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Earth Sciences

Journal Article

Research Capacity Building in Africa: Networks, Institutions and Local Ownership

This paper focuses on the Wellcome Trust's African Institutions initiative, an example of the networked research capacity-building initiatives emerging in response to the need for research capacity growth.

May 1, 2012
Blog

Could Coal Mine Drainage Be Used for Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Extraction?

A recent RAND report examines the feasibility and challenges of using coal mine drainage for hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus Shale.

Apr 27, 2012
Report

Could Coal Mine Drainage Be Used for Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Extraction?

There are large quantities of coal mine water in Pennsylvania—much more than could be used in the coming decade for hydraulic fracturing. Researchers and operators will need to further explore quantity and quality needs to confirm whether coal mine drainage sources represent a viable, large-scale alternative to fresh water.

Apr 16, 2012
Commentary

Evidence for Climate Change Is Overwhelming

In case after case, the theory that best fits the data is the one that also leads inexorably to the conclusion that human influence is one of the most important forces currently changing the climate, writes Robert J. Lempert.

Mar 7, 2012
Journal Article

Comparing Robust Decision Making and Info-Gap Methods for Climate Policy

An examination of Info-Gap and RDM finds that the two approaches reach similar but not identical policy recommendations and that their differing attributes raise important questions about their appropriate roles in decision support applications.

Jan 1, 2012
Journal Article

Investment Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty: Application to Climate Change

This paper summarizes the additional uncertainty that is created by climate change, and reviews the tools that are available to project climate change (including downscaling techniques) and to assess and quantify the corresponding uncertainty.

Jan 1, 2012
Report

Recommended Research Priorities for the Qatar Foundation's Environment and Energy Research Institute

The Qatar Foundation is establishing a national research institute to conduct energy, environment, and water research. This book recommends research priorities for the institute and reports on a survey of related research institutions in the region.

Sep 22, 2011
Journal Article

Some Thoughts on the Role of Robust Control Theory in Climate-Related Decision Support: An Editorial Comment

Any successful response to climate change--both the challenges of limiting the magnitude of future climate change and adapting to its impacts--will clearly involve policies that evolve over time in response to new information and that are robust over a wide range of difficult-to-predict future conditions.

Aug 1, 2011
Journal Article

Technology Interactions Among Low-Carbon Energy Technologies: What Can We Learn from a Large Number of Scenarios?

This paper uses a combinatorial approach in which scenarios are created for all combinations of the technology development assumptions that underlie a smaller, representative set of scenarios.

Jul 1, 2011
Journal Article

A ~ 13,000-Year Paleolimnological Record from the Uinta Mountains, Utah, Inferred from Diatoms and Loss-On-Ignition Analysis

Paleolimnological research in mountainous regions of the Western United States provide baseline understanding of how these lake systems will respond to ongoing climate change.

Apr 1, 2011
Commentary

Climate Scientists Should Wear Adam Smith Ties

If it were really possible to explain millions of years of Earth data with a theory that doesn't also imply a recent human influence on the climate, some ambitious, self-interested team of scientists somewhere in the world would seek scientific renown by doing so, writes Robert Lempert.

Mar 30, 2011
Journal Article

Managing Climate Risks in Developing Countries with Robust Decision Making

The authors present the concept of robust decision making (RDM), which draws on already-existing knowledge of practitioners to choose actions that are viable in both the short- and long-term.

Jan 1, 2011
Report

Orbital Debris Poses a Growing Threat to Satellites in Space

Orbital debris represents a threat to the operation of man-made objects in space, such as satellite television and weather satellites. Currently, there are hundreds of thousands of objects greater than one centimeter in diameter in Earth's orbit.

Nov 2, 2010
Periodical

RAND Review: Vol. 33, No. 2, Summer 2009

A section on U.S. health care reform accompanies features on piracy, education priorities, emerging technologies, and Arkansas antismoking programs; other stories discuss climate change, parolees, oil risks, Mexican security, and global drug policies.

Aug 17, 2009
Journal Article

Methods for Long-Term Environmental Policy Challenges

This article provides a concise overview of methods for analyzing policy choices that have been used in the study of long-term environmental challenges.

Aug 1, 2009
Research Brief

Assessing a Coal-to-Liquids Fuel Industry in the United States

Government actions to gain early experience in producing liquid fuels from coal offer major energy security benefits but also raise important economic governance, and environmental issues.

Nov 30, 2008
Research Brief

Alternative Fossil-Based Transportation Fuels: Economic Benefits and Environmental Concerns

Alternative fuels derived from oil sands and from coal liquefaction can cost-effectively diversify fuel supplies, but neither type significantly reduces U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions enough to arrest long-term climate change.

Nov 21, 2008
Report

Coal-to-Liquid Fuel Production Could Offer Major National Benefits

The federal government can spark the creation of a commercially competitive coal-to-liquids industry by fostering early development of plants that would produce transportation fuels from coal, as well as by expanding its investment in carbon sequestration technology to help limit, and possibly reduce, greenhouse gas emissions levels.

Nov 17, 2008
News Release

Alternative Fossil Fuels Have Economic Potential but Uncertain Environmental Consequences

Alternative sources of fossil fuels such as oil sands and coal-to-liquids have significant economic promise, but the environmental consequences must also be considered.

Oct 8, 2008
Report

Alternative Fossil Fuels Have Economic Potential but Uncertain Environmental Consequences

Alternative sources of fossil fuels such as oil sands and coal-to-liquids have significant economic promise, but the environmental consequences must also be considered.

Sep 19, 2008

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RAND Topic:
Earth Sciences

Topic Synonyms:
Geochemistry;
Geosciences

Research conducted by

RAND Social and Economic Well-Being