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.

A participant using the GLOBE Observer app on their mobile device examines a magnified mosquito larva to determine if it is a disease-carrying species.

Interagency efforts are engaging citizens in forecasting and observation of mosquito threats.

Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) is an international science and education program that provides students and the public worldwide with the opportunity to participate in data collection and the scientific process and contribute meaningfully to our understanding of the Earth system and global environment. In 2017, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) partnered with NASA to leverage GLOBE in engaging hard-to-reach populations in...

The Aedes aegypti mosquito is the primary vector for transmission of the Zika virus.

Interagency science investigated environmental influences on Zika transmission and helped support response efforts.

In February 2016, the World Health Organization declared the Zika outbreak spreading across the Americas since 2015 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, based on Zika’s previously-unknown association with birth defects. The virus was first discovered in 1947 in Africa and had not previously been found in the Western Hemisphere. By February 2016, the outbreak had spread to 48 countries and territories in the...

Researchers found that reducing aerosol pollution can achieve both direct and indirect health benefits.

Atmospheric aerosols are tiny airborne particles that can dramatically affect the Earth’s climate through their influence on the flow of...

A Spanish language translation of the executive summary of USGCRP’s report The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health: a Scientific Assessment is now available.

Climate and health assessment information has been shared widely through a number of platforms and formats, including a Spanish translation of the report overview.

In April 2016, the USGCRP released The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment, a groundbreaking report detailing the major risks and vulnerabilities to human health posed by...

Reducing the Health Risks of Extreme Heat

Awareness surrounding the connection between climate change and human health is growing. USGCRP’s The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United...

Analyzing the Rising Costs of Climate Change to Human Health

In April 2016, USGCRP released The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment (Climate and Health Assessment), a significant advancement in understanding of the impacts of climate change on human health. It strengthens the finding in previous literature that climate change increases health risks for all Americans, that certain populations are particularly vulnerable, and that these threats are likely to increase as climate change progresses. In particular, an annual...

Indicators are measurements or calculations that represent how a complex system is changing over time—for instance, the unemployment rate is an indicator of overall economic health. For the climate system, indicators offer a simple representation of how a highly complex system is changing, providing a benchmark for decision...

Like many developing countries, India faces a disproportionate share of adverse impacts from climate change, including the exacerbation of its already substantial public-health challenges. The government of India has recognized...

This map shows the number of total heat wave days per summer projected for the mid-21st century, as a factor of increase relative to the end of the 20th century (assuming a scenario of rapid economic growth driven by a balanced portfolio of energy sources

Climate change is expected to increase the number of extremely hot days, posing health risks to vulnerable populations such as the elderly, children, and those with existing cardiovascular and

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With leadership by EPA, NOAA, and HHS agencies including CDC and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), USGCRP is continuing development of its Climate and Health Assessment, a contribution to the sustained assessment process that will support the next quadrennial NCA report. The USGCRP Climate and Health Assessment will address the need for a more definitive understanding of climate impacts on public health, as called for in the President’s Climate Action Plan. It will synthesize

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Highlights

Supporting responses to climate-sensitive diseases

Responding to the Zika outbreak

Understanding the health benefits of reducing aerosol pollution

Expanding access to climate change and human health assessment information

Reducing the Health Risks of Extreme Heat

Analyzing the Rising Costs of Climate Change to Human Health

Improving Indicators of Change

Building Public-Health Capacity for Adaptation in India

Preparing for the Health Hazards of Extreme Heat

Assessing the Public Health Risks of Climate Change