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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.

Indicators

Tracking Climate Change with Indicators

An example of a climate change indicator: variation in Antarctic land ice over time. (Credit: NASA)

“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

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Water Resources, Extreme Events

Drought Research to Support Management and Preparedness

The NMME (yellow column) is a seasonal forecasting system that combines individual models (purple columns N1-N6) to produce more accurate predictions of climate. In forecasts of precipitation (top two panels) and temperature (bottom two panels)—key factor

Drought is a significant hazard for the United States, with potentially severe and long-lasting impacts on the Nation’s economy and food and water supplies. USGCRP agencies are advancing our understanding of the causes and consequences of drought, an FY 2015 interagency research priority (see Section 4). They are also collaborating in efforts to support drought preparedness and recovery, such as the National Drought Resilience Partnership (a deliverable of the President’s Climate Action Plan) and the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS).

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Scenarios

Using the National Climate Assessment to Help Protect Federal Assets

GSA owns or leases 9,624 assets, maintains workspace for 1.1 million Federal employees, preserves more than 481 historic properties, and procures more than $60 billion in products and services for the Federal Government. Climate change has the potential to impact the ability of GSA and other Federal agencies to fulfill their missions, operate their facilities, and maintain their services. With its region-by-region breakdown of climate data and projections, the Third National Climate Assessment (see related Highlight 9) and its supporting regional climate

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Cities & Infrastructure

Understanding Global Urbanization and Environmental Change

With more than half the world’s population living in cities, urban areas are at the core of many global environmental change issues and their solutions. Through its funding of the International Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP), USGCRP supports the Urbanization and Global Environmental Change (UGEC) project, an international leader in research on the interactions and feedbacks between environmental change and urbanization at the local, regional, and global scales. UGEC provides a multidisciplinary forum for researchers to share expertise and address knowledge

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International, Coasts

Supporting Sustainability and Resilience in Coastal Zones

Flooding in Jakarta in 2013. (Credit: U.S. Embassy in Indonesia)

Coastal zones are central to socioeconomic development and are estimated to provide more than half of all global ecosystem goods and services. These narrow, marginal, often low-lying areas are subject to intense population pressure—with over a billion inhabitants—and are highly vulnerable to extreme weather and natural hazards associated with climate change. USGCRP supports efforts to understand and prepare for climate impacts in coastal zones worldwide through its member agency activities in the United States and its funding for IHDP, IGBP, and

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International, Agriculture & Food

Informing Risk Management and Agricultural Decisions in the Caribbean

Planning for climate impacts is crucial to protecting the Caribbean's agriculture- and tourism-based economy. (Credit: K. Helmer, USAID)

In the Caribbean, the economic importance of agriculture and tourism—combined with rural poverty and widespread vulnerability to climate-related hazards like hurricanes and drought—makes planning for climate impacts an urgent necessity. USAID and NOAA are working together on multiple fronts to connect climate research with risk management, climate-resilient development, and adaptation challenges in this region.

For example, the USAID- and NOAA-supported International Research and Applications Project (IRAP; to learn more, visit: http://goo.gl/

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Physical Climate, Adaptation

USGCRP's Vision & Mission

Vision – A Nation,globally engaged and guided by science, meeting the challenges of climate and global change.

Mission – To build a knowledge base that informs human responses to climate and global change through coordinated and integrated Federal pro- grams of research, education, communication, and decision support.

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Mitigation, Adaptation

USGCRP's Four Strategic Plan Goals

Goal 1 – Advance Science: Advance scientific knowledge of the integrated natural and human components of the Earth system.

Goal 2 – Inform Decisions: Provide the scientific basis to inform and enable timely decisions on adaptation and mitigation.

Goal 3 – Conduct Sustained Assessments: Build sustained assessment capacity that improves the Nation’s ability to understand, anticipate, and respond to global change impacts and vulnerabilities.

Goal 4 – Communicate and Educate:

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Observations, Modeling

Supporting Global Change Research Through Satellite Missions: A Look Ahead

Preparing equipment for the Global Precipitation Measurement mission. (Source: NASA)

Overview
A series of Earth observation missions planned by NASA and partners for FY 2014 will contribute fundamentally to advancing our understanding of global change. Such missions are foundational to USGCRP research and are made possible by a sustained Program emphasis in instrumentation development. The planned FY 2014 missions are described below.

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