Since 1994, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) has supported the implementation of the U.S. Global Change Research Program through three major activities:
- U.S. Global Change Research Program Integration and Coordination Office (USGCRP ICO); - USCGRP International Program; - Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) Technical Support Unit (TSU).
UCAR will continue operation of the USGCRP ICO, the USGCRP International Program activity and the IPCC TSU. The USGCRP ICO fosters program integration, planning, and coordination. The USGCRP International activity will assist in coordination of global change research activities with other nations (bi- and multi-lateral). The IPCC TSU will prepare comprehensive and up-to-date assessments of policy-related scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant for understanding the scientific basis of climate change, potential impacts, and options for mitigation adaptation.
Intellectual Merit: It is important for the scientific community to document and understand changes in our global environment and to predict its future evolution. This UCAR activity will play a critical role in the global state of awareness and acceptance.
Broader Impacts: This set of activities will culminate in publications as well as decision support and communication tools and activities to inform a wide-range of climate-related discussions and decisions in the community. There is now increasing concern about how global change will affect the lives of the Earth's inhabitants and how the nations of the Earth can make decisions about how to reduce the future magnitude of, minimize the impacts of, and adapt to global change for the future. The reports, assessments, and interactions will help the nation and the world to understand, assess, predict, and respond to human-induced and natural processes of global change.
Mentoring: UCAR provides students just out of high school or college, with the opportunity to work on its projects through short-term positions. These students interact with staff and visiting scientists and work on specific activities, including websites, reports to stakeholders, for periods of a few weeks to three months. Post-docs and early-career scientists are involved in workshops and meetings that provide them with the opportunity to interact one-on-one with senior scientists.
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE This summary applies to activities carried out by the USGCRP National Coordination Office (NCO), including its support for GCRIO and International Programs, as well as activities carried out by the Technical Support Unit (TSU) for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Working Group II (IPCC-WGII). USGCRP support activities were carried out by a mix of UCAR employees, Federal detailees, and scientific fellows and interns. Under the Cooperative Agreement, UCAR provided program integration, planning, and coordination support for climate and global change research and related activities across 13 participating Federal agencies of the USGCRP. More specifically, UCAR assisted the broader program in carrying out various requirements in the Global Change Research Act of 1990 (including GCRIO and international coordination), implementing the strategic goals and objectives laid out in the program’s decadal Strategic Plan, and supporting other critical priorities directed by the Subcommittee on Global Change Research (SGCR). UCAR employees provided communication and education support, as well as engagement opportunities with the broader scientific community and general public. "UCAR employees and exempt staff of the Carnegie Institute (via subaward) also provided coordination and support for IPCC WG-II through the TSU, and travel support for non-Federal scientists participating in international assessment activities. In addition to a large array of ongoing activities, USGCRP support activities had special focus on several major efforts. These included development and/or review of the IPCC 5th Assessment Report, development and review of the draft 3rd NCA report, participation in the scoping and strategic planning for a new international program called Future Earth, and planning and commencing the development of an interagency Global Change Information System that will act as a single web-based source of authoritative, accessible, usable, and timely information for climate and global change for use by scientists, decision makers, and the public. The primary focus for GCIS was on integrating data and findings from the 3rd NCA Report in support of the release of the 3rd NCA Report in the spring of 2014. The full USGCRP Project Outcome Report includes objectives, results and outcomes in each of the major project areas agreed to under the Cooperative Agreement. For the NCO, these include management and governance, strategic and implementation planning, NCO operations, strategic goal oriented activities and related interagency working groups (IWGs), cross-cutting activities and related IWGS, the USGCRP Resource Library (formerly GCRIO) and international programs. It also includes similar information regarding the TSU, which provided scientific and technical management all aspects of assessment development cycles for the Working Group II contribution to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), and related IPCC travel. The full report also highlights those few narrow areas where objectives have changed from those initially proposed, by virtue of changing USGCRP priorities and resources.
