GLOBAL CHANGE AND LOCAL PLACES: ESTIMATING, UNDERSTANDING, AND REDUCING GREENHOUSES GASES; ED. BY RONALD ABLER

This study of greenhouse gas emissions examines the causes and effects of climate changes triggered by human activities. It is the first major, comparative study of how the emissions vary nationally--at the local level and on a daily basis. The authors assess the degree of control households and firms have over the emissions they produce; how willing they are to modify their behavior to lessen climate change, and how they might adapt to the changes that will occur. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 Contributors......Page 9 Foreword......Page 15 Preface......Page 19 Acknowledgments......Page 21 PART ONE Global change in local places......Page 23 1 A grand query: how scale matters in global change research......Page 25 How scale matters......Page 26 Climate change: causes and consequences......Page 27 Scale in climate change: action and assessment......Page 32 Driving forces......Page 34 Emissions and land cover hange......Page 35 Climate change......Page 36 Impacts......Page 37 Responses......Page 38 Driving forces......Page 39 Climate change......Page 40 Responses......Page 41 Cities for climate protection......Page 42 Global Change and Local Places......Page 43 REFERENCES......Page 44 The Global Change and Local Places approach......Page 49 The four localities......Page 50 Northwestern North Carolina......Page 51 Northwestern Ohio......Page 53 Central Pennsylvania......Page 54 The three modules......Page 56 Estimating local greenhouse gas emissions......Page 58 Exploring emission reduction and mitigation potentials......Page 59 Estimating greenhouse gas emissions from local areas......Page 60 Greenhouse gas emission inventory methodology......Page 61 Adapting greenhouse gas inventory methods to Global Change and Local Places......Page 64 Data sources for Global Change and Local Places greenhouse gas emission estimates......Page 65 Identifying the forces driving greenhouse gas emissions from local areas......Page 67 End user analysis......Page 68 Empirical decomposition......Page 69 The household survey......Page 70 Interviews with major emitters......Page 71 Evaluating capacities to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from local areas......Page 72 REFERENCES......Page 74 PART TWO Learning from localities......Page 77 Landscape, life, and livelihood......Page 79 Greenhouse gas emissions: surprisingly diverse......Page 82 Animal agriculture......Page 85 Natural gas......Page 86 Utilities......Page 87 Implications......Page 90 Local attitudes......Page 91 Interviews......Page 92 Household questionnaires......Page 93 Overall assessment of attitudes and implications......Page 94 Prospects are dominated by uncertainties......Page 95 REFERENCES......Page 98 Landscape, life, and livelihood......Page 101 Greenhouse gas emissions: fossil fuels and forest resources......Page 104 Industrial biomass combustion......Page 108 Storing carbon in forests......Page 111 Driving greenhouse gas emissions: regional growth and change......Page 113 Major emitters......Page 118 Prospects......Page 120 REFERENCES......Page 121 Landscape, life, and livelihood......Page 125 Greenhouse gas emissions decline from 1970 to 1990......Page 127 Technological innovations directed at emission reductions......Page 129 National and regional economic restructuring......Page 130 Transportation......Page 131 Utilities......Page 133 Agriculture......Page 134 Major emitters......Page 135 Household perspectives......Page 137 Mitigation pathways......Page 140 Prospects......Page 141 REFERENCES......Page 142 Landscape, life, and livelihood......Page 144 Greenhouse gas emissions: carbon dioxide from coal burning......Page 147 Driving greenhouse gas emissions: heap, available coal......Page 148 Carbon dioxide from lime production (Alcaraz 1998)......Page 150 Greenhouse gas emissions at Penn State: the institutional view......Page 151 Reducing greenhouse gas emissions: a region vulnerable to mitigation policy......Page 152 Horizontal......Page 153 Sovereignty......Page 155 Can coal be combusted differently?......Page 156 Prospects......Page 160 REFERENCES......Page 161 PART THREE Beyond Kyoto I: greenhouse gas reduction in local places......Page 163 Fugitive emissions and global perspectives......Page 165 Why scales of emissions estimates matter......Page 166 Global Change and Local Places greenhouse gas inventory methods......Page 167 Cross-scale comparison of major greenhouse gases, 1990......Page 170 Cross-scale comparison of sources of 1990 greenhouse gas emissions......Page 172 United States and study area greenhouse warming potential trajectories, 1970–1990......Page 174 Places, emissions, and policies......Page 176 REFERENCES......Page 179 8 Explaining Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Localities......Page 180 Tracing greenhouse gases from sources to users......Page 181 Empirical decomposition......Page 183 Major forces of change in greenhouse gas emissions......Page 187 Driving forces of greenhouse gases......Page 189 Locality emissions......Page 191 REFERENCES......Page 192 Perceptions of climate change: thinking globally and mitigating locally?......Page 193 The view from the inside: major emitters......Page 194 Specific actions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions......Page 195 Who should be most responsible for greenhouse gas reductions?......Page 196 Household perceptions and responses......Page 