The United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) coordinates and integrates federal research on changes in the global environment and their implications for society. The program began as a presidential initiative in 1989 and was codified by Congress through the Global Change Research Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-606), which called for "a comprehensive and integrated United States research program which will assist the Nation and the world to understand, assess, predict, and respond to human-induced and natural processes of global change."
Fourteen departments and agencies participate in the USGCRP, which was known as the U.S. Climate Change Science Program from 2002 through 2008. The program is steered by the Subcommittee on Global Change Research under the Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Sustainability, overseen by the Executive Office of the President, and facilitated by a National Coordination Office.
Since its inception, the USGCRP has supported research and observational activities in collaboration with several other national and international science programs.
These activities led to major advances in several key areas including: Observing and understanding short- and long-term changes in climate, the ozone layer, and land cover; Identifying the impacts of these changes on ecosystems and society; Estimating future changes in the physical environment, and vulnerabilities and risks associated with those changes; and Providing scientific information to enable effective decision making to address the threats and opportunities posed by climate and global change.
These advances have been documented in numerous assessments commissioned by the program and have played prominent roles in international assessments such as those of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Program results and plans are documented in the program's annual report, Our Changing Planet.
Definition of global change
The Global Change Research Act of 1990 defines global change as: "Changes in the global environment (including alterations in climate, land productivity, oceans or other water resources, atmospheric chemistry, and ecological systems) that may alter the capacity of the Earth to sustain life."
Participating agencies
Fourteen U.S. federal agencies—the USDA, DOC, DOD, DOE, HHS, DHS, DOI, DOS, DOT, EPA, NASA, NSF, Smithsonian Institution, and the USAID—participate in the USGCRP.
Department of Homeland Security Becomes 14th Member of USGCRP
On February 2, 2023, Dr. Arati Prabhakar, Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, named the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as the 14th member of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) and its first new member in almost two decades.
National Climate Assessment (NCA)
The USGCRP have produced four National Climate Assessments: NCA1 entitled "Climate Change Impacts on the United States: the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change" in 2000, NCA2 entitled "Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States" in 2009, NCA3 entitled "Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States" in 2014, and NCA4 in two volumes—Volume 1 entitled "Climate Science Special Report" (CSSR) released October 2017 and Volume 2 entitled "Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States" released on November 23, 2018.
Strategic planning
The USGCRP Strategic Plan for 2012-2021 maintains an emphasis on advancing global change science and research, but it also calls for a new focus on ensuring our science informs real-world decisions and actions. Moving forward, the strategic goals of USGCRP are to: Advance Science (Study Climate and Global Change)--Advance scientific knowledge of the integrated natural and human components of the Earth system Inform Decisions (Prepare the Nation for Change)--Provide the scientific basis to inform and enable timely decisions on adaptation and mitigation Conduct Sustained Assessments (Assess the U.S. Climate)--Build sustained assessment capacity that improves the Nation’s ability to understand, anticipate, and respond to global change impacts and vulnerabilities Communicate and Educate (Make Our Science Accessible)--Advance communications and education to broaden public understanding of global change and develop the scientific workforce of the future