USGCRP Welcomes Dr. David Reidmiller as Director of Fourth National Climate Assessment
![Photo by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth. Accessed from http://www.iisd.ca/climate/ipcc43/11apr.html Photo by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20161224201040im_/http://www.globalchange.gov/sites/globalchange/files/reidmiller.jpg)
The U.S.
With the Third NCA (2014), USGCRP began building capacity for conducting scientific assessments of global change on an ongoing basis, enabling new information and insights to be synthesized and communicated as they emerge. Under David’s leadership, NCA4 will further develop this approach, taking advantage of assessment products on climate change and food security, climate change and human health, physical climate science, and the state of the carbon cycle already completed or underway, which will provide foundational input to the quadrennial National Climate Assessment.
“While NCA3 involved an enormous ramp-up to deliver what was ultimately a remarkably clear, useful, and successful product, the sustained assessment vision that USGCRP has embraced is paving the way for a different approach to NCA4. The NCA4 engagement process will strengthen our understanding of the challenges communities face in light of a changing climate. But documenting those challenges is not enough--we want to provide a platform where community
The focus on regions is an integral component of the NCA and provides critical input to decision making.
“The agencies of the U.S. government have been working tirelessly over the past few years to produce some really innovative tools and products to help the American public better understand and address the impacts of climate change on the things they care about. And we’re looking forward to featuring them in novel ways in NCA4,” David said.
Bringing these unique regional contexts together in one product is a key challenge in the NCA process--one that David is prepared to take on. As Chief Climate Scientist and Lead Climate Technology Negotiator at the U.S. Department of State, David coordinated U.S. engagement with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which produces policy-relevant assessments of climate change science, impacts, and response options on regional and global scales. David also led U.S. negotiations related to science and technology in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change that played a central role in the development and adoption of the Paris Agreement, and directed the Department of State's participation in USGCRP.
“Climate change affects everyone,” David said. “My hope is that the next National Climate Assessment will describe not only the potential impacts of climate change on communities across the United States, but, almost more importantly, will illustrate how informed decision making can help minimize the risks to society and future generations.”
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