Climate change and sustainable development: realizing the opportunity

Manifold linkages exist between climate change and sustainable development. Although these are starting to receive attention in the climate exchange literature, the focus has typically been on examining sustainable development through a climate change lens, rather than vice versa. And there has been little systematic examination of how these linkages may be fostered in practice. This paper examines climate change through a sustainable development lens. To illustrate how this might change the approach to climate change issues, it reports on the findings of a panel of business, local government, and academic representatives in British Columbia, Canada, who were appointed to advise the provincial government on climate change policy. The panel found that sustainable development may offer a significantly more fruitful way to pursue climate policy goals than climate policy itself. The paper discusses subsequent climate change developments in the province and makes suggestions as how best to pursue such a sustainability approach in British Columbia and other jurisdictions.     

Beyond dichotomies: Gender and intersecting inequalities in climate change studies

Climate change and related adaptation strategies have gender-differentiated impacts. This paper reviews how gender is framed in 41 papers on climate change adaptation through an intersectionality lens. The main findings show that while intersectional analysis has demonstrated many advantages for a comprehensive study of gender, it has not yet entered the field of climate change and gender. In climate change studies, gender is mostly handled in a men-versus-women dichotomy and little or no attention has been paid to power and social and political relations. These gaps which are echoed in other domains of development and gender research depict a ‘feminization of vulnerability’ and reinforce a ‘victimization’ discourse within climate change studies. We argue that a critical intersectional assessment would contribute to unveil agency and emancipatory pathways in the adaptation process by providing a better understanding of how the differential impacts of climate change shape, and are shaped by, the complex power dynamics of existing social and political relations.     

Adapting air quality management for a changing climate: Survey of local districts in California

Air quality can be affected by weather and thus is sensitive to a changing climate. Wildfire (influenced by weather), consecutive high temperature summer days, and other extreme events are projected to become more severe and frequent with climate change. These may create challenging conditions for managing air quality despite policy targets to reduce precursor and pollutant emissions. Although extreme events are becoming more intense and interest in climate adaptation is increasing among public health practitioners, little attention in scholarly literature and policy covers climate adaptation for air quality governance. Understanding the management and managers’ perspectives at the local level provides insight about the needs for climate adaptation, including their adaptation status, perspectives, responsibilities, and roles. This study explores local manager perspectives and experiences of managing air quality within a changing climate as one puzzle piece to understand the gap in climate adaptation within the air quality sector. A broader goal is to contribute to the discussion of developing a multi-jurisdictional vision for reducing the impacts of air quality in a changing climate. In 2016 local air quality district managers in California were invited to participate in an online survey of 39 questions focused on extreme event impacts on air quality. The questionnaire focused on present air quality threats and extreme event challenges, adaptation status and strategies, adaptive capacities, perceived barriers to adaptation, and jurisdictional responsibilities and roles. Over 85 percent of the 35 local air districts in California participated in the survey, which represents 80 percent of the state’s population. High awareness and knowledge of climate change among local managers indicates they are ready to adopt and take action on policies that would support climate adaptation, but barriers reported suggests they may need policies and adequate funding to take action and make necessary changes.

Implications: Downscaled global climate models project an increasing severity and frequency of extreme events. In the southwestern United States, these include wildfire, heat events, and dry periods, among others, all of which can place an extra burden on air quality managers and emitters to achieve air quality standards even as they reduce emissions. Despite climate change presenting increasing challenges to meet air quality standards, in the southwestern United States, policy and action to mitigate these impacts have been surprisingly absent. California presents a valuable case study on the topic because of its historic leadership in air quality management for the United States and also because of its initiatives in combating climate change. Yet still we found that adaptation has not been incorporated into air quality management thus far, but local managers seem sufficiently knowledgeable and willing.     

PC-BEIS: A Personal Computer Version of the Biogenic Emissions Inventory System

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Biogenic Emissions Inventory System (BEIS) has been adapted for use on IBM-compatible personal computers (PCs). PC-BEIS estimates hourly emissions of Isoprene, α-plnene, other monoterpenes, and unidentified hydrocarbons for any county In the contiguous United States. To run the program, users must provide hourly data on ambient temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, cloud cover, and a code that Identifies the particular county. This paper provides an overview of the method used to calculate biogenic emissions, shows an example application, and gives information on how to obtain a copy of the program.     

