Most of the world's climate scientists agree that we are likely to face global climate change due to the emission of greenhouse gases, chiefly carbon dioxide. The United States, along with more than one hundred other nations, has pledged to take precautionary measures aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Yet there is widespread public unawareness about precisely what global climate change could mean. In this volume a distinguished group of contributors considers the steps that may be necessary to prepare the nation's largest city for the consequences of global climate change.

Chapter topics include the scientific basis of the greenhouse effect, economic and population projections, waterfront planning, land use and infrastructure planning, water resources and wastewater management, air quality and health effects, transportation planning, building design and maintenance, and energy supply and demand. By positing future scenarios and identifying actions to be taken now to sustain the present quality of life, this volume anticipates problems and solutions in the case of a global climate change.

Contributors: A.J. Broccoli, R.B. Armstrong, H.B. Haff, R. Zimmerman, R. Alpern, L.I. Kleinman, F. W. Lipfert, J.C. Falcocchio, L. Audin, S.C. Morris III, G.A. Goldstein, A. Sanghi, D. Hill, Edward O. Sullivan, Ruth W. Messinger, M.J. Bowman, R. L. Swanson, S. Reven, A. Mooney, S. Bowman, W. Tusa, P.A. Chin, S. Tanikawa-Oglesby, S.C. Morris III, M.H. Garrell, A. Bryson, J. Box, P. Jessup, R. Meyninger, E.A. Parson, R.R. Ruggieri.