Development of NCA5 continued throughout 2021, with many important milestones. NCA5 builds on the lessons learned from previous assessments, while aiming to enhance the diversity of its authors and contributors, address emerging priority topics, and enhance public engagement processes. In the spring and summer of 2021, the NCA5 Federal Steering Committee selected the report’s federal coordinating leads and chapter leads. Chapter leadership then selected a diverse group of expert contributors—nearly 500 authors and 200 technical contributors—representing all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S...
Share
Highlights
Since 1989, the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) has submitted annual reports to Congress called Our Changing Planet. The reports describe the status of USGCRP research activities, provide progress updates, and document recent accomplishments
In particular, Our Changing Planet highlights progress and accomplishments in interagency activities. These highlights represent the broad spectrum of USGCRP activities that extend from Earth system observations, modeling, and fundamental research through synthesis and assessment, decision support, education, and public engagement. Highlights describe the state of science at the time of publication of each yearly report, and may not reflect more recent advances in understanding. The date of publication of the source report is noted on each highlight page.
USGCRP plays a vital coordinating role in international scientific assessments that provide policymakers with regular updates on the state of global change science on a planetary scale.
The United States is a substantial contributor to the intellectual content of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports, with well over 100 writing team members serving during the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) cycle. The U.S. Government routinely provides comprehensive reviews of the draft...
As part of its international mandate, USGCRP builds and sustains partnerships to promote knowledge-sharing that supports research, data collection, and assessment capabilities in developing countries.
In 2021, USGCRP initiated a new regional engagement effort, the Initiative for Enhancing Capacity for Climate Risk Assessment and Catalyzing Partnerships to Inform Decisions in Latin America and the Caribbean, or LACI. Its overarching vision is to provide opportunities for partnerships among Caribbean, Latin American, and...
In support of its international mandate, USGCRP currently helps provide core budget support to three international science organizations: Future Earth, which builds interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral partnerships to advance global sustainability science; the SysTem for Analysis, Research, and Training (START), which provides opportunities for research, education, and training to scientists, policymakers, and practitioners in developing countries; and...
The Caribbean Drought Learning Network (CDLN) is a peer-to-peer network that links climate service providers, climate researchers and resource managers to share knowledge and strengthen collaboration and communication in drought research and management in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, where drought constrains agricultural production, impacts the economy, and diminishes quality of life. The goal of this network is to produce and share information, lessons learned, and needs...
A major challenge for natural resource managers in the western United States is anticipating and planning for ecosystem changes caused by complex interactions among climate, wildfire, and vegetation. The Southwest FireCLIME research partnership brings scientists and managers together to support decision-making processes around fire management in a changing climate. The project synthesized current knowledge of regional climate–fire–ecosystem dynamics through a formal science synthesis and annotated bibliography, forecasts of future...
A 2021 report from EPA, USDA-FS, DOI, and NIST compared the air quality and health impacts of smoke from prescribed fire, which is used as a land management tool, with smoke from wildfire. The report found that using prescribed fire is not without risk as it can result in smoke-related air quality and public health impacts—but at a much smaller scale compared to wildfire. The assessment could be informative to multiple levels of government as they engage and plan for future land and fire management activities. The...
The Adaptive Silviculture for Climate Change (ASCC) project is a collaborative effort to help guide forest managers in preparing forest ecosystems for climate change. Scientists, land managers, and a variety of partners have developed seven initial trial sites as part of this multi-region study to research long-term ecosystem responses to a range of climate change adaptation actions. USDA-FS scientists partnered with universities and local, state, and federal agencies (including DOI and USACE) to develop...
The Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change (RISCC) Management Networks are working to reduce the compounding effects of invasive species and climate change by synthesizing relevant science, communicating decision-makers’ needs to researchers, building stronger scientist–stakeholder communities, and conducting priority research. The RISCC effort started in the Northeast region in 2016 with a collaboration among USGS researchers, university scientists, and state agency partners. It has since...
Barrier islands—narrow deposits of sand that form along the coast—help protect mainland coastal communities from storms and serve as important habitats for many species. Restoring or enhancing barrier islands can build coastal resilience to the effects of storms and protect important habitats that sustain coastal economies. Sediment management (e.g., dredging) can be done as a nature-based solution, if it is designed appropriately, and dredge materials are used to restore or enhance habitat near at-risk communities. A new study...