Synopses & Reviews
Global Environmental Change reviews the facts and the uncertainties relating to some of the major environmental issues facing us today--greenhouse warming, loss of stratospheric ozone, and acid precipitation--and shows how these facts and uncertainties are dealt with by both governmental and nongovernmental agencies. Anticipated environmental changes in future decades are described and explained, and the consequences of those projected changes are described for rise of sea level, water resources, agriculture, ecological systems, and other topics. Three chapters of the study are devoted to the roles of academic institutions, government agencies, and nongovernmental agencies in developing and implementing policies. Another chapter discusses the relationship of U.S. research and environmental policy to international research and environmental policy, emphasizing how new concepts relating to global change have emerged from earlier research and out of the growing recognition of the seriousness of environmental problems. Finally, the work addresses the need for more effective interactions of science and policy.
Review
Publication of this splendid little book is timely. The compact between science and society drawn up 50 years ago in the immediate post-World War II years by Vannevar Bush's seminal Science-The Endless Frontier is up for renewal. By describing the interaction between the environmental sciences and public policy, Fleagle has presented a case study that should help to illuminate the lively discussions now under way on the need for a new compact. His account has important implications for the terms of that compact. It should be required reading for scholars and practitioners in science and public policy.Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
Review
It reviews some of the implications of global change for public policy, and describes the chief features of the policy landscape.Abstracts of Public Adminstration, Development, and Enviroment 1995-1996
Synopsis
This study examines how threats to the environment--the facts and probable impacts of global environment change--deserve local, national, and international attention.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [229]-232) and index.
Table of Contents
The Changed View of Science
The Evidence for Global Change
Projections of the Future
Policy Implications for the U.S.
The Policy Landscape: The Academic and Professional Sector
The Policy Landscape: The Government Sector
The Policy Landscape: The Grass Roots
The International Perspective
The Search for Effective Science-Policy Interactions
A Summary Look at the Record
Preparing for Future Global Change
Notes and References
Bibliography
Index