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.
Fish, wildlife, and plants are integral parts of ecosystems that provide jobs, food, clean water, storm protection, recreation, and many other services that benefit society. Observed changes in climate are already impacting these valuable living resources, and projected future changes threaten to displace or eliminate some species. In response to a call from Congress to meet this challenge, a partnership of Federal, state, and tribal agencies released the National Fish, Wildlife and Plants
Water resources in the United States are affected by a number of climate stressors—including increasing temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and extreme events like storms and droughts—and these changing conditions have implications for drinking water and stormwater utilities. Federal agencies are working with one another and with state and local partners to build preparedness and sustainability in this essential sector. For instance, the Federal Support Toolbox—grown out of an initiative led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)—serves as a
Climate change is expected to increase the number of extremely hot days, posing health risks to vulnerable populations such as the elderly, children, and those with existing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. To streamline prediction of and adaptation to these events, HHS’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and NOAA held a Heat Health Summit in Silver Spring, MD, in October 2014. The Summit drew participants from across NOAA, CDC, EPA, DOE, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration; state and local health departments;
SERVIR—meaning “to serve” in Spanish—is a joint initiative that connects USAID’s expertise in international development and training with NASA’s portfolio of satellite observations. Its goal is to help decision makers in developing regions respond to global change. Over the past decade, SERVIR has worked closely with regional organizations in the developing world to provide analytical products and services that inform decisions about climate adaptation and mitigation, disaster risk
Climate change affects every region of the United States differently, and no single Federal program can tackle the full range of regional decision-support needs. Coordination at the regional scale is vital to ensuring that Federally supported science and risk management efforts best meet the information requirements of decision makers in a variety of sectors. USDA, NOAA, and DOI individually support a portfolio of complementary regional networks that deliver climate science and tools to public officials, agricultural producers, natural resource managers, and
In the fall of 2014, several USGCRP agencies and National Coordination Office (NCO) staff supported the Climate Change Preparedness and Resilience Exercise Series, a suite of daylong workshops targeted at state- and local-level decision makers. This initiative was sponsored by the National Security Council, the Council on Environmental Quality, and OSTP, in collaboration with the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) National Exercise Division. Exercises in this pilot series focused on the
The Administration launched the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit in November 2014, with support from the coordinated efforts of various USGCRP agencies—especially NOAA, USGS, USDA, NASA, USACE, and HHS (CDC and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences). The Toolkit aims to help communities, businesses, natural resource managers, and others plan for and respond to the impacts of climate change where they live. As called for in the President’s Climate Action Plan, the Toolkit provides
The Third National Climate Assessment has provided a basis for understanding change, informing decisions, and communicating about climate, not only on a national scale but also at the regional, state, and local levels. For example, a number of USGCRP agencies are incorporating the Third NCA into their regional-scale science and decision support programs (see related Highlight 15). NOAA and partners have developed regionally tailored guides based on the Third NCA for educators teaching climate (see related Highlight 25). USGCRP supported a series of scenario-
When the Third National Climate Assessment was released in May 2014, it made headlines in national and international media, local news outlets in every region of the country, and Federal, NGO, academic, and trade publications. The thousands of stories, blog posts, op-eds, and even comedy shows that have mentioned the Third NCA attest to its expansive reach, suggesting that the report is both in demand and accessible. But how can its success be measured, and how can that success be improved upon in the next quadrennial NCA?
As a first step in answering
Scenarios are descriptions of plausible future conditions—either narrative or quantitative—that provide a basis for analyzing potential impacts of and responses to global change. Scenarios are not predictions or forecasts; rather, they are tools to understand how future conditions might evolve under a range of possible decisions. By providing detailed examples of how different factors could change and interact, scenarios constrain uncertainty and offer valuable input for assessments. USGCRP is working toward scenarios of change that can feed into the