Sixth National Climate Assessment

The Sixth National Climate Assessment (NCA6) will analyze the impacts of climate and global change in the United States.

The development of NCA6 is overseen by a Federal Steering Committee appointed by the Subcommittee on Global Change Research (SGCR) and comprising representatives from USGCRP agencies. NOAA, as the administrative agency for NCA6, is responsible for establishing procedures for the report, releasing Federal Register Notices, and certifying the report meets Information Quality Act and Evidence Act standards. 

The process is designed to be transparent and inclusive, offering multiple opportunities for public participation. As in previous assessments, NCA6 will undergo an extensive, multi-phase process of internal and external review from federal agency experts, the general public, and a panel of experts to be established by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 

This approach is designed to result in a report that is authoritative, timely, relevant, and policy neutral; valued by authors and users; accessible to the widest possible audience; and fully compliant with the Global Change Research Act and other applicable laws and policies.

The NCA6 Federal Steering Committee (NCA6 FSC) consists of representatives of the USGCRP member agencies. In consultation with the Subcommittee on Global Change Research, the NCA6 FSC is responsible for the development, production, and content of NCA6. The NCA6 FSC is charged with overseeing development of technical content and with conducting high-level scoping of the report to ensure coherence, relevance, and responsiveness to the Global Change Research Act and the USGCRP Strategic Plan. The NCA6 FSC is also responsible for ensuring that the report development process is robust and that it adheres to the principles of engagement and transparency that are crucial to the process of conducting sustained assessments.

Read the NCA6 FSC Terms of Reference. 

As a Program, we recognize that a robust public engagement strategy is vital to developing a National Climate Assessment that is relevant to its users. The Sixth National Climate Assessment (NCA6) development process is designed to be transparent and inclusive, offering multiple opportunities for public participation. As in previous assessments, USGCRP will offer public calls for authors and input on other key aspects of NCA6 development. In addition, NCA6 will undergo an extensive, multi-phase review process that engages the public. 

This approach is designed to result in a report that is transparent, inclusive, and authoritative; valued by authors and users; and accessible to the widest possible audience.

Engagement opportunities will be posted on this page and on the USGCRP Notices page. Sign up for the USGCRP Newsletter to stay updated. You can also click the Timeline tab to see the next opportunity for public engagement. 

Current Opportunities 

Technical inputs can be submitted to NCA6 authors at any time for their consideration and assessment. We encourage anyone to submit any literature, reports, documents, or any other materials that you think may be relevant for authors to review. Please click below and fill out the form.

Note that you cannot submit attachments via the form. All submissions must come via a URL that authors can go to in order to obtain the technical input.

NCA6 Technical Inputs Submission Form

Submit Information on Downscaled Climate Projection Datasets  for Consideration for Use in the Sixth National Climate Assessment (NCA6)

The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) is requesting information on downscaled climate projection datasets to be considered for use in NCA6. This information will support identification of downscaled datasets that can be used by NCA6 authors at their discretion and to develop an updated data atlas for NCA6. A questionnaire collecting information on datasets, as well as information on the timeline and project management requirements and considerations, is available using the USGCRP Public Contribution System link below.

• The Request For Information (RFI) can be found in the Federal Register. Submissions for this request for information will be accepted electronically through January 17, 2025 via the USGCRP Public Contribution System, which can be accessed at https://contribute.globalchange.gov.

Past Opportunities

• Call for Public Comment on Draft Prospectus of the Sixth National Climate Assessment; Call for Authors and Technical Inputs; and Notice of Planned Public Engagement

NCA6 is planned to follow a similar review process as NCA5. The detailed mechanics of each step of this process are not described here, but are described in detail in the NCA4 and NCA5 process appendices. Details of this review plan are described below.

NOTE: All dates and steps are subject to change. Exact timing and details of each step will be determined by the NCA6 Director, in collaboration with and with input from the NCA6 FSC. This document will be updated on an as-needed basis throughout NCA6’s development and will be shared with the SGCR periodically.

In addition, all public comment stages will be paired with outreach efforts on behalf of the author teams, including (but not necessarily limited to) webinars, workshops, conference presentations, and other opportunities for members of the public to engage with NCA6 authors.
 

The NCA employs a series of drafts to inform the authors’ report development work. Public reviews have written comment opportunities for members of the public to submit to author teams. Authors provide written responses to each comment, and those responses are published along with the final report. Authors also provide written responses to every comment received from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) peer review.

 

National Climate Assessment (NCA) chapter teams are made up of a variety of experts volunteering to serve in different roles. The main chapter team participant roles are the following:

• Federal Coordinating Lead Author

• Agency Chapter Lead Author

• Chapter Lead

• Chapter Author

• Graphics Development Lead

• Technical Contributor

• Review Editor

These volunteer participant roles are described below. Other governmental leadership roles and staff support roles, which are not open to volunteers, are not described here. 

Federal Coordinating Lead Author

Federal Coordinating Lead Authors (FCLAs) are federal employees who play a high-level coordinating role with other FCLAs and serve to ensure consistency and cohesion across the report. They provide federal input directly to the Chapter Lead and support the Chapter Lead in ensuring appropriate coverage of their chapter topic. They are the single point of contact between the Chapter Lead and the NCA6 Federal Steering Committee. There will be one FCLA appointed to each chapter by the NCA6 Federal Steering Committee.

Specifically, the FCLA serves as the federal point of contact for their chapter and provides support to the Chapter Lead, who directs the day-to-day development of the chapter. FCLAs are responsible for recommending the Chapter Lead for selection by the NCA6 Federal Steering Committee, coordinating with other FCLAs, and ensuring federal priority areas are adequately covered in their chapter. FCLAs may participate in the development of chapter materials, but their primary role is to provide high-level oversight and developmental guidance to the author team via the Chapter Lead. 

Eligibility: Must be a federal employee

Eligibility purpose: The Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) specifies the conditions under which federal employees interact with groups of non-federal individuals, particularly when they are providing consensus advice to the government. To be compliant with the FACA, the connection between the government and each chapter is through a single federal employee - the FCLA. 

Agency Chapter Lead Author

Agency coordinating lead authors (ACLAs) play a high-level coordinating role with FCLAs and serve to ensure consistency and cohesion across the report. They provide federal input directly to the FCLA and support the FCLA in ensuring appropriate coverage of their chapter topic. They also serve as liaisons between author teams and the (NCA6) Federal Steering Committee. There may be more than one ACLA appointed to a chapter based on FSC decisions.

Specifically, the ACLA serves as a supporter to the federal lead for their chapter and as needed provides support to the Chapter Lead, who is charged with managing the author teams and the development of the chapter itself. ACLAs participate in the selection of Chapter Leads by discussing candidates for selection and advising the FCLA on other agency perspectives and technical needs for the content of the chapter.

One of the most important roles that the ACLAs fills is ensuring high levels of cross-chapter coordination and content development. ACLAs, with direction from the FCLAs, are responsible for the development of cross-chapter materials such as joint call out boxes, Focus Boxes, and coordination on which topics are covered where. For example, ACLAs for the regional chapters should be coordinating with the ACLAs and FCLAs of national topics such as response chapters to ensure that the materials covered in both places are complementary and aligned. As such, ACLAs play a significant and important role in ensuring NCA is a coherent report, not just a collection of chapters.

ACLAs may participate in the development of the chapter itself. However, the primary ACLA role is high-level oversight and developmental guidance through the FCLA to the author team. 

Eligibility: Must be a federal employee

Eligibility purpose: The Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) specifies the conditions under which federal employees interact with groups of non-federal individuals, particularly when they are providing consensus advice to the government. To be compliant with the FACA, various aspects of the ACLA role must be completed by a federal employee.

Chapter Lead

Chapter Leads (CLs) direct the day-to-day development of their chapter. As lead author for the chapter, the CL is responsible for ensuring that all deadlines are met and guidance is followed. The CL communicates frequently with Chapter Authors to ensure consistency across chapter sections and timely delivery of drafts. The CL works closely with their assigned NCA staff member(s)to make sure they have the support they need to deliver chapter drafts at each stage of development.

Eligibility: Must be a non-federal employee

Eligibility purpose: Federal law prohibits federal employees from directing groups of non-federal individuals to provide consensus advice to the government. Federal employees cannot serve in this role in order to allow non-federal employees to serve in the author team. To allow both federal and non-federal employees to serve on chapter teams, Chapter Leads must be non-federal employees.

Chapter Author

Chapter Authors work with their fellow authors and the Chapter Lead to develop all chapter materials (including text, graphics, metadata, captions, references, traceable accounts, and comment responses). They are responsible for conducting a thorough assessment of relevant scientific knowledge. They report to the Chapter Lead, who is in charge of chapter development. Authors work extensively with their Graphics Development Lead in creating graphics, and they work throughout the process with their assigned NCA staff member(s) and the NOAA Technical Support Unit.

Eligibility: Any qualified expert

Eligibility purpose: Chapter Authors must be credible contributors to the scientific work of the team. There are no other restrictions.

