OUR CHANGING PLANET
The U.S. Climate Change Science Program
for Fiscal Year 2007

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9. Communications

The CCSP, in its vision for the program, identified communications as one of four core approaches for achieving its five overarching scientific goals. The CCSP is committed to communicating with interested partners in the United States and throughout the world, and learning from these partners on a continuing basis. As an essential part of its mission, the CCSP stresses openness and transparency in its findings and reports.

The Communications Interagency Working Group (CIWG), established during FY 2004, develops and executes an implementation plan each year that focuses on disseminating the results of CCSP activities credibly and effectively and making CCSP science findings and products easily available to a diverse set of audiences. Elements of the implementation plan for calendar year 2006 include:

• Media Relations – when requested by the CCSP Director, assisting in communicating on matters relating to climate science
• Public Outreach – developing materials and methods for public outreach on issues related to climate science and the activities and products of CCSP
• Web Sites – developing and advancing a strategy for improving, integrating, and promoting the content of web sites operated or supported by CCSP and its
  participating agencies, recognizing that the sites are essential communication and outreach tools.

The Climate Change Science Program Office (CCSPO), funded and supervised by the agencies and departments participating in CCSP, supports the program’s communications goals, along with members of the CIWG. CCSPO assists the CIWG, coordinates preparation of the annual Our Changing Planet report to Congress as well as other reports, and is responsible for managing the program’s interagency web sites.

Highlights of Recent Interagency Communications Activity

Listed below are highlights of recent communications activities coordinated at the interagency level:

• Published and distributed Our Changing Planet: The U.S. Climate Change Science Program for Fiscal Year 2006.
• Published seven basic information sheets: Overview of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program, Overview of the CCSP Research Elements, Overview of the CCSP Strategic Plan, Overview of the CCSP Budget, CCSP Synthesis and Assessment Products, Methane as a Greenhouse Gas and an overview of the CCSP Annual Report to Congress Our Changing Planet.
• Added new material to CCSP’s publicly accessible web sites, including the FY 2006 edition of Our Changing Planet and materials relating to CCSP’s synthesis and assessment products. These include draft and final prospectuses that provide background information on each planned report and a detailed roadmap that will be followed in producing it. CCSP also posted the public review and final drafts for the first synthesis and assessment product (Temperature Trends in the Lower Atmosphere: Steps for Understanding and Reconciling Differences). These postings help ensure early and ongoing review of synthesis and assessment products by stakeholders.

• Facilitated stakeholder participation in the U.S. Government review of draft documents of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
• Sponsored the CCSP workshop, Climate Science in Support of Decision Making, for scientists and stakeholders in November 2005.
• Managed and improved CCSP web sites. Traffic to CCSP’s three main sites increased to over 7,000 visits per day by December 2005, a 53% increase over December 2004. CCSPO also improved web services to facilitate interagency collaboration.

• Managed the Global Change Research Information Office (GCRIO). Mandated by the Global Change Research Act of 1990, the purpose of the office is to “disseminate to foreign governments, businesses, and institutions, as well as the citizens of foreign countries, scientific research information available in the United States which would be useful in preventing, mitigating, or adapting to the effects of global change.” GCRIO includes a major web site, with two important features:
  • The GCRIO online catalog for requesting reports and CDs. Relative to FY 2004, the average number of orders received per month increased 94% in FY 2005, and the average number of products shipped per month increased 408% over FY 2004.
  • Ask Dr. Global Change, which provides answers to global change questions submitted by web site visitors.
• Managed the CCTP public web site, where the number of visits doubled between December 2004 and December 2005. CCSPO also provides additional support services to CCTP, including development and management of password-protected web sites and publications support.

Highlights of CCSP Interagency Communications Plans for FY 2007

Listed below are some of the communications activities coordinated at the interagency level that are planned for FY 2007:

• Ensure early and ongoing review of draft synthesis and assessment products by stakeholder communities and promote the release of final synthesis and assessment products, communicating information about their availability and key findings. CIWG will advise the synthesis and assessment product teams and lead agencies on communications-related issues including: dissemination to appropriate stakeholders, briefings, press releases, and summaries for a range of audiences across different information media.
• Prepare, publish, publicize, and disseminate the FY 2008 edition of Our Changing Planet.
• Facilitate stakeholder participation in the U.S. Government review of draft IPCC documents.

• Continue to improve and expand web sites by preparing and posting new web content, improving web site usability and accessibility, enhancing integration between agency and interagency web sites, and expanding web services to CCSP working groups.