Climate change and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been an issue in the 108th Congress, as they have been over the past decade. Bills directly addressing climate change issues range from those focused primarily on climate change research (H.R. 1578 and S. 1164) to comprehensive emissions cap and trading programs for all six greenhouse gases (S. 139 and H.R. 4067). This report briefly discusses basic concepts on which these bills are based, and compares major provisions of the bills in each of the following categories: climate change research, GHG reporting and registries, and cap and trade programs.

Describes measures, substances, and materials, both offensive and defensive, that have been found most effective against mosquitoes.

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.

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.

Describes how farmers and ranchers can use wood chips to prevent soil erosion, as bedding for livestock, and as a way to make soil richer for producing crops.

Describes the benefits of planting trees and shrubs on the roadside, and the proper procedures for doing so.

This report reviews the status of energy efficiency and renewable energy legislation introduced during the 109th Congress. Action in the second session has focused on appropriations bills; the first session focused on omnibus energy policy bill H.R. 6, H.R. 3, and several appropriations bills. For each bill listed in this report, a brief description and a summary of action are given, including references to committee hearings and reports. Also, a selected list of hearings on renewable energy is included. This report supplements the tracking of issues that appear in CRS Issue Brief IB10020 and CRS Issue Brief IB10041.

In December 2007, the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held their 13th annual meeting in Bali, Indonesia, and began the process of working toward an agreement/treaty that would succeed the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC when it expires in 2012. The Protocol includes a mandate for a reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30 developed/industrialized nations to an average of some 5% below their 1990 levels over the commitment period 2008-2012. The broad array of these issues, briefly discussed in this report, has been described by some as comprising perhaps the most complex negotiations ever undertaken internationally.

Describes the importance of soil conservation practices and their effect on wheat production.

This report describes SEA (Strategic Environmental Assessment), and case studies demonstrating the merits of SEA in Europe and North America. The report is aimed at helping readers understanding and implementing SEA.

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 …

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."

This brief document contains remarks by Dr. James Mahoney to the U.S Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

This document provide a brief overview of Dr. Eric J. Barron's talk on the results of the USGCRP-sponsored forum to evaluate the results of model simulations of climate change, a cross-section of leading climate and Earth system modelers and skeptics considered what is known with certainty, what is known with less certainty, and what remains uncertain.

What is the overall state of the Arctic environment? The aim of this report is to answer the many aspects of this seemingly straightforward question. Although several national and international efforts have looked at parts of the Arctic, this is the first attempt to assess the state of Arctic flora and fauna as a whole.

This document reports the global and Japanese trends in creating a low carbon, material-cycle society. It also describes the policy measures taken by Japan towards establishing such a society.

Average temperature has risen 1 degree F over the last century in the Mid-Atlantic Region as well as across the globe. Climate science is developing rapidly and many studies project additional warming. Although the future is uncertain and difficult to predict, our best science suggests the following changes are likely. The Mid-Atlantic Region will be somewhat warmer and perhaps wetter, resulting in a wide range of impacts on plants, wildlife, and humans. Human activities that release heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere will continue to accelerate the observed warming trend. Climate change will compound existing stresses from population density and development. The region's overall economy is quite resilient, but impacts will be more severe for some economic activities and localities.

This Law is established in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China with a view to improving the protection, management and development of grasslands and ensuring their rational use; protecting and improving the ecology; modernizing animal husbandry; enhancing the prosperity of local economies of the national autonomous areas; and meeting the needs of socialism and people's livelihoods. The law was adopted at the 11th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress and promulgated by Order No. 26 of the President of the People's Republic of China on June 18, 1985, and effective as of October 1, 1985

This booklet highlights key findings of Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, a state of knowledge report about the observed and projected consequences of climate change for our nation and people. It is an authoritative scientific report written in plain language, with the goal of better informing public and private decision making at all levels. The report draws from a large body of scientific information including the set of 21 synthesis and assessment products from the U.S. Global Change Research Program, the assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and much more. It also includes new information published since these assessments were released. While the primary focus of the report is on the impacts of climate change in the United States, it also discusses some of the actions society is already taking or can take to respond to the climate challenge. These include limiting climate change by, for example, reducing emissions of heat-trapping gases or increasing their removal from the atmosphere. The importance of our current choices about heat-trapping emissions is underscored by comparing impacts resulting from higher versus lower emissions scenarios. Choices about emissions made now will have far-reaching consequences for climate change impacts, with lower …

This Law was established for the purpose of the prevention and control of soil erosion; the protection and rational utilization of water and soil resources; the mitigation of flooding, drought, and sandstorm; the improvement of ecological environment and the development of production.

Monsoon Asia Integrated Regional Study (MAIRS) is an IRS research program over monsoon Asia under START and the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP). It was established to address questions about the coupled human and environment system in the monsoon Asia region. The vision of MAIRS is to significantly advance understanding of the interactions between the human and natural components of the overall environment in the monsoon Asian region and implications for the global earth system, in order to support strategies for sustainable development. Regional-scale studies of global change provide the knowledge base for undertaking vulnerability analyses, identification of hotspots of risk and studies of environmental degradation which are crucial for the sustainable development. Regions may manifest significantly different environmental dynamics, and changes in regional biophysical, biogeochemical and anthropogenic components may produce considerably different consequences for the earth system at the global scale. Regions are not closed systems and thus the linkages between regional changes and the global earth system are crucial. This specific report focuses on Planning Workshop on MAIRS Mountain Zone Implementation that held in China. Integrated Regional Studies (IRSs) should have relevance for people living in the regions and should provide a sound scientific basis for the sustainable …

This Law was enacted in order to promote cleaner production, increase the efficiency of resource utilization, reduce and avoid the generation of pollutants, protect and improve the environment, ensure public health, and promote sustainable development of the economy and society.

The global carbon cycle is of intense interest to policy-makers, the scientific community, and public organizations. As a result, numerous new programmes and projects have been developed over the last few years. TCO and GCP are two such complementary initiatives which share a common goal of advancing the availability of more accurate and mutually consistent estimates of terrestrial carbon sources, sinks and processes, regionally and globally, through syntheses of observations and models. The workshop was intended to advance the availability of more accurate and mutually consistent estimates of the distribution of carbon sources and sinks at a regional and global level. This goal can be achieved by convergence of in situ and satellite observations, experiments and modelling strategies; improvements in data acquisition and sharing; and product generation, distribution and use. The workshop focused on the following questions and associated issues: 1. What carbon cycle data products could be routinely produced from a carbon observation system based on model-data and model-data fusion? 2. What are the main conceptual approaches to assimilating atmospheric carbon content, terrestrial carbon flux and remotely sensed data into coupled atmospheric circulation-carbon cycle models? 3. What is the present and eventual uncertainty regarding the main carbon fluxes at …

The Panel at its ninth session would set the stage for the assessment process envisaged over the next two years. The panels also stressed the need for a high scientific and technical standard which would ensure the best information to decision-makers. The panel discussed and adopted various draft reports, including the draft work plan of working groups.