"Global change research" engages agencies and departments across the federal government in many diverse activities, coordinated by the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). The USGCRP is developing a 10-year Strategic Plan to strengthen the Program's role in sustaining a strategically-driven, coordinated national effort. As independent advisor to the Program, a National Research Council committee has reviewed the draft Plan. The committee encourages the Program's intent to broaden its focus, to address not only climate change, but also “climate-related global changes,” and the committee identifies a number of key issues regarding the Program’s scope, goals, and capacity to meet those goals over the coming 10 years.
- Although budget realities and practical challenges may constrain the proposed expansion of the USGCRP's scope, the committee encourages sustained efforts to expand the Program over time, along with efforts to better define what specific topics fall within the bounds of global change research.
- An effective global change research enterprise requires an integrated observational system that fully integrates the social and ecological sciences.
- Phasing in the newer elements of the Program will require identifying initial steps to develop critical science capacity that is currently lacking and to improve linkages between the production of knowledge and its use.
- The Program needs an overall governance structure with the responsibility and resources to broaden the Program as proposed in the Strategic Plan.
The division produces 60-70 reports per year. These reports are unique, authoritative expert evaluations. Each report is produced by a committee of experts selected by the Academy to address a particular statement of task and is subject to a rigorous, independent peer review. The experts who volunteer their time participating on study committees are vetted to make sure that the committee has the range of expertise needed to address the task, that they have a balance of perspectives, and to identify and eliminate members with conflicts of interest. All reports undergo a rigorous, independent peer review to assure that the statement of task has been addressed, that conclusions are adequately supported, and that all important issues raised by the reviewers are addressed. Thus, while the reports represent views of the committee, they also are endorsed by the Academy.
Authoring Body:
Committee to Advise the U.S. Global Change Research Program
Primary Board:
Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate
Sponsor(s):
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Collaborating Unit(s):
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education