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 left panel shows an image of clouds over the United States captured by the weather satellite GOES-13 (20:45 UTC, July 29, 2010). The other two panels show model simulations of cloudiness for the same date and approximate time, first excluding (middle)

Thunderstorm clouds play an important role in regional atmospheric dynamics, modulating such factors as air pollution, acid deposition, and—critically for climate models—precipitation and the balance of heat throughout the atmosphere. To date, in part because of the computing power constraints associated with running models at high resolutions, it has proved challenging to model in detail the effects of thunderstorm clouds on the solar radiation that drives the climate system.

Recognizing this opportunity for improvement, scientists with EPA, NOAA, and

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Warm colors on this map show where output from NOAA's GFDL-FLOR model correlates positively (yellow = strongest correlation) with seasonal observations of tropical cyclone activity, demonstrating the model's capacity for predicting such phenomena. (Source

Predicting climate on a seasonal basis can benefit decision makers in key sectors like energy, water resources, and agriculture, among others. A number of USGCRP agencies are working to improve the Nation’s seasonal forecasting capacity through major investments in innovative climate models that can bridge the needs of atmospheric research and operational forecasts. As one example, a new model developed by NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, known as

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POLARCAT measured short-lived atmospheric pollutants, such as black carbon, which affect regional climate in the Arctic.

The Arctic is facing rapid climate and environmental change relative to many other parts of the world. In addition to long-lived greenhouse gases like carbon

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The NASA CARVE and DOE NGEE-Arctic projects are combining airborne and ground-based campaigns to understand the importance of natural emissions from the Alaskan tundra. (Source: J. B. Curtis, LBNL [main photo and left inset]; S. Wullschleger, ORNL [right

In addition to emissions from human activities, natural emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane can affect the climate system, and vice

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Sea ice in the Arctic fluctuates from year to year, but the annual minimum extent (measured each year in September) has decreased overall since measurements began in the late 1970s. Changes in sea ice have implications both for the environment and for hum

Although the volume and surface extent of Arctic sea ice varies between seasons and years, observations show a long-term down-ward trend over the last three decades. Variability in Arctic sea ice is an important indicator of global

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The 2010–2011 La Niña caused unusually high rainfall and flooding in some regions of the Southern Hemisphere, with major effects on ecosystems and thereby on the carbon cycle. This map shows the change in water mass over continents between the beginning

La Niña is a periodic extreme phase of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle that brings wetter weather to certain parts of the world. The exceptional La Niña event of 2010–2011 led to heavy rainfall in the Southern Hemisphere and widespread flooding in Australia, where 35 people died, 30,000 homes and business were damaged, and an area the combined size of France, Germany, and Italy was submerged.

In May 2014, a study

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The severe, sustained drought affecting the Central Valley of California has caused a shortage of water for irrigation and crop production. The effect of this shortage is most immediately evident as an increase in the extent of fallowed farmland (or land taken out of agricultural production), which in turn serves as a proxy for socioeconomic impacts. Decision makers can use

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In the Southwest, reservoirs such as Lake Powell (above) have reached record-low levels in recent periods of drought. Training for water resource managers is an essential step in preparing for hydrologic extremes in a changing climate.

Climate change presents new challenges for managing water quality and quantity, particularly in areas where water resources are already stressed. Resource managers need scientifically sound, usable

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Future scenarios of natural gas supply and demand (top left) are generated using an integrated assessment model. This information serves as input (open arrow) to an infrastructure model, which projects required pipeline growth, new storage needs, and othe

The Nation’s energy infrastructure is vulnerable to a range of climate impacts, particularly in areas prone to severe storms or water shortages. These impacts may be exacerbated or mitigated by other systemic factors, such as increasing energy demands, infrastructure interdependencies, and changes in technology, demographics, land use and

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Apart from serving scientists studying global change, output from the Coupled Model

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Highlights

Modeling Thunderstorm Clouds for Better Regional Climate Predictions

Seasonal Prediction Systems: From Research to Operations

Tracing Short-Lived Climate Forcers in the Arctic

Measuring Natural Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Alaska

Predicting Changes in Arctic Sea Ice

La Niña and the Greening of the Southern Hemisphere

Mapping Fallowed Farmland During Drought

Building Capacity Among Water Resource Managers

Understanding Risks and Opportunities for the Energy Sector

Data on Scales Needed by Resource Managers