The Regional Impacts of Climate Change

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Research Needs

The gaps and deficiencies revealed in this special report suggest some priority areas for further work to help policymakers in their difficult task.

These needs include:

• Better baseline data, both climatic and socioeconomic
• Better scenarios, especially of precipitation, extreme events, sulfate aerosol effects, and regional-scale changes
• Better understanding of the ecological and physiological effects of increasing CO₂ concentrations, taking account of species competition and migrations, soil and nutrients, acclimation, and partitioning between crop yields, roots, stems, and leaves
• Dynamic models of climate, biospheric processes, and other socioeconomic factors to take account of the developing, time-varying nature of global change
• Impact assessments across a range of scenarios and assumptions to enable the assessment of risk, particularly in regions comprised primarily of developing countries and small island states, where resources for research and assessment have been inadequate to date
• Analysis of adaptation options, including the need for development of new technologies and opportunities for adapting existing technologies in new settings
• Integrated assessments across sectors, from climate change to economic or other costs, across countries and regions, including adaptations, and including other socio-economic changes.

Authors/Contributors

Robert T. Watson (USA), Marufu C. Zinyowera (Zimbabwe), Richard H. Moss (USA), Reid E. Basher (New Zealand), Martin Beniston (Switzerland), Osvaldo F. Canziani (Argentina), Sandra M. Diaz (Argentina), David J. Dokken (USA), John T. Everett (USA), B. Blair Fitzharris (New Zealand), Habiba Gitay (Australia), Bubu P. Jallow (The Gambia), Murari Lal (India), R. Shakespeare Maya (Zimbabwe), Roger F. McLean (Australia), M.Q. Mirza (Bangladesh), Ron Neilson (USA), Ian R. Noble (Australia), Leonard A. Nurse (Barbados), H.W.O. Okoth-Ogendo (Kenya), A. Barrie Pittock (Australia), David S. Shriner (USA), S.K. Sinha (India), Roger B. Street (Canada), Su Jilan (China), Avelino G. Suarez (Cuba), Richard S.J. Tol (The Netherlands), Laura Van Wie McGrory (USA), Masatoshi Yoshino (Japan)