Environment

More from the Series

WORKING PAPERS
Who Pollutes? A Household-Level Database of America’s Greenhouse Gas Footprint - Working Paper 381
Kevin Ummel
October 10, 2014
This paper describes the creation of a database providing estimated greenhouse gas (GHG) footprints for 6 million U.S. households over the period 2008-2012.
Blog Post
A Tale of Two Rainstorms: The Science of Tropical Forests
Jonah Busch
October 07, 2014
Imagine a heavy rainstorm, typical in the wet tropics, falling on an intact hillside forest. The forest’s many levels of leaves and branches act like stacked umbrellas, softening the impact of the intense rain. Trees, shrubs, vines, mosses, and litter shield the soil from the direct impact of ...
WORKING PAPERS
Ecosystem Services from Tropical Forests: Review of Current Science - Working Paper 380
Katrina Brandon
October 07, 2014
Tropical forests exert a more profound influence on weather patterns, freshwater, natural disasters, biodiversity, food, and human health – both in the countries where forests are found and in distant countries – than any other terrestrial biome.
Blog Post
Why Quantifying the Value of Tropical Forests Matters for Development
Jonah Busch
October 01, 2014
More electricity. Fewer cases of diarrhea. Fewer lives lost to deadly storms.  These are among the objectives of the development planners and financiers meeting next week in Washington at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s annual meetings. 
WORKING PAPERS
The Value of Forest Ecosystem Services to Developing Economies - Working Paper 379
Katrina Mullan
October 01, 2014
This paper assesses the scale of the potential co-benefits for residents of developing countries of protecting forest ecosystems in order to mitigate climate change. The objective is to improve understanding among development practitioners of the ways in which services provided by forest ecosystems ...
Blog Post
Obama on Climate (and Development)
Lawrence MacDonald
September 24, 2014
President Obama's speech at the UN Climate Summit was long on ambition and short on specifics – with the exception of a executive order on US support for climate resilient development of uncertain merit.
Blog Post
Six Reasons to Welcome New REDD+ Partnerships with Peru and Liberia
Frances Seymour
September 24, 2014
Tuesday’s Climate Summit in New York prompted a number of forest-related commitments, including a “Declaration on Forests” signed by 28 governments, 8 subnational governments, 35 companies, 16 indigenous peoples groups, and 45 NGO and civil society groups.