Skip to main content

GlobalChange.gov

Utility

  • About USGCRP
  • Agencies

Global search

  • Understand Climate Change
  • Assess National Climate Assessment
  • Explore USGCRP Highlights
  • Browse Reports & Resources
  • Engage Connect & Participate

You are here

  • About USGCRP

Share

Facebook logo Twitter logo Google+ logo LinkedIn logo Reddit logo

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. Highlights describe the state of science at the time of publication of each yearly report, and may not reflect more recent advances in understanding. The date of publication of the source report is noted on each highlight page.

Oceans

Researchers reconstruct a new history of ocean warming

Globally, average sea level has risen over the past several decades as ocean waters have warmed. While the ocean as a whole has absorbed a huge amount of heat from the warming atmosphere, ocean currents transport that heat differently across regions, contributing to significant regional variations in the amount of sea level change. Understanding changes in ocean heat content and the role of currents in shaping patterns of warming is critical to assessing current and future global and regional climate change, sea level rise, and coastal flooding risk.[1]...
Read more
Data & Tools

New data infrastructure helps build a virtual ecosystem of Earth science information

The ability to archive and share datasets generated by field, experimental, and modeling activities is a critical component of Earth system and global change research. Several recent interagency efforts aim to support advances in global change data access, synthesis, and use. 
 
DOE recently launched the Environmental Systems Science Data Infrastructure for a Virtual Ecosystem (ESS-DIVE), a publicly accessible archive of Earth and environmental science data generated by DOE-supported ecosystems research...
Read more
Social Science

A collaboration identifies pathways to enhance social science integration in federal global change research

Through its Social Science Coordinating Committee (SSCC), USGCRP works to integrate social science methods, findings, and disciplinary perspectives into federal global change research programs. The social, behavioral, and economic sciences provide critical insights on the drivers and impacts of global change and inform mitigation, adaptation, and resilience decisions.
 
In February 2019, in collaboration with the National Academies’ Board on Environmental Change and Society, the SSCC convened a seminar entitled “Climate Resilience Pathways and Social Science...
Read more
Observations, Extreme Events

Interagency data products and research inform hurricane response and recovery in the Carolinas

This image of Pee Dee River in South Carolina was captured by NASA’s Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) instrument aboard a September 17, 2018 science flight.
Hurricane Florence struck the Carolinas on September 14, 2018, causing widespread flooding and damage. In the aftermath of the storm, NASA deployed airborne radar to map floodwaters threatening the region, supplying federal, state, and local agencies with information critical to disaster response efforts. 
 
Airborne radar is able to “see” through cloud cover to image the ground below during day and night and can map flooding occurring under...
Read more
Ecosystems & Biodiversity, Adaptation

Drought and wildfire research supports adaptation planning in the western United States

A natural-color image captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite on August 27, 2017, shows dozens of wildfires burning in the western United States.
Wildfires affect communities throughout the United States each year, threatening lives, property and infrastructure, and ecosystems.[1] Understanding the climatic conditions that influence wildfire patterns can improve our ability to predict the occurrence and severity of future wildfires, and ultimately support the development of effective adaptation strategies. 
 
In response to this need, multiple programs within the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Department of the Interior’s...
Read more
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...
Read more
Coasts, Adaptation

Flood mapping helps planners visualize the future of California’s coast

A king tide flooded parts of Imperial Beach, California in December 2018.
U.S. coastal communities are increasingly vulnerable to sea level rise, tidal flooding, higher storm surge, coastal erosion, and other climate-related impacts.[1] To help communities in southern California plan for rising water levels, a NASA DEVELOP team collaborated with the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, in partnership with the California Coastal Commission, to create detailed projections of flooding from sea level rise and coastal storms along the...
Read more
Carbon Cycle

A major interagency assessment evaluates carbon cycle science and impacts on society

This image shows the distribution of aboveground forest biomass across North America, measured as milligrams of biomass per hectare (mg/ha).
The Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR2), released by USGCRP in November 2018, is a state-of-the-science assessment of the carbon cycle in North America and its connection to climate and society. Authored by more than 200 experts from the United States, Canada, and Mexico, SOCCR2 focuses on U.S. and North American carbon cycle processes and their interactions with global-scale carbon budgets and climate change impacts over the last decade. 
 
