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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
National Research Council
Division on Earth and Life Studies
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
Committee on Strategic Advice on the U.S. Climate Change Science Program

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Congressional Briefings
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
253 Russell Senate Office Bldg. – 1:30 p.m.
and
2318 Rayburn House Office Bldg. – 3:00 p.m.

on

Restructuring Federal Climate Research
to Meet the Challenges of Climate Change

by

Dr. Christopher O. Justice, Director of Research and a professor in the Dept. of Geography, University of Maryland, College Park, and Vice-Chair, Committee on Strategic Advice on the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, The National Research Council, The National Academies

Dr. Maria Carmen Lemos, Associate Professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, and Member, Committee on Strategic Advice on the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, The National Research Council, The National Academies

Evidence of a changing climate is all around us, from rising sea level to retreating mountain glaciers, lengthening growing seasons, and other changes. The coming decades are likely to see continued warming and disruptive shifts in supplies of freshwater and food, increased degradation of land and coastal ecosystems, and new threats to public health, the economy, and national security. Science plays a key role in shaping robust and effective responses to climate change. The research, observations, and modeling needed to develop the knowledge foundation for understanding and responding to climate change at the federal level is the responsibility of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP). This new National Research Council report, Restructuring Federal Climate Research to Meet the Challenges of Climate Change, lays out a research framework for addressing the end-to-end climate change problem, from understanding causes to informing robust responses, and identifies future priorities for the CCSP.

These series of briefings were for members of Congress and congressional staff only. The report was publicly released on Thursday, February 26, 2009 and can be found, in its entirety, on the Web site of the National Academies Press.