[DIALOGnews] DIALOG and DISCCRS News 08/04/2006

[Susan Bennett]

DIALOG and DISCCRS News
08/04/2006
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
RESOURCES
"The Future Oceans: Warming Up, Rising High, Turning Sour"
    Released by the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU)  
is now available for download at http://www.wbgu.de/wbgu_sn2006_en.html
NSF Geosciences Directorate Support for Postdoctoral Appointees and  
Graduate Students: Guidelines for Principal Investigators (this Dear  
Colleague Letter mentions DIALOG/DISCCRS resource page -- be sure to  
check it out if you haven't already)
    http://www.nsf.gov/publications/pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=nsf06038

FORUM
New York Times Editorial on NASA changes
    (see below)

SCIENCE NEWS
Former President Clinton Launches Clinton Climate Initiative
    (see below)
Reflecting Global Warming
    http://www.scenta.co.uk/scenta/news.cfm? 
cit_id=990567&FAArea1=widgets.content_view_1
Time to get serious about climate change
    John P. Holdren, Alan I. Leshner - Sunday, July 30, 2006
    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/ 
2006/07/30/EDG7BIQ76J1.DTL
New Report Says Human Tampering Threatens Planet's Life-Sustaining  
Surface
    http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=107127
Altered Oceans: A 5-Part Series from the LA Times
    http://www.latimes.com/news/local/oceans/la-oceans-series, 
0,7842752.special
    Part I: A Primeval Tide of Toxins
    Part II: Sentinels Under Attack
    Part III: Dark Tides, Ill Winds
    Part IV: Sea Preserves a Plastic Plague\
    Part V: A Chemical Imbalance
Media attacked for 'climate porn' (UK)
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/5236482.stm
    "Warm Words" report: http://www.ippr.org.uk/ecomm/files/ 
warm_words.pdf
Extreme heat: Who is most likely to die?
    Public health professionals should pay particular attention to  
the elderly, diabetics and African Americans on days with extreme  
heat, such as during the current heat wave sweeping across much of  
the U.S. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-08/hsop- 
ehw080406.php
Amazonian drought - RealClimate discussion about an experiment that  
diverted rain over a 1-ha plot of rainforest.
    http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2006/08/amazonian- 
drought/
Energy from the Restless Sea
    (see below)
Performing High-Altitude Research on Global Warming
    (see below)
New Social Science Strategy - Harmful Algal Blooms
    (see below)

SUMMER PROGRAMS, COURSES, INTERNSHIPS, MEETINGS, OPPORTUNITIES
SMHI Course on Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
    (see below)

