Downscaling climate models and environmental policy: From global to regional politics

Abstract High resolution climate models of regions, or downscaling, promises to be at the forefront of future climate policy research. However, most research in this area is in the natural sciences, and the policy community has not taken full notice of this trend at their doorstep. Downscaling provides more concrete information about local impacts of climate change. This raises several important political issues surrounding extreme events, adaptation, risk and equity and legacy concerns, all of which are briefly addressed. The paper concludes with a call for more social science research on downscaling to accompany the rich geophysical science literature in the topic.

[1]  Nigel W.T. Quinn,et al.  An integrated modeling system for environmental impact analysis of climate variability and extreme weather events in the San Joaquin Basin, California , 2001 .

[2]  P. Martens,et al.  Climate change and malaria: analysis of the SRES climate and socio-economic scenarios , 2004 .

[3]  R. Dickinson,et al.  A regional climate model for the western United States , 1989 .

[4]  Michele M. Betsill,et al.  Mitigating Climate Change in US Cities: Opportunities and obstacles , 2001 .

[5]  G. Bryner,et al.  Science and politics in the international environment , 2004 .

[6]  Climate Change and Malaria , 2004, Science.

[7]  Joseph M. Russo,et al.  Downscaling GCM Output with a Mesoscale Model , 1997 .

[8]  Some Realism about Environmental Skepticism: The Implications of Bjorn Lomborg's The Skeptical Environmentalist for Environmental Law and Policy , 2003 .

[9]  Aaron M. McCright,et al.  Challenging global warming as a social problem: An analysis of the conservative movement's counter-claims , 2000 .

[10]  K. Kunkel,et al.  Regional Climate Model Simulation of U.S. Precipitation during 1982–2002. Part I: Annual Cycle , 2004 .

[11]  F. Giorgi.  Simulation of Regional Climate Using a Limited Area Model Nested in a General Circulation Model , 1990 .

[12]  P. Jacques.  The Rearguard of Modernity: Environmental Skepticism as a Struggle of Citizenship , 2006, Global Environmental Politics.

[13]  Robert Mendelsohn,et al.  Global warming and the American economy : a regional assessment of climate change impacts , 2001 .

[14]  Xiaoshi Xing,et al.  Downscaling and geo-spatial gridding of socio-economic projections from the IPCC Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) , 2004 .

[15]  Barry G. Rabe,et al.  Statehouse and Greenhouse: The Emerging Politics of American Climate Change Policy , 2004 .

[16]  K. Emanuel.  Increasing destructiveness of tropical cyclones over the past 30 years , 2005, Nature.

[17]  R. Mendelsohn.  Global Warming and the American Economy , 2001 .

[18]  Aaron M. McCright,et al.  Defeating Kyoto: The conservative movement's impact on U.S. climate change policy , 2003 .

[19]  Jeroen C. J. H. Aerts,et al.  Adaptation strategies to climate change and climate variability: A comparative study between seven contrasting river basins , 2005 .

[20]  R. Kates,et al.  Global Change in Local Places , 1998 .

[21]  P. Webster,et al.  Changes in Tropical Cyclone Number, Duration, and Intensity in a Warming Environment , 2005, Science.

[22]  T. Wigley,et al.  Downscaling general circulation model output: a review of methods and limitations , 1997 .

[23]  Linda O. Mearns,et al.  Regional climate research - Needs and opportunities , 2003 .

[24]  Andrew Dobson,et al.  Citizenship and the environment , 2003 .