A conference that included a symposium of scientific presentations and panel discussions addressing broad subject areas relevant to the carbon dioxide record. Several sessions focused on efforts being made to manage carbon today and in the future and what research would be needed to support those efforts. Topics included:

• What We’ve Learned from the Global Record
• Terrestrial Impacts, Feedbacks & Human Adaptation
• Oceanic Impacts, Feedbacks & Human Adaptation
• Energy Alternatives; Mitigation Options
• Regionally Based Efforts to Control Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• Economic Impacts & Financial Incentives
• Communicating Science to the Public
• Future Measurements and Research & What Will Be Needed?

The goal of the conference was two-fold:

• To highlight the importance of long-term, global records in enabling society to manage its path into the future.
• To facilitate communication among key elements of society who will all be involved in addressing carbon dioxide emissions in the future.

Society will need to know which efforts are working and which are not if atmospheric CO₂ is to be contained. What measurements would best support this? What design would be optimum? What modeling foci would best support mitigation efforts? By looking at the successes of the past and understanding the needs of the present, we hope to gain a better understanding of what is needed for the future. Presentations and dialog from this conference will be posted permanently on the web for a broad audience and several educational products and pathways will evolve from information exchanged here.