Policy implications of Greenhouse Warming: Report of the adaptation panel

The HUD-Independent Agencies Appropriations Act of 1988 called for a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) study on global climate change. This study should establish the scientific consensus on the rate and magnitude of climate change, estimate the projected impacts, and evaluate policy options for mitigating and responding to such changes. According to subsequent advice received from members of Congress, the NAS study was to focus on radiatively active trace gases from human sources, or 'greenhouse warming.' The work of the study was conducted by four panels. This is the report of the Adaptation Panel. The Adaptation Panel assessed the impacts of possible climate change on humanity and nature and the policies that could help people and nature adapt to those changes. The panel began its work by reviewing the literature in the field of impacts and adaptation, stressing studies of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the work in progress of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).