On January 11th, the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) released the draft National Climate Assessment (NCA) for public review. The NCA is a climate status report authorized every four years under the Global Change Research Act of 1990. The Assessment is based on the best available science and written by hundreds of leading scientists and experts from academia, government, the private and non-profit sectors. After review by the National Academies of Science and the public, the report will be revised and submitted to the Federal Government in early 2014. Public comments must be submitted through the review and comment system.
Instead of a single webinar on the draft National Climate Assessment, as we announced last week, the Security and Sustainability Forum and Second Nature will host a webinar series around the report. More than one webinar is needed to hear the NCA findings and allow time to discuss priorities for grappling with the challenges posed by extreme weather events and other social and economic disruptions resulting from a changing climate.
Registration is now open for Sessions 1 and 2, and will be open shortly for Sessions 3 and 4.
Session 1: Findings from the National Climate Assessment
February 20, 2013
12:00 PM to 1:30 PM EST
Panelists for session 1 will include members of the National Climate Assessment Development & Advisory Committee (NCADAC), which is responsible for synthesizing and summarizing the contributions of experts to the report. The panel will discuss the findings from the report and answer audience questions.
Session 2: Implications of the National Climate Assessment
March 14, 2013
1:15 to 2:45 PM EST
In this session, we will convene NCA lead authors and sustainability leaders from local government, higher education, and industry to identify and discuss priorities for addressing destabilizing threats posed by a changing climate.
Session 3: The Long-Term Vision: Developing a "Sustained Climate Assessment"
April/May 2013
This webinar will focus on the long-term vision in Chapter 30, which proposes to make the assessment an "ongoing process of working to understand and evaluate the nation's vulnerabilities to climate variability and change and its capacity to respond," instead of a periodic review of climate change.
