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. 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.
The Drought Learning Network supports knowledge exchange on drought management in the U.S. Southwest.
The Drought Learning Network (DLN) brings together drought management leaders and resource managers to support knowledge sharing and improve collaboration around building resilience among communities impacted by drought in the U.S. Southwest, one of the hottest and driest regions of the world. The DLN was created by drought management leaders from the USDA Southwest Climate Hub, the National...
A multiyear observing campaign is tracking changing snowpack in the western United States, laying the groundwork for a future snow satellite mission.
Snowpack plays a critical role in the water cycle and helps regulate Earth’s climate. Storage of snow in the winter feeds spring snowmelt, bringing water to crops, people, and ecosystems downstream. Snowpack also feeds hydropower generation in the Southwest and Northwest, and snow-related tourism and recreation are important...
Much of the precipitation along the U.S. West Coast is delivered by phenomena known as “atmospheric rivers”—narrow bands of moist air that may extend for thousands of miles across regions outside of the tropics, and play a critical role in regional water supply and storm activity. Atmospheric-river events play a beneficial role in building up Western water supply and snowpack but are also the source of a large majority of floods in the region. Many uncertainties about key processes that affect storm development...
Since 2011, California has experienced one of its most severe and widespread droughts since record-keeping began in 1895. USGCRP-supported research helps advance drought science and provides the basis for the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) (Highlight 10), which aims to increase the capacity of the public to better prepare for and respond to drought events through regional Drought Early Warning Systems (DEWS). The NOAA Drought Task...
Drought is a significant hazard for the United States, with potentially severe and long-lasting impacts on the Nation’s economy and food and water supplies. USGCRP agencies are advancing our understanding of the causes and consequences of drought, an FY 2015 interagency research priority (see Section 4). They are also collaborating in efforts to support drought preparedness and recovery, such as the National Drought Resilience Partnership (a deliverable of the President’s Climate Action Plan) and the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS).