Design alternatives for a domestic carbon trading scheme in the United States

One critical aspect of the Kyoto Protocol is its flexibility in compliance. Countries or groups of countries are free to choose their own implementation strategies. Should the United States ratify the Protocol, it will most likely use emissions trading in some form to implement this accord. Two variations on a US domestic carbon trading system are presented here. One is an auction system controlling carbon at the point of energy production and distribution. The second is a hybrid system allocating permits to large combustors and controlling smaller sources through standards. Within this paper we describe and compare the main attributes of each system. Separate sections also discuss various methods for allocating permits and incorporating standards.     

Paleolimnological reconstruction of recent acidity changes in four Sierra Nevada lakes

We have completed a paleolimnological analysis of sediment cores from four lakes in the Sierra Nevada Range of California (USA). The diatom-inferred pH profile from Harriet Lake in Yosemite National Park (present pH=6.52) indicates no significant trends over the last 250 years. Inferred pH from Emerald Lake in Sequoia National Park (present pH=6.10) indicates a very small increase (<0.1 pH unit) over the past 60 years and perhaps another small increase (ca. 0.15 pH unit) since 1976. Eastern Brook Lake in Inyo National Forest (present pH=7.06) shows evidence of both long-term alkalinification (ca. 0.3 pH unit over the last 200 years) and pH fluctuations since 1970. Lake 45 in King's Canyon National Park (present pH=5.16) appears to have acidified slightly (ca. 0.2 pH unit) over the last 60 years. Factors causing the observed trends are uncertain, but a role for acidic deposition cannot be ruled out.     

Chronology of Sediment Deposition in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon

A combination of tephrochronology and ¹⁴C, ²¹⁰Pb, and ¹³⁷Cs measurements provides a robust chronology for sedimentation in Upper Klamath Lake during the last 45 000 years. Mixing of surficial sediments and possible mobility of the radio-isotopes limit the usefulness of the ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb data, but ²¹⁰Pb profiles provide reasonable average sediment accumulation rates for the last 100–150 years. Radiocarbon ages near the top of the core are somewhat erratic and are too old, probably as a result of detrital organic carbon, which may have become a more common component in recent times as surrounding marshes were drained. Below the tops of the cores, radiocarbon ages in the center of the basin appear to be about 400 years too old, while those on the margin appear to be accurate, based on comparisons with tephra layers of known age.Taken together, the data can be combined into reasonable age models for each site. Sediments have accumulated at site K1, near the center of the basin, about 2 times faster than at site CM2, on the margin of the lake. The rates are about 0.10 and 0.05 cm/yr, respectively. The chronological data also indicate that accumulation rates were slower during the early to middle Holocene than during the late Holocene, consistent with increasing wetness in the late Holocene.     

On the accuracy of modified Stokes's integration in high-frequency gravimetric geoid determination

 Two numerical techniques are used in recent regional high-frequency geoid computations in Canada: discrete numerical integration and fast Fourier transform. These two techniques have been tested for their numerical accuracy using a synthetic gravity field. The synthetic field was generated by artificially extending the EGM96 spherical harmonic coefficients to degree 2160, which is commensurate with the regular 5^′ geographical grid used in Canada. This field was used to generate self-consistent sets of synthetic gravity anomalies and synthetic geoid heights with different degree variance spectra, which were used as control on the numerical geoid computation techniques. Both the discrete integration and the fast Fourier transform were applied within a 6^∘ spherical cap centered at each computation point. The effect of the gravity data outside the spherical cap was computed using the spheroidal Molodenskij approach. Comparisons of these geoid solutions with the synthetic geoid heights over western Canada indicate that the high-frequency geoid can be computed with an accuracy of approximately 1 cm using the modified Stokes technique, with discrete numerical integration giving a slightly, though not significantly, better result than fast Fourier transform. Received: 2 November 1999 / Accepted: 11 July 2000     

Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene Environmental Change at the Sunshine Locality, North-Central Nevada, U.S.A.

Sedimentological, faunal, and archaeological investigations at the Sunshine Locality, Long Valley, Nevada reveal a history of human adaptation and environmental change at the last glacial–interglacial transition in North America's north-central Great Basin. The locality contains a suite of lacustrine, alluvial, and eolian deposits associated with fluvially reworked faunal remains and Paleoindian artifacts. Radiocarbon-dated stratigraphy indicates a history of receding pluvial lake levels followed by alluvial downcutting and subsequent valley filling with marsh-like conditions at the end of the Pleistocene. A period of alluvial deposition and shallow water tables (9,800 to 11,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P.) correlates to the Younger Dryas. Subsequent drier conditions and reduced surface runoff mark the early Holocene; sand dunes replace wetlands by 8,000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. The stratigraphy at Sunshine is similar to sites located 400 km south and supports regional climatic synchroneity in the central and southern Great Basin during the terminal Pleistocene/early Holocene. Given regional climate change and recurrent geomorphic settings comparable to Sunshine, we believe that there is a high potential for buried Paleoindian features in primary association with extinct fauna elsewhere in the region yet to be discovered due to limited stratigraphic exposure and consequent low visibility.     

Trace-element and stable-isotope geochemistry of non-marine ostracod shells in Quaternary palaeoenvironmental reconstruction

Ostracods are small bivalved aquatic crustancean. They secrete shells of low-Mg calcite that are often preserved in lake sediments. Recent work has shown that the uptake of trace elements (especially Mg and Sr) into the shell may be a function of the salinity and temperature of the host water. Furthermore, ostracod shells are a source of carbonate for stable-isotope analysis. This paper reviews the application of ostracod shell chemistry to Quaternary palaeolimnology. Although such work has revealed the excellent potential of these techniques to provide quantitative palaeolimnological reconstructions, a number of problems have also emerged. These problems relate to (1) methods used for extraction of ostracod shells from sediment and their subsequent cleaning (2) post-mortem diagenesis and alteration of the shell (3) complications with the calcification mechanism (4) spatial and temporal variability in shell composition (5) the ecological tolerances of individual species and (6) the relationships between shell chemistry and palaeohydrology. To some extent, these problems are an inevitable outcome of the diversity of lacustrine systems: they may be overcome by developing a thorough understanding of the physiology, life-cycle and ecology of the species concerned, together with the modern limnology of the study site. Overall, these techniques have excellent potential in Quaternary palaeolimnology, especially when used with other palaeoenvironmental indicators.     

National and Community Market Contributions of Wilderness

Wilderness attracts tourists and generates visitor spending in proximate communities as people enjoy Wilderness for outdoor recreation. Wilderness also attracts amenity migrants and out-of-region investments into surrounding regional economies. To investigate the amount and types of employment and income generated by Wilderness visitation, we conducted an economic contribution analysis of aggregate national visitor expenditures. The U.S. Forest Service National Visitor Use and Monitoring (NVUM) economic spending profiles were used to construct types and amounts of Wilderness visitor spending and were applied to an estimated 9.9 million annual visitors across federal agencies. IMPLAN modeling software was used to estimate total effects and multipliers for output, employment, income, and value added. Results show that some $500 million is annually spent in communities adjacent to Wilderness, generating a direct effect of 5,700 jobs and a total output effect over $700 million across numerous industries ($2012 including indirect and induced effects).