Business Actions Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Hearing Before the Committee on Science, House of Representatives, One Hundred Ninth Congress, First Session, June 8, 2005, Volume 4

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U.S. Government Printing Office, 2005 - Business & Economics - 141 pages
Amicus Readers at level 1 include: a picture glossary, a table of contents, index, websites, and literacy notes located in the back of each book. Additionally, content words are introduced within the text supported by a variety of photo labels. In particular, this title describes a trip to the zoo in which the reader learns about various animals. Includes visual literacy activity.
 

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Page 7 - We accept the views of most scientists that enough is known about the science and environmental impacts of climate change for us to take actions to address its consequences.
Page 112 - ... use around the world is the paucity of data available to evaluate the ability of coupled models to simulate important aspects of past climate. In addition, the observing system available today is a composite of observations that neither provide the information nor the continuity in the data needed to support measurements of climate variables. Therefore, above all, it is essential to ensure the existence of a long-term observing system that provides a more definitive observational foundation to...
Page 105 - The fact mat the magnitude of the observed warming is large in comparison to natural variability as simulated in climate models is suggestive of such a linkage, but it does not constitute proof of one because the model simulations could be deficient in natural variability on the decadal to century time scale.
Page 89 - ... that determine the sensitivity of the climate system to a prescribed increase in greenhouse gases. There also is a pressing need for a global observing system designed for monitoring climate. The committee generally agrees with the assessment of human-caused climate change presented in the IPCC Working Group I (WGI) scientific report, but seeks here to articulate more clearly the level of confidence that can be ascribed to those assessments and the caveats that need to be attached to them. This...
Page 92 - Hydrologic impacts could be significant over the western United States, where much of the water supply is dependent on the amount of snow pack and the timing of the spring runoff. Increased rainfall rates could impact pollution run-off and flood control. With higher sea level, coastal regions could be subject to increased wind and flood damage even if tropical storms do not change in intensity. A significant warming also could have far reaching implications for ecosystems. The costs and risks involved...
Page 90 - ... burning. Nitrous oxide (N2O) is formed by many microbial reactions in soils and waters, including those acting on the increasing amounts of nitrogen-containing fertilizers. Some synthetic chemical processes that release nitrous oxide have also been identified. Its concentration has increased approximately 13% in the past 200 years. Atmospheric concentrations of CFCs rose steadily following their first synthesis in 1928 and peaked in the early 1990s. Many other industrially useful fluorinated...
Page 108 - ... to increased wind and flood damage even if tropical storms do not change in intensity. A significant warming also could have far reaching implications for ecosystems. The costs and risks involved are difficult to quantify at this point and are, in any case, beyond the scope of this brief report. Health outcomes in response to climate change are the subject of intense debate. Climate is one of a number of factors influencing the incidence of infectious disease. Cold-related stress would decline...
Page 105 - Because of the large and still uncertain level of natural variability inherent in the climate record and the uncertainties in the time histories of the various forcing agents (and particularly aerosols), a causal linkage between the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and the observed climate changes during me 20lh century cannot be unequivocally established.
Page 112 - Climate models are built using the best scientific knowledge of the processes that operate within the climate system, which in turn are based on observations of these systems. A major limitation of these model forecasts for use around the world is the paucity of data available to evaluate the ability of coupled models to simulate important aspects of past climate. In addition, the observing system available today is a composite of observations that neither provide the information nor the continuity...
Page 85 - ... consensus scientific views and judgments of committee members, based on the accumulated knowledge that these individuals have gained — both through their own scholarly efforts and through formal and informal interactions with the world's climate change science community. The result is a report that, in my view, provides policy makers with a succinct and balanced overview of what science can currently say about the potential for future climate change, while outlining the uncertainties that remain...

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