Skip to main content

GlobalChange.gov

Utility

  • About USGCRP
  • Agencies

Global search

  • Understand Climate Change
  • Assess National Climate Assessment
  • Explore USGCRP Highlights
  • Browse Reports & Resources
  • Engage Connect & Participate

You are here

  • About USGCRP

Share

Facebook logo Twitter logo Google+ logo LinkedIn logo Reddit logo

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.

Observations, Extreme Events

Two Cutting-Edge Missions to Measure Global Change

This frame from an animation of GPM data shows the internal structure of Hurricane Arthur off the coast of South Carolina. This event marks the first time that a satellite has followed a hurricane through its full life cycle with high-resolution measureme

In 2014, NASA launched two new satellite missions that will enable fundamental advancements in our understanding of climate and global change. The Global Precipitation Measurement satellite, launched in February in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), carries state-of-the-art instrumentation that will collect unparalleled observations of rain and snow worldwide every three hours. Such high-resolution data will improve forecasts of extreme weather and climate events, lead to a better understanding of the global water and energy

...
Read more
International, Arctic

Arctic Observations to Meet Scientific and Societal Needs

Advancing science in the Arctic is crucial to understanding global climate dynamics, supporting policy decisions, and managing nationally and internationally important resources. In coordination with the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee (IARPC) and USGEO, USGCRP member agencies observe and monitor the Arctic environment to understand the impacts of global change on this ecologically, culturally, and economically significant region. Polar orbiting satellites provide data that are combined with information from surface-based measurement networks, airborne and

...
Read more
Ecosystems & Biodiversity

Strengthening Global Observations of Biodiversity

Monitoring biodiversity in the field. (Credit: C. Körner)

Reducing the rate of biodiversity loss and averting precipitous ecosystem changes are internationally shared goals. Through its funding to DIVERSITAS, USGCRP supports the international Group on Earth Observation’s Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON) in building a global, scientifically robust framework for detecting biodiversity change, intended to fill gaps in existing data and create links between globally dispersed observing systems. To meet

...
Read more
Land Use & Land Cover, Carbon Cycle

Carbon Cycle Science for a Changing World

Inside the prototype for SPRUCE experimental chambers. (Credit: DOE)

The continual cycling of carbon through the atmosphere, oceans, soil, and living organisms is an essential function of the Earth system. The U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program (under the auspices of USGCRP; carboncyclescience.us) and USGCRP agencies are working to understand how climate change and human activities are altering this foundational component of the environment, and how these alterations feed back to affect climate change. Some examples are highlighted below:

  • At least two thirds of the world’s land-based organic carbon is stored in

...
Read more
Ecosystems & Biodiversity

Climate Change and Nitrogen: Interacting Impacts on Ecosystem Services

Society derives many benefits from biodiversity and ecosystems, including clean air and water, as well as a host of recreational and culturally valued services. Climate change and nitrogen pollution—or excess nitrogen in the air and water, usually caused by human activities—are two major stressors affecting ecosystems nationwide, leading to shifts in habitat ranges, loss of species, and increased soil acidity. A partnership of researchers from EPA, USDA-FS, USGS, and academia are collaborating to assess the interacting impacts of nitrogen and climate change

...
Read more
Physical Climate

Extending Climate Records Beyond Instrumental Measurements

Paleoclimate studies extend records of climate beyond the time period for which we have instrumental measurements. Such research not only answers questions about what Earth was like in the past, but also provides context for the climate changes that we are experiencing today and informs our understanding of how climate is likely to change in the future. In 2013, an international team of researchers published the most comprehensive reconstruction of past temperature changes ever generated at the continental scale.

...
Read more
Oceans, Physical Climate, Modeling

Modeling Pollution to Understand Localized Climate Trends

Modeled (top panel) and observed (bottom two panels) changes in atmospheric aerosol loads between 1980 and 2000. A decrease over Europe and North Amer- ica (blue) and an increase over southeastern and eastern Asia (red)—evident in all three panels—contrib

Pollution from the combustion of fossil fuels and wood has contributed to climate change in complex ways, with some pollutants causing cooling and others causing warming, accompanied by effects on patterns of atmospheric circulation and precipitation. To better understand these complex relationships, the Atmospheric Chemistry Climate Model Intercomparison Project, part of the international 5th-phase Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5), conducted a series of pollution-focused modeling experiments to reveal spatial patterns, sectoral influences,

...
Read more
Observations, Modeling

DYNAMO: Linking Observations and Models to Predict Near-Term Climate

 The NASA GEOS5 model has made significant progress in simulating the MJO, demonstrated by how closely its output (right panel) visually resembles satellite observation data (left panel; in both panels, MJO events are represented as lines of green, red, a

Predicting climate conditions anywhere from two weeks to a season in advance is critical for making informed decisions and safeguarding infrastructure across various sectors of the U.S. economy, including water resources, energy supply, public safety, and agriculture, among many others.

