The NCA Report Series summarizes regional, sectoral, and process-related workshops and discussions being held as a part of the Third National Climate Assessment (NCA) process. Three workshops focusing on monitoring changes in the physical climate system, as well as the impacts of climate change on ecosystems and socio-economic systems were completed in support of the 2013 NCA and the ongoing NCA process. The first of these workshops, on developing indicators for ecosystem responses to climate change and integrating observational networks, was organized by the Ecosystem Interagency Working...

The National Climate Assessment (NCA), under the auspices of the United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), convened a workshop on "Knowledge Management, Data, and Review Strategies for the National Climate Assessment" from September 20 to 22, 2010. The workshop was held at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) headquarters in Reston, Virginia. The purpose of this workshop was to begin to identify approaches and methodologies for managing the large quantities of data that will be either developed or redeployed in the context of the Assessment, as well as ways of archiving and...

In December 2010, the Office of Biological and Environmental Research of the U.S. Department of Energy in conjunction with the U.S. Global Change Research Program convened a workshop in Arlington, Virginia to address questions and issues regarding the use of mathematical models for the National Climate Assessment (NCA). The workshop also addressed the complex issues that arise when data and models are applied at multiple spatial and temporal scales, an inherent requirement of a national climate assessment. An Interagency National Climate Assessment (INCA) Task Force provided guidance...

The Climate Change Impacts and Responses: Societal Indicators for the National Climate Assessment workshop, sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for the National Climate Assessment (NCA), was held on April 28-29, 2011. Participants brought a wide range of disciplinary expertise in the social and natural sciences, sector experience, and knowledge about developing and implementing indicators for a range of purposes. Participants included representatives from federal and state government,...

This document reports on a workshop held in December 2010 in Arlington, Virginia to explore needs, options, and research for the development of scenarios to support science and assessment of climate and global change over the coming decades. The overall effort was led by the science community and coordinated through a research community steering group. Responding to the interagency U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), the workshop was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research. The purpose, scope, and objectives of the effort were...

The first regional and strategic guidance workshops to contribute to the 2013 NCA were held in Chicago in February 2010. The purpose of this meeting was to present stakeholders in the Midwest region with an opportunity to provide input to the development of the strategic plan for the next National Climate Assessment (NCA). The meeting was organized around discussions of (1) up-to-date climate information for the U.S. and for the Midwest, setting the stage for subsequent conversations (2) key sectoral and regional issues and questions, including sources of vulnerability (3) options available...

The National Climate Assessment (NCA), under the auspices of the United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), convened a workshop on "Knowledge Management, Data, and Review Strategies for the National Climate Assessment" from September 20 to 22, 2010. The workshop was held at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) headquarters in Reston, Virginia. The purpose of this workshop was to begin to identify approaches and methodologies for managing the large quantities of data that will be either developed or redeployed in the context of the Assessment, as well as ways of archiving and...

On November 30 and December 1, 2010, nearly 60 representatives from federal agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and scientific research institutions convened to discuss the observational data, monitoring networks, and indicators of climate change impacts on ecosystems in the United States. This group was convened to make progress toward two goals: 1) Outline a process for selecting indicators that represent the impacts of climate change on the nation's ecosystems. The intended use of this set of indicators is the ongoing assessment of impacts of climate change. These indicators...

The NCA Vulnerability Assessment Workshop, co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was held on January 19-20, 2011 at the Embassy Suites Atlanta-Buckhead Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. A group of experts convened to share their experiences. Participants brought a wide range of disciplinary expertise in the natural and social sciences, sector expertise, and experience with the concepts of vulnerability and conducting vulnerability assessments (VAs). Participants included representatives from federal and state government,...

The National Climate Assessment (NCA) convened a workshop on "Physical Climate Indicators" in March, 2011 as part of a series on "Monitoring Climate Change and its Impacts." The overarching goal of this workshop was to identify a few broad categories of potential physical climate indicators using a set of priorities developed by the NCA, and to provide a clear justification for how they would inform the Nation about climate change. Additional goals included providing input on the overall NCA framework for selecting the indicators and suggesting methodologies to construct indicators. Although...