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 “...
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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.
Analysis of the costs and benefits of switching to paddy rice production suggests that farmers could increase profits while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Drainage of organic soils for agriculture has resulted in widespread soil subsidence (sinkage relative to surrounding areas) and increased greenhouse gas emissions. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in California, once an expansive wetland, was drained and converted to agricultural production in the mid-1800s, and has since experienced subsidence rates that are among the highest in...
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...
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
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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 uncertain¾and is critical...
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...
Researchers are improving understanding of how shifts in climate conditions affect agricultural production, as well as the value of providing advance climate information to producers.
Climate variability and change affect agricultural yields and livelihoods[1]. Improving our understanding of how the interaction of climate variability and change affects agricultural production, particularly on regional scales that are more relevant to decision making, is an important research frontier. As part of the joint NSF-USDA...
Collaboration across the modeling community supports critical experiments and scientific advancement.
U.S. climate modeling centers play a central role in understanding and predicting global change on seasonal to centennial timescales. They are engaged in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP), which produces climate projections underpinning the assessments conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the U.S. National Climate Assessment. Models developed by these centers are designed for different purposes, from providing operational forecast...
Social science methods and insights can enhance Federal global change research, assessments, and programs.
In March 2017, USGCRP’s Social Science Coordinating Committee convened a three-day workshop, “Social Science Perspectives on Climate Change.” The workshop brought together over 80 participants, including scientists and program managers from 13 Federal agencies, representatives from non-governmental organizations, and academic social scientists from four disciplines: anthropology, archaeology, geography, and sociology. Participants focused on identifying...
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...