Closing the Environ menta Data Gap

摘要

Information limitations are severely constraining our ability to identifyrnand understand emerging environmental problems, devise interventions to address them,rnand evaluate whether our responses work.rnThe compelling evidence that the global climate is changing significantly and will continue to change for the foreseeable future means that we can expect to see similarly significant changes in a wide variety of other environmental conditions such as air and water quality; regional water supply; the health and distribution of plant and animal species; and land-use patterns for food, fiber, and energy production. Unfortunately, we are not adequately monitoring trends in many of these areas and therefore do not have the data necessary to identify emerging problems or to evaluate our efforts to respond. As threats to human health, food production, environmental quality, and ecological well-being emerge, the nations leaders will be handicapped by major blind spots in their efforts to design effective policies.