Neighborhoods in the same city can differ in temperature by as much as 20°F, due to differences in tree cover and other factors that influence the intensity of the urban heat island effect. To learn where action is needed to protect disproportionately affected populations now and in the future, the interagency National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS, led by NOAA and the CDC) and partner CAPA Strategies LLC launched community-led urban heat island campaigns...
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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. 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 CDC’s Heat and Health Tracker, developed in collaboration with NOAA and its NWS, provides local heat and health information to help communities prepare for and respond to extreme heat events. This includes monthly and future projections of the expected number of days that are at or above a dangerous level of heat based on climatological norms. The Heat and Health Tracker also includes a Heat-Related Illness and Temperature map of the rate of emergency department visits associated with heat-related illness per 100,000...
Interagency science informed the synthesis of actionable research to support Federal responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In March 2020, DoD began working with interagency partners to synthesize actionable research on potential environmental drivers impacting the life and spread of the COVID-19 virus. From this collective research, representatives from the Air Force Directorate of Weather worked with DoD’s operational climate services unit, the 14th Weather Squadron in Asheville, NC, to produce actionable products for senior DoD leaders on potential environmental drivers of...
A new resource ensures that Federal health and climate research is accessible to inform the Fifth National Climate Assessment.
In 2020, the CCHHG began an effort to identify and organize information on federally funded research activities on climate change and human health since 2016. This group, co-led by EPA and NASA, collated this information into a Federal climate change and health research compendium document to help inform authors of the Fifth National...
USGCRP agencies mobilized support for research on the health implications of climate change.
As part of its mandate to promote international cooperation in global change research, USGCRP engages with the Belmont Forum, an international partnership that catalyzes funding for research in support of resilience and sustainability. USGCRP member agencies (including NOAA, NSF, USDA, and the National Institutes of Health) participated in the scoping, call text writing, review, and funding of nine research proposals on climate, environment, and health supported...
A heat health forecast tool aims to help communities better prepare for and respond to extreme heat events.
The CCHHG, led by NOAA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with input from the National Institutes of Health and other agencies, developed a Climate and Health Monitor and Outlook Heat Forecast Product for the continental United States based on NOAA seasonal forecasts. The heat health forecast tool displays the rate of heat-related illness by region for a given week and is designed to help communities better prepare for and...
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...
USGCRP’s International Activities Interagency Working Group (IAIWG) convened its first international and interagency workshop in December 2018, bringing together representatives from System for Analysis, Research and Training (START), Future Earth, and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). These three international programs receive funding through USGCRP to support their activities and to advance USGCRP’s international mandate. USGCRP was represented by ten Federal agencies as well as USGCRP staff. The workshop’s goals were to enhance awareness of mutual priorities, investments, and...
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,...
USGCRP agencies and interagency groups played a leading role in the development of a Belmont Forum international Collaborative Research Action (CRA) launched in April 2019, focused on issues at the intersection of climate, environment, and human health.
In addition to an international scoping workshop organized by the Interagency Crosscutting Group on Climate Change and Human Health (CCHHG) and International Activities Interagency Working Group (IAIWG) in April 2018, USGCRP member agencies (including NIH, NOAA, and NSF) participated in a year-long,...