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.

An example indicator featured on the USGCRP Indicator Platform.

Climate indicators show trends over time in key aspects of our environment, such as greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere, temperatures across land and sea, and the extent of Arctic sea ice, as well as metrics of social or economic exposure to the impacts of climate variability and change. Indicators are based on long-term, consistently collected data and can be used to assess risks and vulnerabilities from a changing climate and to inform response actions. USGCRP’s Indicators Interagency Working Group (IndIWG) leverages existing agency research, data, and indicators in support of...

According to independent analyses by NASA and NOAA, Earth’s average global surface temperature in 2019 was the second warmest since modern record-keeping began in 1880. Globally, 2019’s average temperature was second only to that of 2016 and continued the planet’s long-term warming trend. Rising temperatures are contributing to glacier melt, disappearing snow cover, shrinking sea ice, rising sea level, and changes in rainfall patterns.^[...

The U.S. research centers that develop climate and Earth system models and the U.S. scientific community are key participants in long-running collaborative efforts to improve knowledge on climate change. A number of major interagency activities supporting improvements in climate modeling took place in 2019.

Most prominently, the World Climate Research Programme Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) is currently in its sixth phase (CMIP6). The earlier phases of CMIP experiments have provided the research community...

Long-term measurements of Earth’s atmosphere show rapidly rising concentrations of greenhouse gases linked to human activities.^{^[1]} Existing observing networks provide information on atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases at the global scale, but this spatial scale is not sufficient to help nations, regions, and other entities quantify and manage greenhouse gas emissions. To improve the relevance of emissions information for decision-making, an international initiative is promoting scientific methods that combine...

Williams Flats fire approaching the north bank of the Columbia River

Fire risks to human health and property have increased in recent decades due to the impacts of a warmer, drier climate on ecosystems as well as historic land use and management practices. Smoke from wildfires in the western United States and agricultural fires in crop-producing regions such as the southeastern United States increasingly impacts air quality, with expected negative effects on human health.^{^[1]}

The impacts of smoke on atmospheric conditions depend on...

Three moments in a year of farming north of St. Louis, Missouri

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and Economic Research Service (ERS) track U.S. crop production each year, relying in large part on producer surveys and ground observations to estimate acreage and yields at state and county levels. During the growing season, production data inform estimates of crop acreage and yields that help farmers and traders set prices. Satellite data offer a useful method for validating statistics collected on the ground, and can help fill in gaps in ground observations, particularly in years where planting is delayed or disrupted due to weather...

The U.S. Midwest is a major producer of a wide range of food and animal feed for national consumption and international trade. Higher humidity, precipitation, and temperatures associated with a changing climate increasingly impact agriculture in the region, and projected climate changes are expected to pose growing challenges to agricultural productivity in the coming decades.^{^[1]}

Weather and climate information targeted to the needs of agricultural producers can help producers increase the resilience of their...

Climate-sensitive infectious diseases, including vector-borne diseases (such as dengue, West Nile Virus, and Chikungunya), waterborne diseases (such as those caused by Vibrio species), soil- and dust-borne diseases (such as Valley Fever), and zoonotic diseases (such as plague and avian influenza) pose threats to the health of Americans living at home and abroad. These threats are anticipated to change in distribution and severity as climate change progresses in the coming decades. Improving U.S. capacity to predict and communicate changes in risks of climate-sensitive diseases,...

A national system of physical, ecological, and societal indicators is considered a foundational component of the sustained assessment process, serving to help users understand the changing environment, assess risks and vulnerabilities, and make informed decisions to build resilience to change. A 2019 Federal–academic workshop sought to advance the development of socio-environmental systems indicators of climate change to support adaptation and resilience decisions at various scales in the United States.

This work was supported by the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (...

Satellite observations show significant declines in Arctic sea ice cover in recent decades as the climate has warmed,^[1] with impacts on fish and wildlife habitats that are important for subsistence, recreation, and tourist activities in the region. Retreating sea ice also contributes to increased storm surge, coastal flooding, and coastal erosion.^[2] Arctic sea ice plays a key role in moderating climate within and beyond the region, and understanding sea ice change is critical to projections of future...

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Highlights

An interagency platform highlights important indicators of change

Independent analyses provide a consistent picture of global surface temperature change

Modeling efforts drive advances in projections of future climate change

An international observing system sets a global framework for measuring greenhouse gas emissions

An observing campaign investigates the impact of fires on air quality and climate

Satellite and ground data track status of the nation’s food supply

An ongoing partnership provides climate information to agricultural producers

Interagency activities inform efforts to predict and prepare for climate-sensitive infectious diseases

A collaboration explores socio-environmental systems indicators for climate change adaptation and resilience

An observing network tracks changes in Arctic sea ice cover