Climate Change | Region 8

National Information

Regional Information

Climate Change Activities

Following the suggestion of several State Environmental and Agricultural Directors at the June, 2007 meeting in Denver, "Climate Change" was added to the list of Region 8 priorities. Following that, a staff workgroup representing many Region 8 programs was assembled to prepare the first "Climate Change Action Plan". The first step was to assemble a compendium of the current activities that have a climate change nexus. For example, several programs focus on promoting energy savings, other activities include: climate change education, increasing the use of alternative fuels (such as biofuels), working with venues such as the Pepsi Center to promote adoption of climate change mitigation strategies, using NEPA to promote energy efficiency and green house gas emissions reductions, promoting increases in available renewable energy, promoting energy efficiency in water and waste water facilities, promoting energy efficiency through the use of recycled materials, etc.

The climate change activity matrix is organized in five sections. Section 1 is headed: Energy Efficiency, Section 2 is Energy Production and Supply, Section 3 is Manufacturing, Section 4 is Transportation Fuels, and Section 5 is Adaptation.

New activities will be added over time and a more comprehensive work plan will be prepared.

The following documents are Adobe PDF files (about PDF files)

Climate Change Knowledge Building Series

Climate Change 101 (PDF, 4pp, 1609kb)

Some of the sites listed on this page are not on the EPA Web site. Please see our disclaimer information.

State Climate Change Information

- Colorado Greenhouse Gas inventory, January 2007

- Colorado Climate Action Plan, November 2007

- Utah Blue Ribbon Advisory Council on Climate Change and Final Report, October 2007

- Utah Greenhouse Gas Inventory, February 2007

- Montana Greenhouse Inventory, September 2007

- Montana Climate Change Action Plan, November 2007

Regional Climate Change Resources

US National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change
Great Plains
http://www.usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/nacc/greatplains.htm
West
http://www.usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/nacc/west.htm
Pacific Northwest
http://www.usgcrp.gov/usgcrp/nacc/pnw-mega-region.htm

Rockies/Western US
http://www.nrel.colostate.edu/projects/brd_global_change/proj_02_colo_rockies.html
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/wycd/downloads/CS_wmtn.pdf

Regional Partnerships/ Policy Initiatives
http://www.gpisd.net/resource.html?Id=61
http://www.westgov.org/wga/initiatives/cdeac/index.htm
http://www.theclimateregistry.org/

1) IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Working Group 2 - Impacts, Adaptation, Vulnerability

This link is to the North America section of this report - Specifically see section 14.4: Key Future Impacts and Vulnerabilities (36 pp, 872 K, About PDF Files)

2) NOAA - Colorado and Interior SW Forecasts for Short-Term Weather:

http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/people/klaus.wolter/SWcasts/#execsum

3) Western Water Assessment (WWA):

This organization has multiple products in this link below, including recent streamflow data and the Intermountain West Climate Summary.

http://wwa.colorado.edu/current_projects/

4) Intermountain West Climate Summary:
They provide climate information for the intermountain west in the form of graphics, current conditions, forecasts, verifications, and focus articles.

http://wwa.colorado.edu/products/forecasts_and_outlooks/intermountain_west_climate_summary/

5) The Rocky Mountain Climate Organization:
Their mission is to spread the word about climate disruption and how it can impact the RM region. They convened the Colorado Climate Project.

http://www.rockymountainclimate.org/

Emerging Issues for Water in the West: 21st Century Drought (40 pp, 2862 K, About PDF Files)

Less Snow - Less Water - Climate Disruption in the West (36 pp, 2301 K, About PDF Files)

Losing Ground - Western National parks Endangered by Climate Disruption (39 pp, 1890 K, About PDF Files)