Bush Administration Global Change Policy: Its Evolution and Present Status

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Bush Administration Global Change Policy Its
Evolution and Present Status

• Warren M. Washington
• NCAR

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Context

• President Bush is the United States Commander in
  Chief for the war on Terrorism
• There are still substantial concerns about the
  administration views on climate policy.
  Administration asked National Academy of Sciences
  to review the IPCC report.
• Connections between Middle East policy and
  environmental policies
• Polls on environmental policymy talk to oil and
  gas CEOs on day of terrorism

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Facts and Connections

• 178 countries versus U.S.
• Bush Kyoto Treaty is fatally flawed
• Scientists agree that treaty has flaws and is
  unrealistic in many ways
• Administration is committed to finding solutions
• Kyoto Treaty is more a commitment to solutions
  than the solution
• Terrorism-Middle East Crisis-Oil-Energy-Editorial

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Proposed Bush Administration Plan for Climate
Modeling

• Bush - develop state-of-the-art climate modeling
  that will help us better understand the causes
  and impacts of climate change
• National Academy of Science Studies of the
  successes and problems
• Work with international partners
• Proposed establishment of two complementary
  high-end research centers

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Two Centers Approach

• One a high-end research center-broad
  multi-disciplinary community-Community Based
  Research Center with connections to universities
  and federal laboratories
• Second being focus on products generation for
  assessment, and policy applications -
  GFDL-NCEP-ERL- Joint Institutes
• Limited fundingsecret plan

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Workshop on Rapid and Severe Climate Change 9
October 2001

• Technological response options and research needs
• National Climate Change Technology Initiative
  (NCCTI)
• Report to the President due January 2002
• Discussion with White House Science Advisor

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Various Geoengineering Schemes if Climate Changes
gt 0.5 C/Decade

• Engineered Stratospheric Scatters
• Stratospheric Aerosols
• Increased Cloud Albedo or Amount
• Increased Surface Albedo
• Ocean SlicksModerating Hurricanes
• Altering Polar Energy Balance..Sea Ice
• Altering Ocean Currents..Sustain Thermohaline
  Circulation
• Insulating Greenland and Antarctica Polar Caps

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NCCTI Goals

• Evaluate current U.S. Climate change Technology
  RD
• Develop private-public partnerships
• Recommend demonstration projects of cutting-edge
  technologies
• Strengthen research at universities and
  laboratories

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Global to Local - Courtesy of NASA
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The End
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