%0 Book %A National Research Council %T Explosive Volcanism: Inception, Evolution, and Hazards %D 1984 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/18602/explosive-volcanism-inception-evolution-and-hazards %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/18602/explosive-volcanism-inception-evolution-and-hazards %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K %K Earth Sciences %P 194 %0 Book %A National Research Council %T Decline of the Steller Sea Lion in Alaskan Waters: Untangling Food Webs and Fishing Nets %@ 978-0-309-08632-5 %D 2003 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10576/decline-of-the-steller-sea-lion-in-alaskan-waters-untangling %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10576/decline-of-the-steller-sea-lion-in-alaskan-waters-untangling %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Earth Sciences %P 216 %X For an unknown reason, the Steller sea lion population in Alaska has declined by 80% over the past three decades. In 2001, the National Research Council began a study to assess the many hypotheses proposed to explain the sea lion decline including insufficient food due to fishing or the late 1970s climate/regime shift, a disease epidemic, pollution, illegal shooting, subsistence harvest, and predation by killer whales or sharks. The report's analysis indicates that the population decline cannot be explained only by a decreased availability of food; hence other factors, such as predation and illegal shooting, deserve further study. The report recommends a management strategy that could help determine the impact of fisheries on sea lion survival -- establishing open and closed fishing areas around sea lion rookeries. This strategy would allow researchers to study sea lions in relatively controlled, contrasting environments. Experimental area closures will help fill some short-term data gaps, but long-term monitoring will be required to understand why sea lions are at a fraction of their former abundance. %0 Book %A National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine %E Laney, Kara N. %T A Century of Wildland Fire Research: Contributions to Long-term Approaches for Wildland Fire Management: Proceedings of a Workshop %@ 978-0-309-46004-0 %D 2017 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/24792/a-century-of-wildland-fire-research-contributions-to-long-term %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/24792/a-century-of-wildland-fire-research-contributions-to-long-term %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Earth Sciences %P 108 %X Although ecosystems, humans, and fire have coexisted for millennia, changes in geology, ecology, hydrology, and climate as well as sociocultural, regulatory, and economic factors have converged to make wildland fire management exceptionally challenging for U.S. federal, state, and local authorities. Given the mounting, unsustainable costs and difficulty translating existing wildland fire science into policy, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine organized a 1-day workshop to focus on how a century of wildland fire research can contribute to improving wildland fire management. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop. %0 Book %A National Research Council %E Thomas, Katie %E Geller, Laurie %T Urban Forestry: Toward an Ecosystem Services Research Agenda: A Workshop Summary %@ 978-0-309-28758-6 %D 2013 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/18370/urban-forestry-toward-an-ecosystem-services-research-agenda-a-workshop %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/18370/urban-forestry-toward-an-ecosystem-services-research-agenda-a-workshop %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Earth Sciences %P 76 %X Much of the ecological research in the past decades has focused on rural or wilderness areas. Today, however, ecological research has been taking place in our cities, where our everyday decisions can have profound effects on our environment. This research, or urban ecology, includes an important element, trees. Trees have had a variety of environmental benefits for our environment including the sequestering carbon, reducing urban heat island effects, providing vital habitat for wildlife, and making nature accessible. These benefits have important impacts on the physical, socio-economic, and mental health of humans as well. Being exposed to trees has been shown to enhance social cohesion, improve health and recreational opportunities, and increase real estate values. In order to gain more knowledge into this urban forestry, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) held a workshop February 25-26, 2013. The workshop brought together more than 100 people with various interests in urban forestry research to share information and perspectives, foster communication across specific areas of ecosystem service research, and consider integrated approaches that cut across these realms. The workshop specifically examined current capabilities to characterize and quantify the benefits, key gaps in our understanding, the challenges of planning urban forests in a way that optimizes multiple ecosystem services and more. Urban Forestry: Toward an Ecosystem Services Research Agenda: A Workshop Summary presents an overview of the issues discussed by the workshop's breakout groups; summarizes presentations from the four panels which included Biophysical Services of the Urban Forest; and context for the study with introductory material from the workshop. %0 Book %A National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine %T Framing the Challenge of Urban Flooding in the United States %@ 978-0-309-48961-4 %D 2019 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25381/framing-the-challenge-of-urban-flooding-in-the-united-states %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25381/framing-the-challenge-of-urban-flooding-in-the-united-states %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Earth Sciences %P 100 %X Flooding is the natural hazard with the greatest economic and social impact in the United States, and these impacts are becoming more severe over time. Catastrophic flooding from recent hurricanes, including Superstorm Sandy in New York (2012) and Hurricane Harvey in Houston (2017), caused billions of dollars in property damage, adversely affected millions of people, and damaged the economic well-being of major metropolitan areas. Flooding takes a heavy toll even in years without a