NOAA LEADS CLIMATE IMPACT AND ADAPTATION ACTIVITIES
Agency Contributes to Scientific Foundation of IPCC

April 5, 2007 � On April 6, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will release its report on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability to climate change for the Fourth Assessment. Ongoing research conducted by NOAA contributed to a large part of the progress that has been made since the Third Assessment in 2001. Many NOAA-funded activities contributed data and research to the growing body of literature on impacts and adaptation assessed by the 2007 report.

NOAA-led research and expertise is on the forefront of many facets of climate science. This work ranges from the physical science that drives the planet's climate to understanding the impacts that result from changing temperature and precipitation pattern on regional and global scales, to ensuring the use of such information for economic and environmental benefit.

A NOAA scientist, Roger Pulwarty, of the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, is a lead author of the chapter on adaptation options and practices, and a contributing author on the freshwater resources and on the small islands chapters for Working Group 2. He also is a lead author on the IPCC WG2 Special Technical Report on Climate Change and Water due out at the end of the year. He was accompanied in Working Group 2 by several contributing authors and reviewers from NOAA. Among other sources, these reports relied on data, observations, models, assessment methods and research available from the agency.

"NOAA's climate research and related work extends far beyond its contributions to IPCC, and adds direct benefit to the nation and to the world through various products that are used in commerce, government and the every-day lives of ordinary people," said retired Navy VADM Conrad Lautenbacher, Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. "Climate helps shape both human and natural systems worldwide. NOAA delivers reliable climate information in useful ways to help minimize risks and maximize opportunities for informed decisions in agriculture, public policy, natural resources, water and energy use, public health and an ever-expanding list of constituencies that are realizing the importance of climate in their activities."

As one of the nation's Earth science agencies, NOAA conducts scientific research and provides integrated observations, predictions and services for decision makers. NOAA also is active around the world, working with partners to improve the collective understanding of the Earth's systems, through observations and scientific endeavor, sharing of data and information, and building capacity to use this information for risk management decisions. NOAA provides technical assistance to other countries in the use and application of this knowledge to decision-making in support of sound integrated resource management and economic decisions.

NOAA also collaborates with the U.S. Climate Change Science Program in providing focused, goal-specific research products that answer questions that are key to our understanding of climate. Some of the products that are in progress will shed light on climate's role in extreme weather, ecosystems, transportation, energy production and human health.

NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is celebrating 200 years of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation of the Weather Bureau and the Commission of Fish and Fisheries in the 1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA. NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of the nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 60 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

Relevant Web Sites
NOAA Climate Program Office

NOAA Climate Portal

Media Contact:
Kent Laborde, NOAA, (202) 482-5757