Improving Mississippi River water quality

Eos, Vol. 88, No. 4 3 , 23 October 2007 Gregory, J. M.,et al. ( 2 0 0 1 ) , Comparison of results from several AOGCMs for global and regional sea-level change 1900-2100,Clim.Dyn., 7 5 , 2 2 5 - 2 4 0 . Hoozemans, F M. J., M. Marchand, and H. A. Penn e k a m p ( 1 9 9 3 ) , A Global Vulnerability Assess­

ment: Vulnerability Assessment for Population, Coastal Wetlands and Rice Production on a Global Scale, 2nd ed., Delft Hydraulics, Delft, Netherlands. Lowe,J.A.,and J.M.Gregory ( 2 0 0 5 ) , T h e effects of climate c h a n g e on storm surges around the United Kingdom, Philos. Trans R. Soc. London, 363, 1313-1328. Marbaix, P, and J. Pvan Ypersele ( 2 0 0 4 ) , Impacts des changements climatiques en Belgique,44 pp.,

G r e e n p e a c e Belgium, Brussels. (Available at http:// www.climate.be/impacts) McGranahan,G.,D. Balk,and B.Anderson ( 2 0 0 7 ) , The rising tide: Assessing the risks of climate c h a n g e a n d human settlements in low elevation coastal zones,Environ. Urban., 7 9 ( 1 ) , 1 7 - 3 7 . Nicholls,R.J. ( 2 0 0 4 ) , C o a s t a l flooding a n d wetland loss in the 21st century: Changes under the SRES climate a n d s o c i o - e c o n o m i c scenarios, Global

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14,69-86.

N i c h o l l s , R . J . , a n d R.S.J.Tol ( 2 0 0 6 ) , I m p a c t s a n d r e s p o n s e s to sea-level rise: A global analysis of the SRES s c e n a r i o s over the twenty-first century, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London, Ser.A, 364, 1073-1095.

Conference Marks Fiftieth Anniversary of Global CCX Record

T h e fiftieth a n n i v e r s a r y of the global C 0 record, b e g u n by C h a r l e s David Keeling at the South Pole and in Hawaii during the International G e o p h y s i c a l Y e a r (IGY; 1 9 5 7 - 1 9 5 8 ) , will b e c e l e b r a t e d at a s y m p o ­ sium in Kona, Hawaii, n e a r the Mauna Loa Observatory, on 2 8 - 3 0 N o v e m b e r 2007.

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At the time of Keeling's initial efforts, little w a s k n o w n a b o u t C 0 in t h e a t m o s p h e r e and no reliable a t m o s p h e r i c r e c o r d e x i s t e d . I n d e e d , m a n y s c i e n t i s t s w e r e not c e r t a i n that o n e c o u l d d e t e c t m e a n i n g f u l patterns s u c h a s s e a s o n a l c h a n g e s , h e m i s p h e r i c dif­ ferences, and fossil fuel emissions with m e a ­ s u r e m e n t s of s u c h a l o w - c o n c e n t r a t i o n c o n s t i t u e n t of the a t m o s p h e r e . The early measurements by Keeling b e g a n what w a s to b e c o m e a c o o r d i n a t e d g l o b a l monitoring network involving s c i e n t i s t s a n d a g e n c i e s 2

In Brief PAGE 4 4 3 Large-scale carbon sequestration p r o j e c t s T h e U.S. D e p a r t m e n t of Energy ( D O E ) a n n o u n c e d o n 9 O c t o b e r the first three large-scale c a r b o n sequestration projects in the United States. T h e three projects—Plains C a r b o n Dioxide Reduction Partnership, S o u t h e a s t R e g i o n a l C a r b o n S e q u e s t r a t i o n Partnership, and Southwest Regional Partnership for C a r b o n S e q u e s t r a ­ t i o n — d o u b l e the n u m b e r of large-volume c a r b o n s t o r a g e d e m o n s t r a t i o n s in operation worldwide. DOE p l a n s to invest $197 million over 10 years, s u b j e c t to a n n u a l appropria­ tions from C o n g r e s s , for the projects, which are the first of several s e q u e s t r a t i o n d e m o n ­ stration p r o j e c t s p l a n n e d through DOE's Regional C a r b o n S e q u e s t r a t i o n Partner­ ships. T h e s e p r o j e c t s will d e m o n s t r a t e the entire c a r b o n d i o x i d e ( C 0 ) injection pro­ 2

Author

Information

Philippe Marbaix, Institut d'Astronomie et Geophysique, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-laNeuve, Belgium; E-mail: philippe.marbaix@uclouvain .be; Robert J. Nicholls.Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, School of Civil Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton, UK.

O c e a n o g r a p h y and Pieter T a n s of the NOAA Earth System R e s e a r c h Laboratory. A p a n e l addressing i m p a c t s and u r g e n c y i n c l u d e s V i c e Admiral Paul Gaffney II, c o a u t h o r of t h e Military Advisory B o a r d ' s National Secu­ rity and the Threat of Climate Change, and R i c h a r d S o m e r v i l l e , a c o o r d i n a t i n g lead author for IPCC a s s e s s m e n t reports.

