EPA Research and Assessment
The planning and implementation of EPA’s climate research and assessment activities are closely coordinated with the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP). The CCSP Strategic Plan called for the production of 21 rigorously peer reviewed Synthesis and Assessment reports over a three-year period. EPA was a lead agency on the three reports listed below and contributed to most of the others.
- Report #4.1 Coastal Sensitivity to Sea-Level Rise: A Focus on the Mid-Atlantic Region.
- Report #4.4 Preliminary reviews of adaptation options for climate-sensitive ecosystems and resources.
- Report #4.6 Analyses of the effects of global change on human health and welfare and human systems.
These assessments were conducted through an open Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) process that strictly adhered to guidelines on information quality assurance and peer review.
EPA's Global Change Research Program
EPA's Global Change Research Program is an assessment-oriented program with primary emphasis on understanding the potential consequences of climate variability and change on human health, ecosystems and socioeconomic systems in the United States. This work program entails
- improving the scientific basis for evaluating effects of global change in the context of other stressors and human dimensions (as humans are catalysts of and respond to global change);
- conducting assessments of the risks and opportunities presented by global change;
- assessing adaptation options and providing decision support resources (e.g., information, models, tools) to improve society's ability to effectively respond to the risks and opportunities presented by global change as they emerge.
For more information, please visit EPA’s Global Change Research Program Web site and see the overview from Our Changing Planet.