Partners
Global
Change Research Community
The global
change research community consists of teams of scientists
investigating the many changes occurring on Earth as a result
of natural and human causes - the best known of these is global
warming. To study the complex, highly interconnected processes
that contribute to, and result from, global change, the global
change research community is taking a leadership role to assemble
global data sets from satellites such as the NOAA weather
satellites, Landsat, and the Japanese radar satellite, JERS-1.
These efforts have proven difficult, time consuming, and costly.
However, the use of data from earth-observation satellites
is the only means possible to obtain accurate and up-to-date
information on the location, condition, and changes in the
Earth's forests.
The global
change science community has three primary objectives from
GOFC-GOLD:
- To
decrease the cost and time required to assemble global data
sets and the information that can be derived from them;
- To
increase the quality of the derived information, by improving
the processing of data from existing satellites, and by
introducing sensors that can provide better information;
- To
provide networks which facilitate the acquisition, processing,
and sharing of information, and also facilitate international
collaboration.
The
International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), with
headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, coordinates much of the
global change research being carried out. The IGBP has a number
of "core projects", including Land
Use and Cover Change (LUCC), Global
Change and Terrestrial Ecosystems (GCTE), Biospheric
Aspects of the Hydrological Cycle (BAHC), and International
Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC). The execution of
IGBP Core Projects is assisted by three supporting Framework
Activities: IGBP
Data and Information System (IGBP-DIS), Global
Analysis, Interpretation and Modelling (GAIM), and Global
Change System for Analysis, Research and Training (START).
International
Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) is a non-profit,
non-governmental international network of forest scientists.
Its objectives are to promote international cooperation in
forestry and forest products research. IUFRO aspires to bring
together scientific knowledge about all aspects of trees and
forests through the cooperative efforts of its worldwide member
research organizations and scientists. Through this means
it seeks to promote the sustainable use of forest ecosystems
to provide multiple benefits for local people and for society
as a whole.
The European
Forest Institute (EFI) mission is to promote, conduct
and co-operate in research of forests, forestry and forest
products at the pan-European level. They make the results
of the research known to all interested parties, notably in
the areas of policy formulation and implementation, in order
to promote the conservation and sustainable management of
forests in Europe.
The
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) will improve the
management of the world's natural and managed ecosystems by
helping to meet the needs of decision-makers (in governments
and the private sector) and the public for peer-reviewed,
policy-relevant scientific information on the condition of
ecosystems, consequences of ecosystem change, and options
for response. The MA will provide information and also build
human and institutional capacity to provide information. A
diverse group of experts from the natural and social sciences,
governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and
the private sector will undertake the assessment over a four-year
period, beginning in April 2001.
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