Will the circle be unbroken: a history of the U.S. National Ambient Air Quality Standards

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Air & Waste Management Association, this review examines the history of air quality management (AQM) in the United States over the last century, with an emphasis on the ambient standards programs established by the landmark 1970 Clean Air Act (CAA) Amendments. The current CAA system is a hybrid of several distinct air pollution control philosophies, including the recursive or circular system driven by ambient standards. Although this evolving system has resulted in tremendous improvements in air quality, it has been far from perfect in terms of timeliness and effectiveness. The paper looks at several periods in the history of the U.S. program, including: (1) 1900-1970, spanning the early smoke abatement and smog control programs, the first federal involvement, and the development of a hybrid AQM approach in the 1970 CAA; (2) 1971-1976, when the first National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) were set and implemented; (3) 1977-1993, a period of the first revisions to the standards, new CAA Amendments, delays in implementation and decision-making, and key science/policy/legislative developments that would alter both the focus and scale of air pollution programs and how they are implemented; and (4) 1993-2006, the second and third wave of NAAQS revisions and their implementation in the context of the 1990 CAA. This discussion examines where NAAQS have helped drive implementation programs and how improvements in both effects and air quality/control sciences influenced policy and legislation to enhance the effectiveness of the system over time. The review concludes with a look toward the future of AQM, emphasizing challenges and ways to meet them. The most significant of these is the need to make more efficient progress toward air quality goals, while adjusting the system to address the growing intersections between air quality management and climate change.     

Preliminary investigation of greenhouse gas emissions from the environmental sector in Taiwan

The United Nations Framework Conventions on Climate Change (UNFCCC) asks their Parties to submit a National Inventory Report (NIR) for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on an annual basis. However, when many countries are quickly growing their economy, resulting in substantial GHG emissions, their inventory reporting systems either have not been established or been able to be linked to planning of mitigation measures at national administration levels. The present research was aimed to quantify the GHG emissions from an environmental sector in Taiwan and also to establish a linkage between the developed inventories and development of mitigation plans. The "environmental sector" consists of public service under jurisdiction of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration: landfilling, composting, waste transportation, wastewater treatment, night soil treatment, and solid waste incineration. The preliminary results were compared with that of the United States, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, and Korea, considering the gaps in the scopes of the sectors. The GHG emissions from the Taiwanese environmental sector were mostly estimated by following the default methodology in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guideline, except that of night soil treatment and waste transportation that were modified or newly developed. The GHG emissions from the environmental sectors in 2004 were 10,225 kilotons of CO2 equivalent (kt CO2 Eq.). Landfilling (48.86%), solid waste incineration (27%), and wastewater treatment (21.5%) were the major contributors. Methane was the most significant GHG (70.6%), followed by carbon dioxide (27.8%) and nitrous oxide (1.6%). In summary, the GHG emissions estimated for the environmental sector in Taiwan provided reasonable preliminary results that were consistent and comparable with the existing authorized data. On the basis of the inventory results and the comparisons with the other countries, recommendations of mitigation plans were made, including wastewater and solid waste recycling, methane recovery for energy, and waste reduction/sorting.     

Organizing For Risk Oriented Climate Alteration Research

The ubiquity in effects and complexity of modern environmental issues requires careful consideration of focused research to insure that answers to key policy oriented questions are obtained. Broad-based, unstructured research programs have proven to be inefficient instruments for characterizing risks from environmental stress. Both the expense and the importance of timeliness of information preclude a traditional “bottom-up” approach to research. Instead, a more “top-down” organized approach that links the natural and socioeconomic sciences has advantages to support environmental risk assessment and research prioritization of climate alteration. Early examples of analysis using an integrating framework for risk assessment focus on the need for research on human interactions and the environmental damage function in addition to the basic earth sciences. Nonlinearities in environmental impact of climate change, and uncertainties in the extent of growth of energy efficiencies, are seen to be key unknowns in the risk assessment of climate alternatives. To date, earth science research has not been structured well for environmental risk assessment of the climate change question. The U.S. national research program aimed at risk assessment of climate alteration is examined as an example. The examination suggests that the present conceptual plan falls short of an optimum structure derived from exploitation of an integrating framework, even though it is rich in scientific strength and diversity. To strengthen its public value and accessibility, the research program could account in its planning for prioritized needs defined by an integrating analysis for risk assessment and management.     

