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Research Contributions
The Global Change Research Program in EPA's Office of Research and Development has improved understanding of global change and delivered decision support tools to enable resource managers to consider the impacts of global change when making decisions to protect the environment and public health. Research contributions include:
Climate Change Synthesis and Assessment Products
The U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), a federal interagency organization that coordinates research on climate change, is producing 21 synthesis and assessment products (SAPs) that respond to the highest-priority research needed to address the consequences of global change. The Global Change Research Program is producing two of the highest-priority reports: Preliminary Review of Adaptation Options for Climate-Sensitive Ecosystems and Resources (SAP #4.4) and Analyses of the Effects of Global Change on Human Health and Welfare and Human Systems (SAP #4.6).
Preventing Combined Sewer System Overflows
Aging Combined Sewer Systems in the United States are being redesigned to comply with EPA's Combined Sewer Overflow Control Policy. These systems collect and co-treat storm water and municipal water, and are designed to overflow directly to surface waters when their design capacity is exceeded. Intense storms can cause combined sewer systems to exceed their capacity and result in the discharge of untreated storm and waste water into streams. Climate change is already leading to an increase in the number of intense rainfall events. The Global Change Research Program has demonstrated that redesigned systems might not satisfy EPA's control policies if they are rebuilt without considering climate change. The research program has shown that the risks are manageable. It is possible to anticipate the effects of climate change on these systems and to adapt their new designs to increase their effectiveness.
More information in an external review draft report (PDF) (50 pp, 339KB, About PDF)
Assessing Impacts on Water Quality Standards
EPA's Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) program allocates pollutant loads to water bodies. The research program has shown that climate change could lead to more intense precipitation events that could increase runoff, alter stream flow, and lead to higher annual costs at publicly owned treatment works in the Great Lakes region.
Assessing Impacts on Air Quality
The research program is assessing the effects of global change on air quality across the United States. The initial assessment of the effects of climate change on air quality was completed in September 2007. The long-term goal is to provide air quality managers and decision makers with the scientific information and models they need to protect air quality from the impacts of global change. This assessment is unique among federal agencies.
Protecting Drinking Water Systems from Sea Level Rise
Drinking water systems that derive their supplies from surface water and groundwater will be put at risk in varying degrees and in different ways from rising sea levels. Several million people are served by coastal surface water systems that are unprotected from sea level rise. However, the research program has shown that only five surface water systems serving over 100,000 people are at high risk of salt water intrusion. The greater risk from salt water is faced by coastal systems that derive their supplies from groundwater. For example, the program has identified the groundwater supplies in Florida that are vulnerable to sea level rise.
Partnering with the World Health Organization
The research program supports efforts by the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop strategies for responding to the health risks posed by climate change. In 2003, with support from EPA's Global Change Research Program, WHO published the book Climate Change and Human Health: Risks and Responses 
. EPA scientists co-authored three chapters and one scientist served as an editor. This collaboration also led to the research program's participation in the writing of the Synthesis Report for the Health Sector, which was prepared as part of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. The assessment involved more than 1,360 experts worldwide to provide a state-of-the-art scientific appraisal of the condition and trends in the world's ecosystems and the services they provide.