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The State of Greenhouse Gases in the Atmosphere Based on Global Observations through 2013
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The WMO Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) coordinates observations of the most important contributors to climate change: long-lived greenhouse gases(LLGHG). In the figure, their radiative forcing (RF) is plotted along with a simple illustration of the impacts on future RF of different emission reduction scenarios. Analysis of GAW observations shows that a reduction in RF from its current level (2.92 W·m–2 in
2013)[1] requires significant reductions in anthropogenic emissions of all major greenhouse gases (GHGs).
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Resources
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Climate Science Documents
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The U.S. Global Change Research Program Wants to Hear From You
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The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) seeks public comment on the draft of its Climate Science Special Report (CSSR).
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News & Events
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Thomas Minney: The Nature Conservancy
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Thomas Minney discusses the potential of the Appalachian LCC, how this organization can address large-scale issues like climate change, and the need to achieve common conservation goals.
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Our Community
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Voices from the Community
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Threats to Freshwater Mussels and the Consequences for Ecosystems
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Catastrophic decline in freshwater mussels may impact water quality and other species. These invertebrates play a crucial role in river ecosystems. With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Caryn Vaugh studies mussels' role in their environment. Almost 70 percent of the species are considered threatened in some way. They're the most globally threatened freshwater organism there is.
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General Resources Holdings
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Too late for two degrees? Low carbon economy index 2012
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Even doubling our current rate of decarbonisation would still lead to emissions consistent with 6 degrees of
warming by the end of the century. To give ourselves a more than 50% chance of avoiding 2 degrees will
require a six-fold improvement in our rate of decarbonisation.
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Climate Science Documents
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Tree mortality predicted from drought-induced vascular damage
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The projected responses of forest ecosystems to warming and drying associated with twenty-first-century climate change vary widely from resiliency to widespread tree mortality (1–3). Current vegetation models lack the ability to account for mortality of overstory trees during extreme drought owing to uncertainties in mechanisms and thresholds causing mortality (4,5). Here we assess the causes of tree mortality, using field measurements of branch hydraulic conductivity during ongoing mortality in Populus tremuloides in the southwestern United States and a detailed plant hydraulics model. We identify a lethal plant water stress threshold that corresponds with a loss of vascular transport capacity from air entry into the xylem. We then use this hydraulic-based threshold to simulate forest dieback during historical drought, and compare predictions against three independent mortality data sets. The hydraulic threshold predicted with 75% accuracy regional patterns of tree mortality as found in field plots and mortality maps derived from Landsat imagery. In a high-emissions scenario, climate models project that drought stress will exceed the observed mortality threshold in the southwestern United States by the 2050s. Our approach provides a powerful and tractable way of incorporating tree mortality into vegetation models to resolve uncertainty over the fate of forest ecosystems in a changing climate.
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Climate Science Documents
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Tribal Nation Boundary Feature on Drought Maps
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NIDIS, in partnership with NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information, has launched a new map customization feature for Tribal Nations on the Drought.gov. This feature allows users to display reservation boundaries on any map on Drought.gov.
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Climate Links
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trumbo-etal_2010_climate change_trout_Virginia.pdf
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Project Documents
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Literature
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U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit
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NOAA and partners released Implementing the Steps to Resilience: A Practitioner's Guide, a handbook for national climate resilience. The book, with accompanying online resources, is designed to help climate adaptation practitioners work with local governments and community organizations to incorporate climate risk into equitable, long-term decision-making. With this user-friendly guide, resilience and adaptation professionals can learn how to implement the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit’s Steps to Resilience.
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Climate Links
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U.S. Climate Summary for October 2022
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NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information released the agency’s October 2022 climate summary this week. Below are some highlights.
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