MANAGING THE GLOBAL CLIMATE-CHANGE SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE-BASE

Successful problem solving is the key to survival and wealth for indiv iduals, corporations, and nations alike. Successful problem solving de pends upon 1) the nature and complexity of the problem to be solved; 2 ) the accessibility of high quality, relevant knowledge; and 3) a well -led team of effective individuals who can use knowledge wisely. Many centuries of managing our natural resources based on decisions with po orly understood consequences may be changing the climate of our planet . As a response to this threat, many nations have funded an unpreceden ted scientific research and assessment program which is resulting in a rapidly expanding global climate change knowledge base. Learning how to manage the knowledge that will allow us to successfully solve the g lobal climate change problem is a very important component of the over all research effort. Currently, hypertext appears to offer the most pr omising electronic technology for general-purpose knowledge management . In this paper, hypertext authoring is described, a pilot study to de velop a hypertext scientific assessment of the forest and soil carbon cycle is introduced, and the major research issues that will need to b e solved are identified.