On October 5th, NASA and the US Agency for International Development launched SERVIR-Himalaya, a web-based environmental imaging and management system to help decision-makers assess climate change and environmental threats. Already in use in Africa and Mesoamerica, this system combines satellite imagery, data management tools, and visualization capabilities to monitor and forecast environmental changes and improve responses to natural disasters.
Informing an Effective Response to Climate Change promotes the use of such an open access repository. Part of the new America’s Climate Choices series, this book discusses the need for climate change to be considered in actions and decisions across a wide range of sectors and interests.
The other books in this series — Advancing the Science of Climate Change, Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change, and Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change — discuss research on the causes and consequences of climate change, evaluate technologies and policies that can be used to limit the magnitude of future climate change, and advocate for understanding of the steps that can be taken to adapt to climate change. These books and other recent titles from the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate can inform debate, discussion, and decision making.
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Informing an Effective Response to Climate Change
Global climate change is one of America’s most significant long-term policy challenges. Human activity–especially the use of fossil fuels, industrial processes, livestock production, waste disposal, and land use change–is affecting global average… |
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Advancing the Science of Climate Change
Climate change is occurring, is caused largely by human activities, and poses significant risks for-and in many cases is already affecting-a broad range of human and natural systems. The compelling case for these conclusions is provided in Advancing the… |
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Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change
Climate change, driven by the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, poses serious, wide-ranging threats to human societies and natural ecosystems around the world. The largest overall source of greenhouse gas emissions is the burning… |
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Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change
Across the United States, impacts of climate change are already evident. Some extreme weather events such as heat waves have become more frequent and intense, cold extremes have become less frequent, and patterns of rainfall are likely changing. The… |
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Monitoring Climate Change Impacts: Metrics at the Intersection of the Human and Earth Systems
The stresses associated with climate change are expected to be felt keenly as human population grows to a projected 9 billion by the middle of this century, increasing the demand for resources and supporting infrastructure. Therefore, information to assess… |
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Assessment of Intraseasonal to Interannual Climate Prediction and Predictability
More accurate forecasts of climate conditions over time periods of weeks to a few years could help people plan agricultural activities, mitigate drought, and manage energy resources, amongst other activities; however, current forecast systems have limited… |
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Verifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Methods to Support International Climate Agreements
The world’s nations are moving toward agreements that will bind us together in an effort to limit future greenhouse gas emissions. With such agreements will come the need for all nations to make accurate estimates of greenhouse gas emissions and to monitor… |
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Climate Stabilization Targets: Emissions, Concentrations, and Impacts over Decades to Millennia
Emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels have ushered in a new epoch where human activities will largely determine the evolution of Earth’s climate. Because carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is long lived, it can effectively lock the Earth… |
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When Weather Matters: Science and Service to Meet Critical Societal Needs The past 15 years have seen marked progress in observing, understanding, and predicting weather. At the same time, the United States has failed to match or surpass progress in operational numerical weather prediction achieved by other nations and failed to… |
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Global Sources of Local Pollution: An Assessment of Long-Range Transport of Key Air Pollutants to and from the United States Recent advances in air pollution monitoring and modeling capabilities have made it possible to show that air pollution can be transported long distances and that adverse impacts of emitted pollutants cannot be confined to one country or even one continent…. |
