In this Section

Issues: Global Warming

In Depth Articles

See the NRDC Policy Solutions section for more expert analysis of environmental issues. You may also wish to view the working materials in the NRDC Document Bank

Boosting the Benefits
Policy Papers: California has the opportunity to combat global warming while simultaneously improving air quality and public health throughout the state. Measures being considered under the California Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32) could save hundreds of lives and prevent thousands of other negative health impacts each year -- saving billions of dollars in healthcare costs. NRDC analysis shows that strategies for reducing global warming pollution -- cleaner cars and trucks, energy efficiency, renewable energy and smart growth -- also reduce air pollution and bring tremendous short- and long-term health "co-benefits."
The Cost of Climate Change
Report: New research shows that if present trends continue, the total cost of global warming will be as high as 3.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Four global warming impacts alone -- hurricane damage, real estate losses, energy costs, and water costs -- will come with a price tag of 1.8 percent of U.S. GDP, or almost $1.9 trillion annually (in today's dollars) by 2100. The longer we wait, the more painful -- and expensive -- the consequences will be.
Benchmarking Air Emissions of the 100 Largest Electric Power Producers in the U.S. - 2006
Report: The Benchmarking project uses public data to compare the emissions performance of the 100 largest power producers in the United States. The sortable databases provided here contain emissions data for four power plant pollutants: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury and carbon dioxide. The information presented here was compiled and analyzed in collaboration by NRDC; Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (PSEG), a New Jersey-based electric utility; Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), a California-based energy utility; and CERES, a national coalition of environmental and investor groups.
Hotter and Drier
Report: Human activities are already changing the climate of the American West. This report by the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization (RMCO) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), drawn from 50 scientific studies, 125 other government and scientific sources, and our own new analyses, documents that the West is being affected more by a changed climate than any other part of the United States outside of Alaska. When compared to the 20th century average, the West has experienced an increase in average temperature during the last five years that is 70 percent greater than the world as a whole. Responding quickly at all levels of government by embracing the solutions that are available is critical to minimizing further disruption of this region’s climate and economy.
The New Energy Economy
Policy Papers: How America and the world respond to global warming and our growing demand for energy -- and whether we respond in time -- will determine what kind of planet we have for generations to come. Fortunately, many of the technologies and policy tools we need to make the shift to cleaner energy solutions already exist, and we can deploy them without harming the economy. NRDC outlines six energy-sector opportunities that can help America reduce global warming pollution. The next step is decisive action by the U.S. government to facilitate these investments and reduce our global warming pollution the necessary 80 percent, or 10.6 billion tons, by 2050.
Sneezing and Wheezing
Policy Papers: Global warming isn't just making our planet hotter. Scientific studies have also shown that our changing climate could mean more ozone pollution in some areas and intensify the health problems stemming from allergenic pollen such as ragweed. This is bad news for allergy sufferers and asthmatics because both ragweed and ozone have been linked to respiratory problems such as asthma and to allergic symptoms in adults and children -- and studies show that people exposed to both ragweed and ozone are likely to become sicker than people exposed to just one of these pollutants. New NRDC research -- the first to map areas within the United States where ragweed and unhealthy ozone pollution overlap -- shows that 110 million Americans live in areas with both ragweed and ozone problems.
Back from the Brink
Policy Papers: September 2007 marks the 20th anniversary of the world’s most effective environmental treaty -- the Montreal Protocol. Back from the Brink: How NRDC Helped Save the Ozone Layer describes how a team of NRDC scientists and lawyers played a crucial role in creating this landmark environmental protection.
Global Warming Science: An Annotated Bibliography
Index: In recent years, scientists have added considerably to the large body of evidence that shows that human activity is changing the global climate, raising temperatures and affecting ecosystems around the world.
Safeguarding Alaska's Arctic Wilderness
Index: Oil and gas drilling, coal mining and invasive development are combining with global warming's effects to wreak havoc on Alaska's vast, remote Arctic landscape. NRDC is working with Alaskan Native communities to protect this wilderness area and the whales, bears and other diverse wildlife that depend on it.
In Hot Water: Water Management Strategies to Weather the Effects of Global Warming
Report: Drought and dry conditions withering the western United States are likely to persist and intensify, jeapordizing the region's water supply and water quality, compromising the health of rivers and lakes, and increasing the risk of flooding for Western communities. As stewards of these scarce resources, water managers can lead the response to the effects of global warming on water in the West. This NRDC report breaks new ground by analyzing the effects of global warming on a full range of water management tools and offering recommendations to meet the challenge. As the hotter, drier weather already afflicting the region becomes more common, officials responsible for keeping the taps flowing will need to take bold measures now, including conservation and efficiency, and supporting measures to control and reduce global warming in the future.
Driving It Home: Choosing the Right Path for Fueling North America's Transportation Future
Report: North America faces an energy crossroads. With the world fast approaching the end of cheap, plentiful conventional oil, we must choose between developing ever-dirtier sources of fossil fuels -- at great cost to our health and environment -- or setting a course for a more sustainable energy future of clean, renewable fuels. This June 2007 report explores the full scale of the damage done by attempts to extract oil from liquid coal, oil shale, and tar sands; examines the risks for investors of gambling on these dirty fuel sources; and lays out solutions for guiding us toward a cleaner fuel future.