USGCRP agencies are supporting improved climate forecasts on these relatively short timescales through field campaigns coupled with model development and analysis efforts. DOE, NASA, NOAA, NSF, and DOD’

...
Read more
Observations

Climate Change Here and Now: The Third National Climate Assessment

In May 2014, delivering on the Global Change Research Act of 1990 and the President’s Climate Action Plan, USGCRP released the Third National Climate Assessment (NCA), the most comprehensive, authoritative, and transparent scientific report on U.S. climate-change impacts to date. The report confirms that climate change, once considered a distant threat, is already affecting every region of the country and key sectors of the economy, and will continue to do so into the future. The release of the report garnered much attention nationwide, including among stakeholder

...
Read more
Mitigation

Impacts, Risks, and Responses in the 2014 IPCC Reports

Building on 2013’s working group report on the physical science basis for climate change, the IPCC released two additional installments of its Fifth Assessment Report in spring 2014—this time focused on climate impacts, risks, and responses.

The first of these two 2014 installments dealt with impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability, finding that the effects of climate change are already occurring worldwide; that the world, in many cases, is ill-prepared for the associated risks; and that there are opportunities to respond with effective action, though

...
Read more

Pages

  • Currently on page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Page 4
  • Page 5
  • Next page
  • Last page

Filter By Topic

  • Observations Apply Observations filter
  • Modeling Apply Modeling filter
  • Extreme Events Apply Extreme Events filter
  • Adaptation Apply Adaptation filter
  • Coasts Apply Coasts filter
  • Physical Climate Apply Physical Climate filter
  • Oceans Apply Oceans filter
  • Water Resources Apply Water Resources filter
  • Agriculture & Food Apply Agriculture & Food filter
  • Human Health Apply Human Health filter
  • Mitigation Apply Mitigation filter
  • International Apply International filter
  • Scenarios Apply Scenarios filter
  • Indicators Apply Indicators filter
  • Ecosystems & Biodiversity Apply Ecosystems & Biodiversity filter
  • Cities & Infrastructure Apply Cities & Infrastructure filter
  • Carbon Cycle Apply Carbon Cycle filter
  • Arctic Apply Arctic filter
  • Land Use & Land Cover Apply Land Use & Land Cover filter

Filter By Agency

  • National Aeronautics & Space Administration Apply National Aeronautics & Space Administration filter
  • Department of Agriculture Apply Department of Agriculture filter
  • Department of Energy Apply Department of Energy filter
  • National Science Foundation Apply National Science Foundation filter
  • Department of Defense Apply Department of Defense filter
  • Department of the Interior Apply Department of the Interior filter
  • Environmental Protection Agency Apply Environmental Protection Agency filter
  • Department of Health & Human Services Apply Department of Health & Human Services filter
  • U.S. Agency for International Development Apply U.S. Agency for International Development filter
  • Department of Commerce Apply Department of Commerce filter
  • Smithsonian Institution Apply Smithsonian Institution filter
  • Department of State Apply Department of State filter
  • Department of Transportation Apply Department of Transportation filter

Filter By Region

  • Great Plains Apply Great Plains filter
  • Midwest Apply Midwest filter
  • Northeast Apply Northeast filter
  • Oceans Apply Oceans filter
  • Southeast & Caribbean Apply Southeast & Caribbean filter
  • Southwest Apply Southwest filter

Filter By Report Year

  • (-) Remove 2014 filter 2014
GlobalChange.gov is made possible by our participating agencies
Thirteen Agencies, One Vision: Empower the Nation with Global Change Science
  • USDA
  • DOC
  • DOD
  • DOE
  • HHS
  • DOI
  • DOS
  • DOT
  • EPA
  • NASA
  • NSF
  • SI
  • USAID

Get Our Newsletter

Get Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • RSS
  • Contact Us
U.S. Global Change Research Program
1800 G Street, NW, Suite 9100
Washington, D.C. 20006 USA

Tel: +1 202 223 6262
Fax: +1 202 223 3065
Privacy Policy