This book assesses the 50 regional seismic networks funded by various federal, state, and private sources that operate autonomously in the United States. Most have aging equipment and suffer from declining sources of operating funds. Yet, they provide valuable scientific data as well as information about seismicity and earthquakes around their locales. The volume describes the advent of the new National Seismic Network, operated by the U.S. Geological Survey. The National Seismic Network provides a unique opportunity to integrate the regional networks with the national network. This system will preserve the valuable work of the regional networks and enhance the capabilities of the national network.
Given China's current and potential impacts on the global environment and the contributions Chinese science can make to global change research, China's full participation in international research programs dealing with global change is very important. This book provides insights into how research priorities are determined and detailed information about institutional infrastructure, human resources, and other factors that will constrain or facilitate Chinese responses to and research on global change issues. An overview of research relevant to the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program and the World Climate Research Program is presented. Additionally, research in certain areas of atmospheric chemistry and physical and ecological interactions of the atmosphere and land surface are explored in further detail.
Negotiators from more than 35 countries are attempting to formulate a nuclear test-ban treaty and delineate a system from monitoring compliance. This book covers: (1) the desirable characteristics and capabilities of seismic monitoring stations; (2) recommendations on the flow paths and handling of the data, which are to be unclassified; and (3) the types and extent of research that will be needed in the next decade. The primary focus of the book is to explore how basic seismological research and test ban monitoring can be mutually beneficial.
This book assesses the 50 regional seismic networks funded by various federal, state, and private sources that operate autonomously in the United States. Most have aging equipment and suffer from declining sources of operating funds. Yet, they provide valuable scientific data as well as information about seismicity and earthquakes around their locales. The volume describes the advent of the new National Seismic Network, operated by the U.S. Geological Survey. The National Seismic Network provides a unique opportunity to integrate the regional networks with the national network. This system will preserve the valuable work of the regional networks and enhance the capabilities of the national network.
Computers and telecommunications have revolutionized the processes of scientific research. How is this information technology being applied and what difficulties do scientists face in using information technology? How can these difficulties be overcome? Information Technology and the Conduct of Research answers these questions and presents a variety of helpful examples. The recommendations address the problems scientists experience in trying to gain the most benefit from information technology in scientific, engineering, and clinical research.
This volume tells 16 remarkable storiesâ€"first person accounts of how information and communication technologies have been successfully introduced into institutions for the benefit of scientists and engineers in sub-Saharan Africa. These case studies focus on the lessons learned in designing and implementing projects dealing with scientific and technological information and examine the impact.
The advent of highly precise space-based geodetic techniques has led to the application of these techniques to the solution of global earth and ocean problems. Now under consideration is a worldwide network of interconnected fiducial stations where geodetic as well as other scientific measurements can be made. This book discusses the science rationale behind the concept of an extensive global network of fiducial sites. It identifies geophysical problems that cannot be solved without a global approach and cites geodetic objectives that call for a global deployment of fiducial sites. It concludes with operations considerations and proposes a plan for development of the global network.
In a giant step toward managing today's pollution problems more effectively, this report lays out a framework to coordinate an interdisciplinary and international investigation of the chemical composition and cycles of the troposphere. The approach includes geographical surveys, field measurements, the development of appropriate models, and improved instrumentation.
On September 24, 1996, President Clinton signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty at the United Nations Headquarters. Over the next five months, 141 nations, including the four other nuclear weapon statesâ€"Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdomâ€"added their signatures to this total ban on nuclear explosions. To help achieve verification of compliance with its provisions, the treaty specifies an extensive International Monitoring System of seismic, hydroacoustic, infrasonic, and radionuclide sensors. This volume identifies specific research activities that will be needed if the United States is to effectively monitor compliance with the treaty provisions.
Global climate change is one of America's most significant long-term policy challenges. Human activity-especially the use of fossil fuels, industrial processes, livestock production, waste disposal, and land use change-is affecting global average temperatures, snow and ice cover, sea-level, ocean acidity, growing seasons and precipitation patterns, ecosystems, and human health. Climate-related decisions are being carried out by almost every agency of the federal government, as well as many state and local government leaders and agencies, businesses and individual citizens. Decision makers must contend with the availability and quality of information, the efficacy of proposed solutions, the unanticipated consequences resulting from decisions, the challenge of implementing chosen actions, and must consider how to sustain the action over time and respond to new information. Informing an Effective Response to Climate Change, a volume in the America's Climate Choices series, describes and assesses different activities, products, strategies, and tools for informing decision makers about climate change and helping them plan and execute effective, integrated responses. It discusses who is making decisions (on the local, state, and national levels), who should be providing information to make decisions, and how that information should be provided. It covers all levels of decision making, including international, state, and individual decision making. While most existing research has focused on the physical aspect of climate change, Informing an Effective Response to Climate Change employs theory and case study to describe the efforts undertaken so far, and to guide the development of future decision-making resources. Informing an Effective Response to Climate Change offers much-needed guidance to those creating public policy and assists in implementing that policy. The information presented in this book will be invaluable to the research community, especially social scientists studying climate change; practitioners of decision-making assistance, including advocacy organizations, non-profits, and government agencies; and college-level teachers and students.
