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.

Collaboration across the modeling community supports critical experiments and scientific advancement.

U.S. climate modeling centers play a central role in understanding and predicting global change on seasonal to centennial timescales. They are engaged in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP), which produces climate projections underpinning the assessments conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the U.S. National Climate Assessment. Models developed by these centers are designed for different purposes, from providing operational forecast...

The Ten Thousand Islands mangrove ecosystem in the Florida Everglades pictured before (top, March 28, 2017) and after (bottom, December 1, 2017) Hurricane Irma

Interagency collaboration supported recovery efforts after Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

During the 2017 hurricane season, hurricanes Irma and Maria, two of the most significant storms to affect Florida and the U.S. Caribbean in recent history, caused catastrophic damage that affected ecosystems, livelihoods, and economic stability throughout the region. USGCRP provided one venue for facilitating interagency efforts—involving USDA, DOE, NASA, NSF, DOI, and FEMA—that are tracking storm damage and recovery in forests and the agricultural sector and supporting recovery and...

A lake near Fairbanks, Alaska shows signs of thawing permafrost below the surface

By monitoring trends such as permafrost thaw, shifts in wildfire, and changing wildlife habitats, a multi-year field campaign seeks to provide the scientific basis for informed decision-making in response to change.

Climate change in the Arctic and Boreal Region is unfolding faster than anywhere else on Earth. Observations reveal reduced Arctic sea ice, widespread changes to coastlines and waterways, thawing of permafrost soils and decomposition of long-frozen organic matter, and shifts in ecosystem structure and function. These changes have far-reaching impacts in the...

VegDRI (left) and QuickDRI (right) for weeks in May and July depicting the evolution of the “flash” drought over eastern Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota in 2017.

Monitoring tools help resource managers prepare for and reduce the impacts of drought.

The impacts of drought on water resources, plants and wildfire, agriculture, and the economy are complex and occur over many timescales, underscoring the value of a range of drought monitoring tools that support different types of decisions. To help meet this need, two complementary weekly drought monitoring and mapping tools—the Vegetation Drought Response Index (VegDRI) and the Quick Drought Response Index (QuickDRI)—were...

USGCRP co-led an international group of funders and implementers in initiating development of a collaborative research action.

The Belmont Forum is an international partnership between national research funding agencies and international science organizations focused on advancing transdisciplinary global change science and accelerating its application. Its Collaborative Research Actions (CRAs) combine natural science, social science, and stakeholder perspectives to produce knowledge for understanding and responding to global environmental change. In November...

Building Regional Collaboration for Drought Resilience

In 2015, drought impacts in the Western United States cost an estimated $4.5 billion. Impacts included the fallowing of hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland, excess groundwater pumping, and the exacerbation of wildfire conditions, which contributed to fires that caused the highest annual total of U.S. acreage burned since record-keeping began in 1960. As these impacts become more prevalent under a changing climate, preparedness, including an early-warning system for drought conditions, is increasingly important in many parts of the United States. The...

The carbon cycle—or the continual flux of carbon through the atmosphere, oceans, soil, and living organisms—is a foundational component of the Earth system that interacts with climate change and human activities. Through USGCRP and its U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program, Federal agencies are working together and with the scientific community to advance fundamental and applied research in this critical field. Some examples are highlighted below:

In 2014, NASA, USDA, DOE, and NOAA

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Green infrastructure projects, such as this stormwater planter, help to collect and absorb runoff, among other benefits. Local-level capacity and reliable cost-benefit information are needed to effectively incorporate such solutions into stormwater manage

Water resources in the United States are affected by a number of climate stressors—including increasing temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and extreme events like storms and droughts—and these changing conditions have implications for drinking water and stormwater utilities. Federal agencies are working with one another and with state and local partners to build preparedness and sustainability in this essential sector. For instance, the Federal Support Toolbox—grown out of an initiative led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)—serves as a

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The U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit features science-based resources and real-world case studies to help communities adapt to climate change.

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

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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

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Highlights

Enhancing coordination among U.S. modeling centers

Supporting recovery from the 2017 hurricane season

Monitoring change in Alaska and the Arctic

Supporting informed responses to drought

Developing international support for research on climate, environment, and human health

Building Regional Collaboration for Drought Resilience

Carbon Community Collaboration

Supporting Resilient Water Resources and Utilities

A Toolkit for Climate Resilience Nationwide

Mapping Fallowed Farmland During Drought