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.
Researchers are experimentally warming northern peatlands to understand carbon cycling in the climate of the future.
Northern peatlands hold large stocks of organic carbon in their soils that are vulnerable to release into the atmosphere as the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane as the climate warms. Emissions of methane, which has about 28 times the warming power...
An assessment of carbon stocks in Alaska’s soils and vegetation helped set a baseline for monitoring future change.
Alaska’s soils and vegetation store vast quantities of carbon. Increases in temperature throughout the 21st century may increasingly expose these stores to loss from increased wildfire, permafrost thaw, and other changes that could turn Alaska’s ecosystems into a net source of carbon to the atmosphere. However, much of Alaska has previously not been considered in any major national...
A global data collection network has built a strong foundation for carbon cycle understanding.
The AmeriFlux Network, which is supported by the Department of Energy, connects scientists from across the Western Hemisphere studying the exchange of carbon, water, and energy between ecosystems and the atmosphere. Since its launch in 1996, AmeriFlux has built a data record from 213 sites worldwide, called...
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...