Synthesis and Assessment Product

This brochure summarizes a report of the same title. It describes the likely impacts of climate change on human health, and potential adaptation strategies to limit the risks and damages

Synthesis and Assessment Product

This brochure discusses climate change, and scientific methods of making climate observations

Impact of Climate Range on the Desert Pupfish

This activity is a resource for teachers of grades 5-8 to conduct a lesson on the impact of climate change on a specific species

Synthesis and Assessment Product

This brochure describes sources of carbon emissions in North America, and ways to remove those emissions from the atmosphere

Emissions Caps for Electricity

This map shows states that cap greenhouse gas emissions through performance standards or through cap and trade systems

Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicle Policies

This map shows state laws and regulations that affect medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. The policies include tax incentives, fines, guidelines, and grants

Greenhouse Gas Reporting and Registries

This map shows states with common systems for consistent and transparent reporting of greenhouse gas emissions

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Targets

This map shows states with greenhouse gas emissions targets

Active Climate Legislative Commissions and Executive Branch Advisory Groups

This map shows states with government bodies that study the impacts of climate change and recommend policies for mitigation and adaptation

Urbanization: A Critical Human Dimension of Global Environmental Change

Urbanization is a global phenomenon that has transformed and continues to alter landscapes and the ways in which societies function and develop. For this issue of UGEC Viewpoints, the editors collected case-studies presented at the Open Meeting that span across regions and themes: from Australia and the United States, as well as the less developed nations in Africa, megacities of Asia such as Dhaka, Bangladesh and Delhi, India, vulnerable coastal areas of the Yucatan Peninsula, and the largest rainforest in the world, the Brazilian Amazon. Currently, more than half of the world's population lives in cities; the United Nations projects that by 2030 the world will advance to the 60% urbanization threshold. Rapid urbanization effects will not only be present within the immediate locations (cities and their metropolitan areas), but will be experienced regionally and globally. The UGEC project seeks to better understand these implications and the complex dynamic systems of urban areas that affect and are affected by global environmental change (e.g., climate change, natural disasters, loss of biodiversity, freshwater ecosystem decline, desertification, and land degradation). Several commonalities are readily identifiable in the authors' research, some of which include an attention to the roles of the governance structures within cities; the functioning of ecosystem services, water, food, and sanitation service provision; as well as the role of research in assisting the successful development of sustainable urban plans and policies