Sorting out all of the new climate reports

If you pay any attention to the climate change topic, you are likely seeing an increasing number of headlines and announcements related to various climate change reports. In the absence of context, this seeming proliferation of reports and events could be somewhat confusing. This post is a very quick introduction on what this is all about, with information about how you can learn more.

The US Global Change Research Program has released a draft version of the Third National Climate Assessment (NCA) Report. This draft is called the “National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee” or NCADAC Climate Assessment Report and is available for public comment until April 12th, 2013. This is the comprehensive national report reviewing published literature on climate change for all sectors of the economy. The report can be accessed here (enjoy!): http://ncadac.globalchange.gov/.

USDA recently released two reports reviewing the literature on the impacts of climate change on the national agriculture and forestry sectors. http://www.usda.gov/oce/climate_change/effects.htm. These reports were conducted in parallel with preparation for the National Climate Assessment.

A regional Northwest Climate Assessment, convened by Phil Mote (OSU) and Amy Snover (UW) and entitled “Climate Change in the Northwest: Implications for Our Landscapes, Waters, and Communities” will be published by Island Press this spring. It will include chapters on water, coasts, forests, agriculture, human health, and tribal concerns. The agriculture chapter of this report was co-authored by several regional scientists who are part of the REACCH Project, including Sanford Eigenbrode and Jodi Johnson-Maynard (UI), Susan Capalbo (OSU) and me.

These reports provide the most comprehensive review of the published scientific literature to date on the effects of climate change on the US and the Northwest, including agriculture and natural resources.

Amy Snover from the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group will be presenting a webinar on March 5th from 10-11am . It will be posted to the C3 YouTube Channel for future viewing.

In addition, a “Town Hall” event to review the findings of the Northwest Climate Assessment will be held in Portland on March 12th. Live streaming and recorded viewing for the Town Hall will be available at: https://sites.google.com/a/usgcrp.gov/nca-northwest-regional-town-hall/.

I will be following up in the coming weeks with some posts regarding specific findings in these reports.