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Studies of vulnerability to hurricane impacts in agriculture and forestry support efforts to reduce risks from future storms. Three storms in the 2017 hurricane season caused catastrophic damage to communities, livelihoods, and infrastructure in the U.S. Southeast and Caribbean, including billions of dollars in losses in the agriculture and forestry sector. Climate change and other stressors are expected to increase damages and disruptions from hurricanes in the future, driving research to improve understanding of sector-specific vulnerabilities to storms and how best to reduce the risks and...
Adaptation Extreme Events
Researchers used interagency modeling and observational capabilities to understand the impacts of reduced pollution related to the COVID-19 pandemic on Earth’s energy balance. Lockdown measures enacted to control the spread of COVID-19 led to a worldwide reduction in emissions of tiny atmospheric particles known as aerosols. Through their interactions with solar energy and clouds, aerosols play a significant role in shaping Earth’s energy balance (or the balance between incoming energy from the sun and outgoing energy from the Earth) and climate that is still inadequately understood. NOAA and...
Modeling Observations Physical Climate
Scientists are investigating the movement of carbon from the atmosphere to the deeper ocean via ecological processes. Microscopic organisms known as phytoplankton in the upper ocean play a critical role in Earth’s carbon cycle and climate, transporting carbon from the surface to the deeper ocean where it is stored for months to millennia. This movement of carbon—known as the biological carbon pump— represents a significant sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide, but measuring it remains a challenge. A better understanding of what influences the function of the ocean's biological pump, and how...
Carbon Cycle Ecosystems & Biodiversity Observations Oceans
Mapping forest carbon stocks with in situ, airborne, and satellite data supports forest management in the western United States. The Carbon Monitoring System (CMS), a NASA-led effort also involving the USDA Forest Service (USDA-FS), NOAA, the USGS, and non-governmental scientists, focuses on improving the monitoring of carbon stocks and fluxes (or the movement of carbon between the oceans, atmosphere, land, and ecosystems) to support carbon management activities. A CMS study is helping the USDA-FS and other stakeholders monitor aboveground biomass (or organic matter) stored in U.S. forests...
Adaptation Carbon Cycle Data & Tools Mitigation
A multiyear observing campaign is tracking changing snowpack in the western United States, laying the groundwork for a future snow satellite mission. Snowpack plays a critical role in the water cycle and helps regulate Earth’s climate. Storage of snow in the winter feeds spring snowmelt, bringing water to crops, people, and ecosystems downstream. Snowpack also feeds hydropower generation in the Southwest and Northwest, and snow-related tourism and recreation are important economic drivers in many regions. 1 Warmer winter temperatures and other climate-related changes are altering the timing...
Observations Water Resources
New data products integrate multiple sources of soil moisture information to improve drought monitoring and prediction. Drought is one of the most destructive and costly natural disasters, resulting in diminished agricultural production, reduced water resources, and deadly heatwaves. NOAA and the National Integrated Drought Information System have supported interagency activities to develop a national-scale drought product that integrates multiple sources of soil moisture information to improve drought monitoring and prediction. These activities represent collaborative efforts among NOAA, NASA...
Data & Tools
The Drought Learning Network supports knowledge exchange on drought management in the U.S. Southwest. The Drought Learning Network (DLN) brings together drought management leaders and resource managers to support knowledge sharing and improve collaboration around building resilience among communities impacted by drought in the U.S. Southwest, one of the hottest and driest regions of the world. The DLN was created by drought management leaders from the USDA Southwest Climate Hub, the National Drought Mitigation Center, and NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System to help capture...
Adaptation Water Resources
Recent studies are improving the ability to quantify ecosystem carbon dynamics and greenhouse gas exchange in changing Arctic and boreal landscapes. Northern high latitudes are warming at more than twice the global average, driving permafrost thaw, changes in surface water extent, increased wildfire, and other changes that affect how much carbon is stored in and emitted to the atmosphere by soils, vegetation, and inland waters. 1 Measuring the flow of carbon between ecosystems, landscapes, and the atmosphere—known as carbon flux—in the region and the potential impacts on global climate is an...
Arctic Carbon Cycle Ecosystems & Biodiversity Observations
USGCRP agencies mobilized support for research on the health implications of climate change. As part of its mandate to promote international cooperation in global change research, USGCRP engages with the Belmont Forum , an international partnership that catalyzes funding for research in support of resilience and sustainability. USGCRP member agencies (including NOAA, NSF, USDA, and the National Institutes of Health) participated in the scoping, call text writing, review, and funding of nine research proposals on climate, environment, and health supported through the Belmont Forum. The projects...
Human Health International
A new scientific assessment provides information on the spread and control of invasive species for land managers. The spread of invasive species is recognized as a major driver of biodiversity loss and a source of substantial economic and environmental damage. Global environmental changes, including climate change and land use change, continue to influence how invasive species spread and interact with ecosystems, presenting new and ongoing challenges for land managers. A recent USDA Forest Service (USDA-FS) assessment presents the latest natural and social science research on the ecology...
Adaptation Ecosystems & Biodiversity