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
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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.
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
Tropical cyclones (hurricanes and typhoons) generate serious costs to human life, property, and the economy. Understanding how the behavior of tropical cyclones may change in a warmer climate is important for long-range coastal planning and infrastructure investments to minimize impacts. To help address this prediction challenge, NASA, NOAA, NSF, and DOE have cosponsored a Hurricane Working Group (HWG), organized through the interagency
La Niña is a periodic extreme phase of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle that brings wetter weather to certain parts of the world. The exceptional La Niña event of 2010–2011 led to heavy rainfall in the Southern Hemisphere and widespread flooding in Australia, where 35 people died, 30,000 homes and business were damaged, and an area the combined size of France, Germany, and Italy was submerged.
In May 2014, a study
The severe, sustained drought affecting the Central Valley of California has caused a shortage of water for irrigation and crop production. The effect of this shortage is most immediately evident as an increase in the extent of fallowed farmland (or land taken out of agricultural production), which in turn serves as a proxy for socioeconomic impacts. Decision makers can use information about fallowed land to better understand the severity of drought impacts and to support requests for USDA drought disaster designations or emergency proclamations. USDA
In 2014, NASA launched two new satellite missions that will enable fundamental advancements in our understanding of climate and global change. The Global Precipitation Measurement satellite, launched in February in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), carries state-of-the-art instrumentation that will collect unparalleled observations of rain and snow worldwide every three hours. Such high-resolution data will improve forecasts of extreme weather and climate events, lead to a better understanding of the global water and energy
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).
Overview
Hurricane Sandy hit the northeastern United States in October 2012 and was the deadliest hurricane of the season, as well as the second costliest hurricane in U.S. history. Such extreme coastal flooding events are expected to become more frequent as a result of climate change-related sea-level rise. A Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force was created to provide consistent, clear, accessible information for decision
Overview
The 2011–2012 U.S. drought was the most severe and extensive in at least 25 years, and the effects are still being felt in some areas of the Nation. Recently, USDA partnered with local governments, colleges, and state and Federal partners— including NOAA and FEMA—to conduct a series of regional drought workshops. Hundreds of farmers, ranchers, business owners, and other stakeholders met with government officials to discuss needs
Overview
NOAA, USGS, and USACE are working together to help the country prepare for and manage the impacts of changing weather and climate patterns, particularly with regard to extreme events like hurricanes, floods, and drought.
Before, during, and after coastal storm events, USGS assesses the likelihood of beach erosion, overwash, or inundation,
and provides