Filters

Field research provides new data advancing our ability to project how tropical forests will respond to a changing climate. Tropical forests store vast amounts of carbon and play a key role in regulating Earth’s climate. As climate changes, these ecosystems have the potential to become a net contributor to global warming if they shift to releasing more carbon to the atmosphere than they absorb 1 . However, how these forests will be affected by a warming climate and changing atmosphere is still uncertain, and is critical for improving model projections of future climate change 2 . In the first...
Carbon Cycle Ecosystems & Biodiversity
USGCRP efforts support building global change research capacity in developing countries. USGCRP provides support to help sustain the core operations of three international science organizations: the World Climate Research Program (WCRP) , which is the primary coordination mechanism for international research on the climate system; System for Analysis, Research and Training (START) , which provides opportunities for research, education, and training to scientists, policymakers, and practitioners in developing countries; and Future Earth , which builds interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral...
International
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 management in agriculture...
Agriculture & Food
An assessment of observed and projected climate trends in the United States forms the foundation for comprehensive analyses of climate-related vulnerabilities and risks. USGCRP oversaw the production of the Climate Science Special Report (CSSR) as Volume I of the Fourth National Climate Assessment. CSSR assesses the state of knowledge on human-caused climate change, with a primary focus on the United States, including observed and future projected changes in temperatures, precipitation patterns, extreme weather events, sea-level rise, and ocean acidification. CSSR was released in November 2017...
National Climate Assessment
Interagency collaboration supported rapid response efforts. Periods of heavy rainfall caused extensive flooding across much of the Midwestern United States and Mississippi River Basin in spring 2017, including widespread accumulation of 7–10 inches of rain, flash floods, and long-term river flooding. In response, NASA’s Earth Science Disasters Program assembled a team of scientists at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, other NASA centers, and NASA-affiliated partners to assist the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. National Guard in their...
Extreme Events
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, with virus transmission mainly by the Aedes...
Human Health
Climate scenarios provide a consistent set of possible future conditions to inform analyses of the risks posed by climate change. The Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) assesses risks to the United States posed by climate and global change. Scenarios that represent a range of plausible future changes in key risk drivers, such as greenhouse gas emissions levels, weather and climate extremes, sea level, population, and land use, are used to guide NCA4’s evaluation of specific climate-related risks in regions and sectors across the United States. Consistent with previous NCAs, NCA4 relies...
Modeling National Climate Assessment Scenarios
Upgrades to an observing network in the equatorial Pacific Ocean support valuable forecasts of global shifts in climate and extreme weather. The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a natural climate phenomenon driven in part by the variability of ocean surface temperatures, atmospheric pressure, and trade winds in the tropical Pacific Ocean. ENSO events, occurring every two to seven years on average, cause widespread shifts in precipitation patterns and weather and climate extremes that impact agriculture, marine ecosystems, human health, disaster preparedness, and other sectors across the...
Observations Oceans Physical Climate
A new Federal coastal adaptation resource highlights strategies to protect natural and cultural resources in coastal parks that can be applied in coastal landscapes across the country. The “ Coastal Adaptation Strategies Handbook ” and “ Coastal Adaptation Strategies: Case Studies ” reports summarize the state of National Park Service (NPS) climate adaptation and key approaches currently in practice or considered across coastal national parks to guide adaptation planning and enhance resilience. The reports highlight innovative planning tools, collaborative opportunities, and lessons learned...
Coasts
Monitoring tools help resource managers prepare for and reduce the impacts of drought. The impacts of drought on water resources, plants and wildfire, agriculture, and the economy are complex and occur over many timescales, underscoring the value of a range of drought monitoring tools that support different types of decisions. To help meet this need, two complementary weekly drought monitoring and mapping tools—the Vegetation Drought Response Index (VegDRI) and the Quick Drought Response Index (QuickDRI) —were developed by the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Drought Mitigation Center...
Agriculture & Food