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In support of its international mandate, USGCRP currently helps provide core budget support to three international science organizations: Future Earth , which builds interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral partnerships to advance global sustainability science; the SysTem for Analysis, Research, and Training ( START ) , which provides opportunities for research, education, and training to scientists, policymakers, and practitioners in developing countries; and the World Climate Research Programme ( WCRP ) , which is the primary international coordination mechanism for climate system research. In...
Human Health International
As part of its international mandate, USGCRP builds and sustains partnerships to promote knowledge-sharing that supports research, data collection, and assessment capabilities in developing countries. In 2021, USGCRP initiated a new regional engagement effort, the Initiative for Enhancing Capacity for Climate Risk Assessment and Catalyzing Partnerships to Inform Decisions in Latin America and the Caribbean, or LACI . Its overarching vision is to provide opportunities for partnerships among Caribbean, Latin American, and North American countries to enhance capacity for climate risk and...
International
Neighborhoods in the same city can differ in temperature by as much as 20°F, due to differences in tree cover and other factors that influence the intensity of the urban heat island effect. To learn where action is needed to protect disproportionately affected populations now and in the future, the interagency National Integrated Heat Health Information System ( NIHHIS , led by NOAA and the CDC) and partner CAPA Strategies LLC launched community-led urban heat island campaigns that map the hottest parts of cities. Through this program, NIHHIS works with communities to inform equitable heat...
Cities & Infrastructure Extreme Events Human Health
In December 2021, the U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System issued the third report in a series about the response and resilience of the Nation’s marine transportation system after major hurricanes. The report assessed the impacts to ports from the 2020 hurricane season, which saw a record-breaking number of storms form in the Atlantic basin during a global pandemic. Three storms were examined in-depth: Hurricanes Laura, Sally, and Delta. The report was authored by the Marine Transportation System’s Resilience Integrated Action Team, which includes members from EPA, NOAA, USACE...
Cities & Infrastructure Extreme Events
In 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast of the United States, creating widespread coastal flooding and over $60 billion in economic damages. A recent modeling study funded by NASA, NOAA, and NSF, with contributions from DOE and the USGS, found that the impacts of Hurricane Sandy were significantly worsened by sea level rise attributable to climate change (Strauss et al., 2021). Researchers simulated water levels and damages both as they occurred and as they would have occurred across a range of lower sea levels, showing that tens of thousands more people were affected, and more than $8...
Extreme Events Modeling
As the climate changes, hotter-than-usual days and nights are becoming more common, and heat waves are expected to become more frequent and intense. Cities experience higher temperatures than surrounding areas–known as the urban heat island effect–and residents often face higher health risks during extreme heat events. To help monitor changes in the health challenges associated with heat waves in urban areas, the USGS and EPA are developing data, analyses, and indicators for characterizing trends in the urban heat island effect . Integration of long-term USGS–NASA Landsat surface temperature...
Cities & Infrastructure Extreme Events Indicators
Accurate measurements of soil moisture conditions can provide valuable inputs for agricultural monitoring and planning, weather prediction, and drought and flood early warning. Working with the USDA and other partners, the multi-agency National Integrated Drought Information System is leading an effort to establish a national soil moisture monitoring network. The NCSMMN is a multi-agency, multi-institutional initiative to integrate soil moisture data from around the country and support a wide range of applications across sectors of the economy. In 2021, agency partners (including USDA, DOI...
Agriculture & Food Observations
The CICE model simulates changes to Arctic sea ice and its interactions with the polar environment over seasonal to decadal timescales. The model’s development and maintenance have been led and coordinated by DOE since the early 1990s, with contributions from NOAA, NASA, NSF, ONR, and many other participants. CICE and its support infrastructure are the global standard for sea ice modeling for multiple applications, including scientific research, climate modeling, forecasting, and operations planning. In 2021, the CICE Consortium—a group of primary developers and users of the CICE model—earned...
Arctic Modeling
Barrier islands—narrow deposits of sand that form along the coast—help protect mainland coastal communities from storms and serve as important habitats for many species. Restoring or enhancing barrier islands can build coastal resilience to the effects of storms and protect important habitats that sustain coastal economies. Sediment management (e.g., dredging) can be done as a nature-based solution, if it is designed appropriately, and dredge materials are used to restore or enhance habitat near at-risk communities. A new study conducted by the USGS and FWS provides resource managers—including...
Nature-Based Solutions
A major challenge for natural resource managers in the western United States is anticipating and planning for ecosystem changes caused by complex interactions among climate, wildfire, and vegetation. The Southwest FireCLIME research partnership brings scientists and managers together to support decision-making processes around fire management in a changing climate. The project synthesized current knowledge of regional climate–fire–ecosystem dynamics through a formal science synthesis and annotated bibliography, forecasts of future vegetation change under different climate–fire regimes...
Adaptation Ecosystems & Biodiversity