Coordinated climate information and services are needed to assist
decision making across public and private sectors. Local planners will
want information on likely changes in season length and temperature for
both their own farms and those of their local and distant competitors;
coastal zone managers will want information on likely changes in sea
level, storms, and estuarine temperatures; water resource managers and
energy producers will want information on likely changes in snowpack and
runoff and the change of floods and drought; community health planners
will want information on changes in location of freezing conditions and
the frequency of extreme precipitation and heat waves; industry will
want information on changes in extremes that might affect their
businesses and shipping; those preparing environmental impact statements
will need information on how changes in a given location affect
environmental outcomes; those doing economic analyses will want
information across the region, and much more.
While much work has been done to develop implementation strategies and
program structures, and to evaluate the need for improved climate
services, especially in individual agencies, the Administration believes
that interagency coordination is essential for delivering comprehensive
Federal climate services. Therefore, OSTP has established, under the National Science and Technology Council,
the Roundtable on Climate Information and Services, a high-level group
that will develop a common definition of climate services, examine
national assets, and provide a roadmap of how the federal government can
provide services in a coordinated way. The USGCRP will work with the
Roundtable to provide information, data, and expertise to support these
efforts.
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