A Report of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources National Science and Technology Council

This national scientific assessment integrates and interprets the findings of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) and synthesizes findings from previous assessments, including reports and products by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It analyzes current natural and human-induced trends in global change, and projects future trends impacting the natural environment, agriculture, water resources, social systems, energy production and use, transportation, and human health. It is intended to help inform discussion of the relevant issues by decisionmakers, stakeholders, and the public. As such, this report addresses the requirements for assessment in the Global Change Research Act of 1990.

Science and Technology to Support Fresh Water Availability in the United States

This report describes issues regarding water use, conservation, and management. Many parts of the United States are expected to face water shortages in the near future

Intercontinental Transport of Air Pollution: Relationship to North American Air Quality. A Review of Federal Resarch and Future Needs

This government report describes pollutants which are carried between continents by air currents. The report also addresses current and future research to better understand how these pollutants are transported

Atmospheric Ammonia: Sources and Fate. A Review of Ongoing Federal Research and Future Needs

This report provides a brief summary of the state of the current state of federal scientific research related to atmospheric ammonia, based on discussions from an October, 1999 meeting of the Air Quality Research Subcommittee of CENR

Air Quality Forecasting: A Review of Federal Programs and Research Needs

This report provides a brief overview of the state of science of air quality forecasting. The report was composed to guide future federal research in air quality forecasting

Preliminary Survey of Air Quality and Related Health Studies Conducted in the Vicinity of Ground Zero

This document represents the first survey by the research community of the impact of the collapse of the World Trade Center in New York on air quality and public health in lower Manhattan

Effective Disaster Warnings - Report by the Working Group on Natural Disaster Information Systems Subcommittee on Natural Disaster Reduction

This report describes and recommends ways to improve alert systems in order to reduce loss of lives, property, and economic activity caused by natural and man-made disasters

National Plant Genome Initiative

This report is an update on progress of federal plant genome research. The focus in this report is on plants that are economically important to agribusiness

The ‘credibility paradox’ in China’s science communication: Views from scientific practitioners

In contrast to increasing debates on China’s rising status as a global scientific power, issues of China’s science communication remain under-explored. Based on 21 in-depth interviews in three cities, this article examines Chinese scientists’ accounts of the entangled web of influence which conditions the process of how scientific knowledge achieves (or fails to achieve) its civic authority. A main finding of this study is a ‘credibility paradox’ as a result of the over-politicisation of science and science communication in China. Respondents report that an absence of visible institutional endorsements renders them more public credibility and better communication outcomes. Thus, instead of exploiting formal channels of science communication, scientists interviewed were more keen to act as ‘informal risk communicators’ in grassroots and private events. Chinese scientists’ perspectives on how to earn public support of their research sheds light on the nature and impact of a ‘civic epistemology’ in an authoritarian state