Applicability of the Mass Concentration Standards for Particulate Matter in Alaskan Areas

The so-called “Six Month Study” of the air toxics problem in the United States was initiated in November 1983 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The study focused on the magnitude, nature, and distribution of the problem—three major issues that were felt to be most useful to policy makers as they attempted to define the scope and direction of a national program for controlling toxic air pollutants. The following paper is based on a draft staff report on the study released for review in September 1984. The report has not been formally released by the U.S. EPA; a final report is due by late spring of 1985.     

The Swedish Regional Climate Modelling Programme, SWECLIM: a review

The Swedish Regional Climate Modelling Programme, SWECLIM, was a 6.5-year national research network for regional climate modeling, regional climate change projections and hydrological impact assessment and information to a wide range of stakeholders. Most of the program activities focussed on the regional climate system of Northern Europe. This led to the establishment of an advanced, coupled atmosphere-ocean-hydrology regional climate model system, a suite of regional climate change projections and progress on relevant data and process studies. These were, in turn, used for information and educational purposes, as a starting point for impact analyses on different societal sectors and provided contributions also to international climate research.     

Assessment of the Netherlands’ Flood Risk Management Policy Under Global Change

Climate change and sea level rise urge low-lying countries to draft adaption policies. In this context, we assessed whether, to what extent and when the Netherlands’ current flood risk management policy may require a revision. By applying scenarios on climate change and socio-economic development and performing flood simulations, we established the past and future changes in flood probabilities, exposure and consequences until about 2050. We also questioned whether the present policy may be extended much longer, applying the concept of ‘policy tipping points’. Climate change was found to cause a significant increase of flood risk, but less than economic development does. We also established that the current flood risk management policy in the Netherlands can be continued for centuries when the sea level rise rate does not exceed 1.5 m per century. However, we also conclude that the present policy may not be the most attractive strategy, as it has some obvious flaws.     

Knowledge transfer between researchers and practitioners in SUCOZOMA

A primary aim of the SUCOZOMA research program has been the transfer of knowledge from the scientific community to research users. This paper describes the intentions and ambitions regarding knowledge transfer within the program, reflecting the aim of its financier, the Swedish Foundation of Strategic Environmental Research, but also a general trend within research policy. The study investigates the areas in which SUCOZOMA has actively tried to transfer knowledge, reaching out to management and different practitioners. Many examples of communication and participation of research users in the program are described. The paper also identifies the bottlenecks and limits to communication.     

Integrated Approaches to Natural Resources Management in Practice: The Catalyzing Role of National Adaptation Programmes for Action

The relationship of forests in water quantity and quality has been debated during the past years. At the same time, focus on climate change has increased interest in ecosystem restoration as a means for adaptation. Climate change might become one of the key drivers pushing integrated approaches for natural resources management into practice. The National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) is an initiative agreed under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. An analysis was done to find out how widely ecosystem restoration and integrated approaches have been incorporated into NAPA priority adaptation projects. The data show that that the NAPAs can be seen as potentially important channel for operationalizing various integrated concepts. Key challenge is to implement the NAPA projects. The amount needed to implement the NAPA projects aiming at ecosystem restoration using integrated approaches presents only 0.7% of the money pledged in Copenhagen for climate change adaptation.     

Demonstration of innovative remedial action technologies at United States military dioxin contaminated sites

The United States Air Force is currently seeking to resolve problems associated with soils contaminated with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlordibenzo-p-dioxin (dioxin). Air Force use of the phenoxy herbicide formulation known as Herbicide Orange has resulted in soil contamination of three military sites in the Continental United States. To resolve these problems, the U.S. Air Force Engineering and Services Laboratory and its prime contractor, EG&G Idaho, have initiated a research program to evaluate, under field conditions, technologies that may reduce the level of dioxins in contaminated soils. Two pilot-scale technologies: (1) advanced electric reactor, developed by the J.M. Huber Corp., Borger, Texas, and (2) thermal desorption/U.V. destruction, developed by the I.T. Corp., Knoxville, Tennessee, have been tested at a military installation in the Southeastern United States. Although independent confirmation of technology success is pending, preliminary test results indicate that both technologies are capable of reducing the levels of dioxin in contaminated soils from 240 parts per billion to less than 1 part per billion. These data suggest that either of the technologies could be employed for full-scale site restoration. Field trials of two additional technologies are scheduled for late 1985.     

