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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.

Indicators

Monitoring the State of the Global Climate

This map shows largely warmer temperatures (shades of red) in 2013 relative to average temperatures between 1981 and 2010. (Source: NOAA NCDC)

In 2013, the vast majority of worldwide climate indicators—including greenhouse gas concentrations, sea levels, and global temperatures, among others—continued to reflect evidence of a warming planet. That was the conclusion of the State of the Climate in 2013, a report published in July 2014 by the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS). Scientists from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) served as the lead

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Extreme Events

Explaining Extreme Events from a Climate Perspective

Flooding from heavy rains damaged Boulder, Colorado, in September 2013—one of several extreme events examined in the collaborative report. (Source: S. Zumwalt, FEMA)

Extreme events such as heavy rains, severe storms, drought, and heat waves can have devastating effects on infrastructure, the economy, and vulnerable segments of the population. A growing field of climate science seeks to understand the drivers behind extreme events and how they connect to broader climate trends. Building on efforts to monitor the global climate (see Highlight 1), a recent report published in BAMS integrates findings from 20 different research

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Ecosystems & Biodiversity

Natural and Human Emissions in the Tropical Canopy

The observational campaign in the Amazon Basin measures key environmental variables, including light and temperature, that drive biogenic emissions of volatile organic compounds from the canopy. (Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

In addition to being hotbeds of biodiversity, tropical forests are important to Earth’s water, energy, and carbon cycles—but they are increasingly impacted by climate change and human activities. Atmospheric chemistry in the once-pristine Amazon Basin, for example, is rapidly changing with deforestation, biomass burning, and pollution related to development in the region.

Like other forests, tropical forests naturally generate and emit volatile organic compounds that can react with other elements to form aerosols, or fine particles suspended in the

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Extreme Events

The Record-Setting Early Spring of 2012

This graph shows the number of days by which the start of spring in each year differs from the average start of spring during the 20th century. The spring of 2012 (circled) set a record for earliest start. (Source: Adapted from the USGCRP indicators pilot

In 2012, spring came earlier for the contiguous United States than in any year since 1900, according to recent research by a team of scientists with the USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN). This research used the USA-NPN suite of “spring indices”—or algorithms based on the accumulated warmth needed to initiate growth in temperature-sensitive plants, which are validated by nationwide historical

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Modeling

Observations to Improve Climate Models

The 2012–2021 Strategic Plan emphasizes the need for synergy between Earth observations and Earth system modeling—two cor- nerstones of global change research. Obs4MIPs (or Observations for Model Intercomparison Projects) is an emerging activity that uses observations to better support the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP), an international effort under the

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Modeling

Building Synergy in the U.S. Modeling Community

The U.S. Climate Modeling Summit brought together representatives from the Nation’s major experimental and operational climate modeling programs. Above, Summit participants gather at the NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction. (Source: NOAA)

Modeling Earth’s climate furthers priorities of national interest, from experimental research to understand the Earth system to operational forecasts and projections that inform decisions. Coordination among the Nation’s premier modeling centers—particularly between experimental and operational programs (see also Highlight 31)—has the potential to advance forecasting capabilities, yield more robust predictions, and bridge models of near-term weather and longer-term climate that currently are separated by high-uncertainty gaps in coverage.

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Carbon Cycle

Carbon Community Collaboration

The carbon cycle—or the continual flux of carbon through the atmosphere, oceans, soil, and living organisms—is a foundational component of the Earth system that interacts with climate change and human activities. Through USGCRP and its U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program, Federal agencies are working together and with the scientific community to advance fundamental and applied research in this critical field. Some examples are highlighted below:

  • In 2014, NASA, USDA, DOE, and NOAA

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Water Resources

Supporting Resilient Water Resources and Utilities

Green infrastructure projects, such as this stormwater planter, help to collect and absorb runoff, among other benefits. Local-level capacity and reliable cost-benefit information are needed to effectively incorporate such solutions into stormwater manage

Water resources in the United States are affected by a number of climate stressors—including increasing temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and extreme events like storms and droughts—and these changing conditions have implications for drinking water and stormwater utilities. Federal agencies are working with one another and with state and local partners to build preparedness and sustainability in this essential sector. For instance, the Federal Support Toolbox—grown out of an initiative led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)—serves as a

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Extreme Events

From Space to Village: Satellite Data For Decisions in the Developing World

In the summer of 2014, heavy monsoon rains combined with the arrival of meltwater from the Himalayas to cause unusually severe flooding in parts of Bangladesh (shown above: the flooded Brahmaputra River valley and Tanquar Haor wetlands). SERVIR’s flood fo

SERVIR—meaning “to serve” in Spanish—is a joint initiative that connects USAID’s expertise in international development and training with NASA’s portfolio of satellite observations. Its goal is to help decision makers in developing regions respond to global change. Over the past decade, SERVIR has worked closely with regional organizations in the developing world to provide analytical products and services that inform decisions about climate adaptation and mitigation, disaster risk

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Extreme Events

A Toolkit for Climate Resilience Nationwide

The U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit features science-based resources and real-world case studies to help communities adapt to climate change.

The Administration launched the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit in November 2014, with support from the coordinated efforts of various USGCRP agencies—especially NOAA, USGS, USDA, NASA, USACE, and HHS (CDC and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences). The Toolkit aims to help communities, businesses, natural resource managers, and others plan for and respond to the impacts of climate change where they live. As called for in the President’s Climate Action Plan, the Toolkit provides

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