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.

The Oil Pollution Act (OPA) of 1990 streamlined and strengthened EPA's ability to prevent and respond to catastrophic oil spills. A trust fund financed by a tax on oil is available to clean up spills when the responsible party is incapable or unwilling to do so. The OPA requires oil storage facilities and vessels to submit to the Federal government plans detailing how they will respond to large discharges. EPA has published regulations for above ground storage facilities; the Coast Guard has done so for oil tankers. The OPA also requires the development of Area Contingency Plans to prepare and plan for oil spill response on a regional scale.

The Pollution Prevention Act focused industry, government, and public attention on reducing the amount of pollution through cost-effective changes in production, operation, and raw materials use. Opportunities for source reduction are often not realized because of existing regulations, and the industrial resources required for compliance, focus on treatment and disposal. Source reduction is fundamentally different and more desirable than waste management or pollution control. Pollution prevention also includes other practices that increase efficiency in the use of energy, water, or other natural resources, and protect our resource base through conservation. Practices include recycling, source reduction, and sustainable agriculture.

This report contains the collective view of an international group of experts and does not necessarily represent the decisions or the stated policy of the World Health Organization.

The Third session of the IPCC highlighted the magnitude of the global environmental problem and emphasized the need of improving our knowledge base and preparation for cooperative preventive actions. The Panel also emphasized the need for the marriage of science and politics in the good sense of the word.

This law was passed by the Republic of China (Taiwan) to protect public health and the environment by preventing soil and groundwater pollution, and by promoting the sustainable use of soil and groundwater.

The Fourth session of the IPCC highlighted that developed (industrialized) countries are responsible for some 75% of the total emission of carbon dioxide and a clear commitment to stabilize and then reduce greenhouse gas emission is necessary. Also, the Panel emphasized the need for massive expansion of research and development in new energy sources and more efficient resource management procedures. discussed on the IPCC work program for 1991 and beyond and provided objective analysis of scientific and technical assessment of the issue of climate change. The Panel also approved the report of the fourth session.

Two long-term instrumental databases

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.

This document is the final version of the "Data Management for Global Change Research Policy Statements." The overall purpose of these policy statements is to facilitate full open access to quality data for global change research. They were prepared in consonance with the goal of the U.S. Global Change Research Program and represent the U.S. Government's position on the access to global change research data.

The Fifth session of the IPCC discussed on the IPCC work program for 1991 and beyond and provided objective analysis of scientific and technical assessment of the issue of climate change. The Panel also approved the report of the fourth session.

The Sixth session of the IPCC approved the report of the fifth session and agreed on many issues including establishing an IPCC Task force to make proposals on the future structure of IPCC. The Panel also decided on an interim expansion of the IPCC Bureau.

The primary objective of the Seventh session of the IPCC was to agree on the contents of the 1992 IPCC Supplement. Accordingly, the panel was informed of the results of the session of the IPCC Task Force on IPCC Structure and expressed its view on the future of its work in the last section of the 1992 Supplement (which would be further developed at its 8th's session.

The major tasks of the eighth session of the IPCC included deciding on the future IPCC structure, and agreeing on work plans of working Groups and Subgroups. The panel discussed and adopted various draft reports.

This report outlines general concepts that underlie biological diversity analysis and management, and discusses methods for considering biodiversity in current and future NEPA analyses.

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.

This guideline provides a means for assessing the impacts of potential climate change and of evaluating appropriate adaptations.

The U.S. GLOBAL CHANGE RESEARCH PROGRAM (USGCRP) supports activities that provide information and policy-relevant understanding about the coupling of human activities and the environment across a broad range of issues, perspectives, and interactions. Global change research focuses on providing scientific insight into critical global change issues and policy choices facing the nation and the world community. Global change research to address these issues is organized into a flexible multidisciplinary framework for coordinating science activities. Each global change issue is addressed through a process which strives to document, understand, predict, and assess the science in a way that yields results that are relevant to the needs of decision makers. The USGCRP is founded on the premise that international cooperation and coordination is fundamental to addressing global environmental issues. USGCRP programs significantly contribute to worldwide global change research efforts

A change in the composition of the stratosphere becomes relevant to society only if it has noticeable effects. This places the assessment of effects in a pivotal role in the problem of ozone depletion. Decreases in the quantity of total-column ozone, as now observed in many places, tend to cause increased penetration of solar UV-B radiation (290-315 nm) to the Earth's surface. UV-B radiation is the most energetic component of sunlight reaching the surface. It has profound effects on human health, animals, plants, microorganisms, materials and on air quality. Thus any perturbation which leads to an increase in UV-B radiation demands careful consideration of the possible consequences. This is the topic of the present assessment made by the Panel on Environmental Effects of Ozone Depletion.

The Panel at its tenth session called on partnerships and collaboration to address climate change, and stress the importance of involving experts from developing countries and countries with economies in transition in the activities of the Panel. The panel discussed and adopted various draft reports, and identified the following three areas on which IPCC needed to focus in its future work: Identification of gaps and uncertainties, preparations for the Third Assessment Report, and the development of methodologies on greenhouse gas inventories.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) completed its Second Assessment Report in December 1995. The major conclusions are that greenhouse gas concentrations are increasing, the global climate has been changing, and will likely continue to change, probably due to human influence.

This summary of assessment provides scientific, technical and economic information that can be used, inter alia, in evaluating whether the projected range of plausible impacts constitutes "dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system," as referred to in Article 2 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and in evaluating adaptation and mitigation options that could be used in progressing towards the ultimate objective of the UNFCCC

This summary report assesses a large part of the existing literature on the socioeconomics of climate change and identifies areas in which a consensus has emerged on key issues and areas where differences exist1. The chapters have been arranged so that they cover several key issues. First, frameworks for socioeconomic assessment of costs and benefits of action and inaction are described. Particular attention is given to the applicability of costbenefit analysis, the incorporation of equity and social considerations, and consideration of intergenerational equity issues. Second, the economic and social benefits of limiting greenhouse gas emissions and enhancing sinks are reviewed. Third, the economic, social and environmental costs of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions are assessed. Next, generic mitigation and adaptation response options are reviewed, methods for assessing the costs and effectiveness of different response options are summarized, and integrated assessment techniques are discussed. Finally, the report provides an economic assessment of policy instruments to combat climate change.

Greenhouse gas concentrations have continued to increase. Anthropogenic aerosols tend to produce negative radiative forcings. Climate has changed over the past century. The balance of evidence suggests a discernible human influence on global climate. Climate is expected to continue to change in the future. There are still many uncertainties.