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 image from a new pilot smartphone-based information tool that alerts users in Florida’s central Gulf Coast to potential respiratory hazards from toxic algal blooms.

In the Gulf of Mexico, toxic algal bloom outbreaks (or red tides) occur primarily during the late summer and early fall, and can be harmful to people and ecosystems. One of the most severe red tide outbreaks in a decade hit Florida’s Gulf Coast throughout the summer and early fall of 2018, with widespread adverse impacts that prompted the governor to declare a State of Emergency in mid-August.

In October 2018, a new pilot smartphone-based information resource developed by NASA, NOAA, and state and local partners began alerting users to red tide risks...

A king tide flooded parts of Imperial Beach, California in December 2018.

U.S. coastal communities are increasingly vulnerable to sea level rise, tidal flooding, higher storm surge, coastal erosion, and other climate-related impacts.^[1] To help communities in southern California plan for rising water levels, a NASA DEVELOP team collaborated with the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, in partnership with the California Coastal Commission, to create detailed projections of flooding from sea level rise and coastal storms along the...

Increasing heavy rains are leading to more soil erosion and nutrient loss on midwestern cropland.

USGCRP completed the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) in November 2018 with the release of NCA4 Volume II (Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States). Building on an assessment of observed and projected changes in the physical climate system released as Volume I of NCA4 (Climate Science Special Report) in 2017, Volume II focuses on climate-related risks to systems that support our well-being and economy.

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This image shows the distribution of aboveground forest biomass across North America, measured as milligrams of biomass per hectare (mg/ha).

The Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR2), released by USGCRP in November 2018, is a state-of-the-science assessment of the carbon cycle in North America and its connection to climate and society. Authored by more than 200 experts from the United States, Canada, and Mexico, SOCCR2 focuses on U.S. and North American carbon cycle processes and their interactions with global-scale carbon budgets and climate change impacts over the last decade.

The report includes an assessment of...

SERVIR is a joint initiative between NASA and USAID that develops demand-driven services, tools, and training for decision-makers in more than 50 countries. By connecting USAID’s development network with NASA’s science, geospatial technologies, and extensive satellite data, SERVIR helps strengthen local capacity to integrate science and technology into decision-making.

Since 2004, SERVIR has collaborated with leading regional organizations in the developing world to help people and institutions...

USGCRP agencies and interagency groups played a leading role in the development of a Belmont Forum international Collaborative Research Action (CRA) launched in April 2019, focused on issues at the intersection of climate, environment, and human health.

In addition to an international scoping workshop organized by the Interagency Crosscutting Group on Climate Change and Human Health (CCHHG) and International Activities Interagency Working Group (IAIWG) in April 2018, USGCRP member agencies (including NIH, NOAA, and NSF) participated in a year-long,...

USGCRP coordinates and supports the engagement of the U.S. science community in major international assessments on global change science, including those conducted by the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), as well as science panels informing the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer process.

International assessment reports provide policymakers with regular updates on the state of...

The January 2016 melt event on the West Antarctic ice sheet was captured by satellite and surface observations.

An observing campaign on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is improving understanding of influences on recent ice loss and the implications for future sea level rise.

Antarctica holds the largest reservoir of ice on Earth and is significant contributor to sea level rise. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet, once considered relatively stable, has shed an increasing amount of ice...

Longitudinal cross-section of 1998–2016 SHADOZ ozonesonde total column ozone (O3)

Balloon-borne instruments measure ozone levels high in the tropical atmosphere, providing new data to help refine projections of future climate change as well as educational opportunities for students in participating countries.

Ozone is a powerful greenhouse gas and an important contributor to global climate change. Its impact on the climate is strongest in a region of Earth’s upper atmosphere (upper troposphere and lower stratosphere) where it influences the amount of energy that escapes to space. Ozone distribution in this region is influenced by the upward...

Regional comparisons of submarine (1958–1976 and 1993–1997), ICESat (2003–2007), and CryoSat-2 (2011–2016) ice thickness data, showing declines in ice thickness over time.

Satellite observations of sea ice thickness provide an opportunity to improve seasonal predictions of Arctic sea ice cover.

Arctic sea ice grows and melts each year with the seasons, reaching its low point in September. Summer sea ice cover has shrunk significantly over the past thirty years, although variation from year to year means that the downward trend is not uniform. Arctic sea ice plays a critical role in regulating weather and climate in and beyond the region. Sea ice decline activates a feedback loop in the climate system: as highly...

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Highlights

A new forecast tool helps the public avoid toxic algal blooms

Flood mapping helps planners visualize the future of California’s coast

Assessment products outline climate-related risks and response actions

A major interagency assessment evaluates carbon cycle science and impacts on society

A new collaboration on data and decision-making supports sustainability in the Amazon Basin

Interagency efforts help lead a new international climate and health research effort

USGCRP supports major international global change assessments

Investigating ice sheet change in Antarctica

Measuring ozone in the tropics

Advancing seasonal predictions of Arctic sea ice