The Sustainable Sites Initiative: Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks (open access)

The Sustainable Sites Initiative: Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks

This guide describes how to develop a site in a way that does the least damage to the ecosystem, and provides maximum ecological benefits, including improved air quality, storm water treatment, and energy efficiency.
Date: 2009
Creator: American Society of Landscape Architects
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Economics of Climate Change in Southeast Asia: A Regional Review (open access)

The Economics of Climate Change in Southeast Asia: A Regional Review

The study examines climate change issues in Southeast Asia, with a particular focus on Indonesia,Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.The study is intended to enrich the debate on the economics of climate change that includes the economic costs and benefits of unilateral and regional actions. It seeks to raise awareness among stakeholders of the urgency of the grave challenges facing the region, and to build consensus of the governments, business sectors, and civil society on the need for incorporating daptation and mitigation measures into national development planning processes.
Date: April 1, 2009
Creator: Asian Development Bank
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Decision-Support Experiments and Evaluations using Seasonal-to-Interannual Forecasts and Observational Data: A Focus on Water Resources (open access)

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.
Date: January 2009
Creator: Beller-Simms, Nancy; Ingram, Helen; Feldman, David; Mantua, Nathan; Jacobs, Katharine L. & Waple, Anne M.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Recent Greenhouse Gas Concentrations (open access)

Recent Greenhouse Gas Concentrations

Gases typically measured in parts per million (ppm), parts per billion (ppb) or parts per trillion (ppt) by volume are presented separately to facilitate comparison of numbers.
Date: July 2009
Creator: Blasing, T.J.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Illinois Commodity/Waste Generation and Characterization Study (open access)

Illinois Commodity/Waste Generation and Characterization Study

This study was conducted to find ways to reduce waste and increase recycling and composting in Illinois. The report contains data on the composition of residential and commercial waste from around the state and makes recommendations for future consideration.
Date: May 22, 2009
Creator: Camp, Dresser & McKee
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Past Climate Variability and Change in the Arctic and at High Latitudes (open access)

Past Climate Variability and Change in the Arctic and at High Latitudes

This Climate Change Science Program Synthesis and Assessment Product addresses current capabilities to integrate observations of the climate system into a consistent description of past and current conditions through the method of reanalysis. In addition, the Product assesses present capabilities to attribute causes for climate variations and trends over North America during the reanalysis period, which extends from the mid-twentieth century to the present. This Product reviews Past Climate Variability and Change in the Arctic and at High Latitudes. Paleoclimate records play a key role in our understanding of Earth's past and present climate system and in our confidence in predicting future climate changes. Paleoclimate data help to elucidate past and present active mechanisms of climate change by placing the short instrumental record into a longer term context and by permitting models to be tested beyond the limited time that instrumental measurements have been available. Recent observations in the Arctic have identified large ongoing changes and important climate feedback mechanisms that multiply the effects of global-scale climate changes. As discussed in this report, paleoclimate data show that land and sea ice have grown with cooling temperatures and have shrunk with warming ones, amplifying temperature changes while causing and responding to …
Date: January 2009
Creator: Climate Change Science Program (U.S.). Subcommittee on Global Change Research.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Third Biennial Report of the Climate Neutral Working Group (open access)

Third Biennial Report of the Climate Neutral Working Group

In accordance with the directives outlined in Executive Order #14-03, this Third Biennial Report of the Climate Neutral Working Group (CNWG) provides an update regarding: The state of the science of responding to climate change; Efforts to meet the goals of the Executive Order; Future planned steps and their anticipated impacts, expected challenges, and opportunities; Opportunities to initiate a statewide voluntary greenhouse gas emissions registry; The feasibility of a carbon emissions cap and trading program. Also summarized within this report are a number of related ongoing efforts within state government that will facilitate an expanded and coordinated campaign to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Recommended actions for continued GHG emissions reductions are presented in this report to be considered for implementation during 2009 – 2010 by Vermont State Government.
Date: July 2009
Creator: Climate Neutral Working Group
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy Special Report 299 (open access)