JOBS
National Science Foundation Social Scientist, AD-0101-03, Survey  
Statistician, AD-1530-03 OR Economist, AD-0110-03.
    http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2006/e20060117/e20060117.txt - Annual  
salary ranges from $77,353 to $121,856. LOCATION: Directorate for  
Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences, Division of Science  
Resources Statistics, National Science Foundation, Arlington, VA.
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Forum
New York Times Editorial on NASA changes
    our editorial page, at least, followed up:
    Published: July 28, 2006
    At a time when global warming has become an overriding issue,  
NASA has been delaying or canceling programs that could shed light on  
how the climate changes. The shortsighted cutbacks appear to result  
from sharply limiting NASA’s budget while giving it hugely expensive  
tasks like repairing the stricken shuttle fleet, finishing  
construction of the space station, and preparing to explore the Moon  
and Mars. Something had to give, and NASA’s choices included research  
into how the planet’s climate is responding to greenhouse gas emissions.
    The agency’s shifting priorities may have been signaled by subtle  
changes in its mission statement this year, as described by Andrew  
Revkin in The Times. Although the agency had previously led off its  
goals with “to understand and protect our home planet,” a new mission  
statement reads simply, “To pioneer the future in space exploration,  
scientific discovery and aeronautics research.”
    Agency officials note that sub-goal 3A still proposes to “study  
earth from space to advance scientific understanding and meet  
societal needs.” But earth studies seem to be in trouble.
    The agency has canceled a deep space observatory to monitor solar  
radiation, water vapor, clouds, aerosols and other things important  
to climate change. It has delayed a mission with Japan to measure  
global precipitation, decided not to pay for a mission to measure  
soil moisture around the world, and reduced the money available to  
analyze data. Under Congressional pressure, the agency has reinstated  
a mission to study aerosols and solar radiation from orbit. But it  
has little money to do much else in coming years. A National Academy  
of Sciences panel warned that the nation’s system of environmental  
satellites was “at risk of collapse.”
    The problems in earth sciences are part of a broader slowdown in  
science missions as NASA tries to do too much with too little. NASA  
officials sometimes say that they are slowing the rate of growth in  
science budgets. But Congressional analysts say the agency cut its  
science spending in 2006 to cover unexpectedly expensive shuttle  
repairs. It now plans small increases that won’t keep up with  
inflation or bring spending back to previous levels for many years.  
One analyst likened NASA to a mugger who takes $100 from a victim and  
then returns $20 a year, telling the recipient to be thankful.
    A Senate committee has approved $1 billion in emergency funds to  
reimburse programs that were cut to pay for the shuttle repairs. If  
that doesn’t fly, count home-planet studies and other science  
programs as a casualty of the administration’s insistence on  
completing the space station.
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Science News
Former President Clinton Launches Clinton Climate Initiative
    Press Release, August 1, 2006, Clinton Foundation Press Office
    President Clinton, Mayor Ken Livingstone Announce Partnership  
Between Clinton Climate Initiative and Large Cities Climate  
Leadership Group
    Partnership Will Reduce Carbon Emissions and Increase Efficiency  
In Largest Cities Across the World
    Los Angeles, CA - President Clinton today launched the Clinton  
Climate Initiative (CCI), a Clinton Foundation initiative dedicated  
to making a difference in the fight against climate change in  
practical and measurable ways.
    President Clinton was joined by London Mayor Ken Livingstone, Los  
Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and San Francisco Mayor Gavin  
Newsom to announce the first project of CCI, a partnership between  
the Clinton Climate Initiative and the Large Cities Climate  
Leadership Group. The Large Cities Climate Leadership Group, chaired  
by the Mayor of London, is an organization comprised of most of the  
largest cities in the world that have pledged to reduce greenhouse  
gas emissions.
    Urban areas are responsible for over 75% of all greenhouse gas  
emissions in the world. Therefore reducing energy use and greenhouse  
gas emissions in cities is fundamental to any effort to slow the pace  
of global warming.
    "It no longer makes sense for us to debate whether or not the  
earth is warming at an alarming rate, and it doesn't make sense for  
us to sit back and wait for others to act," said President Clinton.  
"The fate of the planet that our children and grandchildren will  
inherit is in our hands, and it is our responsibility to do something  
about this crisis. The partnership between my Foundation and the  
Large Cities Climate Leadership Group will take practical and, most  
importantly, measurable steps toward helping to slow down global  
warming, and by taking this approach I think we can make a big  
difference. I commend Mayor Livingstone and the Large Cities Group  
for their leadership on this issue."
    Last October, London convened a meeting of large cities to  
discuss cooperation on addressing global warming. The Large Cities  
Climate Leadership Group recognized the need for action and  
cooperation on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pledged to work  
together towards that end.
    Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone said: "There is no bigger task  
for humanity than to avert catastrophic climate change. The world's  
largest cities can have a major impact on this. Already they are at  
the centre of developing the technologies and innovative new  
practices that provide hope that we can radically reduce carbon  
emissions.
    "Former President Clinton and his Foundation have proved that  
they can intervene decisively to make a real impact on one of the  
world's biggest problems, AIDS. On behalf of the Large Cities Climate  
Leadership Group, I am delighted to be able to enter into this new  
partnership to rapidly accelerate cities' response to global warming.  
Our aim is simple - to change the world."
    The Clinton Climate Initiative will assist the large cities in  
the group in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing energy  
efficiency by using the same business-oriented approach that has made  
other Clinton Foundation initiatives successful. The Clinton  
Foundation has made a major contribution to the global fight against  
HIV/AIDS over the past four years by building efficient and effective  
systems for procurement and distribution of medicine and tests, thus  
