This is a brief description of studies that exemplify the methods and approaches that have been developed and used by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) researchers in conducting integrated assessments. See the complete list of Integrated Assessment Briefs to find out more about ORNL's efforts in integrated assessment. Contact Mike Farrell (farrellmp@ornl.gov) for more information.

Integrated Assessment of Global Climate Change

Integrated assessment can help formulate effective policies to deal with global climate change.

How can an integrated assessment approach facilitate addressing questions related to global climate change?

Global climate change is unprecedented in scope, scale, complexity, and potential severity of impacts. Integrated assessment has emerged as an approach to guide scientific research on global climate change and to help formulate new and more effective policies in response to global climate change.

Integrated assessment requires the linking of information from different disciplines and assumes the integrated impact may not equal the sum of the parts.

Integrated assessment provides a basis for comparing alternative policy choices, allows policy issues to frame the direction of scientific research and development, involves existing scientific knowledge, accommodates new knowledge as it becomes available, and provides a bridge between science and policy.

Dale, V. H., P. Leiby, A. Sanstad, D. Streets, R. S. Turner, and R. V. O'Neill. 1994. Characterizing the key policy issues in integrated assessment for global climate change. Environmental Management (submitted).

Where To?

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Integrated Assessment Briefs. 1995. ORNL/M-4227. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN.