New Climate Change Reports Provide Insights

In the last few days of the Bush administration, and coming up in February, at least 8 climate change reports have been or will be released, or are open for public comment.

Scheduled for release somewhere around Feb. 19, 2009, are two reports from the National Academies' National Research Council. One will identify priorities for federal climate change research programs. The other will discuss how the federal government can pass along its climate change information to people on the ground who are trying to anticipate potential effects on the ecosystem, economic, health, and infrastructure systems under their jurisdiction.

• "Restructuring Federal Climate Research to Meet the Challenges of Climate Change," media contact, Jennifer Walsh, 202-334-2138.
• "Strategies and Methods for Climate-Related Decision Support," media contact, Sarah Frueh, 202-334-2138.

The second draft of a report that attempts to synthesize current climate change information in order to best anticipate effects on the US is open for public comment until Feb. 27, 2009. The US Climate Change Science Program is coordinating the report.

• "Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States."
• Federal Register notice.

Five other reports were released Jan. 16, 2009, by the US Climate Change Science Program. All 5 reports were featured on the home page, as of Feb. 3, 2009. As these are removed from the home page, they, and many other reports, can be found here. As with the other CCSP report noted above, one or more federal agencies, such as NOAA, NASA, EPA, or USGS, are typically responsible for each report.

• SAP (or Synthesis and Assessment Product) 5.2 Final Report, "Best Practice Approaches for Characterizing, Communicating, and Incorporating Scientific Uncertainty in Decisionmaking."
• SAP 4.2 Final Report, "Thresholds of Climate Change in Ecosystems."
• SAP 4.1 Final Report, "Coastal Sensitivity to Sea-Level Rise: A Focus on the Mid-Atlantic Region."
• SAP 2.3 Final Report, "Aerosol Properties and Their Impacts on Climate."
• SAP 1.2 Final Report, "Past Climate Variability and Change in the Arctic and at High Latitudes."