suitability for use in elementary and secondary schools.
Soil-Depleting, Soil-Conserving, and Soil-Building Crops.
Discusses soil conservation in a clear and concise manner. Discusses soil building, soil conserving, and soil depleting crops as well as the minerals to be found in soil.
Our Remaining Land: We Can Use It and Save It.
Discusses the condition of the remaining productive land in the United States and the risk of losing it to soil erosion. Describes conservation efforts including the use of land standards in conservation planning.
Work of the United States Forest Service.
Discusses forest depletion and provides a history of forest conservation efforts by the United States government. Describes the work of the the Civilian Conservation Corps and other emergency projects, and discusses forest and range research.
Use the land and save the soil.
This bulletin briefly answers the questions: "What is soil and water conservation?" and "How does the Soil Conservation Service help farmers and landowners?"
Planting the roadside.
Describes the benefits of planting trees and shrubs on the roadside, and the proper procedures for doing so.
Algae in Water Supplies: An Illustrated Manual on the Identification, Significance, and Control of Algae in Water Supplies.
A manual designed to help "water analysts and others who deal with the many problems and effects associated with the presence of algae in water supplies."
Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States, with a More Detailed Account of the Lands of Utah. With Maps.
A report on the lands of the Arid Region of the United States, including their agricultural and grazing potential as well as a statement of the rainfall of the western portion of the United States.
Our Changing Planet: The U.S. Climate Change Science Program for Fiscal Year 2009
The report describes activities and plans of the Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), highlighting recent progress in each of the program's research and observational elements. The document also describes how observational and predictive capabilities are being improved and used to create tools to support decision making at local, regional, and national scales to cope with environmental variability and change.
Our Changing Planet: The U.S. Climate Change Science Program for Fiscal Year 2010
The report describes the activities and plans of the Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), which incorporates the U.S. Global Change Research Program established under the Global Change Research Act of 1990, and the Climate Change Research Initiative that was established by the President in 2001. CCSP coordinates and integrates scientific research on climate and global change supported by 13 participating departments and agencies of the U.S. Government. The document highlights recent advances and progress supported by CCSP-participating agencies in each of the program's research and observational elements, as called for in the Strategic Plan for the U.S. Climate Change Science Program released in July 2003, and later modified in the 2008 CCSP Revised Research Plan. The document also describes how observational and predictive capabilities are being improved and used to create tools to support decisionmaking at local, regional, and national scales to cope with environmental variability and change.
The Regional Impacts of Climate Change: An Assessment of Vulnerability
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was jointly established by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme in 1988 to assess the scientific and technical literature on climate change, the potential impacts of changes in climate, and options for adaption to and mitigation of climate change. Since its inception, the IPCC has produced a series of Assessment Reports, Special Reports, Technical Papers, methodologies and other products which have become standard works of reference, widely used by policymakers, scientists and other experts. This Special Report, which has been produced by Working Group II of the IPCC, builds on the Working Group's contribution to the Second Assessment Report (SAR), and incorporates more recent information made available since mid-1995. It has been prepared in response to a request from the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It addresses an important question posed by the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UNFCCC, namely, the degree to which human conditions and the natural environment are vulnerable to the potential effects of climate change. The report establishes a common base of information regarding the potential costs and benefits of climatic change, including the evaluation of uncertainties, to help the COP determine what adaptation and mitigation measures might be justified. The report consists of vulnerability assessments for 10 regions that comprise the Earth's entire land surface and adjoining coastal seas: Africa, Arid Western Asia (including the Middle East), Australasia, Europe, Latin America, North America, the Polar Regions (The Arctic and the Antarctic), Small Island States, Temperate Asia and Tropical Asia. It also includes several annexes that provide information about climate observations, climate projections, vegetation distribution projections and socioeconomic trends.
Our Changing Planet: The U.S. Climate Change Science Program for Fiscal Years 2004 and 2005
This edition of Our Changing Planet includes a review of the Strategic Plan for the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) from 2003 and outlines how the CCSP is moving forward to implement the Strategic Plan during FY 2004 and FY 2005. As a part of this implementation, the report announces the production of 21 scientific syntheses and assessments on a range of topics to support informed discussion of climate variability and associated issues by decision makers and the public.
Our Changing Planet: The U.S. Climate Change Science Program for Fiscal Year 2006
This Fiscal Year 2006 edition of Our Changing Planet describes a wide range of new and emerging observational capabilities which, combined with the Climate Change Science Program’s analytical work, lead to advances in understanding the underlying processes responsible for climate variability and change. The report highlights progress being made to explore the uses and limitations of evolving knowledge to manage risks and opportunities related to climate variability, and documents activities to promote cooperation between the U.S. scientific community and its worldwide counterparts.
Our Changing Planet: The U.S. Climate Change Science Program for Fiscal Year 2008
This report describes the activities and plans of the Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), which incorporates the U.S. Global Change Research Program, established under the Global Change Research Act of 1990, and the Climate Change Research Initiative, established by the President in 2001. CCSP coordinates and integrates scientific research on climate and global change supported by 13 participating departments and agencies of the U.S. Government. The document describes a wide range of advances in understanding the underlying processes responsible for climate variability and change, such as advances in understanding of climate change at high latitudes. It also describes progress on understanding the ongoing and projected effects of climate change on nature and society, including the interconnected relationships between climate, forests, and wildfire. The document also describes how observational and predictive capabilities are being improved and used to create tools to support decision making at local, regional, and national scales to cope with environmental variability and change.
Temperature Trends in the Lower Atmosphere: Steps for Understanding and Reconciling Differences
This Synthesis and Assessment Product is an important revision to the conclusions of earlier reports from the U.S. National Research Council and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Previously reported discrepancies between the amount of warming near the surface and higher in the atmosphere have been used to challenge the reliability of climate models and the reality of human-induced global warming. Specifically, surface data showed substantial global-average warming, while early versions of satellite and radiosonde data showed little or no warming above the surface. This significant discrepancy no longer exists because errors in the satellite and radiosonde data have been identified and corrected. New data sets have also been developed that do not show such discrepancies. This Synthesis and Assessment Product is an important revision to the conclusions of earlier reports from the U.S. National Research Council and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. For recent decades, all current atmospheric data sets now show global-average warming that is similar to the surface warming. While these data are consistent with the results from climate models at the global scale, discrepancies in the tropics remain to be resolved. Nevertheless, the most recent observational and model evidence has increased confidence in our understanding of observed climatic changes and their causes.
Decision-Support Experiments and Evaluations using Seasonal-to-Interannual Forecasts and Observational Data: A Focus on Water Resources
This Synthesis and Assessment Product focuses on the connection between the scientific ability to predict climate on seasonal scales and the opportunity to incorporate such understanding into water resource management decisions. It directly addresses decision support experiments and evaluations that have used seasonal-to-interannual forecasts and observational data, and is expected to inform (1) decision makers about the relative success of experiences of others who have experimented with these forecasts and data in resource management; (2) climatologists, hydrologists, and social scientists on how to advance the delivery of decision-support resources that use the most recent forecast products, methodologies, and tools; and (3) science and resource managers as they plan for future investments in research related to forecasts and their role in decision support. It is important to note, however, that while the focus of this Product is on the water resources management sector, the findings within this Synthesis and Assessment Product may be directly transferred to other sectors.
Emissions Scenarios
This Report describes climate change scenarios that extend to the end of the 21st century and how they were developed. The scenarios cover a wide range of the main driving forces of future emissions, from demographic to technological and economic developments. The set of emissions scenarios is based on an extensive assessment of the literature, six alternative modeling approaches, and an "open process" that solicited wide participation and feedback from many groups and individuals. The SRES scenarios include the range of emissions of all relevant species of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and sulfur and their driving forces.
Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing Climate. Regions of Focus: North America, Hawaii, Caribbean, and U.S. Pacific Islands
This document is part of the Synthesis and Assessment Products described in the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) Strategic Plan. Changes in extreme weather and climate events have significant impacts and are among the most serious challenges to society in coping with a changing climate. This Synthesis and Assessment Product (SAP 3.3) focuses on weather and climate extremes in a changing climate. Many extremes and their associated impacts are now changing. For example, in recent decades most of North America has been experiencing more unusually hot days and nights, fewer unusually cold days and nights, and fewer frost days. Heavy downpours have become more frequent and intense. Droughts are becoming more severe in some regions, though there are no clear trends for North America as a whole. The power and frequency of Atlantic hurricanes have increased substantially in recent decades, though North American mainland land-falling hurricanes do not appear to have increased over the past century. Outside the tropics, storm tracks are shifting northward and the strongest storms are becoming even stronger. It is well established through formal attribution studies that the global warming of the past 50 years is due primarily to human-induced increases in heat-trapping gases. Such studies have only recently been used to determine the causes of some changes in extremes at the scale of a continent. Certain aspects of observed increases in temperature extremes have been linked to human influences. The increase in heavy precipitation events is associated with an increase in water vapor, and the latter has been attributed to human-induced warming. No formal attribution studies for changes in drought severity in North America have been attempted. There is evidence suggesting a human contribution to recent changes in hurricane activity as well as in storms outside the tropics, though a confident assessment will require …
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