NEWS

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Rowley, R. J., J. C. Kostelnick, D. Braaten, X. Li, a n d J. Meisel ( 2 0 0 7 ) , Risk of rising s e a level to popula­ tion a n d land a r e a , E o s Trans. AGU, 5 5 ( 9 ) , 1 0 5 , 1 0 7 . Tol,R.S.J.,et al. ( 2 0 0 6 ) , Adaptation to five metres of s e a level rise,./ Risk Anal, 9 , 4 6 7 ^ 8 2 .

from c o u n t r i e s a r o u n d the world. Informa­ tion derived from this n e t w o r k — w h i c h n o w i n c l u d e s m a n y g r e e n h o u s e g a s e s , iso­ topes, and other tracers—has b e e n crucial for informing n a t i o n a l a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l a s s e s s m e n t s of g l o b a l c l i m a t e c h a n g e , not t h e l e a s t of w h i c h a r e t h e I n t e r g o v e r n m e n ­ tal P a n e l o n Climate C h a n g e (IPCC) a s s e s s ­ m e n t reports. This c o n f e r e n c e will bring t o g e t h e r lead­ ers of b u s i n e s s , government, and s c i e n c e to d i s c u s s the g l o b a l C 0 r e c o r d , c l i m a t e c h a n g e , a n d what is n e e d e d from future C 0 m e a s u r e m e n t systems to monitor the efficacy of mitigation efforts. T h e confer­ e n c e will i n c l u d e a keynote s p e e c h by U.S. National A c a d e m y of S c i e n c e s president Ralph C i c e r o n e and p r e s e n t a t i o n s a n d pan­ els focusing on a r a n g e of c o n c e r n s . A s e s ­ sion on what h a s b e e n l e a r n e d from the C 0 m e a s u r e m e n t r e c o r d will b e c h a i r e d by Ralph Keeling of the S c r i p p s Institution of 2

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c e s s — p r e i n j e c t i o n c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n , injec­ tion p r o c e s s monitoring, a n d postinjection monitoring—at large v o l u m e s to d e t e r m i n e the ability of different g e o l o g i c settings to p e r m a n e n t l y store C 0 . T h e program earlier had identified m o r e than 3 0 0 0 billion met­ ric tons of potential storage c a p a c i t y in promising sinks, with the potential to repre­ sent m o r e than 1000 y e a r s of s t o r a g e c a p a c ­ ity from point s o u r c e s in North A m e r i c a . 2

I m p r o v i n g Mississippi R i v e r w a t e r q u a l i t y If water quality in the Mississippi River a n d the northern Gulf of M e x i c o is to improve, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) n e e d s to take a stronger leader­ ship role in implementing the federal Clean Water Act, according to a 16 O c t o b e r report from the U.S. National R e s e a r c h Council. T h e report notes that EPA has failed to use its authority to coordinate and oversee activities along the river. In addition, river states n e e d to b e more proactive and cooperative in efforts to monitor and improve water quality,

A m o n g o t h e r c o n f e r e n c e highlights: IPCC Working Group I c o c h a i r S u s a n S o l o m o n , s e n i o r scientist at the NOAA Earth System R e s e a r c h Laboratory, will focus o n t h e g l o b a l c l i m a t e - r e l a t e d p r o b l e m of r e d u c i n g e m i s s i o n s of ozone-depleting s u b s t a n c e s , noting h o w this effort underscores useful approaches for addressing C 0 e m i s s i o n s ; Robert S o c o l o w of Princeton University, N. J . , will c h a i r a s e s s i o n on mitigation options; former California State A s s e m b l y m e m b e r Fran Pavley, c o a u t h o r of California's A B 32 tailpipe e m i s s i o n reduction bill, will lead a s e s s i o n on regional efforts to r e d u c e green­ h o u s e gas e m i s s i o n s ; a n d M i c h a e l Walsh, e x e c u t i v e v i c e president of the C h i c a g o Cli­ m a t e E x c h a n g e , will d i s c u s s e c o n o m i c t o o l s a n d financial incentives to r e d u c e emissions. 2

For m o r e information, visit the W e b site: http://www.co2conference.org. — J A M E S BUTLER AND MELINDA MARQUIS, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, Colo.

and the river should b e monitored and evalu­ ated a s a single system, the report indicates. Currently, the 10 states along the river con­ duct separate and widely varying water qual­ ity monitoring programs. "The limited atten­ tion being given to monitoring and managing the Mississippi's water quality d o e s not match the river's significant e c o n o m i c , ecological, and cultural importance," said c o m m i t t e e chair David A. Dzombak, director of the Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and R e s e a r c h at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pa. T h e report notes that while measures taken under the Clean Water Act have successfully reduced much point s o u r c e pollution, nutrient and sediment loads from nonpoint s o u r c e s continue to b e significant problems. For more information, visit the W e b site: http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php? record_id=12051.

—RANDY SHOWSTACK, Staff Writer