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.

Regional climate projections can provide information on likely future changes in climate, ecosystems, and water resources at useful scales.

In the Pacific Northwest, average temperatures are projected to increase by at least two and up to 15° F by end of the century, dependent on future greenhouse gas emissions levels. Winters are expected to become wetter and summers drier, snowpack will likely decrease substantially, and snowmelt runoff may occur earlier in the year. Wildfires are projected to become more frequent and more severe, and...

Climate scenarios provide a consistent set of possible future conditions to inform analyses of the risks posed by climate change.

The Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) assesses risks to the United States posed by climate and global change. Scenarios that represent a range of plausible future changes in key risk drivers, such as greenhouse gas emissions levels, weather and climate extremes, sea level, population, and land use, are used to guide NCA4’s evaluation of specific climate-related risks in regions and sectors across the...

A Spanish language translation of the executive summary of USGCRP’s report The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health: a Scientific Assessment is now available.

Climate and health assessment information has been shared widely through a number of platforms and formats, including a Spanish translation of the report overview.

In April 2016, the USGCRP released The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment, a groundbreaking report detailing the major risks and vulnerabilities to human health posed by...

Collaboration across regions and institutions in Alaska supports increased resilience to climate-related risks to lives and livelihoods.

In Alaska, changes in snow, ice, and weather have increased risks to human lives and threats to valuable natural resources, damaged infrastructure, and disrupted hunting, fishing, and livelihoods. The vast and largely undisturbed landscapes of Alaska and Northwest Canada support unique natural and cultural resources that are valued locally and globally. To help address these challenges, leaders...

A breach at Old Inlet, Fire Island National Seashore, caused by Hurricane Sandy. Interagency science is supporting efforts to build resilience to coastal storms and other stressors. Source: National Park Service.

A new Federal coastal adaptation resource highlights strategies to protect natural and cultural resources in coastal parks that can be applied in coastal landscapes across the country.

The “Coastal Adaptation Strategies Handbook” and “...

Analysis of the costs and benefits of switching to paddy rice production suggests that farmers could increase profits while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Drainage of organic soils for agriculture has resulted in widespread soil subsidence (sinkage relative to surrounding areas) and increased greenhouse gas emissions. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in California, once an expansive wetland, was drained and converted to agricultural production in the mid-1800s, and has since experienced subsidence rates that are among the highest in...

The Aedes aegypti mosquito is the primary vector for transmission of the Zika virus.

Interagency science investigated environmental influences on Zika transmission and helped support response efforts.

In February 2016, the World Health Organization declared the Zika outbreak spreading across the Americas since 2015 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, based on Zika’s previously-unknown association with birth defects. The virus was first discovered in 1947 in Africa and had not previously been found in the Western Hemisphere. By February 2016, the outbreak had spread to 48 countries and territories in the Americas...

Forecasts of ocean surface current velocity in the Pacific Ocean off of Baja California generated in part using in-situ observations from NOAA’s Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO)

Upgrades to an observing network in the equatorial Pacific Ocean support valuable forecasts of global shifts in climate and extreme weather.

The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a natural climate phenomenon driven in part by the variability of ocean surface temperatures, atmospheric pressure, and trade winds in the tropical Pacific Ocean. ENSO events, occurring every two to seven years on average, cause widespread shifts in precipitation patterns and weather and climate

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The 2017 annual minimum ozone detection of 131 Dobson Units over Antarctica was observed on October 9, 2017, about a week later than usual, indicating that ozone levels may be starting to recover.

Interagency collaboration sustains long-term measurements that track the health of the ozone layer.

Ozone gas in the upper atmosphere protects the planet’s surface from harmful solar radiation. The Antarctic ozone hole was discovered in 1985, increasing concerns about human emissions of gases that destroy ozone and the negative consequences for life on Earth. Two years later, the international community signed the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer through regulation of ozone-depleting compounds. Later...

A warmed TRACE plot in the USDA-Forest Service Luquillo Experimental Forest in Puerto Rico.

Field research provides new data advancing our ability to project how tropical forests will respond to a changing climate.

Tropical forests store vast amounts of carbon and play a key role in regulating Earth’s climate. As climate changes, these ecosystems have the potential to become a net contributor to global warming if they shift to releasing more carbon to the atmosphere than they absorb^[1]. However, how these forests will be affected by a warming climate and changing atmosphere is still uncertain¾and is critical...

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Highlights

Modeling future climate, vegetation, and hydrology in the Pacific Northwest

Scenario products supporting the Fourth National Climate Assessment

Expanding access to climate change and human health assessment information

Building coastal resilience in Alaska

Supporting adaptation in coastal communities

Informing agricultural emissions management

Responding to the Zika outbreak

Strengthening critical observations of the tropical ocean and atmosphere

Monitoring recovery of the ozone layer

Predicting the future of tropical forests