Table of Contents
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Front Matter	i-xviii
1 Introduction and Background	1-18	(skim)
2 Changes to the Biology and Biochemistry of Ecosystems	19-86	(skim)
3 Changes in the Climate System on Seasonal to Interannual Timescales	87-126	(skim)
4 Changes in the Climate System on Decade-to-Century Timescales	127-190	(skim)
5 Changes in the Chemistry of the Atmosphere	191-236	(skim)
6 Paleoclimate Overview	237-292	(skim)
7 Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change	293-376	(skim)
8 Observations	377-434	(skim)
9 Processing and Distributing Earth Observations and Information	435-444	(skim)
10 Modeling	445-516	(skim)
11 Findings and Recommendations	517-536	(skim)
Annex 1 - A Short History of EOSDIS, 1986 to 1995	537-541	(skim)
Annex 2 - The EOS Information Federation	542-543	(skim)
Annex 3 - Producing Trustworthy Scientific Information in the EOS Information Federation	544-550	(skim)
Appendix A - Public Law 101-606 [S. 169]; November 16, 1990 Global Change Research Act of 1990	551-562	(skim)
Appendix B - Acronyms	563-568	(skim)
Appendix C - Biographical Sketches of Committee Members	569-574	(skim)
Index	575-595	(skim)
Color Plates 1-8	596-603	(skim)

Description

How can we understand and rise to the environmental challenges of global change? One clear answer is to understand the science of global change, not solely in terms of the processes that control changes in climate and the composition of the atmosphere, but in how ecosystems and human society interact with these changes. In the last two decades of the twentieth century, a number of such research efforts--supported by computer and satellite technology--have been launched. Yet many opportunities for integration remain unexploited, and many fundamental questions remain about the earth's capacity to support a growing human population.

This volume encourages a renewed commitment to understanding global change and sets a direction for research in the decade ahead. Through case studies the book explores what can be learned from the lessons of the past 20 years and what are the outstanding scientific questions. Highlights include:

• Research imperatives and strategies for investigators in the areas of atmospheric chemistry, climate, ecosystem studies, and human dimensions of global change.
  
• The context of climate change, including lessons to be gleaned from paleoclimatology.
  
• Human responses to--and forcing of--projected global change.
  

This book offers a comprehensive overview of global change research to date and provides a framework for answering urgent questions.

Reviews

"This large volume is an important statement and a useful handbook for all those concerned with developing the research agenda in global environmental change."
--Progress in Physical Geography, March 2001

"The book begins with substantive overviews by leading scholars... The overviews are complemented in the latter part of the volume by technical chapters...."
--Environment

Authoring Organizations

• Policy Division (PD)
• Policy and Global Affairs (PGA)
• More Titles from PD
• More Titles from PGA

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