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.

The 2017 annual minimum ozone detection of 131 Dobson Units over Antarctica was observed on October 9, 2017, about a week later than usual, indicating that ozone levels may be starting to recover.

Interagency collaboration sustains long-term measurements that track the health of the ozone layer.

Ozone gas in the upper atmosphere protects the planet’s surface from harmful solar radiation. The Antarctic ozone hole was discovered in 1985, increasing concerns about human emissions of gases that destroy ozone and the negative consequences for life on Earth. Two years later, the international community signed the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer through regulation of ozone-depleting compounds. Later...

Coordinated experiments run across major Earth system models help improve model projections and advance climate science understanding.

Projections of the future state of the Earth system can differ significantly across models, with various potential sources of uncertainty. To better understand the sources of difference and where fundamental scientific understanding can be improved, the Earth system modeling community uses a set of experiments run across many models known as the ...

Model runs of CMIP5 models without greenhouse gas forcing (orange lines) demonstrate natural variability in average annual global surface temperatures expected without human influence on the climate.

Earth system models allow researchers to evaluate the size and strength of various influences on the climate system and identify the human contribution to the warming trend.

Earth system models allow researchers to distinguish “internal” climate variability (natural climate cycles) from the effects of “external” influences on the climate, both human and natural (including variations in incoming solar energy, volcanic eruptions, and greenhouse gas emissions from human activities). Model simulations of natural variability from the...

The Strawberry Advisory System tool, which shows risk levels for climate-related disease in strawberry crops, helps growers make decisions about fungicide application.

Interagency efforts develop and deliver science-based information and technologies to help agricultural producers and natural resource managers make optimal management decisions.

Farmers, ranchers, and land managers across the country rely on weather and climate information in their management decisions. To help producers and managers better understand the risks and opportunities that extreme weather events and climate change present for their operations, interagency efforts produce and deliver a range of information tools and resources that help guide climate risk...

The January 2016 melt event on the West Antarctic ice sheet was captured by satellite and surface observations.

An observing campaign on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is improving understanding of influences on recent ice loss and the implications for future sea level rise.

Antarctica holds the largest reservoir of ice on Earth and is significant contributor to sea level rise. The West Antarctic Ice Sheet, once considered relatively stable, has shed an increasing amount of ice...

Longitudinal cross-section of 1998–2016 SHADOZ ozonesonde total column ozone (O3)

Balloon-borne instruments measure ozone levels high in the tropical atmosphere, providing new data to help refine projections of future climate change as well as educational opportunities for students in participating countries.

Ozone is a powerful greenhouse gas and an important contributor to global climate change. Its impact on the climate is strongest in a region of Earth’s upper atmosphere (upper troposphere and lower stratosphere) where it influences the amount of energy that escapes to space. Ozone distribution in this region is influenced by the upward...

Regional comparisons of submarine (1958–1976 and 1993–1997), ICESat (2003–2007), and CryoSat-2 (2011–2016) ice thickness data, showing declines in ice thickness over time.

Satellite observations of sea ice thickness provide an opportunity to improve seasonal predictions of Arctic sea ice cover.

Arctic sea ice grows and melts each year with the seasons, reaching its low point in September. Summer sea ice cover has shrunk significantly over the past thirty years, although variation from year to year means that the downward trend is not uniform. Arctic sea ice plays a critical role in regulating weather and climate in and beyond the region. Sea ice decline activates a feedback loop in the climate system: as highly...

G-LiHT measurements for an area within Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest near Fairbanks, Alaska.

Scientists are using aerial and ground survey methods to measure change in Alaska’s interior forests and its impact on ecosystem services.

The boreal forests of interior Alaska are changing rapidly as the climate warms. Wildfires are more frequent and more severe, and declines in growth of spruce trees may be driving a shift towards ecosystems normally found in warmer climates. These changes can have significant impacts on the quality of wildlife habitat and ecosystem services that support the subsistence economies of many native Alaskan...

Using 29 years of data from Landsat satellites, researchers at NASA found extensive greening in the vegetation across Alaska and Canada.

Scientists are using satellites to collect detailed data on forest change in remote parts of Alaska and the Arctic.

Rapid warming in the Arctic and boreal regions of Alaska is affecting boreal forests and tundra ecosystems in a number of ways. Higher temperatures and changes in precipitation have led to a higher incidence of wildfire and increased tree mortality from drought, insects, and disease. Increases in the length of the growing season and the amount of energy produced by vegetation have also been observed. While tracking how climate...

Scientists are combining satellite remote sensing and ground survey data to better understand the impacts of climate change and other disturbances on the health of Pacific Northwest forests and the ecosystem services they provide.

Pacific Northwest forests are sensitive to temperature and drought stress and face increased vulnerability to insect pests, diseases, and fires in a changing climate. The frequency and severity of climate-related forest disturbances are expected to continue to increase over the 21^st...

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Highlights

Monitoring recovery of the ozone layer

Collaborative modeling experiments to improve understanding of the future of the Earth system

Exploring human and natural influences on climate

Providing climate information tools to agricultural communities

Investigating ice sheet change in Antarctica

Measuring ozone in the tropics

Advancing seasonal predictions of Arctic sea ice

Monitoring change in Alaskan forests

Detecting the drivers of forest change in Alaska and the Arctic

Measuring ecosystem response to changing environments in Pacific Northwest forests