USGS Office of Global Change: Welcome

What is Climate Change?

The USGS strives to understand how the earth works and to anticipate changes in how the earth functions. To accomplish this, USGS science aims to understand the interrelationships among earth surface processes, ecological systems, and human activities. This includes understanding current changes in the context of pre-historic and recent earth processes, distinguishing between natural and human-influenced changes, and recognizing ecological and physical responses to changes in climate. Learn more

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Information on USGS Climate Change Activities

Topics

Publications

Publication cover for Our Changing Planet

Frequently Asked Questions

Other Links of Interest

USGS

Other Federal Agencies

News

Glacial Change in Response to Changing Climate new item

DOI Climate Change Task Force Draft Subcommittee Reports

Climate Change Science Program (CSSP)

The Climate Change Science Program (CCSP) that integrates federal research on climate and global change.

CCSP Synthesis and Assessment Products (SAP) -- The CCSP Strategic Plan calls for the development of a series of 21 Synthesis and Assessment Products (SAP) to be managed by 13 participating agencies. The USGS is responsible for 3 of the SAPs.
SAP 1.2: Post Climate Variability and Change in the Arctic and at High Latitudes
- News Release
- Final Report

SAP 3.4: Abrupt Climate Change
- News Release
- Final Report
- Brochure (6.3MB PDF)

SAP 4.2: Thresholds of Climate Change in Ecosystems
- News Release
- Final Report

Climate Change: The Science of Impacts

New Polar Bear Finding

Newly-released USGS information from 9 recent studies presents relationships of polar bears to present and future sea ice environments.

U.S. Congressional Briefing Series --Climate Change

USGS Climate Change Science: Exploring the Past, Observing the Present, Forecasting the Future

News Releases

Additional Climate Change News Releases

Check out our Podcasts:

How Abrupt Can Climate Change Be? -- USGS Associate Program Coordinator for the Office of Global Change John McGeehin discusses a new report on the potential for abrupt climate changes from global warming during this century.
Arctic Heats Up More than Other Places --USGS scientist Joan Fitzpatrick discusses a new report on past climate variability and change in the Arctic.
Farming Carbon to Help the Atmosphere and the Land -- Learn more from USGS bio-geochemist Robin Miller about how this could help California, the nation, and the world.
Drought: the Long, Slow Natural Hazard (Part 1) -- In the first part of our two-part series on drought, we sit down with USGS scientists Julio Betancourt and Greg McCabe to talk about drought in the Western United States, along with some other interesting and surprising drought info.
Drought: the Long, Slow Natural Hazard (Part 2) -- In the second part of our two-part drought mini-series, we head down South to talk with USGS scientists Curtis Weaver and Brian McCallum about the drought situation in the Southeastern United States.

Additional Podcasts

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Page Last Modified: Wednesday, February 25, 2009