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Environmental Change

A key USGS goal is to “understand past, present, and future environmental consequences of land change to support better management of their effect on people, environment, economy, and resources.” In support of this goal, GEC scientists’ conduct research and develop capabilities that are critical to assessing climatic, environmental, and landscape changes, in addition to investigating ecological disturbance patterns resulting from natural and anthropogenic changes. This work supports policy and management decisions, the search for new sources of key materials, and the assessment of the combined environmental impacts of climate variability and human activities.