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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.

Extreme Events

Supporting recovery from the 2017 hurricane season

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...

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Extreme Events

Responding to the 2017 Midwestern floods

Imagery captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite on May 2, 2017

Interagency collaboration supported rapid response efforts.

Periods of heavy rainfall caused extensive flooding across much of the Midwestern United States and Mississippi River Basin in spring 2017, including widespread accumulation of 7–10 inches of rain, flash floods, and long-term river flooding. In response, NASA’s Earth Science Disasters Program assembled a team of scientists at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, other NASA centers, and NASA-affiliated partners to assist the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. National...

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