Impacts of Climate Change and Variability on Transportation Systems and Infrastructure: Gulf Coast Study, Phase I (open access)

Impacts of Climate Change and Variability on Transportation Systems and Infrastructure: Gulf Coast Study, Phase I

This document, part of the Synthesis and Assessment Products described in the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) Strategic Plan. Climate affects the design, construction, safety, operations, and maintenance of transportation infrastructure and systems. The prospect of a changing climate raises critical questions regarding how alterations in temperature, precipitation, storm events, and other aspects of the climate could affect the nation's roads, airports, rail, transit systems, pipelines, ports, and waterways. Phase I of this regional assessment of climate change and its potential impacts on transportation systems addresses these questions for the region of the U.S. central Gulf Coast between Galveston, Texas and Mobile, Alabama. This region contains multimodal transportation infrastructure that is critical to regional and national transportation services. The significance of various climate factors for transportation systems was assessed.
Date: March 2008
Creator: U.S. Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Change Research
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States, with a More Detailed Account of the Lands of Utah. With Maps. (open access)

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.
Date: 1879
Creator: Powell, John Wesley, 1834-1902
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Work of the United States Forest Service. (open access)

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.
Date: April 1940
Creator: United States. Forest Service.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Planting the roadside. (open access)

Planting the roadside.

Describes the benefits of planting trees and shrubs on the roadside, and the proper procedures for doing so.
Date: June 1926
Creator: Mulford, Furman Lloyd, b. 1869
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Scientific Assessment of the Effects of Global Change on the United States (open access)

Scientific Assessment of the Effects of Global Change on the United States

This national scientific assessment integrates and interprets the findings of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) and synthesizes findings from previous assessments, including reports and products by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It analyzes current natural and human-induced trends in global change, and projects future trends impacting the natural environment, agriculture, water resources, social systems, energy production and use, transportation, and human health. It is intended to help inform discussion of the relevant issues by decisionmakers, stakeholders, and the public. As such, this report addresses the requirements for assessment in the Global Change Research Act of 1990.1
Date: May 2008
Creator: Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. National Science and Technology Council.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States: A State of Knowledge Report from the U.S. Global Change Research Program (open access)

Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States: A State of Knowledge Report from the U.S. Global Change Research Program

This book is the most comprehensive report to date on the wide range of impacts of climate change in the United States. It is written in plain language to better inform members of the public and policymakers. The report finds that global warming is unequivocal, primarily human-induced, and its impacts are already apparent in transportation, agriculture, health, and water and energy supplies. These impacts are expected to grow with continued climate change - the higher the levels of greenhouse gas emissions, the greater the impacts. The report illustrates how these impacts can be kept to a minimum if greenhouse gas emissions are reduced. The choices we make now will determine the severity of climate change impacts in the future. This book will help citizens, business leaders, and policymakers at all levels to make informed decisions about responding to climate change and its impacts. Likely to set the policy agenda across the US for the next few years Features examples of actions currently being pursued in various regions to address climate change. Summarizes in one place the current and projected affects of climate change in the United States
Date: 2009
Creator: Karl, Thomas R.; Melillo, Jerry M.; Peterson, Thomas C. & Hassol, Susan Joy
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S. Climate Change Technology Program Strategic Plan (open access)

U.S. Climate Change Technology Program Strategic Plan

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released the Climate Change Technology Program (CCTP) Strategic Plan, which details measures to accelerate the development and reduce the cost of new and advanced technologies that avoid, reduce, or capture and store greenhouse gas emissions. According to the DOE, the CCTP is the technology component of a comprehensive U.S. strategy introduced by President George W. Bush in 2002 to combat climate change that includes measures to slow the growth of greenhouse gas emissions through voluntary, incentive-based, and mandatory partnerships; advance climate change science; spur clean energy technology development and deployment; and promote international collaboration.
Date: September 2006
Creator: The U.S. Climate Change Technology Program
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group Final Report (open access)

Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group Final Report

Final report of the Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group providing information gathered in relation to their charge, which included analysis of existing and proposed actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, review of historic and forecast emissions as a baseline for progress, and an overview of costs and benefits of recommended options.
Date: April 2008
Creator: Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Blue Ribbon Advisory Council on Climate Change, Report to Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. (open access)

Blue Ribbon Advisory Council on Climate Change, Report to Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr.

The final report from an advisory panel of 15 scientists and industry experts finding that humans are responsible for climate warming and that Utah is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions per capita than the rest of the nation. It makes about 70 recommendations for fighting global warming including: developing significant amounts of renewable energy with incentives and tax credits, encouraging the capture and disposal of carbon dioxide, improving efficiency at power plants, implementing an aggressive mass-transit strategy, and preserving open space and agricultural land and protecting forests. The report, however, does not include specific policy recommendations or rules to implement action.
Date: October 2007
Creator: Utah. Governor's Blue Ribbon Advisory Council on Climate Change
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Energy Policy Act (open access)

Energy Policy Act

The Energy Policy Act (EPA) addresses energy production in the United States, including: (1) energy efficiency; (2) renewable energy; (3) oil and gas; (4) coal; (5) Tribal energy; (6) nuclear matters and security; (7) vehicles and motor fuels, including ethanol; (8) hydrogen; (9) electricity; (10) energy tax incentives; (11) hydropower and geothermal energy; and (12) climate change technology. For example, the Act provides loan guarantees for entities that develop or use innovative technologies that avoid the by-production of greenhouse gases. Another provision of the Act increases the amount of biofuel that must be mixed with gasoline sold in the United States.
Date: January 4, 2005
Creator: United States. Congress.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Preliminary Review of Adaptation Options for Climate-Sensitive Ecosystems and Resources (open access)

Preliminary Review of Adaptation Options for Climate-Sensitive Ecosystems and Resources

The U.S. Government's Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) is responsible for providing the best science-based knowledge possible to inform management of the risks and opportunities associated with changes in the climate and related environmental systems. To support its mission, the CCSP has commissioned 21 "synthesis and assessment products" (SAPs) to advance decision making on climate change-related issues by providing current evaluations of climate change science and identifying priorities for research, observation, and decision support. This Report-SAP 4.4-focuses on federally managed lands and waters to provide a "Preliminary Review of Adaptation Options for Climate-Sensitive Ecosystems and Resources." It is one of seven reports that support Goal 4 of the CCSP Strategic Plan to understand the sensitivity and adaptability of different natural and managed ecosystems and human systems to climate and related global changes. The purpose of SAP 4.4 is to provide useful information on the state of knowledge regarding adaptation options for key, representative ecosystems and resources that may be sensitive to climate variability and change. As its title suggests, this report is a preliminary review, defined as "the process of collecting and reviewing available information about known or potential adaptation options."
Date: June 2008
Creator: U.S. Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Change Research
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library