The Transportation Research Board (TRB) and the Division on Earth and Life Studies (DELS) have released the pre-publication version of TRB Special Report 290, The Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U.S. Transportation, which explores the consequences of climate change for U.S. transportation infrastructure and operations. The report provides an overview of the scientific consensus on the current and future climate changes of particular relevance to U.S. transportation, including the limits of present scientific understanding as to their precise timing, magnitude, and geographic location; identifies potential impacts on U.S. transportation and adaptation options; and offers recommendations for both research and actions that can be taken to prepare for climate change. The book also summarizes previous work on strategies for reducing transportation-related emissions of carbon dioxide--the primary greenhouse gas--that contribute to climate change. Five commissioned papers used by the committee to help develop the report, a summary of the report, and a National Academies press release associated with the report are available online. DELS, like TRB, is a division of the National Academies, which include the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council.

Throughout the world there is evidence of mounting interest in marine resources and new maritime industries to create jobs, economic growth and to help in the provision of energy and food security. Expanding populations, insecurity of traditional sources of supply and the effects of climate change add urgency to a perceived need to address and overcome the serious challenges of working in the maritime environment. Four promising areas of activity for ‘Blue Growth’ have been identified at European Union policy level including Aquaculture; Renewable Energy (offshore wind, wave and tide); Seabed Mining; and Blue Biotechnology. Work has started to raise the technological and investment readiness levels (TRLs and IRLs) of these prospective industries drawing on the experience of established maritime industries such as Offshore Oil and Gas; Shipping; Fisheries and Tourism. An accord has to be struck between policy makers and regulators on the one hand, anxious to direct research and business incentives in effective and efficient directions, and developers, investors and businesses on the other, anxious to reduce the risks of such potentially profitable but innovative investments.The EU H2020 MARIBE (Marine Investment for the Blue Economy) funded project was designed to identify the key technical and non-technical challenges facing maritime industries and to place them into the social and economic context of the coastal and ocean economy. MARIBE went on to examine with companies, real projects for the combination of marine industry sectors into multi-use platforms (MUPs). The purpose of this book is to publish the detailed analysis of each prospective and established maritime business sector. Sector experts working to a common template explain what these industries are, how they work, their prospects to create wealth and employment, and where they currently stand in terms of innovation, trends and their lifecycle. The book goes on to describe progress with the changing regulatory and planning regimes in the European Sea Basins including the Caribbean where there are significant European interests. The book includes:• Experienced chapter authors from a truly multidisciplinary team of sector specialisms• First extensive study to compare and contrast traditional Blue Economy with Blue Growth• Complementary to EU and National policies for multi-use of maritime space

Since the early 1980s, a prominent and consistent conclusion drawn from research on China's defense-industrial complex has been that China's defense-production capabilities are rife with weaknesses and limitations. This study argues for an alternative approach: From the vantage point of 2005, it is time to shift the focus of current research to the gradual improvements in and the future potential of China's defense-industrial complex. The study found that China's defense sectors are designing and producing a wide range of increasingly advanced weapons that, in the short term, are relevant to a possible conflict over Taiwan but also to China's long-term military presence in Asia. Part of a larger RAND Project AIR FORCE study on Chinese military modernization, this study examines the current and future capabilities of China's defense industry. The goals of this study are to 1.

This updated and revised edition outlines strategies and models for how to use technology and knowledge to improve performance, create jobs and increase income. It shows what skills will be required to produce, sell and manage performance over time, and how manual jobs can contribute to reduce the consumption of non-renewable resources.

Long before the NASA was the throes of planning for the Apollo voyages to the Moon, many people had seen the need for a vehicle that could access space routinely. The idea of a reusable space shuttle dates at least to the theoretical rocketplane studies of the 1930s, but by the 1950s it had become an integral part of a master plan for space exploration. The goal of efficient access to space in a heavy-lift booster prompted NASA's commitment to the space shuttle as the vehicle to continue human space flight. By the mid-1960s, NASA engineers concluded that the necessary technology was within reach to enable the creation of a reusable winged space vehicle that could haul scientific and applications satellites of all types into orbit for all users. President Richard M. Nixon approved the effort to build the shuttle in 1972 and the first orbital flight took place in 1981. Although the development program was risky, a talented group of scientists and engineers worked to create this unique space vehicle and their efforts were largely successful. Since 1981, the various orbiters -Atlantis, Columbia, Discovery, Endeavour, and Challenger (lost in 1986 during the only Space Shuttle accident)- have made early 100 flights into space. Through 1998, the space shuttle has carried more than 800 major scientific and technological payloads into orbit and its astronaut crews have conducted more than 50 extravehicular activities, including repairing satellites and the initial building of the International Space Station. The shuttle remains the only vehicle in the world with the dual ability to deliver and return large payloads to and from orbit, and is also the world's most reliable launch system. The design, now almost three decades old, is still state-of-the-art in many areas, including computerized flight control, airframe design, electrical power systems, thermal protection system, and main engines. This significant new study of the decision to build the space shuttle explains the shuttle's origin and early development. In addition to internal NASA discussions, this work details the debates in the late 1960s and early 1970s among policymakers in Congress, the Air Force, and the Office of Management and Budget over the roles and technical designs of the shuttle. Examining the interplay of these organizations with sometimes conflicting goals, the author not only explains how the world's premier space launch vehicle came into being, but also how politics can interact with science, technology, national security, and economics in national government.

This topical volume covers the intersection between transport and climate change, with papers from the 'Transport & Climate Change' session of the RGS-IBG conference in London, September 2010. It considers the role of transport modes at varying spatial dimensions and a range of perspectives on the relationship between transport and climate change.