Global Environmental Change, Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1991
Coll. Nato ASI Subseries I:, Vol. 1

Understanding global environmental change and predicting the consequences of global environmental variability are becoming increasingly important to the nations of the world. Global change is now on the agenda of world leaders, a substantial number of whom are deeply concerned with the potential economic, social and political consequences of human-induced variabilities in the climate system and other aspects of global environmental change. Uncertainty of scientific knowledge of global and regional processes and the limited ability of science to predict the behavior of the Earth system are of major concern. These realities place upon the international scientific community a responsibili­ ty to expand scientific knowledge and predictive capabilities about the fundamental processes that control the Earth system. The response of the scientific community has been phenomenal. National and international planning and coordination mechanisms have been established to address the fundamental scientific questions of global environmental change, e.g., the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, the World Climate Research Programme, and the U.S. Global Change Research Program and other such national programs. This NATO Workshop, entitled ''The Science of Global Environmental Change," focused on the state of knowledge in global change science and on assisting the Scientific Affairs Division of NATO in designing a 5-year program of Advanced Research Workshops (ARWs) and Advanced Study Institutes (ASIs) in the area of global change that would make a meaningful contribution to the international activities already underway.

1: Introduction.- NATO: The Special Programme on the Science of Global Environmental Change.- Purpose and Goals of the Workshop.- 2: Opening Addresses.- Global Change in the 1990’s: Imperatives for Action.- International Activity Related to global Environmental Change.- 3: Global Environmental Change: The State of the Science.- The Climate System and Hydrological Cycle.- Research Priorities for the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change.- Ecosystems and Global Environmental Change.- Biogeochemical Processes and Dynamics.- Observed Climate Variations and Change: A Study of the Data.- 4: Modeling and Data Needs.- Earth System and Astronomical Climate Modeling.- Planning for the EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS).- 5: Scientific Goals of International Research Programmes.- The IGBP — A Research Challenge for the Next Decades.- World Climate Research Programme.- The World Ocean Circulation Experiment.- TOGA: Objectives, Status and Plans.- GEWEX: The Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment.- The International Global Atmospheric Chemistry Project (IGAC).- The Joint Global Ocean Flux Study: Goals andObjectives.- Past Global Changes (PAGES) Project.