Criteria for selecting a CO2/climate change region of study

Work sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy is beginning to develop the scientific information base and the analytical tools necessary to formulate responses to CO₂/climate change, including descriptions of the nature, timing, magnitude and uncertainty associated with the consequences of CO₂/climate change. Initially, the program will focus on a single region of the United States, employ a historical analog climate, and analyze the interactions of all of the resources resident within that region as they might evolve under current conditions and under evolving CO₂/climate change over the next 50 years. Five elements of the program will address the issues of: Analysis, Information Systems, Uncertainty, Knowledge Transfer, and Coordination. This paper will given special attention to the analytical framework and in particular to the criteria for selecting a region for study.