Graphics Development Lead

Graphics Development Leads (GDLs) are Chapter Authors responsible for directing the day-to-day development of graphics for their chapter. GDLs communicate frequently with other Chapter Authors to ensure that graphics evolve in alignment with the text. They work closely with other authors and the Chapter Lead to ensure that they understand how the visual components of the chapter are meant to add to the text of the chapter. GDLs work closely with their assigned NCA staff member(s) to deliver graphics and associated metadata on time at each stage of development. Additionally, GDLs are welcome and encouraged to participate in developing chapter text, if that is of interest and within their expertise. 

GDLs have all the responsibilities and access that any other author would have. While GDLs have primary responsibility for graphics, they are not obligated to develop them on their own. In many cases, GDLs will support and track other Chapter Authors' development of graphics, and will not hold sole responsibility for graphics development. They will, however, hold responsibility for ensuring graphics are finished on time and on pace with development of the full chapter. 

Eligibility: Any qualified expert

Eligibility purpose: Graphics Development Leads must be credible contributors to the scientific work of the team. There are no other restrictions.

Technical Contributor

Technical Contributors (TCs) support the development of specific components of a chapter. They work with Chapter Authors to apply their knowledge and expertise to the development of a specific component of the chapter. Some common examples of TC activities include:

• Development of a graphic or dataset in support of a graphic

• Development of metadata related to a graphic

• Supporting authors in a literature search

• Crafting responses to technical questions from agency, peer, or public reviews

• Supporting public engagement efforts during public comment periods

• Development of text as suggested inputs to the chapter on an as-requested basis (such as figure captions or call-out boxes)

TCs are critical contributors to the NCA6 development process. Chapters often have more TCs than authors to provide multiple technical inputs to the chapter materials. TCs are invited to work with authors on specific, discrete tasks in service of developing the chapter. TCs are not formal members of the author team,, and any materials created by a TC are used in the chapter at the discretion of Chapter Authors and the Chapter Lead. TCs do not directly write, edit, or revise the chapter, and instead provide materials to the authors for their consideration. TCs are not responsible for any elements of the chapter outside of the elements the Chapter Lead and/or Chapter Authors invited them to contribute to. 

Eligibility: Any qualified expert

Eligibility purpose: Technical Contributors must be credible contributors to the scientific work of the team. There are no other restrictions.

Review Editor

Review Editors (REs) ensure that chapter teams appropriately consider and document their responses to public and peer review comments. As experts in relevant scientific disciplines, REs help ensure that USGCRP assessments accurately represent the state of the science.

For their assigned chapters, REs:

• Ensure that author teams appropriately consider all comments submitted during the public comment period and concurrent review by an expert panel of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM).  

• Advise Chapter Leads on how to handle contentious issues and ensure that genuine scientific controversies are reflected adequately in the text of the NCA6.

REs ensure that the author team has considered every comment and documented the action taken by the team in response, including the scientific or logical rationale for the action or a scientific justification for lack of action. REs serve in a limited role for a short period of the NCA6 development cycle. Currently, we anticipate the bulk of the work for REs to be completed in late 2026/early 2027. REs are selected by the NCA6 Federal Steering Committee via a public nomination process, currently expected in 2026.

Eligibility: Any qualified expert

Eligibility purpose: Review Editors must be credible contributors to the scientific work of the team. There are no other restrictions.

All participants are responsible for ensuring their involvement with NCA6 adheres to the USGCRP Code of Conduct, and that their activities are consistent with the OSTP Scientific Integrity Policy. In addition, NCA6 will comply with the Information Quality Act (IQA), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Final Information Quality Bulletin for Peer Review, the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (EBPA, or Evidence Act). USGCRP staff, under the direction of the NCA6 Director, provide guidance and help ensure individual compliance and adherence with appropriate rules and policies.

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The NCA6 Table of Contents shows the chapters planned for inclusion in the report. Note that chapter titles are subject to change during report development, and may differ in the published report.

Section 1 - Report Overview

1: Overview

Section 2 - Foundational Science

2: Physical Systems

3: Social Systems

Section 3 - Response

4: Adaptation

5: Mitigation

6: The Science of Response Management

Section 4 - National Topics

7: Rural Communities

8: Urban and Suburban Communities

9: Tribes and Indigenous Peoples

10: Climate Effects on U.S. International Interests

11: Climate Effects on U.S. National Security

12: Human Health

13: Economics

14: Water

15: Energy

16: Transportation

17: Air Quality

18: Agriculture and Food

19: Nature and Ecosystems

20: Forests

21: Coasts

22: Ocean and Marine Resources

Section 5 - Regions

23: Northeast

24: Southeast

25: U.S. Caribbean

26: Midwest

27: Northern Great Plains

28: Southern Great Plains

29: Northwest

30: Southwest

31: Alaska

32: Hawai’i and U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands

Additional Materials

Appendices, Focus Features, Boxes, and other related products are under development