The Fallacies of Concurrent Climate Policy Efforts

Climate policy has assumed an extreme degree of urgency in the international debate in recent years. This article begins by taking a critical look at the scientific underpinnings of the efforts to stabilize the climate. It points to several serious question marks on the purported relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, and expresses distrust about claims of impending catastrophes related to rising sea levels, hurricanes, and spread of infectious disease. It then reviews the concurrent climate policy efforts and concludes that they are incoherent, misguided and unduly costly, and that they have so far had no perceptible impact on anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. The exceedingly ambitious policy plans currently under preparation suffer from similar fallacies. For these reasons, but also because of the remaining scientific doubts and the exorbitant costs that have to be incurred, skepticism is expressed about the preparedness to implement the climate policy plans currently on the table.     

University Consortia: A Unique Approach To Environmental Education And Research

Since 1970, six University Consortia have developed in various regions of the United States. These Consortia are organizations of universities designed to facilitate and coordinate joint and cooperative action by and among the participating universities in educational, research, and public service endeavors related to environmental problems. The impressive accomplishments of Consortia to date in the areas of educational program development, development of symposia and short courses, public service, and research are reviewed, and the requirements for the continued growth and development of Consortia are discussed.     

Changes in extreme events and the potential impacts on human health

Extreme weather and climate-related events affect human health by causing death, injury, and illness, as well as having large socioeconomic impacts. Climate change has caused changes in extreme event frequency, intensity, and geographic distribution, and will continue to be a driver for change in the future. Some of these events include heat waves, droughts, wildfires, dust storms, flooding rains, coastal flooding, storm surges, and hurricanes. The pathways connecting extreme events to health outcomes and economic losses can be diverse and complex. The difficulty in predicting these relationships comes from the local societal and environmental factors that affect disease burden. More information is needed about the impacts of climate change on public health and economies to effectively plan for and adapt to climate change. This paper describes some of the ways extreme events are changing and provides examples of the potential impacts on human health and infrastructure. It also identifies key research gaps to be addressed to improve the resilience of public health to extreme events in the future.

Implications: Extreme weather and climate events affect human health by causing death, injury, and illness, as well as having large socioeconomic impacts. Climate change has caused changes in extreme event frequency, intensity, and geographic distribution, and will continue to be a driver for change in the future. Some of these events include heat waves, droughts, wildfires, flooding rains, coastal flooding, surges, and hurricanes. The pathways connecting extreme events to health outcomes and economic losses can be diverse and complex. The difficulty in predicting these relationships comes from the local societal and environmental factors that affect disease burden.     

Cost-effective reduction of NOx emissions from electricity generation.

This paper analyzes the benefits and costs of policies to reduce NOx emissions from electricity generation in the United States. Because emissions of NO contribute to the high concentration of atmospheric ozone in the eastern states associated with health hazards, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has called on eastern states to formulate state implementation plans (SIPs) for reducing NOx emissions. Our analysis considers three NOx reduction scenarios: a summer seasonal cap in the eastern states covered by EPA's NOx SIP Call, an annual cap in the same SIP Call region, and a national annual cap. All scenarios allow for emissions trading. Although EPA's current policy is to implement a seasonal cap in the SIP Call region, this analysis indicates that an annual cap in the SIP Call region would yield about $400 million more in net benefits (benefits less costs) than would a seasonal policy, based on particulate-related health effects only. An annual cap in the SIP Call region is also the policy that is most likely to achieve benefits in excess of costs. Consideration of omissions from this accounting, including the potential benefits from reductions in ozone concentrations, strengthens the finding that an annual program offers greater net benefits than does a seasonal program.     

Utility of stormwater monitoring.

Stormwater runoff is now a major contributor to the pollution of coastal waters in the United States. Public agencies are responding by requiring stormwater monitoring to satisfy the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System stormwater permit. However, studies to understand the utility of the current programs or to improve their usefulness have not yet been performed. In this paper, we evaluate the land-use-based program, the industrial stormwater permit program, and beach water-quality monitoring in the County of Los Angeles, California, to determine if the results will be helpful to planners and regulators in abating stormwater pollution. The utility of the program has been assessed based on the programs' ability to accurately estimate the emissions for different classes of land use. The land-use program appears successful, while the industrial monitoring program does not. Beach water-quality monitoring suffers from a lack of real-time monitoring techniques. We also provide suggested improvements, such as sampling method and time, and parameter selection.