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International Programs
Overview
Recent Accomplishments
Near-Term Plans
Related Links
CCSP / USGCRP International Working Group Members
See also:
Climate Change and Clean Energy.Postings from the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State
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Because global change is an
international environmental issue and is broadly encompassing, the U.S.
participates in research in coordination with other nations on a bilateral
and multilateral basis and through international organizations. The
categories listed below provide a starting point for learning about these
organizations.
Working Group
on International Research and Cooperation (WG/IRC). Working
Group of the US Subcommittee on Global Change Research (SGCR), which is
one of the seven environmental issue subcommittees established by the Committee
on Environment and Natural Resources (CENR). The CENR is one of the 9
committees organized under the National
Science and Technology Council (NSTC).. The primary purpose of the
Working Group is to provide international affairs support for the USGCRP.
The WG/IRC has representatives from interested government agencies and
departments and acts as a forum to keep the various agencies and
departments informed on international global change research and funding
issues.
International Research Programs
- Arctic Ocean
Sciences Board (AOSB). "A non-governmental body that
includes members and participants from research and governmental
institutions in Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland,
Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland,
the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The
long-term mission of the AOSB is to facilitate Arctic Ocean research
by the support of multinational and multidisciplinary natural science
and engineering programs."
- Committee on
Earth-Orbiting Satellites (CEOS)
- International
Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP). The
goal of the IGBP is to describe and understand the interactive
physical, chemical, and biological processes that regulate the total
Earth system, the unique environment that this system provides for
life, the changes that are occurring in this system, and the manner in
which these changes are influenced by human actions. U.S. programs
coordinated through IGBP include the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study,
the Global Ocean Ecosystem Dynamics project, and the Past Global
Changes project.
- The International Group of
Funding Agencies for Global Change Research (IGFA). An
informal group of agencies and ministries that fund global change
research. It facilitates international global change research in the
natural, social and economic sciences by bringing the perspective of
these national funding agencies to strategic planning and
implementation of such research.
- International Human
Dimensions Programme (IHDP). How humans
interact with the environment, how individuals and societies can
mitigate or adapt to environmental change, and how policy responses
to such changes influence economic and social conditions are at the
center of research on the human dimensions of global environmental
change within the IHDP. Key IHDP programs underway address Land Use
and Land Cover Change and the Institutional Dimensions of Global
Environmental Change.
- International Research
Institute for Climate Prediction (IRI). Issues
seasonal to interannual climate forecasts based on global and
regional coupled ocean/atmosphere models. The IRI disseminates this
forecast guidance to nations and groups vulnerable to such climate
variability phenomena as El Niño and La Niña
so that they might prepare for and respond to impacts on
climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, health, and water
resources. The IRI is a USGCRP initiative led by NOAA and housed at
the Columbia University/Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the
University of California, San Diego/Scripps Institution of
Oceanography. The IRI is forging international partnerships for
multilateral sponsorship and management of its programs.
See Video
introduction to IRI, posted (Dec 2000)
by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
- World Climate
Research Programme (WCRP). The purpose of
the WCRP is to develop the fundamental scientific understanding of
the climate system and climate processes that is needed in order to
determine the extent to which climate can be predicted, and the
extent of human influence on climate. The U.S. Climate Variability
and Predictability Program and Global Energy and Water Cycle
Experiment are coordinated through WCRP.
- The
Integrated Global Observing Strategy Partnership. Brings
together a wide range of international, intergovernmental, and
nongovernmental organizations to develop a global observing strategy
to meet the needs of global change research and of operational
science programs. Key partners include the WCRP, IGBP, and
potentially the IHDP; the WMO/UNEP, Intergovernmental Oceanographic
Commission, and the Food and Agriculture Organization; the
International Group of Funding Agencies for Global Change Research (IGFA)
and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites; and the
International Council of Scientific Unions.
Multilateral Organizations, Intergovernmental Programs and Related
Activities
Regionally Focused Research Activities
Efforts in Observation, Data and Information Dissemination
Ocean
Observing System. Audio segment from National Public
Radio's Morning Edition (broadcast on 27 July 2001).
"Host Bob Edwards talks with scientist Robert Weller of the
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts about a new
project that could help scientists better understand how the ocean
influences weather. The Global
Ocean Observation System (GOOS), currently in development,
would use satellites and other technology to help predict climate
phenomena like hurricanes and El Nino." (3:44) |
Other National Programs
- Australia
- Austria
- Canada
- France
- Finland
- Germany
- Japan
- Spain
- Switzerland
- The Netherlands
- United Kingdom
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