Neo-Atlantis: The Netherlands under a 5-m sea level rise

What could happen to the Netherlands if, in 2030, the sea level starts to rise and eventually, after 100 years, a sea level of 5 m above current level would be reached? This question is addressed by studying literature, by interviewing experts in widely differing fields, and by holding an expert workshop on this question. Although most experts believe that geomorphology and current engineering skills would enable the country to largely maintain its territorial integrity, there are reasons to assume that this is not likely to happen. Social processes that precede important political decisions - such as the growth of the belief in the reality of sea level rise and the framing of such decisions in a proper political context (policy window) - evolve slowly. A flood disaster would speed up the decision-making process. The shared opinion of the experts surveyed is that eventually part of the Netherlands would be abandoned. © 2008 The Author(s)

Integrative policy development for healthier people and ecosystems : a European case analysis

There is growing evidence of the inter‐relationships between ecosystems and public health. This creates opportunities for the development of cross‐sectoral policies and interventions that provide dual benefits to public health and to the natural environment. These benefits are increasingly articulated in strategy documents at national and regional level, yet implementation of integrative policies on the ground remains limited and fragmented. Here, we use a workshop approach to identify some features of this evidence–implementation gap based on policy and practice within a number of western European countries. The driving forces behind some recent moves towards more integrative policy development and implementation show important differences between countries, reflecting the non‐linear and complex nature of the policy‐making process. We use these case studies to illustrate some of the key barriers to greater integrative policy development identified in the policy analysis literature. Specific barriers we identify include: institutional barriers; differing time perspectives in public health and ecosystem management; contrasting historical development of public health and natural environment disciplinary policy agendas; an incomplete evidence base relating investment in the natural environment to benefits for public health; a lack of appropriate outcome measures including benefit–cost trade‐offs; and finally a lack of integrative policy frameworks across the health and natural environment sectors. We also identify opportunities for greater policy integration and examples of good practice from different countries. However, we note there is no single mechanism that will deliver integrative policy for healthier people and ecosystems in all countries and situations. National governments, national public agencies, local governments, research institutions, and professional bodies all share a responsibility to identify and seize opportunities for influencing policy change, whether incremental or abrupt, to ensure that ecosystems and the health of society are managed so that the interests of future generations, as well as present generations, can be protected

Virology Experts in the Boundary Zone Between Science, Policy and the Public: A Biographical Analysis

This article aims to open up the biographical black box of three experts working in the boundary zone between science, policy and public debate. A biographical-narrative approach is used to analyse the roles played by the virologists Albert Osterhaus, Roel Coutinho and Jaap Goudsmit in policy and public debate. These figures were among the few leading virologists visibly active in the Netherlands during the revival of infectious diseases in the 1980s. Osterhaus and Coutinho in particular are still the key figures today, as demonstrated during the outbreak of novel influenza A (H1N1). This article studies the various political and communicative challenges and dilemmas encountered by these three virologists, and discusses the way in which, strategically or not, they handled those challenges and dilemmas during the various stages of the field’s recent history. Important in this respect is their pursuit of a public role that is both effective and credible. We will conclude with a reflection on the H1N1 pandemic, and the historical and biographical ties between emerging governance arrangements and the experts involved in the development of such arrangements

NOAA 15 Minute Precipitation Data Documentation February 2016

Documentation related to NOAA Precipitation data, this file covers the data that is included in the online system. Please note that output format will vary from what is immediately available here, although some of the information may still be useful for working with the files

Data Rescue Boulder Scripts

Archived version of the scripts used to download data from FTP servers/crawled websites at the Data Rescue Boulder even

NOAA Cooperative Station Information and Map File

This information corresponds to the geographic location of the cooperative stations. The two digit number in each of the data set files represents a state code. See the wiki to read more about these files

NOAA 15 Minute Precipitation Data: ISO-19139 Metadata

This metadata, harvested from NCEI ISO WAF refers to the original dsi-3260 from NOAA. Please note that not all information displayed in this file reflects the current status of the data; however a good majority of it may be beneficial for understanding the content available here

1971 - 2011 06 NOAA 15 MIN Precipitation Data

This data set refers to stations in 06 (Connecticut.) Each TAR contains approximately 40 files. Each of the 40 files contains approximately 3,000 records. Note that the two digit number represents the State or Geography for the records. This collection contains approximately 1.5M records

1971 - 2011 01 NOAA 15 MIN Precipitation Data

This data set refers to stations in 01 (Alabama) Each TAR contains approximately 40 files. Each of the 40 files contains approximately 3,000 records. Note that the two digit number represents the State or Geography for the records. This collection contains approximately 1.5M record

1971 - 2011 02 NOAA 15 MIN Precipitation Data

This data set refers to stations in 02 (Arizona.) Each TAR contains approximately 40 files. Each of the 40 files contains approximately 3,000 records. Note that the two digit number represents the State or Geography for the records. This collection contains approximately 1.5M records