About the CWC Program

Second Annual Report of the CWC (April 17, 2008)

Founding Principles

The Climate, Water and Carbon Program (CWC) unites scientists from across a spectrum of research fields at The Ohio State University with the aim of expanding inquiry and research into the causes and effects of abrupt global climate change. The CWC is dedicated to a better understanding of the Earth's complex climate system, the future availability of fresh water and the affect that energy use is having on the planet's greenhouse gas cycles. Research findings can then be applied for society's benefit through an improved understanding of related policy implications.

The CWC is a unique approach toward developing science that will help answer the critical climate, water and carbon related questions that confront humanity. In deviation from a more traditional, singular approach, CWC's researchers from a variety of disciplines are linking their work to examine abrupt climate change, water resources and the carbon cycle from different points of view, a new way to scientifically explore common goals. Perhaps most uniquely, the CWC is bringing together science and policy researchers who are building an end-to-end approach toward understanding how the world's climate, water and carbon systems are changing and what our reactions should be.

To accomplish these tasks, CWC scientists will conduct field studies, use remote sensing devices including satellite radar technology and develop and study climate models for a better understanding of current conditions and to make future predictions. They will focus on three key questions that form the nucleus of the CWC:

1. Are we causing an abrupt climate change today?
2. How much water is available and how does it vary in space and time?
3. What strategies can be implemented to offset the impact of fossil fuel combustion on the Earth's ecosystems and how do these affect climate change and water resources?

Projects

It's a critical time because Earth's climate is changing at a rapid clip. Finding out why and crafting solutions that will work on such a complicated system requires broad-based thinking and a sustained effort at sites both remote and local. To this end, the CWC established three core projects that directly address climate, water and carbon, for example CO₂, a greenhouse gas.

1. Tropical Glaciers

   In the first enterprise, scientists will focus on tropical glaciers, particularly on watersheds of Mt. Kilimanjaro and in the Peruvian Andes. They will examine the retreat of these glaciers and what that means for people who live downstream and who depend on water originating from those ice fields. They will look at the loss of forests and climate-change predictions to see what impact that could have on flow and volume of water in the area.

2. Satellite Mapping

   The second project focuses on the fresh water question and will use satellite data to examine the distribution of surface water. Ohio State, through CWC, will take one of just a couple a leading roles in an international effort by 30 countries to apply new satellite radar technology to map the movement and volume of Earth's waters. The international project is known as the Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission.

3. Carbon Cycle

   The third endeavor examines how carbon dioxide, water and other nutrients accumulate in soil and how they are released into the atmosphere by land use. It includes a look at land management and policy development, especially the growing practice of carbon “offsetting.” That procedure allows high emitters of carbon dioxide to offset releases by purchasing carbon credits from those with lower emissions. Researchers will also look at reducing atmospheric carbon by trapping it through ecosystem development.

The CWC also provides seed-grant money for Ohio State science projects aligned with CWC goals, but which are typically smaller, less costly and can be completed within a year. More information on the seed-grants is available.

Partnership

Ohio State's Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) supports the CWC through its Targeted Investment in Excellence (TIE) program with a $12 million investment. For CWC, "Targeted" is the focus of its three core questions, "Investment" will lead to the creation of non-university partnerships for continued research, and "Excellence" recognizes past, and the promise of future, successes of CWC's members.

Currently, more than 50 faculty members on the CWC come from:

• College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MAPS)
• College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (FAES)
• College of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS)
• The John Glenn School of Public Affairs
• The Byrd Polar Research Center
• Additional colleges such as Engineering, Biological Sciences and Medicine

The CWC intends to become the go-to resource for local, state, national and international questions on scientific and socially relevant issues regarding climate, water and carbon. Progress in that direction is well underway.

OAA Approves the CWC (June 2006)

CWC TIE Proposal (Jan. 2006)

©2008 The Climate, Water, and Carbon Program at OSU. Website developed by Wesley Haines.