This latest Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will again form the standard reference for all those concerned with climate change and its consequences, including students, researchers and policy makers in environmental science, meteorology, climatology, biology, ecology, atmospheric chemistry and environmental policy.
Virtually all of the growth in the world's population for the foreseeable future will take place in the cities and towns of the developing world. Over the next twenty years, most developing countries will for the first time become more urban than rural. The benefits from urbanization cannot be overlooked, but the speed and sheer scale of this transformation present many challenges. A new cast of policy makers is emerging to take up the many responsibilities of urban governanceâ€"as many national governments decentralize and devolve their functions, programs in poverty, health, education, and public services are increasingly being deposited in the hands of untested municipal and regional governments. Demographers have been surprisingly slow to devote attention to the implications of the urban transformation. Drawing from a wide variety of data sources, many of them previously inaccessible, Cities Transformed explores the implications of various urban contexts for marriage, fertility, health, schooling, and children's lives. It should be of interest to all involved in city-level research, policy, planning, and investment decisions.
The rapid evolution of information technology (IT) is transforming our society and its institutions. For the most knowledge-intensive entities of all, research universities, profound IT-related challenges and opportunities will emerge in the next decade or so. Yet, there is a sense that some of the most significant issues are not well understood by academic administrators, faculty, and those who support or depend on the institution's activities. This study identifies those information technologies likely to evolve in the near term (a decade or less) that could ultimately have a major impact on the research university. It also examines the possible implications of these technologies for the research universityâ€"its activities (learning, research, outreach) and its organization, management, and financingâ€"and for the broader higher education enterprise. The authoring committee urges research universities and their constituents to develop new strategies to ensure that they survive and thrive in the digital age.
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, understanding the need for policy makers at the national level to entrain the behavioral and social sciences in addressing the challenges of global climate change, called on the National Research Council to organize two workshops to showcase some of the decision-relevant contributions that these sciences have already made and can advance with future efforts. The workshops focused on two broad areas: (1) mitigation (behavioral elements of a strategy to reduce the net future human influence on climate) and (2) adaptation (behavioral and social determinants of societal capacity to minimize the damage from climate changes that are not avoided). Facilitating Climate Change Responses documents the information presented in the workshop presentations and discussions. This material illustrates some of the ways the behavioral and social sciences can contribute to the new era of climate research.
This Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will again form the standard scientific reference for all those concerned with climate change and its consequences, including students and researchers in environmental science, meteorology, climatology, biology, ecology and atmospheric chemistry. It provides invaluable material for decision makers and stakeholders at international, national and local level, in government, businesses, and NGOs. This volume provides: • An authoritative and unbiased overview of the physical science basis of climate change • A more extensive assessment of changes observed throughout the climate system than ever before • New dedicated chapters on sea-level change, biogeochemical cycles, clouds and aerosols, and regional climate phenomena • Extensive coverage of model projections, both near-term and long-term climate projections • A detailed assessment of climate change observations, modelling, and attribution for every continent • A new comprehensive atlas of global and regional climate projections for 35 regions of the world
Some issues addressed in this Working Group III volume are mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, managing biological carbon reservoirs, geo-engineering, costing methods, and decision-making frameworks.
Federal financial aid for postsecondary education students involves both large expenditures and a complex distribution system. The accuracy of the needs-based award process and the system of accountability required of the 8,000 institutional participants are the focus of this book. It assesses the current measures of system quality and possible alternatives, such as a total quality management approach. The analysis covers steps to eliminate sources of errorâ€"by reducing the complexity of the application form, for example. The volume discusses the potential for a risk-based approach for verification of applicant-supplied information and for audit and program reviews of institutions. This examination of the interrelationships among the aid award and quality control activities will be of interest to anyone searching for a more efficient aid system. The book can also serve as a case study for other government agencies seeking to examine operations using modern quality management principles.
The report reviews a U.S. Department of the Interior research program, finding that it provides key information to support the restoration of the Florida Everglades and to better assess the impact of hydrologic change on the ecosystem. However, the program needs more funding, better management and broader distribution of its findings. The report suggests that strategic investments in Everglades research will increase the chances of reaching restoration goals while reducing overall costs.
The National Children's Study (NCS) is planned to be the largest long-term study of environmental and genetic effects on children's health ever conducted in the United States. It proposes to examine the effects of environmental influences on the health and development of approximately 100,000 children across the United States, following them from before birth until age 21. By archiving all of the data collected, the NCS is intended to provide a valuable resource for analyses conducted many years into the future. This book evaluates the research plan for the NCS, by assessing the scientific rigor of the study and the extent to which it is being carried out with methods, measures, and collection of data and specimens to maximize the scientific yield of the study. The book concludes that if the NCS is conducted as proposed, the database derived from the study should be valuable for investigating hypotheses described in the research plan as well as additional hypotheses that will evolve. Nevertheless, there are important weaknesses and shortcomings in the research plan that diminish the study's expected value below what it might be.
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