Integrating federal research on global change and climate change

Friday September 12, 2012

Federal Register Notice: 

"National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee 

(NCADAC); Open Meeting

 pdf | html

This notice sets forth the schedule of a forthcoming meeting of the DoC NOAA National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee (NCADAC).

Time and Date: The meeting will be held Thursday, September 27, 2012 from 3-5 p.m. Eastern time.

Location: This meeting will be a conference call. Public access will be available at the office of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, Conference Room A, Suite 250, 1717 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20006. The public will not be able to dial into the call. Please check the National Climate Assessment Web site for additional information at http://www.globalchange.gov/what-we-do/assessment.

Status: The meeting will be open to public participation with a 10-minute public comment period from 4:45—4:55 p.m. The NCADAC expects that public statements presented at its meetings will not be repetitive of previously submitted verbal or written statements. In general, each individual or group making a verbal presentation will be limited to a total time of two minutes. Written comments should be received in the NCADAC DFO's office by Monday, September 24, 2012, to provide sufficient time for NCADAC review. Written comments received by the NCADAC DFO after Monday, September 24, 2012, will be distributed to the NCADAC, but may not be reviewed prior to the meeting date.

Special Accommodations: These meetings are physically accessible to people with disabilities. Requests for special accommodations may be directed no later than 12 p.m. on Monday, September 21, 2012, to Dr. Cynthia Decker, SAB Executive Director, SSMC3, Room 11230, 1315 East-West Hwy., Silver Spring, MD 20910.

Matters To Be Considered: Please refer to the Web page
http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/NCADAC/index.html for the most up-to-date meeting agenda, when available.

For Further Information Contact: Dr. Cynthia Decker, Designated Federal Official, National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee, NOAA, Rm. 11230, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland 20910. (Phone: 301-734-1156, Fax: 301-713-1459, Email: Cynthia.Decker@noaa.gov.

Supplementary Information: The National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee was established in December 2010. The committee's mission is to synthesize and summarize the science and information pertaining to current and future impacts of climate change upon the United States; and to provide advice and recommendations toward the development of an ongoing, sustainable national assessment of global change impacts and adaptation and mitigation strategies for the Nation. Within the scope of its mission, the committee's specific objective is to produce a National Climate Assessment.

Dated: September 6, 2012.

[FR Doc. 2012-22376 Filed 9-11-12; 8:45 am]

Friday September 14, 2012

Pre-Registration for the Expert and Government Review of the Second Order Draft is available here.

Working Group I (WGI) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is pleased to announce that the Second Order Draft of the WGI contribution to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis, will be available for Expert and Government Review from 5 October - 30 November 2012. In order to review the Second Order Draft, you are invited to pre-register via the link provided below. For additional information, please see the Introduction to the Expert Review of IPCC Working Group I AR5 Draft Reports.

Read more about the purpose and process of the expert reviewer registration here.

Thursday September 13, 2012

Featured by USDA, a member of the U.S. Global Change Research Program

Hiawatha National Forest on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Credit: Department of Agriculture, U. S. Forest Service

U.S. Forest Service research indicates that climate change will affect habitat suitability for maple trees, threatening the multimillion dollar maple syrup industry. Changes in climate have already had an impact on the iconic sugar maple trees of the Northeastern U.S.

Climate stressors may decrease the availability of maple syrup or shift production northward by the end of the next century because of direct changes in temperature, decreases in snowpack or increases in weather disturbances such as ice storms.

“Climate change will produce winners and losers geographically. Folks who retrieve sap from maple trees in the far Northeastern region will get a longer sap flow season while those in the Southeastern regions will see a reduction,” said Dave Cleaves, Climate Change Advisor for the Forest Service. Read more

Wednesday September 5, 2012

Featured by USGS, a member of the U.S. Global Change Research Program

USGS boat launched during 2011 flood waters in Louisiana. Credit: USGS

The worst of the storm may be over, but Isaacs’s impacts on the Gulf coastline and the potential for inland flooding continue. While precipitation continues to affect states in the storm track, drought conditions persist in many other parts of the country.

Multiple USGS field crews from several states are recording high-water marks, collecting discharge measurements and obtaining water quality data in coastal and inland Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. This information is important because it is used by the National Weather Service to issue flood warnings, and the data is also used by emergency responders and planners to mitigate current and future flood hazards. These crews are being augmented by USGS staff from the Georgia Water Science Center. As the storm continues to move, crews from Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Arkansas remain ready to address flooding along the storm’s track.

USGS field crews have also begun retrieving the 170 storm surge sensors and 17 temporary real-time gages that were deployed in response to Hurricane Isaac in locations where the storm has passed. Data from these sensors networks will be uploaded to the USGS Hurricane Storm Tide Sensor Map. The sensors provide critical data for more accurate modeling and prediction capabilities and allows for improved structure designs and response for public safety. Read more