“Indicators” are variables that can be used to measure the status or trend of a system. Indicators of climate-related global change—whether ecological, physical, or societal—can be used to track and communicate key aspects of the changing environment, point out vulnerabilities, and inform decision making at local, state, and national levels.

A pilot set of climate indicators is being developed collaboratively by USGCRP agencies including NASA, NOAA, EPA, USDA, DOE, DOD’s U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), CDC, and DOI. The pilot set is expected to launch in 2014 on www.globalchange.gov, with data served through USGCRP’s Global Change Information System (see related Highlight 13). A proposal for a larger network encompassing a broader set of indicators is under evaluation. This proposed network would provide streamlined access to climate data and trends for use in the next quadrennial National Climate Assessment (see Section 2.1.4) and would be intended to inform climate-smart decisions in management and research across the public and private sectors. It would leverage and build on existing activities by integrating data from Federal agencies and the broader scientific community in a single unified system with shared data quality standards. As a contribution to this effort, NASA funded 14 projects to develop and test new indicators that will support the sustained National Climate Assessment process; these projects are slated to be completed in FY 2015. To learn more about indicators, visit: http://go.usa.gov/8pBk; to see interactive examples, visit: http://go.usa.gov/PpZQ