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Discusses the importance of communicating the urgency and challenge of global climate change. Trend for Americans to be preoccupied with many issues other than climate change; Findings by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change regarding the potential impacts and emissions reductions needed in order to avoid drastic consequences; Consideration of how many scientists have issued publicized warnings to alert the public of the need for action; Hurdles encountered by the U.S. public in a national dialogue on climate change; Impact of the release of emissions of heat-trapping gases and subsequent impacts on the climate; Ways to increase the persuasiveness of the climate change message without appealing to fear. INSETS: FLIPPING THE "SWITCH ON ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGE";UNDERMING URGENCY: DEALING MORE EFFECTIVELY WITH ALARMISTS.

Discusses how Europe will launch an updated emissions trading program for greenhouse gases in 2005 which is much larger and more complex than the U.S. effort. Role of market-based policies in environmental regulation and in the formation of future European and international climate change policies; Consideration of the plans for the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) to address global climate change implement a more consistent trading program among nations; Innovations regarding provisions that provide flexibility in monitoring and compliance; Difficulty associated with the preparation and review of National Allocation Plans; Use of auctions in the distribution of tradable emissions allowances in the U.S. INSETS: EUROPEAN UNION TERMINOLOGY;KEY FEATURES OF EU ETS;EFFECTIVE EMISSIONS TRADING PROGRAMS: A VIEW FROM THE ECONOMICS;SUMMARY OF U.S. TRADING PROGRAMS

Focuses on the concern surrounding air pollution in Europe. Protocol of the European Union (EU) and the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP), which calls for cuts in such air pollutants as sulfur dioxide; Goal of a parallel National Emission Ceilings (NEC) Directive to reduce pollutant emissions; Effort to develop an effective response to the threat of global climate change; Outlook for the effectiveness of these air-pollution policies. INSETS: Environmental Policymaking in the European Union: The Main...;The Clean Air for Europe Programme.

Discusses what has worked and what has not worked in emission trading systems in the United States from the standpoint of environmental justice. Explanation for the opposition to emission trading programs; Factors that have been identified as important in affecting the spatial variation in the human health and ecological impacts; Characteristics of emission trading systems; Policy changes that can be made to improve the justice of emission trading systems. INSET: Trading Rules and Trading Ratios: Three Basic Approaches to....

Reports that the preparatory committee for the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development held its first agenda-planning session last year. Presents edited excerpts of the committee's report, which reveal the tone and the major issues to be addressed come June 1992.

Presents a report on the Climate Policy reports at the Aspen Institute's Climate Change Policy Dialogue which occurred during November 2003. How the report was commissioned by the Pew Center and was issued to participants in May 2003 under the title Designing a Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reduction Program; Introduction of the report by Eileen Claussen, president of the Pew Center on Global Change; Controversies surrounding the Kyoto mechanisms and emissions trading practices; Focus of the report on a U.S. unilateral mandatory scheme to be launched outside the Kyoto Protocol; Efficiency of U.S. action on climate change.

Discusses smog in the summertime and the hazardous effects of ozone on our health as of the September 1987 issue of 'Environment'. Air pollutants; Failure of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in ridding our air of contaminants; The Clean Air Act.

Even with new policies to promote cleaner energy, the European Union (EU) will not be able to meet its Kyoto Protocol targets for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO[2]), according to the International Energy Agency's (IEA) chief economist, Fatih Birol. IEA forecasts indicate that the EU could boost shares of renewable power such as wind and solar energy to 30 percent of overall electricity generation by 2030, but emissions would not be sufficiently reduced to meet climate change targets. Under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the EU must reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, of which CO[2] is the most important-by 8 percent of 1990 levels by 2012. IEA estimates that renewable energy policies would cut emissions by only 4.9 percent by 2010 and 19 percent by 2030, which still is an overall rise due to increased demand for transportation and the long life span of traditional electricity plants.

Smog as an environmental issue is discussed. Two historical events raised public awareness of smog. The first was the smog of October 1948, in which half of the 14,000 inhabitants of Donora, Pennsylvania became sick as a result of severe smog. The second was the "Great London Smog" of 1952. This pollution heavy fog set in on the city of London in 1952, and was responsible for the illness of many people and at least 4,000 deaths. Both smog events were caused by "sulfurous smog," created by the burning of coal. Other types of smog are formed by the mixing of nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons with sunlight and high temperatures. This is called "photochemical smog." The article presents several websites about smog and air quality monitoring as well as international smog agreements.

Discusses several articles on the impact of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in the December 2004 issue of Environment. Consideration of how levels of carbon dioxide have risen to 375 parts per million in the last 50 years; Articles on the efforts of humans to stabilize the atmosphere with emission cuts of 50 to 80 percent; Accessibility and cost of fossil fuels as an environmental challenge; Reference to articles by Robert Socolow, Roberta Hotinski, and Stephen Pacala; Need for the government to instill a greater sense of urgency regarding climate change; Limitations associated with using fear and guilt as motivations for actions.

Presents briefs related to environmental issues. Research on the shrinking ozone in the stratosphere over Antarctica by scientists at New Zealand's National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research; Findings from a global survey that sewage is used to irrigate 10 percent of the world's crops; Announcement of a plan for FedEx to built a solar-power system atop its central offices in Oakland, California in order to produce one-fourth of the city's power; Others.

The article presents briefs related to environmental issues. In acceptance speeches by the 2004 Republican and Democratic presidential nominees, "environment" or "environmental" was spoken a total of three times. "Terror," or other forms of the word, was spoken a total of 21 times (both candidates). The spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down may also give native vegetation an edge over exotic grasses, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists say. Preliminary results from a study of native sagebrush and exotic grass communities in eastern Oregon and southwestern Idaho suggest that sugar reduces the availability of inorganic nitrogen in the top layer of soil. Air in smoky bars and casinos contains up to 50 times the levels of two carcinogenic pollutants measured over congested highways and urban streets at rush hour, new research shows. The chemicals-particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PPAHs) and respirable particulates, a type of soot-are found in secondhand smoke and diesel emissions.

The article discusses how a recent study of three proposed plans to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants in the United States rated the Bush administration's Clear Skies Act the weakest of the three. The report, Dirty Air, Dirty Power, commissioned by the government and conducted by the international research firm Abt Associates, found that although the Clear Skies Act would save 14,000 lives, the most aggressive of the three, a bill introduced by Senator James Jeffords (I-VT), would save as many as 22,000 lives. The third plan, Senator Thomas Carper's (D-DE) bill, would save 16,000 lives. Industry representatives, along with the administration's chief environmental policy adviser, attacked the report for focusing on just one emission source. According to the report, pollution from power plants kills nearly 24,000 Americans each year under current policies. Reauthorization of the Clean Air Act, the report says, will save 4,000 more lives than the proposed Clear Skies Act. However, congressional action may be far off, as the 2004 election campaigns have put a hold on major legislation this year.

Deals with the broadening range of advocates for reducing emission. Member cities of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives' Cities for Climate Protection; Actions taken by private corporations to reduce carbon dioxide emissions; Tools that can be used to assess individual's ability to reduce emissions.

Presents an editorial on the gaps in man's knowledge of the depletion of the ozone layer. Comments that the information we have on the ozone layer did not predict the variances being seen and wonders if that means man's knowledge is not adequate to reliability predict the problems that could arise from the decline in the ozone layer; Call for assessment of what constitutes prudent public policy.