A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy Special Report 299

This report from the Transportation Research Board suggests that federal, state, and local policy makers need informed guidance about the effectiveness, costs, feasibility, and acceptability of transportation strategies to mitigate transportation greenhouse gas emissions, to conserve energy, and to adapt to climate change. The report covers strategies affecting travel and mode choice, models and decision tools, infrastructure investment options and infrastructure construction, operation, and maintenance. The report recommends beginning a research and development initiative by making a modest investment of $40 million to $45 million annually in the next surface transportation authorization that would be used to develop the best available guidance quickly on the basis of existing information and then begin to improve that guidance over time as new research is completed.
Date: October 2009
Creator: Committee for Study on Transportation Research Programs to Address Energy and Climate Change
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Interim Framework for Effective Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning (open access)

Interim Framework for Effective Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning

This report describes policy recommendations for coastal and marine spatial planning in order to protect ecosystems while continuing to allow economic activity.
Date: December 9, 2009
Creator: Council on Environmental Quality (U.S.)
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Proposed National Objectives, Principles and Standards for Water and Related Resources Implementation Studies (open access)

Proposed National Objectives, Principles and Standards for Water and Related Resources Implementation Studies

This document reflects planning efforts by the Executive Office of the President to design federal policy for the use of water resources.
Date: December 3, 2009
Creator: Council on Environmental Quality (U.S.)
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Recovery Through Retrofit (open access)

Recovery Through Retrofit

This report describes recommendations for federal action to address barriers to retrofitting home residences for energy efficiency.
Date: 2009
Creator: Council on Environmental Quality (U.S.)
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library

Mongolia Assessment Report on Climate Change 2009

This report brings together the findings of climate change research in Mongolia to raise awareness of decision makers and the general public so that they can develop appropriate responses to the challenges and threats. The content of the Report includes the following: (i) Observed changes in climate of Mongolia and its future projections; (ii) Potential impacts of climate change on natural and ecological components (ecosystem shifts and landscape changes, permafrost, glacier and snow cover, water resource, natural disaster, desertification, dust and sand storms), and social and economic sectors (animal husbandry, arable farming/agriculture, and forestry) of Mongolia; (iii) Vulnerability and Adaptation to climate change; (iv) Greenhouse gas monitoring and inventories; (v) Greenhouse gas mitigation potentials and options; and (ii) Climate-friendly technology needs.
Date: 2009
Creator: Dagvadorj, D.; Natsagdorj, L.; Dorjpurev, J. & Namkhainyam, B.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Improving Market Access for Dryland Commodities in East Africa: Synthesis Report (open access)

Improving Market Access for Dryland Commodities in East Africa: Synthesis Report

The report is based on the findings of a baseline survey carried out in four cross-border sites of global biodiversity significance in East Africa. The survey aimed to establish which dryland commodities might have sufficient market potential to lead to an improvement in livelihoods, while enabling sustainable natural resource development; and to identify processes by which this might be achieved.
Date: October 2009
Creator: Dawson, John
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
G8 Climate Scorecards (open access)

G8 Climate Scorecards

The report concludes with a global cumulative GHG emission cap for the period from 2010 till 2050. It outlines mid-term and long-term cumulative emission allowances for key countries under the three equity approaches and trajectories for these countries to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius. The objective of the report is to initiate a constructive debate among and foster long-term commitments of the parties while moving towards a fair, ambitious and binding Copenhagen agreement.
Date: July 2009
Creator: Dr. Höhne, Niklas; Eisbrenner k. Katja; Hagemann, Markus & Moltmann, Sara
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Earth System Governance: People, Places, and the Planet (open access)

Earth System Governance: People, Places, and the Planet

This science plan elaborates upon the concept of Earth system governance, defined as the interrelated systems of formal and informal rules and actor-networks that are set up to steer societies towards preventing, mitigating, and adapting to environmental change within the normative context of sustainable development. The notion of governance here refers to a less hierarchical and more decentralized system than traditional governmental policy-making, inclusive of non-state actors such as non-governmental organizations, indigenous communities, and international organizations.
Date: 2009
Creator: Earth System Governance Project
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Cultivating the Future: Food in the Age of Climate Change (open access)

Cultivating the Future: Food in the Age of Climate Change

The brochure promotes government incentives for farmers to lower agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and expand carbon sinks by sequestering carbon through organic farming and reduced tillage; reducing nitrous oxide emissions through minimal use of nitrogen fertilizer, capturing methane emissions from anaerobic manure handling facilities; reducing the use of fossil fuels on farms; increasing the generation of electricity from wind, solar and small-scale hydro; expanding the use of practices like hedges, shelterbelts, and forested riparian zones; expanding local food supply for local consumption; and supporting the use of sustainable biochar derived from farm and urban organic wastes.
Date: 2009
Creator: Girardet, Herbert; Bree, Axel; Rohde, Anja & Hilmar Bee
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Global Carbon Finance: A quantitative modelling framework to explore scenarios of the Global Deal on Climate Change (open access)

Global Carbon Finance: A quantitative modelling framework to explore scenarios of the Global Deal on Climate Change

According to the abstract, the purpose of this paper is to provide a quantitative research methodology for analyzing the costs of dealing with climate change.
Date: April 2009
Creator: Great Britain. Office of Climate Change
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Projections of Global Emissions of Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases in 2050 (open access)

Projections of Global Emissions of Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases in 2050

This is the result of a German study which underlines once more the urgent need for measures to reduce F-gas emissions. Global emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases (F-gases) will increase to 4 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalents by 2050 if no political mitigation measures are taken. The contribution of F-gases to global warming is projected to grow from 1.3% (2004) to 7.9% of total direct CO2 emissions.
Date: November 2009
Creator: Gschrey, Barbara; Schwarz, Winfried & Öko-Recherche
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Balancing Act: China’s Role in Climate Change (open access)

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.
Date: April 1, 2009
Creator: Hallding, Karl; Han, Guoyi & Olsson, Marie
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
IPCC Expert Meeting on the Science of Alternative Metrics: Meeting Report (open access)

IPCC Expert Meeting on the Science of Alternative Metrics: Meeting Report

This extended report of the IPCC Expert Meeting on the Science of Alternative Metrics that was held in Oslo 18-20 March 2009 is provided in response to an invitation from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under Kyoto Protocol (UNFCCC AWG-KP) to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to undertake further technical assessment of alternative common metrics which are used to calculate the CO2 equivalence of anthropogenic emissions by sources, and removals by sinks, of greenhouse gases listed in Annex A to the Kyoto Protocol. The outcome of the expert meeting was an agreed set of key conclusions and recommendations to UNFCCC in response to the request of the AWG-KP as well as more specific recommendations to the scientific community regarding research needs and ones relevant to the scoping of the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). These were presented to the IPCC Plenary in a short report at its 30th session in Antalya, 21-23 April 2009. The current full report of the expert meeting amplifies those conclusions and recommendations and includes the extended abstracts of the meeting presentations as well as a general bibliography.
Date: May 2009
Creator: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Synthesis Report on Observations, Projections, and Impact Assessments of Climate Change: Climate Change and Its Impacts in Japan (open access)

Synthesis Report on Observations, Projections, and Impact Assessments of Climate Change: Climate Change and Its Impacts in Japan

The Japan synthesis report includes causes of global warming, the current state and future of global warming, the impacts of and adaptation to climate change, and methodologies for observing and projecting climate change and impact.
Date: October 2009
Creator: Japan Meteorological Agency
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Japan-U.S. Joint Message on Climate Change Negotiations (open access)

Japan-U.S. Joint Message on Climate Change Negotiations

A joint message on Climate Change Negotiations between Japan and U.S.
Date: November 2009
Creator: Japan. Gaimushō.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Japan's Initiative on Climate Change (open access)

Japan's Initiative on Climate Change

Japan's Initiative on Climate Change defines the current state of climate change, summarizes diplomacy related to international environmental cooperation, and international climage change policy, with an outlook to the future.
Date: May 2009
Creator: Japan. Gaimushō.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Manual for Quantitative Evaluation of the Co-Benefits Approach to Climate Change Projects. Version 1.0 (open access)

Manual for Quantitative Evaluation of the Co-Benefits Approach to Climate Change Projects. Version 1.0

The wide diversity of developing countries dictates that sustainable development might include different measures in different contexts. This document provides information on quantitatively evaluating measures for sustainable development.
Date: June 2009
Creator: Japan. Kankyōshō.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library