International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

About: International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis is a nonprofit organization based out in Laxenburg, Austria. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Greenhouse gas. The organization has 1369 authors who have published 5075 publications receiving 280467 citations. The organization is also known as: IIASA.

WATCH: Current Knowledge of the Terrestrial Global Water Cycle

Abstract: Water-related impacts are among the most important consequences of increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. Changes in the global water cycle will also impact the carbon and nutrient cycles and vegetation patterns. There is already some evidence of increasing severity of floods and droughts and increasing water scarcity linked to increasing greenhouse gases. So far, however, the most important impacts on water resources are the direct interventions by humans, such as dams, water extractions, and river channel modifications. The Water and Global Change (WATCH) project is a major international initiative to bring together climate and water scientists to better understand the current and future water cycle. This paper summarizes the underlying motivation for the WATCH project and the major results from a series of papers published or soon to be published in the Journal of Hydrometeorology WATCH special collection. At its core is the Water Model Intercomparison Project (WaterMIP), which brings togeth...

Integrating Global Climate Change Mitigation Goals with Other Sustainability Objectives: A Synthesis

Abstract: Achieving a truly sustainable energy transition requires progress across multiple dimensions beyond climate change mitigation goals. This article reviews and synthesizes results from disparate strands of literature on the coeffects of mitigation to inform climate policy choices at different governance levels. The literature documents many potential cobenefits of mitigation for nonclimate objectives, such as human health and energy security, but little is known about their overall welfare implications. Integrated model studies highlight that climate policies as part of well-designed policy packages reduce the overall cost of achieving multiple sustainability objectives. The incommensurability and uncertainties around the quantification of coeffects become, however, increasingly pervasive the more the perspective shifts from sectoral and local to economy wide and global, the more objectives are analyzed, and the more the results are expressed in economic rather than nonmonetary terms. Different strings of e...

Smart and Just Grids for sub-Saharan Africa : Exploring options

Abstract: In 2009, an estimated 585 million people had no access to electricity services in sub-Saharan Africa. Unlike many other regions of the world, under current assumptions, that figure is expected to rise significantly to about 652 million by 2030-an unsustainable and unacceptable situation. Knowing of the intrinsic linkages between access to energy services and development, national governments and regional organisations have identified the urgent need for accelerated electrification rates. Some of the established and emerging concepts, systems and technologies grouped under the term ‘Smart Grids’ may offer an important contribution to achieving universal access to electricity. We argue that these Smart Grid advances may enable sub-Saharan African countries to leapfrog elements of traditional power systems and accelerate and improve electrification efforts. We introduce the notion of Just Grids to reflect the need for power systems to contribute towards equitable and inclusive economic and social development without marginalising the poor. The paper reviews the literature, and identifies specific options that could be implemented in sub-Saharan Africa. After selecting criteria that focus on potential impact as well as requirements for their implementation, a qualitative first-pass assessment of the potential of these options is made. This paper provides support for policy development, and suggests areas for further, more detailed research.

Dynamics of Russian Forests and the Carbon Budget in 1961–1998: An Assessment Based on Long-Term Forest Inventory Data

Abstract: Development trends of Russian forests and their impact on the global carbon budget were assessed at the national level on the basis of long-term forest inventory data (1961–1998). Over this period, vegetation of Russian forest lands are estimated as a carbon sink, with an annual average level of carbon sequestration in vegetational organic matter of 210 ± 30 Tg C · yr−1 (soil carbon is not considered in this study), of which 153 Tg C · yr−1 were accumulated in live biomass and 57 Tg C · yr−1 in dead wood. The temporal variability of the sink is very large; for the five-year averages used in the analysis, the C sequestration varies from about 60 to above 300 Tg C· yr−1. It is shown that long-term forest inventory data could serve as an important information base for assessing crucial indicators of full carbon accounting of forests.