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On July 5, the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) released in the Federal Register a request for public comment on an annotated outline for the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4). NCA4, expected in 2018, will be the first NCA report written since USGCRP changed its approach to building a sustained assessment capacity for conducting quadrennial assessments of climate change effects on the nation’s health and welfare and for analyzing regionally specific impacts. The goal for NCA4 is to develop a product that is responsive to the needs and gaps identified in NCA3. These include improvements in the understanding of climate change science, research needs and current and future quantifiable risks associated with climate change, where possible.

The high-level draft outline includes five sections:

  1. Introduction and Context for NCA4, building on the advancements in science since NCA3;
  2. The Foundational Physical Science, based on a Climate Science Special Report currently under development by USGCRP;
  3. Human Health and Welfare, Societal and Environmental Vulnerabilities to a Changing Climate;
  4. Regional Analysis Within the United States; and
  5. Identifying the Information Needed to Support Climate Change Adaptation, Increased Resiliency and Risk Reduction.

AMWA plans to submit comments on the notice by July 29. Members of the public may also submit comments as outlined in the Federal Register notice. USGCRP asks specifically for input on: ways to make the assessment information accessible and useful, the types of detailed information at regional scales that would be most valuable, how to best describe risks and impacts, suggestions for new approaches to topics addressed in previous assessments and suggestions regarding overarching themes for NCA4. Members with feedback on these items or any other issues identified in the notice are asked to submit them to Erica Brown by COB July 20.