named storm or event. Major freshwater flood events from 2004 to 2014 cost an average of $9 billion in direct damage and 71 lives annually. These figures do not include the cumulative costs of frequent, small floods, which can be similar to those of infrequent extreme floods. Framing the Challenge of Urban Flooding in the United States contributes to existing knowledge by examining real-world examples in specific metropolitan areas. This report identifies commonalities and variances among the case study metropolitan areas in terms of causes, adverse impacts, unexpected problems in recovery, or effective mitigation strategies, as well as key themes of urban flooding. It also relates, as appropriate, causes and actions of urban flooding to existing federal resources or policies. %0 Book %A National Research Council %T People and Pixels: Linking Remote Sensing and Social Science %@ 978-0-309-06408-8 %D 1998 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/5963/people-and-pixels-linking-remote-sensing-and-social-science %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/5963/people-and-pixels-linking-remote-sensing-and-social-science %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Earth Sciences %P 256 %X Space-based sensors are giving us an ever-closer and more comprehensive look at the earth's surface; they also have the potential to tell us about human activity. This volume examines the possibilities for using remote sensing technology to improve understanding of social processes and human-environment interactions. Examples include deforestation and regrowth in Brazil, population-environment interactions in Thailand, ancient and modern rural development in Guatemala, and urbanization in the United States, as well as early warnings of famine and disease outbreaks. The book also provides information on current sources of remotely sensed data and metadata and discusses what is involved in establishing effective collaborative efforts between scientists working with remote sensing technology and those working on social and environmental issues. %0 Book %A National Research Council %T Antarctic Treaty System: An Assessment: Proceedings of a Workshop Held at Beardmore South Field Camp, Antarctica, January 7-13, 1985 %@ 978-0-309-12720-2 %D 1986 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/621/antarctic-treaty-system-an-assessment-proceedings-of-a-workshop-held %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/621/antarctic-treaty-system-an-assessment-proceedings-of-a-workshop-held %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Earth Sciences %P 456 %X The international agreements covering Antarctica are models of cooperation and joined purpose. Convening at the Beardmore South Field Camp, near the Transantarctic Mountains, the Polar Research Board studied the Antarctic Treaty System and its implications for improved relationships between countries. This study examines the structure, meaning, and international repercussions of the Antarctic Treaty, focusing on the ways it benefits both the scientific and political communities. Chapters cover the history, science, environment, resources, and international status of Antarctica. %0 Book %E Olson, Steve %T Increasing National Resilience to Hazards and Disasters: The Perspective from the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi: Summary of a Workshop %@ 978-0-309-21527-5 %D 2011 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/13178/increasing-national-resilience-to-hazards-and-disasters-the-perspective-from %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/13178/increasing-national-resilience-to-hazards-and-disasters-the-perspective-from %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Earth Sciences %P 138 %X Natural disasters are having an increasing effect on the lives of people in the United States and throughout the world. Every decade, property damage caused by natural disasters and hazards doubles or triples in the United States. More than half of the U.S. population lives within 50 miles of a coast, and all Americans are at risk from such hazards as fires, earthquakes, floods, and wind. The year 2010 saw 950 natural catastrophes around the world--the second highest annual total ever--with overall losses estimated at $130 billion. The increasing impact of natural disasters and hazards points to increasing importance of resilience, the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from, or more successfully adapt to actual or potential adverse events, at the individual , local, state, national, and global levels. Assessing National Resilience to Hazards and Disasters reviews the effects of Hurricane Katrina and other natural and human-induced disasters on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi and to learn more about the resilience of those areas to future disasters. Topics explored in the workshop range from insurance, building codes, and critical infrastructure to private-sector issues, public health, nongovernmental organizations and governance. This workshop summary provides a rich foundation of information to help increase the nation's resilience through actionable recommendations and guidance on the best approaches to reduce adverse impacts from hazards and disasters. %0 Book %A National Research Council %T Snow Avalanche Hazards and Mitigation in the United States %@ 978-0-309-04335-9 %D 1990 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/1571/snow-avalanche-hazards-and-mitigation-in-the-united-states %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/1571/snow-avalanche-hazards-and-mitigation-in-the-united-states %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Earth Sciences %P 96 %X The present mortality as a result of snow avalanches exceeds the average mortality caused by earthquakes as well as all other forms of slope failure combined. Snow avalanches can range from small amounts of loose snow moving rapidly down a slope to slab avalanches, in which large chunks of snow break off and destroy everything in their path. Although considered a hazard in the United States since the westward expansion in the nineteenth century, in modern times snow avalanches are an increasing concern in recreational mountainous areas. However, programs for snow avalanche hazard mitigation in other countries are far ahead of those in the United States. The book identifies several steps that should be taken by the United States in order to establish guidelines for