The National Assessment Overview and Foundation Reports were produced  by the National Assessment Synthesis Team, an advisory committee chartered under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and were not subjected to OSTP's Information Quality Act Guidelines. The National Assessment was forwarded to the President and Congress in November 2000 for their consideration.

Publications by the National Assessment Synthesis Team

• Agriculture section of the National Assessment's Overview: [HTML] [PDF]
• Agriculture (Chapter 13) of the National Assessment's Foundation: [PDF] [Color Figures PDF]

Links to Material from the Agriculture Assessment Group

• Agriculture: The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change for the United States. [PDF]   The report (dated 2001) of the Agriculture Sector Assessment Team of the US National Assessment.  See background information from Cambridge University Press. (link posted 19 June 2002)
• Changing Climate and Changing Agriculture: Draft Report of the Agriculture Sector Assessment (draft dtd 24 January 2000)
• US National Assessment. Report of a Stakeholder/Agriculture Sector Assessment Team Planning Meeting (21 January 1999).  Also available as PDF file.
• Agriculture Sector Assessment Working Papers
• Agriculture Sector Team

Related Articles from the National Assessment's Newsletter, Acclimations.

• Agriculture Assessment Combines Many Approaches - John Reilly.  (March/April 2000)
• Agriculture - John Reilly.  (November/December 1998)
• Essay: The End of Tomatoes - Robert Gerard.  (November/December 1998)

Issues Covered

The agriculture sector was concerned primarily with issues associated with national and regional agricultural production and economic implications. It considered the financial vulnerability of farmers and farming regions, coping strategies which may be utilized to manage the impact of climate change, and possible impacts of climate change on environmental factors. Some of the potential factors that were examined included soil erosion, wildlife habitat, livestock waste, and agricultural chemicals. Finally, the assessment included the impact of the international agricultural market in the context of climate change.

Assessment Approach

Climate change scenarios combined with economic assumptions were used to assess potential implications of climate change on agriculture. Case studies, incorporated primarily from regional assessment material, were utilized to analyze information not addressed in models and to relate broad, sector-based effects to impacts at local levels. Stakeholders were involved throughout the assessment in the design, review of drafts, and development of case studies. Interaction with other sectors was pursued to examine the broader impact of agriculture in the context of climate change.