Ting and the Possible Futures
This science fiction story brings to life the frightening but real possibilities of an out-of-control climate crisis. It also introduces the positive, creative—and very doable—steps we can all take to save our climate, and in so doing build a greener, more humane and beautiful future. Ting and her three best friends have worked all year on a project for the science fair. It’s a Possible Futures Transporter—a time machine that carries you to different scenarios in the same place and time. The first future Ting explores is one of drought, submerged seaside cities, and refugee shantytowns. Ting’s best friends—now 60 years old—show her around and explain how this grim world came about. People had continued “business as usual”—using lots of oil and coal, ignoring the signs of global climate crisis. Now the polar ice caps are melting, raising sea levels by many metres, while extremes of heat, drought and flood are routine. In the second possible future, Ting sees a huge change in attitude as well as landscape. Because people acted in time, the polar ice caps have been saved, and the worst effects of climate change averted. Ting’s friends show her creative sources of energy, the power of planting trees and urban gardens, and the attractions of a transport system that relies more on trains, trams, bikes, and walking than on cars. After returning to her school in the present, Ting organizes students to start building the green future at their own school and neighborhood, with technology already available. A year later, she checks out the most probable future given the progress they’ve made…. While framed in fiction, the climate and energy facts presented in Ting and the Possible Futures are accurate, and the scenarios are based on widely accepted projections of climate scientists.

The UNEP YEAR BOOK 2008 (Formerly caled GEO Year Book)
The UNEP Year Book 2008 (formerly the GEO Year Book) is the fifth annual report on the changing environment produced by the United Nations Environment Programme in collaboration with many world environmental experts. The UNEP Year Book 2008 highlights the increasing complexity and interconnections of climate change, ecosystem integrity, human well-being, and economic development. It examines the emergence and influence of economic mechanisms and market driven approaches for addressing environmental degradation, and it describes recent research findings and policy decisions that affect our awareness of and response to changes in our global climate and environment. In three chapters, the UNEP Year Book 2008 brings the spotlight on new and recent events, developments and scientific findings in environment: The Global Overview surveys the significant environmental events that gained prominence during 2007. Using graphs, charts, and photos with examples from regional experiences, the overview tracks the year's developments on the environmental front. The Feature Focus documents some of the creative efforts already working in markets and financial circles to fight the growing climate crisis. The section also analyses the patterns that are emerging after at least a decade of carbon market experimentation and attempts to map the next important steps that will witness a transition to an environmentally-sound economy. The Emerging Challenges examines new and recent scientific findings on the role of arctic climate feedbacks in climate change. Release of methane from thawing permafrost and methane hydrates in sub-sea deposits are resulting in an amplification of warming and emphasizes the urgent need for increased investments in climate and energy research, knowledge partnerships, and global political responses to ultimately reverse these trends.

Greater Mekong Enviornment Outlook (GMEO)
Cover-Forward-Contents
Part 1 - Overview and Introduction
Part 2 - Environmental Status and Trends 1990-2006
Part 3 - Environmental Priorities
Part 4 - The Implications of Social and Environmental Change
Part 5 - Outlook and Recommendations
List of Contributors-Glossary-References

Kathmandu Valley Environment Outlook(KVEO) report presents state and trends of environmental problems in the valley, citing growing urbanization, population growth, poorly planned land development and insufficient coordination among government agencies as major causes of environmental deterioration. The report recommends a number of measures to prevent and minimize negative impacts.

Impact of Climate Change on Himalayan Glaciers and Glacial Lakes: Case Studies on GLOF and Associated Hazards in Nepal and Bhutan (2007):The global mean temperature is expected to increase between 1.4 to 5.8ºC over the next hundred years. The consequences of this change in global climate are already being witnessed in the Himalayas where glaciers and glacial lakes are changing at alarming rates. Himalayan glaciers are retreating at rates ranging from 10 to 60m per year and many small glaciers (<0.2 sq.km) have already disappeared. Our study shows that the terminus of most of the high altitude valley glaciers in Bhutan, China, and Nepal are retreating very fast; vertical shifts as great as 100m have been recorded during the last fifty years and retreat rates of 30m per year are common.