Publications
Filter Total Items: 35
Northeast
The distinct seasonality of the Northeast’s climate supports a diverse natural landscape adapted to the extremes of cold, snowy winters and warm to hot, humid summers. This natural landscape provides the economic and cultural foundation for many rural communities, which are largely supported by a diverse range of agricultural, tourism, and natural resource-dependent industries (see Ch...
Authors
Lesley-Ann L. Dupigny-Giroux, Ellen L. Mecray, Mary D. Lemcke-Stampone, Glenn Hodgkins, Erika Lentz, Katherine E. Mills, Erin D. Lane, Rawlings Miller, David Y. Hollinger, William D. Solecki, Gregory A. Wellenius, Perry E. Sheffield, Anthony B. McDonald, Christopher Caldwell
Hawai‘i and U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands
The U.S. Pacific Islands are culturally and environmentally diverse, treasured by the 1.9 million people who call them home. Pacific islands are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts due to their exposure and isolation, small size, low elevation (in the case of atolls), and concentration of infrastructure and economy along the coasts.A prevalent cause of year-to-year changes...
Authors
Victoria W. Keener, David Helweg, Susan Asam, Seema Balwani, Maxine Burkett, Charles Fletcher, Thomas Giambelluca, Zena Grecni, Malia Nobrega-Olivera, Jeffrey Polovina, Gordon Tribble
Ecosystems, Ecosystem Services, and Biodiversity
Biodiversity—the variety of life on Earth—provides vital services that support and improve human health and well-being. Ecosystems, which are composed of living things that interact with the physical environment, provide numerous essential benefits to people. These benefits, termed ecosystem services, encompass four primary functions: provisioning materials, such as food and fiber...
Authors
Douglas Lipton, Madeleine A. Rubenstein, Sarah R. Weiskopf, Shawn L. Carter, Jay O. Peterson, Lisa G. Crozier, Michael Fogarty, Sarah Gaichas, Kimberly J. W. Hyde, Toni Lyn Morelli, Jeffrey T. Morisette, Hassan Moustahfid, Roldan C. Muñoz, Rajendra Poudel, Michelle D Staudinger, Charles Stock, Laura M. Thompson, Robin S. Waples, Jake Weltzin
Southeast
The Southeast includes vast expanses of coastal and inland low-lying areas, the southern portion of the Appalachian Mountains, numerous high-growth metropolitan areas, and large rural expanses. These beaches and bayous, fields and forests, and cities and small towns are all at risk from a changing climate. While some climate change impacts, such as sea level rise and extreme downpours...
Authors
Lynne Carter, Adam Terando, Kirstin Dow, Kevin Hiers, Kenneth E. Kunkel, Aranzazu R. Lascurain, Doug Marcy, Michael J. Osland, Paul Schramm
U.S. Caribbean
Historically, the U.S. Caribbean region has experienced relatively stable seasonal rainfall patterns, moderate annual temperature fluctuations, and a variety of extreme weather events, such as tropical storms, hurricanes, and drought. However, the Caribbean climate is changing and is projected to be increasingly variable as levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increase.The high...
Authors
William A. Gould, Ernesto L. Diaz, Nora L. Álvarez-Berríos, Felix Aponte-González, Wayne Archibald, Jared H. Bowden, Lisamarie Carrubba, Wanda Crespo, Stephen J. Fain, Grizelle González, Annmarie Goulbourne, Eric Harmsen, Eva Holupchinski, Azad H. Khalyani, James P. Kossin, Amanda J. Leinberger, Vanessa I. Marrero-Santiago, Odalys Martínez-Sánchez, Kathleen McGinley, Pablo Méndez-Lázaro, Julio Morrell, Melissa Meléndez Oyola, Isabel K. Parés-Ramos, Roger S. Pulwarty, William V. Sweet, Adam Terando, Sigfredo Torres-Gonzalez
Northern Great Plains
In the Northern Great Plains, the timing and quantity of both precipitation and runoff have important consequences for water supplies, agricultural activities, and energy production. Overall, climate projections suggest that the number of heavy precipitation events (events with greater than 1 inch per day of rainfall) is projected to increase. Moving forward, the magnitude of year-to...
Authors
Richard T. Conant, Doug Kluck, Mark Theodore Anderson, Andrew Badger, Barbara M. Boustead, Justin D. Derner, Laura Farris, Michael Hayes, Ben Livneh, Shannon M. McNeeley, Dannele E. Peck, Martha Shulski, Valerie Small
Scientific integrity - Recent Department of the Interior policies, codes, and their implementation
Established on January 28, 2011, the Department of Interior's (DOI’s) Scientific and Scholarly Integrity Policy was the first federal agency policy to respond to the Presidential Memorandum on Scientific Integrity (March 9, 2009) and guidance issued by the Office of Science and Technology Policy Memorandum on Scientific Integrity (December 17, 2010). The increasingly important role of...
Authors
Alan D. Thornhill, Richard Coleman
Case studies of riparian and watershed restoration in the southwestern United States—Principles, challenges, and successes
Globally, rivers and streams are highly altered by impoundments, diversions, and stream channelization associated with agricultural and water delivery needs. Climate change imposes additional challenges by further reducing discharge, introducing variability in seasonal precipitation patterns, and increasing temperatures. Collectively, these changes in a river or stream’s annual hydrology...
Authors
Barbara Ralston, Daniel A. Sarr
Grant opportunities for academic research and training
As an unbiased, multidisciplinary science organization, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is dedicated to the timely, relevant, and impartial study of the health of our ecosystems and environment, our natural resources, the impacts of climate and land-use change, and the natural hazards that affect our lives. Grant opportunities for researchers and faculty to participate in USGS science...
Authors
Student and recent graduate employment opportunities
As an unbiased, multidisciplinary science organization, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is dedicated to the timely, relevant, and impartial study of the health of our ecosystems and environment, our natural resources, the impacts of climate and land-use change, and the natural hazards that affect our lives. Opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as recent...
Authors
Proceedings of the 12th Biennial Conference of research on the Colorado Plateau
Introduction The Colorado Plateau is a physiographic region that encompasses 330,000 square kilometers in parts of four states in the southwestern United States (Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona). Known for its high deserts, the Colorado Plateau also includes isolated mountains, high plateaus, and rugged canyons. Not only is the region topographically diverse, but geologically...
Formulating the American Geophysical Union's Scientific Integrity and Professional Ethics Policy: Challenges and lessons learned
Creating an ethics policy for a large, diverse geosciences organization is a challenge, especially in the midst of the current contentious dialogue in the media related to such issues as climate change, sustaining natural resources, and responding to natural hazards. In 2011, the American Geophysical Union (AGU) took on this challenge, creating an Ethics Task Force to update their ethics...
Authors
Linda C. Gundersen, Randy Townsend