Geography's Kirstin Dow co-authors acclaimed Atlas of Climate Change

By Marshall Swanson

It's becoming increasingly clear that the Earth's atmosphere is experiencing serious change as a result of greenhouse gas emissions.

The latest evidence of the effect greenhouse gasses are having on the environment is documented in The Atlas of Climate Change, Mapping The World's Greatest Challenge (University of California Press), a 112-page book published Oct. 2 by USC geography associate professor Kirstin Dow and Thomas E. Downing.

Kirstin Dow

Thomas Downing

Segments of the atlas, which is heavily illustrated with colorful maps, graphs, charts and illustrations, include information on such topics as signs of change, expected consequences, and committing to solutions.

"We thought it was important to get reference material out there that is data driven," said Dow. "There are books that describe the issues pretty well and there is a body of research that lays out the intricacies of the politics and other specific dimensions of the problem. But none of them give people the data they need to see for themselves what's happening, what might happen, and why developing strategies is so difficult."

Dow said she and Downing tried to select global data that would give transparency to the topic on a variety of key points and address key debates, while giving readers some empirical background.

She began collaboration on the book's research with Downing while she was on a leave-of-absence from USC to work at the Stockholm Environment Institute, a non-governmental international environmental policy research organization where she ran its poverty and vulnerability program. Downing is executive director of the institute's Oxford, England office.

The two began work on the atlas, which the Kirkus Reviews has selected as one of the top reference books of 2006, after Myriad Publications asked them to compile the research content. The atlas is being published in the United States by the University of California Press and outside of the United States by Earthscan.

The book's format was conceived by Dow and Downing after they imagined giving a PowerPoint presentation to international policy makers on global warming. Other intended audiences include "the educated public interested in the issue" and those involved in classroom teaching, Dow said.

"There are a lot of people who aren't necessarily equally versed in all dimensions of the issue who need some resource material to help them take a first step," said Dow. "This is what the book does. It provides the foundation you'll need to build on that and will help you keep up with the news on this subject that comes out every day."

Though Dow and Downing know that the phenomenon of global warming has been questioned by some critics, they point to a strong theory of how climate change is taking place, and evidence that supports the theory. They are confident they understand the potentially dire consequences of the greenhouse effect if it is not addressed.

"Based on that and the fact that both of us work on vulnerability issues among populations, we know this is a serious issue and much of it is going to be dangerous," said Dow. "And all of it is going to require changes in lifestyle."

The records and observations reported in the atlas are consistent with scientists' expectations of climate change, said Dow. "We've got changing patterns of temperature, heat weaves, changing migratory patterns of animal species, glaciers melting, and ice shelves deteriorating, all events that are consistent with projected climate change impacts."

Mitigation is needed to keep the effects of global warming from becoming worse, she added, "but right now we have to adapt and it's time to start some serous conversations about how we're going to adjust to the changes that we've already been committed to."

Despite the difficulty of things like moving away from fossil fuel-based power plants, Dow sees economic opportunity and savings associated with action required to mitigate greenhouse gases.

"Some investment will be required by companies that is not the most productive over the short term, but other companies will be able to save millions of dollars by changing their energy strategies and major corporations are already signed on and committed to doing that," she said.

"I'm optimistic that we're in a position to address this problem over the long term because I believe that many of the technologies we need to address this problem exist in some form today."

10/06