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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.

Data & Tools, National Climate Assessment, Human Health

Developing a new resource on Federal climate change and health research

A new resource ensures that Federal health and climate research is accessible to inform the Fifth National Climate Assessment.

In 2020, the CCHHG began an effort to identify and organize information on federally funded research activities on climate change and human health since 2016. This group, co-led by EPA and NASA, collated this information into a Federal climate change and health research compendium document to help inform authors of the Fifth National...

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International, Human Health

Supporting international health and climate research

USGCRP agencies mobilized support for research on the health implications of climate change.

As part of its mandate to promote international cooperation in global change research, USGCRP engages with the Belmont Forum, an international partnership that catalyzes funding for research in support of resilience and sustainability. USGCRP member agencies (including NOAA, NSF, USDA, and the National Institutes of Health) participated in the scoping, call text writing, review, and funding of nine research proposals on climate, environment, and health supported...

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Data & Tools, Modeling, Human Health

Informing heat health decisions

A heat health forecast tool aims to help communities better prepare for and respond to extreme heat events.

The CCHHG, led by NOAA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with input from the National Institutes of Health and other agencies, developed a Climate and Health Monitor and Outlook Heat Forecast Product for the continental United States based on NOAA seasonal forecasts. The heat health forecast tool displays the rate of heat-related illness by region for a given week and is designed to help communities better prepare for and...

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Human Health

Research and decision tools support management of harmful algal blooms

A bright green algal bloom covers most of the lake surface. Roads, fields, and other settlements are visible along the lake’s edge.

Harmful algal blooms, or HABs, occur when colonies of cyanobacteria grow to a much greater size and density than normal, resulting in negative effects on water quality, ecosystem health, and the health of humans and animals. Climate-related factors contribute to HABs, including water temperatures and the frequency and intensity of extreme events such as intense storms, both of which are affected by climate change. The impacts of climate change are expected to further increase risks from HABs in recreational and drinking water sources in the coming decades....

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International, Human Health

Interagency activities inform efforts to predict and prepare for climate-sensitive infectious diseases

Climate-sensitive infectious diseases, including vector-borne diseases (such as dengue, West Nile Virus, and Chikungunya), waterborne diseases (such as those caused by Vibrio species), soil- and dust-borne diseases (such as Valley Fever), and zoonotic diseases (such as plague and avian influenza) pose threats to the health of Americans living at home and abroad. These threats are anticipated to change in distribution and severity as climate change progresses in the coming decades. Improving U.S. capacity to predict and communicate changes in risks of climate-sensitive diseases,...

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Coasts, Human Health

A new forecast tool helps the public avoid toxic algal blooms

An image from a new pilot smartphone-based information tool that alerts users in Florida’s central Gulf Coast to potential respiratory hazards from toxic algal blooms.
In the Gulf of Mexico, toxic algal bloom outbreaks (or red tides) occur primarily during the late summer and early fall, and can be harmful to people and ecosystems. One of the most severe red tide outbreaks in a decade hit Florida’s Gulf Coast throughout the summer and early fall of 2018, with widespread adverse impacts that prompted the governor to declare a State of Emergency in mid-August. 
 
In October 2018, a new pilot smartphone-based information resource developed by NASA, NOAA, and state and local partners began alerting users to red tide risks...
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International, Human Health

Interagency efforts help lead a new international climate and health research effort

USGCRP agencies and interagency groups played a leading role in the development of a Belmont Forum international Collaborative Research Action (CRA) launched in April 2019, focused on issues at the intersection of climate, environment, and human health. 
 
In addition to an international scoping workshop organized by the Interagency Crosscutting Group on Climate Change and Human Health (CCHHG) and International Activities Interagency Working Group (IAIWG) in April 2018, USGCRP member agencies (including NIH, NOAA, and NSF) participated in a year-long,...
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Modeling, Human Health

Understanding the health benefits of reducing aerosol pollution

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 energy between Earth’s surface and space. Some aerosols have a cooling effect by reflecting solar energy back into space, while other aerosols containing substantial amounts of carbon warm their surroundings by absorbing the sun’s energy, and can also directly harm human health when particles are at ground...

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Human Health

Expanding access to climate change and human health assessment information

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...

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Human Health

Responding to the Zika outbreak

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 Americas...

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