Pardee Director Leads National Climate Indicators Project

Today the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) released a web-based prototype of climate indicators to track nationally-relevant climate change and the impacts of it over time. Prof. Anthony Janetos, Director of Boston University’s Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, and Melissa Kenney, University of Maryland research assistant professor, guided the development of the series of indicators by providing recommendations based on an extensive collaborative process. The adoption of the indicators as a pilot system of measures by USGCRP is the culmination of over four years of work and multiple reports that include the collaborative recommendations of more than 200 scientists and practitioners from nine Federal agencies, private sectors, and universities.

The prototype includes 14 indicators that range in topics from physical climate, natural systems, and human sectors, such as agriculture, human health, and oceans and coastal areas. Physical, ecological, or societal indicators of climate change can help communicate key aspects of change, highlight vulnerabilities, and inform decision making at the federal and local levels.

“This indicator system is a really important first step, not just as a baseline of impacts but also as a way to begin chronicling how we adapt to the impacts we cannot avoid,” said Prof. Janetos. “This is just a pilot, and the hope is that this can lead to a much more comprehensive set of indicators over time, so we encourage feedback to help us move forward.”

As stated on the website, USGCRP is encouraging feedback to identify how the indicators can be easier to understand and more useful. The pilot version of the system will allow user communities to beta-test the functionality and usefulness of its user interface and underlying content. Feedback received will be used to make the indicators more understandable, to increase their utility as assessment tools, and, ultimately, to inform the development of a broader and more complete indicators system.

Prof. Janetos served on the Advisory Committee of the 2014 U.S. National Climate Assessment, which was released one year ago today.