The Belmont Forum, recognizing the valuable contribution of the social sciences to the understanding of and response to global environmental change, invited theISSC to represent the international social science community as a member of the forum in January of 2010.
Shortly after joining the Forum, the need to bring together a global group of representatives of the disciplines embodied in the social sciences in order to critically reflect on the Belmont Forum White Paper, and identify ways to mobilize the broader social science communities to increase the production of social science research relevant to the Belmont Challenge and global environmental change more broadly. Click here to read the report.
Federal Register Notice: "NOAA: National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committeepdf | html
The NCADAC will meet November 16-17, 2011, at the following times: November 16 from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and November 17, 2011, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. These times are subject to change. Please refer to the Web page http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/NCADAC/index.html for changes and for the most up-to-date meeting agenda.
The meeting will be held at the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory—David Skaggs Research Center (DSRC), 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80305-3337. Seating will be available on a first come, first served basis. Members of the public must RSVP in order to attend all or a portion of the meeting by contacting the NCADAC DFO (Cynthia.Decker@noaa.gov) by November 1, 2011.
The meeting will be open to public participation with a 30 minute public comment period on November 16 at 5 p.m. (check Web site to confirm time). The NCADAC expects that public statements presented at its meetings will not be repetitive of previously submitted verbal or written statements. In general, each individual or group making a verbal presentation will be limited to a total time of five (5) minutes. Individuals or groups planning to make a verbal presentation should contact the NCADAC DFO (Cynthia.Decker@noaa.gov) by November 10, 2011 to schedule their presentation. Written comments should be received in the NCADAC DFO's Office by November 10, 2011 to provide sufficient time for NCADAC review. Written comments received by the NCADAC DFO after November 10, 2011 will be distributed to the NCADAC, but may not be reviewed prior to the meeting date.
Special Accommodations: These meetings are physically accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for sign language interpretation or other auxiliary aids should be directed to Dr. Cynthia Decker (301-563-6162, Cynthia.Decker@noaa.gov) by November 1, 2011.
The National Climate Assessment Workshop and Meeting Reports page has been updated with summaries from NCA sessions about the Colorado River Basin and Midwest, Southwest, and Great Plains regions.
The National Climate Assessment Physical Climate Indicators Workshop Report is now available in its final published format here.
The National Climate Assessment (NCA) convened a workshop on
“Physical Climate Indicators†from 29 to 30 March, 2011 as part of a series on “Monitoring
Climate Change and its Impactsâ€. The overarching goal of this workshop was to
identify a few broad categories of potential physical climate indicators using
a set of priorities developed by the NCA, and to provide a clear justification
for how they would inform the Nation about climate change. Additional goals
included providing input on the overall NCA framework for selecting the
indicators and suggesting methodologies to construct indicators. Although one
of the workshop goals was to address the status of current observational networks
to support indicators, this was not a main focus of any single discussion. The
nearly 60 participants, primarily from federal agencies, received a white paper
in advance of the workshop that detailed the NCA vision for a coordinated suite
of climate-related physical, ecological, and societal indicators. The intent of
these “national indicators of change†is to develop a way to evaluate and
communicate over time both the rate of change in impacts and the capacity to respond
to climate drivers. These indicators will be tracked as a part of ongoing,
long-term assessment activities, with adjustments as necessary to adapt to changing
conditions and understanding. An initial framework was provided to workshop
participants to ensure that everyone understood the proposed audience, scope,
and purpose of the indicators. A common lexicon was defined since indicator terminology
varies widely. In addition, several potential approaches to grouping the
indicators were presented.
The NCA Report Series
summarizes regional, sectoral, and process-related workshops and discussions
being held as part of the third NCA process. This workshop focused on monitoring
changes in the physical climate system, as part of a series that includes
workshops on the impacts of climate change on ecosystems and socioeconomic systems.
The workshop was held in Washington, D.C. on March 29-30, 2011. Volume 5b of
the NCA Report Series summarizes the discussions and outcomes of this workshop.
A list of planned and completed reports in the NCA Report Series can be found online
at http://assessment.globalchange.gov.
Federal Register Notice: "Request for Information: Technical Inputs and Assessment Capacity Related to Regional, Sectoral, and Cross-Cutting Assessments for the 2013 U.S. National Climate Assessment (NCA) Report and the Ongoing NCA Process" pdf | html
This notice is an amendment to the request for information (RFI) published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, July 13, 2011 (76 FR 41217). This RFI sought comments and expressions of interest (EOI) from the public in providing technical inputs and/or offering assessment capacity on topics related to National Climate Assessment (NCA) regional, sectoral, and cross-cutting topics proposed for the 2013 NCA report and the ongoing NCA process. More information on the NCA process, including the strategic plan, proposed report outline, and information about the National Climate Assessment Development and Advisory Committee (NCADAC), can be found at http:// assessment.globalchange.gov. This amendment provides a deadline of October 1, 2011 for EOIs describing anticipated inputs for the 2012 NCA report.
The deadline for EOIs describing anticipated inputs for the 2013 NCA report is October 1, 2011. As described in the RFI, the deadline for subsequent inputs for the 2013 NCA report remains March 1, 2012.
Any questions about the content of this request should be sent to Emily Therese Cloyd, NCA Public Participation and Engagement Coordinator, U.S. Global Change Research Program Office, 1717 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Suite 250, Washington, DC 20006, Telephone (202) 223-6262, Fax (202) 223-3065, e-mail ecloyd@usgcrp.gov. For more information about the NCA process, including the strategic plan, proposed report outline, and information about the NCADAC, please visit http://assessment.globalchange.gov.
