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 example indicator featured on the USGCRP Indicator Platform.

Climate indicators show trends over time in key aspects of our environment, such as greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere, temperatures across land and sea, and the extent of Arctic sea ice, as well as metrics of social or economic exposure to the impacts of climate variability and change. Indicators are based on long-term, consistently collected data and can be used to assess risks and vulnerabilities from a changing climate and to inform response actions. USGCRP’s Indicators Interagency Working Group (IndIWG) leverages existing agency research, data, and indicators in support of...

Williams Flats fire approaching the north bank of the Columbia River

Fire risks to human health and property have increased in recent decades due to the impacts of a warmer, drier climate on ecosystems as well as historic land use and management practices. Smoke from wildfires in the western United States and agricultural fires in crop-producing regions such as the southeastern United States increasingly impacts air quality, with expected negative effects on human health.^{^[1]}

The impacts of smoke on atmospheric conditions depend on...

The U.S. Midwest is a major producer of a wide range of food and animal feed for national consumption and international trade. Higher humidity, precipitation, and temperatures associated with a changing climate increasingly impact agriculture in the region, and projected climate changes are expected to pose growing challenges to agricultural productivity in the coming decades.^{^[1]}

Weather and climate information targeted to the needs of agricultural producers can help producers increase the resilience of their...

Climate-sensitive infectious diseases, including vector-borne diseases (such as dengue, West Nile Virus, and Chikungunya), waterborne diseases (such as those caused by Vibrio species), soil- and dust-borne diseases (such as Valley Fever), and zoonotic diseases (such as plague and avian influenza) pose threats to the health of Americans living at home and abroad. These threats are anticipated to change in distribution and severity as climate change progresses in the coming decades. Improving U.S. capacity to predict and communicate changes in risks of climate-sensitive diseases,...

A national system of physical, ecological, and societal indicators is considered a foundational component of the sustained assessment process, serving to help users understand the changing environment, assess risks and vulnerabilities, and make informed decisions to build resilience to change. A 2019 Federal–academic workshop sought to advance the development of socio-environmental systems indicators of climate change to support adaptation and resilience decisions at various scales in the United States.

This work was supported by the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (...

Most regions of the United States are projected to experience a higher frequency of severe droughts and longer dry periods as a result of a warming climate.[1] In 2016, USDA Forest Service (USDA-FS) scientists and partners prepared a state-of-the-science synthesis of drought effects on the nation’s forests designed to inform drought resilience and adaptation efforts. A new volume released in 2019 builds on that work, linking recent scientific...

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Highlights

An interagency platform highlights important indicators of change

An observing campaign investigates the impact of fires on air quality and climate

An ongoing partnership provides climate information to agricultural producers

Interagency activities inform efforts to predict and prepare for climate-sensitive infectious diseases

A collaboration explores socio-environmental systems indicators for climate change adaptation and resilience

A new assessment links the latest drought science with management responses