drastically reducing the cost of treatment. More recently, the  
Clinton Foundation used the same business-oriented approach to make  
strides against childhood obesity, working with major beverage  
manufactures to take high-sugar drinks out of the nation's schools.
    To enable partner cities to reduce energy use and green house gas  
emissions CCI will:
    1. Create a purchasing consortium that will pool the purchasing  
power of the cities to lower the prices of energy saving products and  
accelerate the development and deployment of new energy saving and  
greenhouse gas reducing technologies and products. This will be  
similar to the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative total quality  
management approach that has substantially lowered AIDS drug prices  
for members of its purchasing consortium.
    2. Mobilize the best experts in the world to provide technical  
assistance to cities to develop and implement plans that will result  
in greater energy efficiency and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
    3. Create and deploy common measurement tools and internet based  
communications systems that will allow cities to establish a baseline  
on their greenhouse gas emissions, measure the effectiveness of the  
program in reducing these emissions and to share what works and does  
not work with each other.
    Many cities have worked individually to reduce energy use and  
greenhouse gas emissions but most of these practices are not in  
widespread, systematic or coordinated use, thus greatly reducing  
their effectiveness. CCI will engage the largest cities in the world  
and allow them to be leaders for all cities by making the direct  
benefits from the purchasing consortium, technical assistance, and  
measurement and communication tools available to other cities  
throughout the world.
    There are a number of practical steps cities can take to increase  
efficiency and reduce emissions including:
    -More energy efficient lighting for traffic and street lights.
    -Building codes and practices that make use of more effective  
insulation, more energy efficient windows, more energy efficient  
heating and ventilation systems and more energy efficient lighting.
    -More energy efficient municipal water and sanitation systems
    -Localized, cleaner electric generation systems
    -Use of bio-fuels or hybrid technologies for city buses, garbage  
trucks and other vehicles
    -Schemes to reduce traffic congestion
    -Reduction of emissions from city garbage dumps and the use of  
biomass to generate electricity
    -More intelligent design of electric grids both across the city  
and within office and municipal buildings
    The CCI-Large Cities partnership begins with 22 of the largest  
cities in the world participating - Berlin, Buenos Aires, Cairo,  
Caracas, Chicago, Delhi, Dhaka, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Los  
Angeles, Madrid, Melbourne, Mexico City, New York, Paris,  
Philadelphia, Rome, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Toronto, Warsaw and the  
partnership anticipates that many more cities will join over the next  
four to six months.
    Contact: Clinton Foundation Press Office 212-348-0360
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Energy from the Restless Sea
    from the New York Times (Registration Required)
    NEWCASTLE, England - There is more riding the waves here than  
surfers, thanks to a growing number of scientists, engineers and  
investors.
    A group of entrepreneurs is harnessing the perpetual motion of  
the ocean and turning it into a commodity in high demand: energy.  
Right now, machines of various shapes and sizes are being tested off  
shores from the North Sea to the Pacific - one may even be coming to  
the East River in New York State this fall - to see how they capture  
waves and tides and create marine energy.
    The industry is still in its infancy, but it is gaining  
attention, much because of the persistence of marine energy  
inventors, like Dean R. Corren, who have doggedly lugged their wave  
and tidal prototypes around the world, even during the years when  
money and interest dried up. Mr. Corren, trim and cerebral, is a  
scientist who has long advocated green energy and pushed through  
numerous conservation measures when he was chairman of the public  
energy utility for the city of Burlington, Vt.
    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/03/business/worldbusiness/ 
03tides.html
    http://tinyurl.com/gdgez
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Performing High-Altitude Research on Global Warming
    from the San Francisco Chronicle
    Stately corpses of bristlecone pine trees, some dead for 2,000  
years but still refusing to lie down, stood watch last week as  
botanist Ann Dennis and a crew of naturalists stepped off plots on  
the shoulders of 14,246-foot White Mountain Peak near the Nevada border.
    Working more than 10,000 feet above the sunbaked floor of the  
Owens Valley, the scientists were transforming one of California's  
highest mountaintops into a living laboratory of climate change.
    Dennis and her colleagues are part of a global network of  
mountain-climbing researchers, all using precisely the same methods  
to observe the impact of global warming at high altitudes on five  
continents simultaneously. "This is an international effort to deal  
with an international problem," Dennis said.
    http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/02/ 
BAGMOK9D6J1.DTL
    http://tinyurl.com/egw96
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New Social Science Strategy - Harmful Algal Blooms
    A new multi-agency report, "Harmful Algal Research and Response:  
A Human Dimensions Strategy," provides a detailed implementation plan  
for human dimensions research necessary to reduce the public health,  
sociocultural, and economic impacts of harmful algal blooms.  The  
report is an important first effort to stimulate and guide routine  
integration of public health, sociocultural, and economic researchers  
into national efforts to implement the President's U.S. Ocean Action  
Plan, the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Amendments Act of 2004  
(HABHRCA), and the National Plan for Algal Toxins and Harmful Algal  
Blooms (HARRNESS). Beyond HABs, the report serves as a framework for  
developing human dimensions research as a cross-cutting priority of  
ecosystem science supporting coastal and ocean resource management.   
It substantially informs priorities of the Joint Subcommittee on  
Ocean Science and Technology (JSOST) and Subcommittee on Integrated  
Management of Ocean Resources (SIMOR).
    The research strategy can be accessed electronically at:  
www.coastalscience.noaa.gov/stressors/extremeevents/hab/HDstrategy.pdf
    For more information, please contact: Marybeth Bauer, Human  
Dimensions Research Coordinator, NOAA National Centers for Coastal  
Ocean Science, marybeth.bauer at noaa.gov.