Global Warming Threatens Wildlife
Index: Global warming is pushing wildlife over the brink. From melting sea-ice throughout the Arctic to increases in infectious diseases and loss of food, evidence of the impacts of global warming on wildlife is mounting. This index collects fact sheets on global warming's effects on threatened species.
A Golden Opportunity: California’s Solutions for Global Warming
Report: The landmark California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, also known as AB 32, is the most ambitious global warming solutions law in the nation. The state’s next step: putting in place the specific measures that will bring emissions levels back to 1990 levels by 2020 to meet AB 32’s limit. This June 2007 report describes how California is protecting the state from global warming pollution while growing its economy and encouraging the innovative clean technology industry.
New Nuclear Power Plants Are Not a Solution for America’s Energy Needs
Index: New nuclear power plants are unlikely to provide a significant fraction of future U.S. needs for low-carbon energy. NRDC favors more practical, economical and environmentally sustainable approaches to reducing both U.S. and global carbon emissions, focusing on the widest possible implementation of end-use energy-efficiency improvements, and on policies to accelerate commercialization of clean, flexible, renewable energy technologies.
Science Panel's Latest Climate Report Underscores Need for Swift Action
Analysis: Key findings and implications of the Fourth Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Legislation to Control Global Warming Pollution
Index: The United States must pass strong legislation to cap emissions of heat-trapping pollutants.
Global Warming One Step Closer to Supreme Court
Fact Sheet: NRDC and others file briefs in run-up to oral arguments in case that will decide EPA's authority to regulate carbon dioxide.
Coal in a Changing Climate
Index: This index collects policy documents about the implications of the world's reliance on coal.
Losing Ground: Western National Parks Endangered by Climate Disruption
Report: National parks in the American West face an unprecedented threat from climate change. Rising temperatures, prolonged drought, severe wildfires and diminished snowfall are already affecting these parks; without action to curb climate change, cherished Western landscapes could be drastically altered.
Global Warming Won't Wait
Fact Sheet: What the science tells us, how further delay on meaningful emissions cuts will require more wrenching and expensive cuts later, and why more and more industry leaders are recognizing that scientific consensus and rising public concern make action on global warming inevitable.
The Bush Administration's Global Warming Policies
Index: Even as the Bush administration acknowledges that global warming is a pressing threat to the United States, it continues to reject meaningful action to reduce global warming pollution. This administraiton has refused to require cuts in heat-trapping carbon dioxide pollution, significantly raise fuel economy requirements or hold companies accountable for improving their energy efficiency and using wind, solar and other renewable energy sources. As these analyses show, the Bush administration's tired calls for still more study and voluntary pollution cuts won't get the job done.
A Responsible Energy Plan for America
Report: America's dependence on the polluting energy technologies of the past threatens our nation's economy, health, and security and contributes to the most urgent environmental and public health crisis of our time: global warming. But clean energy solutions exist today. This April 2005 NRDC paper details an energy policy that would enhance our national security, reduce air and water pollution, curb global warming, create jobs, and protect wildlands and wildlife.
Global Warming in the West
Index: Recent scientific research indicates that global warming will have profound economic, hydrologic and environmental impacts on the American West. Agriculture, wildlife, the recreation industry and public health will all suffer from decreasing water supplies, less hydropower and more wildfires and flooding. These effects can be mitigated, however, by putting global warming solutions to work today. Cleaner vehicles and cleaner energy will help cut harmful global warming emissions and reduce the negative impacts of global warming on the U.S. West.
Policies to Promote Carbon-less Energy Systems
Policy Papers: Delivered on September 6, 2004, at the 7th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies, Vancouver, Canada, by David Hawkins, director of NRDC's climate center.
Heat Advisory: How Global Warming Causes More Bad Air Days
Report: Comprehensive analysis by medical experts showing that global warming would cause more summertime smog and higher pollen levels, which in turn might bring more asthma attacks, more hospitalizations, and limitations on time outdoors.
Is Hydrogen the Solution?
Policy Papers: Global warming pollution and dependence on foreign oil are urgent problems, and hydrogen and hydrogen fuel cells vehicles have received much attention as potential solutions. This April 2004 NRDC policy paper outlines some dangers in leaning heavily on a "hydrogen economy" in the near term, and details other solutions that will be crucial to addressing energy security, air quality, and efforts to stop global warming over the next few decades.
Hearing on Future Options for Generation of Electricity from Coal
Testimony: Presented before the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality, by David Hawkins, director of NRDC's climate center, on June 24, 2003.
Feeling the Heat in Florida
Report: Accelerated climate change may seem like a remote concern to most Floridians, but in fact, global warming threatens the beautiful coastal communities and tourist-driven prosperity the state is known for. This October 2001 NRDC report finds that global warming in Florida will lead to coastal floods, saltwater contamination of underground drinking water supplies, more frequent wildfires, declining crop yields, and severe deterioration of the state's unique Everglades and coral-reef ecosystems. While the worst effects won't come for several decades, the report makes it clear that state officials should begin preparing now and reduce the pollution that causes global warming.
Climate Change Technology and Policy Options
Testimony: Presented before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation by David Hawkins, director of NRDC's climate center, July 10, 2001.
Comments on CARB's Regulations to Control Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Motor Vehicles
Comments: Official comments from NRDC's global warming and clean-cars experts on the draft regulations for implementation of AB 1493, California's landmark law requiring automakers to reduce heat-trapping exhaust from new vehicles by about 30 percent over the next decade.