197 Comparisons with national perceptions and responses......Page 199 Comparing local and national opinions......Page 200 Greenhouse gas emissions: knowledge of effects......Page 202 Relating concern and willingness to reduce greenhouse gas emissions......Page 206 Northwestern North Carolina......Page 208 Central Pennsylvania......Page 209 Prospects for emission reductions......Page 211 REFERENCES......Page 212 Local analogs for greenhouse gas mitigation......Page 214 Irrigation and groundwater depletion......Page 216 National and regional responses......Page 217 State and local responses......Page 218 Ogallala depletion and global warming mitigation......Page 220 North Carolina watershed protection......Page 221 Events leading to the Water Supply Watershed Protection Act......Page 222 The clean-up of Lake Erie......Page 224 International and national initiatives......Page 225 Local action......Page 226 The Lake Erie cleanup and global warming mitigation......Page 227 Coal in Central Pennsylvania......Page 228 Learning about mitigation from analogs......Page 230 REFERENCES......Page 232 PART FOUR Beyond Kyoto II: greenhouse gas reduction potentials and strategies......Page 237 How much greenhouse gas emission reduction is needed?......Page 239 Prospects for emission reduction at a national scale......Page 241 Prospects for emission reduction at a global scale......Page 245 Assessing emission reduction potentials for localities......Page 246 Modeling emission reductions......Page 247 Local knowledge and opportunity......Page 249 Southwestern Kansas......Page 250 Northwestern North Carolina......Page 251 Central Pennsylvania......Page 252 An alternative view of local emission reduction potentials......Page 253 Scale and differences in emissions reduction opportunities......Page 255 Perspectives on prospects for reducing greenhouse gas emissions through local knowledge and opportunity......Page 257 REFERENCES......Page 259 How do the dynamics of greenhouse gas emissions and their driving forces differ at local scale?......Page 261 Can localities reduce their source contributions to global climate change?......Page 265 How and where does scale matter?......Page 270 How can the capacity to study global change and local places be improved?......Page 274 2. Look beyond the local......Page 280 REFERENCES......Page 281 Index......Page 283 Global Change And Local Places Explores The Ways People And Biota Contribute To Climate Change In Four Localities Of The United States. The Volume Summarizes The Findings Of The Global Change And Local Places (gclp) Project Initiated By The Association Of American Geographers (aag) To Develop Methods To Determine How Localities Contribute To Global Change; How Those Contributions Change Over Time; What Forces Drive Such Changes; What Controls Local Residents Exercise Over Such Driving Forces; And How Locally Initiated Efforts At Mitigation And Adaptation Can Be Promoted. The Sources And Driving Forces For Greenhouse Gas Emissions Vary Widely Among The Four Research Sites, As Do The Possibilities And Propensities To Mitigate Emissions And Adapt To The Local Changes Global Warming Could Bring. Policy Makers And Legislators Will Be Unable To Address Human-induced Climate Change Effectively Without The Insights Revealed By Examining And Understanding The Daily Routines That Are Simultaneously The Sources Of Climate Change And The Keys To Reducing Its Severity And Coping With Its Effects.--jacket. Foreword / Robert W. Corell -- 1. A Grand Query: How Scale Matters In Global Change Research / Robert W. Kates And Thomas J. Wilbanks -- 2. The Research Strategy: Linking The Local To The Global / Thomas J. Wilbanks, Robert W. Kates, David P. Angel, Susan L. Cutter, William E. Easterling And Michael W. Mayfield -- 3. Global Change And Southwestern Kansas: Local Emissions And Non-local Determinants / John Harrington, Jr., David E. Kromm, Lisa M.b. Harrington, Douglas G. Goodin And Stephen E. White -- 4. Northwestern North Carolina: Local Diversity In An Era Of Change / Neal G. Lineback, Michael W. Mayfield And Jennifer Dehart. [ronald F. Abler] ; [edited By] Association Of American Geographers Global Change And Local Places Research Group. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. This comprehensive book explores the ways people and biota contribute to climate change in four localities of the United States. This volume summarizes the findings of the Global Change in Local Places (GCLP) project initiated by the Association of American Geographers to investigate the contribution of local factors to global change, how and why these factors change over time, and how the effects might be controlled and mitigated locally. The sources and driving forces for greenhouse gas emissions vary widely among the four research sites, as do the possibilities and propensities to mitigate emissions and adapt to the local changes global warming could bring. Policy makers and legislators will be unable to address human-induced climate change effectively without the insights revealed by examining and understanding the daily routines that are simultaneously the sources of climate change and the keys to reducing its severity and coping with its effects. How do our everyday lives affect climate change? This book compares four different sites in the United States, and looks at the human factors affecting climate change (such as greenhouse gas emissions), how these factors are changing, and what can be done to mitigate the effects at a local level