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, and public engagement. Highlights describe the state of science at the time of publication of each yearly report, and may not reflect more recent advances in understanding. The date of publication of the source report is noted on each highlight page.
As directed by the Global Change Research Act, USGCRP produces a periodic assessment of the science of climate change, its present and future impacts on the United States, and options for reducing risk, known as the National Climate Assessment (NCA). The NCA evaluates climate impacts across a wide range of interests, including water, forests and ecosystems, coasts and the ocean, agriculture and rural communities, the built environment, energy and transportation, health and air quality, and economic and social systems. The Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) met critical milestones in 2022...