research, technology transfer, and avalanche legislation and zoning. %0 Book %T Arctic Contributions to Social Science and Public Policy %D 1993 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/9556/arctic-contributions-to-social-science-and-public-policy %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/9556/arctic-contributions-to-social-science-and-public-policy %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Earth Sciences %P 88 %0 Book %T Land Use and Wildlife Resources %D 1970 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/9576/land-use-and-wildlife-resources %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/9576/land-use-and-wildlife-resources %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Earth Sciences %P 269 %0 Book %A National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine %T Fostering Transformative Research in the Geographical Sciences %@ 978-0-309-38934-1 %D 2019 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/21881/fostering-transformative-research-in-the-geographical-sciences %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/21881/fostering-transformative-research-in-the-geographical-sciences %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Earth Sciences %P 92 %X The central purpose of all research is to create new knowledge. In the geographical sciences this is driven by a desire to create new knowledge about the relations between space, place, and the anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic features and processes of the Earth. But some research goes beyond these modest aims and creates new opportunities for further research, or affects the process of knowledge acquisition more broadly, or changes the way other researchers in a domain think about the world and go about their business. Due to its positive impacts, transformative research can be regarded as inherently having greater value than more conventional research, and funding agencies clearly regard transformative research as something to be encouraged and funded through special programs. Assessments of transformative research funding initiatives are few and provide a mixed picture of their effectiveness. The challenge is whether transformative research can be identified at the time it is proposed rather than after it has been conducted, communicated, and its influence on the discipline has become clear. Fostering Transformative Research in the Geographical Sciences reviews how transformative research has emerged in the past, what its early markers were, and makes recommendations for how it can be nurtured in the future. %0 Book %A National Research Council %T Active Tectonics: Impact on Society %@ 978-0-309-07395-0 %D 1986 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/624/active-tectonics-impact-on-society %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/624/active-tectonics-impact-on-society %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Earth Sciences %P 280 %X Over 250,000 people were killed in the Tangshan, China earthquake of 1976, and other less active tectonic processes can disrupt river channels or have a grave impact on repositories of radioactive wastes. Since tectonic processes can be critical to many human activities, the Geophysics Study Committee Panel on Active Tectonics has presented an evaluation of the current state of knowledge about tectonic events, which include not only earthquakes but volcanic eruptions and similar events. This book addresses three main topics: the tectonic processes and their rates, methods of identifying and evaluating active tectonics, and the effects of active tectonics on society. %0 Book %A National Research Council %T Environmental Information for Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Decisions in Alaska %@ 978-0-309-05036-4 %D 1994 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/2353/environmental-information-for-outer-continental-shelf-oil-and-gas-decisions-in-alaska %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/2353/environmental-information-for-outer-continental-shelf-oil-and-gas-decisions-in-alaska %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Earth Sciences %P 270 %X This book reviews the adequacy of information available for predicting and managing the environmental and human effects of oil and gas activities on Alaska's Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). It examines how the Alaskan OCS and adjacent onshore natural and human environments differ from those in more temperate waters and to what degree the information characterizes those differences. (It also recommends alternatives to further studies in some cases where more information would be helpful for decisionmaking.) %0 Book %A National Research Council %T Managing Water Resources in the West Under Conditions of Climate Uncertainty: A Proceedings %@ 978-0-309-04677-0 %D 1991 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/1911/managing-water-resources-in-the-west-under-conditions-of-climate-uncertainty %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/1911/managing-water-resources-in-the-west-under-conditions-of-climate-uncertainty %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Earth Sciences %P 358 %X The question of whether the earth's climate is changing in some significant human-induced way remains a matter of much debate. But the fact that climate is variable over time is well known. These two elements of climatic uncertainty affect water resources planning and management in the American West. Managing Water Resources in the West Under Conditions of Climate Uncertainty examines the scientific basis for predictions of climate change, the implications of climate uncertainty for water resources management, and the management options available for responding to climate variability and potential climate change. %0 Book %T Physics of the Earth - II The Figure of the Earth: Bulletin of the National Research Council %D 1931 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/9574/physics-of-the-earth-ii-the-figure-of-the-earth %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/9574/physics-of-the-earth-ii-the-figure-of-the-earth %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Earth Sciences %P 286 %0 Book %A National Research Council %T Water Transfers in the West: Efficiency, Equity, and the Environment %@ 978-0-309-04528-5 %D 1992 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/1803/water-transfers-in-the-west-efficiency-equity-and-the-environment %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/1803/water-transfers-in-the-west-efficiency-equity-and-the-environment %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Earth Sciences %P 320 %X The American West faces many challenges, but none is more important than the challenge of managing its water. This book examines the role that water transfers can play in allocating the region's scarce water resources. It focuses on the variety of third parties, including Native Americans, Hispanic communities, rural communities, and the environment, that can sometimes be harmed when water is moved.The committee presents recommendations to guide states, tribes, and federal agencies toward better regulation. Seven in-depth case studies are presented: Nevada's Carson-Truckee basin, the Colorado Front Range, northern New Mexico, Washington's Yakima River basin, central Arizona, and the Central and Imperial valleys in California.Water Transfers in the West presents background and current information on factors that have encouraged water transfers, typical types of transfers, and their potential negative effects. The book highlights the benefits that water transfers can bring but notes the need for more third-party representation in the processes used to evaluate planned transfers. %0 Book %A National Research Council %T Solid-Earth Sciences and Society %@ 978-0-309-04739-5 %D 1993 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/1990/solid-earth-sciences-and-society %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/1990/solid-earth-sciences-and-society %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Earth Sciences %P 368 %X As environmental problems move upward on the public agenda, our knowledge of the earth's systems and how to sustain the habitability of our world becomes more critical. This volume reports on the state of earth science and outlines a research agenda, with priorities keyed to the real-world challenges facing human society. The product of four years of development with input from more than 200 earth-science specialists, the volume offers a wealth of historical background and current information on: Plate tectonics, volcanism, and other heat-generated earth processes. Evolution of our global environment and of life itself, as revealed in the fossil record. Human exploitation of water, fossil fuels, and minerals. Interaction between human populations and the earth's surface, discussing the role we play in earth's systems and the dangers we face from natural hazards such as earthquakes and landslides. This volume offers a comprehensive look at how earth science is currently practiced and what should be done to train professionals and adequately equip them to find the answers necessary to manage more effectively the earth's systems. This well-organized and practical book will be of immediate interest to solid-earth scientists, researchers, and college and high school faculty, as well as policymakers in the environmental arena. %0 Book %A National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine %T Review of the U.S. Global Change Research Program's Draft Decadal Strategic Plan, 2022-2031 %@ 978-0-309-68994-6 %D 2022 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26608/review-of-the-us-global-change-research-programs-draft-decadal-strategic-plan-2022-2031 %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/26608/review-of-the-us-global-change-research-programs-draft-decadal-strategic-plan-2022-2031 %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Earth Sciences %K Behavioral and Social Sciences %P 76 %X More intense heat waves, extended wildfire seasons and other escalating impacts of climate change have made it more important than ever to fill knowledge gaps that improve society's understanding, assessment, and response to global change. The US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) - a collection of 13 Federal entities charged by law to help the United States and the world fill those knowledge gaps - laid out proposed mechanisms and priorities for global change research over the next decade in its draft Decadal Strategic Plan 2022-2031. The draft plan recognizes that priority knowledge gaps have shifted over the past decade as demand has grown for more useful and more inclusive data to inform decision-making, and as the focus on resilience and sustainability has increased. As part of its work in advising the USGCRP since 2011, the National Academies reviewed USGCRP's draft plan to determine how it might be enhanced. Advances in the draft plan include an increased emphasis on social sciences, community engagement with marginalized groups, and promotion of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in the production of science. Strengthening the interconnections between the plan's core pillars and expanding opportunities for coordination among federal agencies tasked with responding to global climate change would improve the plan. The draft plan could more strongly convey a sense of urgency throughout the plan and would benefit from additional examples of key research outputs that could advance policy and decision making on global change challenges. %0 Book %A National Research Council %E Hill, Kenneth %T War, Humanitarian Crises, Population Displacement, and Fertility: A Review of Evidence %@ 978-0-309-09241-8 %D 2004 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/11005/war-humanitarian-crises-population-displacement-and-fertility-a-review-of %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/11005/war-humanitarian-crises-population-displacement-and-fertility-a-review-of %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Behavioral and Social Sciences %K Earth Sciences %P 46 %X Fertility and reproductive health issues more broadly have tended to be of low priority in humanitarian crises. Public attention is drawn by information concerning the magnitude of refugee flows, of death tolls, and of numbers of injuries. Reproductive health has been regarded as a longer term issue that could safely be put on the back burner during the crisis phase of an emergency, when issues of providing adequate food, clean water, and shelter, plus treating acute infectious diseases of crowding, take priority. This report reviews what evidence there is concerning the effects of humanitarian crisis on fertility, with a view to identifying common patterns that may exist across settings and be of value in guiding responses to future crises.