The geographic conditions that shape China and the U.S. are strikingly similar. This is especially true when it comes to coal and climate. Carnegie staff worked with students in a University of Virginia GIS Mapping Class in Spring 2011 to develop a first-of-its-kind dataset that compares coal resources in the two countries. This data is the subject of a forthcoming report that will be released by Carnegie later this spring in Chinese and English.
With the support of an Azavea Summer of Maps intern, Carnegie would like to take this project to the next level so that it can be included in our Coal Value Chain initiative, an effort to develop policies that promote cleaner and more efficient use of coal in China. The intern would be responsible for mapping scenarios for future coal extraction on the climates in China and the U.S.
Some of the key research questions to analyze and map might include: What could be the impact of future coal production on water resources in the U.S. and China and how do these impacts compare? How might desertification affect the ability to extract and process coal reserves in China and the U.S.? What are the possible scenarios for a major earthquake tremor in these nations’ coal regions? How do the urban development patterns of these two nations compare with respect to their proximity to coal reserves? How might coal reserves and associated air pollution sources interface with changing urban growth boundaries in the future?
We recognize that answering all of these questions would likely take more than three months, and will work with Azavea and the intern to scope out a project that is achievable in the given timeframe.
Data has already been collected and entered into ArcGIS for base maps on coal distributions and general climate conditions. We have access to up-to-date data from scholarly and government sources should any supplements be necessary. The student will have access to a wide array of international experts to facilitate scenario planning, all of whom are working with Carnegie on a larger Coal Value Chain project.
The intern will create scenario-based maps that may incorporate text and charts for use in print and the web. They will based, in part, on existing maps we have produced that illustrate temperature contours, heating and cooling degree days, population distributions, waterways, railways, seismic activity, coal resource locations, and global carbon emissions.
The maps will first be released on Carnegie’s award-winning website for a global audience in English and Chinese, and at a series of major events in Washington, DC and Beijing in fall 2012. They will be featured in bi-lateral exchanges between U.S. and Chinese experts working on Carnegie’s Coal Value Chain project. And they will be part of the final project report due to be published in spring 2013.
The Coal Value Chain report will feature the student by name and fully acknowledge support from Azavea and the important contribution made through the Summer of Maps 2012 program.
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