Climate Appraisal Services, LLC, an innovative partnership between scientists at The University of Arizona and the company's founder, will offer low-cost assessments of climate and environmental risks for any address in the continental United States.

The partnership was approved by the Arizona Board of Regents today.

Climate Appraisal Services, LLC (http://www.climateappraisal.com) is the nation's first online, address-based climate-and-environmental-risk reporting service.

UA geoscientist Jonathan T. Overpeck said he did in-depth research before purchasing his current Tucson house in the late 1990s.

"When I bought my house, I did all the research myself on the Web. It took me weeks -- and I didn't find all the information we now provide through CASL," said Overpeck, lead science advisor for CASL and director of The University of Arizona's Institute for the Study of Planet Earth.

"This is one-stop shopping for this kind of information. We provide it with the click of a mouse."

CASL charges $30 for a premium environmental risk assessment for a particular address. The company's Web site also provides free educational material about climate change and a free report that focuses on shoreline reduction at a national level.

The address-based premium report contains information on the possible impacts of global warming, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires, drought, floods, industrial pollution and disease. The analysis combines historical data and state-of-the-art forecasting science.

One of the company's missions is to increase public understanding of climate change and other environmental issues. Therefore, 50 percent of CASL's net profits will fund environmental research. CASL will make the resulting information available for non-commercial uses.

"The education aspects of the model are important to all of us, and the
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Contact: Mari N. Jensen
mnjensen@email.arizona.edu
520-626-9635
University of Arizona
8-Mar-2007