Supporting the 5th National Climate Assessment

It was such an honor to contribute to the 5th National Climate Assessment, which was released this past week. As a review editor for the Northern Great Plains Chapter, I had the distinct pleasure of learning from and collaborating with colleagues from across the region to highlight the ways in which climate change is already impacting (and will continue to impact) Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming as well as highlight ongoing adaptation efforts in the region. Click on the link below to see the chapter and broader report.

The National Climate Assessment is a congressionally-mandated report that, by law, must be delivered to Congress and the President of the United States every four years to assist the Nation and the world in understanding, assessing, predicting, and responding to human-induced and natural processes of global change. National Climate Assessments synthesize scientific information and evaluate the state of the science on climate change to inform a broad audience of decision-makers across the country. These decision-makers include national, state, local, and Tribal governments, city planners, public health officials, adaptation specialists, nurses, farmers, business owners, community organizers, researchers, water utilities, ecosystem managers, educators, students, the media, and concerned individuals who need to make timely decisions about the climate impacts they are facing.

The decade for averting the most catastrophic impacts of the climate crisis is upon us, and we have a responsibility to acknowledge and act now in an informed and bold way on what scientists have been telling us for more than a century (cue Eunice Foote in the 1850s - https://nyti.ms/46lZzoL).