Interagency collaboration supported recovery efforts after Hurricanes Irma and Maria. During the 2017 hurricane season, hurricanes Irma and Maria, two of the most significant storms to affect Florida and the U.S. Caribbean in recent history, caused catastrophic damage that affected ecosystems, livelihoods, and economic stability throughout the region. USGCRP provided one venue for facilitating interagency efforts—involving USDA, DOE, NASA, NSF, DOI, and FEMA—that are tracking storm damage and recovery in forests and the agricultural sector and supporting recovery and resilience-building...

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 targeted Zika-affected countries to better...

A global data collection network has built a strong foundation for carbon cycle understanding. The AmeriFlux Network , which is supported by the Department of Energy, connects scientists from across the Western Hemisphere studying the exchange of carbon, water, and energy between ecosystems and the atmosphere. Since its launch in 1996, AmeriFlux has built a data record from 213 sites worldwide, called FLUXNET, representing major climate and ecological biomes. The FLUXNET2015 dataset, released in 2016 as an update to the 2007 release, has more measurement tower sites, a longer data record, and...

Scientists are gaining new understanding of processes that control greenhouse gas emissions from Arctic permafrost, a potential driver of significant future warming. Rapid warming in the Arctic is causing carbon-rich soils known as permafrost, previously frozen for millennia, to thaw. As thawing soils decompose, the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane are released into the atmosphere in varying proportions depending on the conditions under which decomposition occurs. Permafrost emissions could contribute significantly to future warming, but the amount of warming depends on how much...

Researchers are experimentally warming northern peatlands to understand carbon cycling in the climate of the future. Northern peatlands hold large stocks of organic carbon in their soils that are vulnerable to release into the atmosphere as the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane as the climate warms. Emissions of methane, which has about 28 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over a 100-year period, are of particular concern. Prior studies have been limited to the effects of surface-level warming on carbon cycling, and the response of deeper layers of peat to warming—which could...

A new research network aims to accelerate discoveries in the science of these important natural carbon sources and sinks. Coastal wetlands provide protection from wind and waves, support habitats and fisheries, and store large amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide for centuries to millennia. These ecosystems can also be sources of greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere; wetlands that do not have the capacity to keep pace with sea-level rise, for example, can erode and release soil carbon rapidly to the atmosphere. Freshwater and brackish wetlands also emit methane, a more potent greenhouse...

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 level. The total impact of aerosols is a net global...

START (global change SysTem for Analysis, Research and Training) promotes research-driven capacity-building to advance knowledge on global environmental change in Africa and Asia-Pacific, through research grants and fellowships, knowledge assessments and syntheses, curricula development, advanced-training institutes, multi-stakeholder dialogues, and place-based strategic planning. In 2015, with support from USGCRP, START enhanced the ability of over 300 researchers selected as fellows and their partners to incorporate climate information into decision making and strengthened the capacities of...

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 increase of thousands to tens of thousands of premature heat-related deaths in the...

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 health as a priority area in its climate-adaptation strategy, and many states now include initiatives related to health in their climate action plans; however, internal public-health capacity for climate-change adaptation is limited. The National Institutes of Health, with support from NOAA and the Department of State, collaborated with organizers in India to host a...