The report includes an assessment of...
Read more
International

A new collaboration on data and decision-making supports sustainability in the Amazon Basin

SERVIR is a joint initiative between NASA and USAID that develops demand-driven services, tools, and training for decision-makers in more than 50 countries. By connecting USAID’s development network with NASA’s science, geospatial technologies, and extensive satellite data, SERVIR helps strengthen local capacity to integrate science and technology into decision-making. 
 
Since 2004, SERVIR has collaborated with leading regional organizations in the developing world to help people and institutions...
Read more
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,...
Read more

Pages

  • First page
  • Previous page
  • …
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Page 4
  • Page 5
  • Currently on page 6
  • Page 7
  • Page 8
  • Page 9
  • Page 10
  • …
  • Next page
  • Last page

Filter By Topic

  • Observations Apply Observations filter
  • Modeling Apply Modeling filter
  • Extreme Events Apply Extreme Events filter
  • Ecosystems & Biodiversity Apply Ecosystems & Biodiversity filter
  • Human Health Apply Human Health filter
  • International Apply International filter
  • Carbon Cycle Apply Carbon Cycle filter
  • Adaptation Apply Adaptation filter
  • Arctic Apply Arctic filter
  • Oceans Apply Oceans filter
  • Agriculture & Food Apply Agriculture & Food filter
  • Physical Climate Apply Physical Climate filter
  • Coasts Apply Coasts filter
  • Water Resources Apply Water Resources filter
  • Indicators Apply Indicators filter
  • Data & Tools Apply Data & Tools filter
  • Land Use & Land Cover Apply Land Use & Land Cover filter
  • National Climate Assessment Apply National Climate Assessment filter
  • Mitigation Apply Mitigation filter
  • Scenarios Apply Scenarios filter
  • Cities & Infrastructure Apply Cities & Infrastructure filter
  • Education Apply Education filter
  • Social Science Apply Social Science filter
  • Antarctica Apply Antarctica filter
  • Energy Apply Energy filter

Filter By Agency

  • National Aeronautics & Space Administration Apply National Aeronautics & Space Administration filter
  • Department of Energy Apply Department of Energy filter
  • Department of Agriculture Apply Department of Agriculture filter
  • National Science Foundation Apply National Science Foundation filter
  • Department of Commerce Apply Department of Commerce filter
  • Department of the Interior Apply Department of the Interior filter
  • Environmental Protection Agency Apply Environmental Protection Agency filter
  • Department of Defense Apply Department of Defense filter
  • Department of Health & Human Services Apply Department of Health & Human Services filter
  • U.S. Agency for International Development Apply U.S. Agency for International Development filter
  • Department of State Apply Department of State filter
  • Department of Transportation Apply Department of Transportation filter
  • Smithsonian Institution Apply Smithsonian Institution filter

Filter By Region

  • Alaska Apply Alaska filter
  • Great Plains Apply Great Plains filter
  • Midwest Apply Midwest filter
  • Northeast Apply Northeast filter
  • Northwest Apply Northwest filter
  • Oceans Apply Oceans filter
  • Southeast & Caribbean Apply Southeast & Caribbean filter
  • Southwest Apply Southwest filter

Filter By Report Year

  • 2014 Apply 2014 filter
  • 2019 Apply 2019 filter
  • 2015 Apply 2015 filter
  • 2022 Apply 2022 filter
  • 2016 Apply 2016 filter
  • 2020 Apply 2020 filter
  • 2021 Apply 2021 filter
GlobalChange.gov is made possible
by our participating agencies
  • USDA
  • DOC
  • DOD
  • DOE
  • HHS
  • DHS
  • DOI
  • DOS
  • DOT
  • EPA
  • NASA
  • NSF
  • SI
  • USAID

Get Our Newsletter

Get Social

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • RSS
  • Contact Us
U.S. Global Change Research Program
1800 G Street, NW, Suite 9100
Washington, D.C. 20006 USA

Tel: +1 202 223 6262
Fax: +1 202 223 3065
Privacy Policy