USGCRP's FY16 Annual Report to Congress released

May 19, 2015

Washington, D.C.

(Excerpts cross-posted from GlobalChange.gov and the report preface)

The FY2016 edition of Our Changing Planet, U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)'s annual report to Congress has been released. It summarizes the Program's significant advancements toward achieving its scientific goals, delivering on its Congressional mandate, supporting the President’s Climate Action Plan, and building a knowledge base that effectively informs human responses to global change. It includes an overview of the USGCRP research enterprise and recent highlights that demonstrate progress on the 2012–2021 Strategic Plan. The report also spotlights progress in interagency research priority areas that intersect with the Climate Action Plan, such as climate predictions, drought and other hydrologic extremes, and actionable science. The highlights in this Our Changing Planet report represent the broad spectrum of USGCRP activities that extend from Earth system observations, modeling, and fundamental research through synthesis and assessment, decision support, education, and public engagement.

The report contains interagency activity highlights from USGCRP's interagency working groups, including submissions from the Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group (CCIWG)/US Carbon Cycle Science Program.

From the report:

Since 1989, the USGCRP has submitted annual reports to Congress called Our Changing Planet . The reports describe the status of USGCRP research activities, provide progress updates, and document recent accomplishments. This FY 2016 edition of Our Changing Planet provides a summary of programmatic achievements, recent progress, future priorities, and budgetary information. It thereby meets the requirements set forth in the U.S. Global Change Research Act of 1990 (Section 102, P. L. 101–606) to provide an annual report on Federal global change research priorities and programs. It does not express any regulatory policies of the United States or any of its agencies, or make any findings that could serve as predicates for regulatory action.

The full report is available here. More information is available here.

Suggested citation:

U.S. Global Change Research Program. 2015.Our Changing Planet: The U.S. Global Change Research Program for Fiscal Year 2016. Washington, DC, USA.

Editorial team:

Nancy Cavallaro, Department of Agriculture

Sarah Close, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Richard Eckman, National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Bryce Golden-Chen, USGCRP National Coordination Office

Justin Goldstein, USGCRP National Coordination Office

Carrie Hritz, National Science Foundation

Jill Karsten, National Science Foundation

Eric Lahr, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Sally McFarlane, Department of Energy

Julie Morris, USGCRP National Coordination Office

Frank Niepold, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Ron Sands, Department of Agriculture

Emily Seyller, USGCRP National Coordination Office

Mark Shimamoto, USGCRP National Coordination Office

Gyami Shrestha, U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program Office, USGCRP National Coordination Office

James Szykman, Environmental Protection Agency

Catherine Wolner (Lead Editor), USGCRP National Coordination Office

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