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Summer Programs, Courses, Internships, Meetings, Opportunities
SMHI Course on Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
    At SMHI, we are proud to announce the new course "Climate Change- 
Mitigation and Adaptation", scheduled for March 2007, as we have been  
commissioned by Sida to organise this International Training Programme.
    A first set of information can be found on our web-site "http:// 
www.smhi.se/en/" where you follow the link=> "Climate change training  
programme".
    More and detailed information, incl application form, will become  
available on the same web-site in the later part of August 2006,  
information will also be disseminated through Swedish Embassies.  
Deadline for applications is November 15th, 2006. Check that your  
country is on the Sida list as eligible for participation before  
considering an application. Please send any questions regarding the  
course to =>  climate2007 at smhi.se
    The training programme is designed not only for hydrologists,  
meteorologists and climate change specialists, as a matter of fact  
main target group is persons that have managing or key positions  
related to national, regional or local community planning.
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This newsletter has been developed by C. Susan Weiler to distribute  
information of potential interest to recent PhDs engaged in  
interdisciplinary aquatic science or climate-change research, and to  
build an international sense of community among recent grads. It  
provides an international forum for the exchange of information and  
opinions regarding research, professional and social issues. The  
views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the  
funding agencies or sponsoring societies. Dr. Weiler reserves the  
right to edit or reject material submitted to the list.
         Please submit announcements of interest to recent PhDs to  
phd at whitman.edu.  Send a short message in the body of an e-mail  
message, and link to any appropriate websites. Do not send attachments.
         Moving? Send address changes to dialog at whitman.edu or  
disccrs at whitman.edu
**********
C. Susan Weiler, Ph.D.
Office for Earth System Studies    Tel:   509-527-5948
Whitman College                          Fax:  509-527-5961
Walla Walla, WA 99362
    weiler at whitman.edu
    Programs for Recent PhDs                 http://aslo.org/phd.html
    DIALOG poster        http://www.aslo.org/phd/dialogposter.pdf
    DISCCRS poster       http://www.aslo.org/phd/disccrsposter.pdf
   Workshop Report, Meeting the Needs of
     Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Graduates in a
          Changing Global Environment
http://marcus.whitman.edu/~weilercs/biocomplexity/
  
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