The 2014 National Climate Assessment provides the most comprehensive current analysis of the observed and projected consequences for the U.S. of global climate disruption. Here, in this final part of a 4-part series, we look at the key findings and messages of Chapters 26-29: Decision Support; Mitigation; Adaptation; and Research Needs for Climate and Global Change Assessments.

The following information is extracted from the final draft of the 2014 National Climate Assessment (full report). Download the full report or individual chapters at http://nca2014.globalchange.gov/downloads. This major report was prepared by several hundred scientific and technical experts under the oversight of the National Climate Assessment and Development Advisory Committee and was released by the U.S. government on May 6. A complete listing of key findings and messages in the report is available here in PDF format.

Also see:

2014 National Climate Assessment key findings, Part 1: Overview and Our Changing Climate

2014 National Climate Assessment key findings, Part 2: Sectors

2014 National Climate Assessment key findings, Part 3: Regions

2014 NATIONAL CLIMATE ASSESSMENT – FINAL REPORT

KEY FINDINGS & MESSAGES

Chapter 26. Decision Support: Connecting Science, Risk Perception, and Decisions

Key Messages

  1. Decisions about how to address climate change can be complex, and responses will require a combination of adaptation and mitigation actions. Decision-makers – whether individuals, public officials, or others – may need help integrating scientific information into adaptation and mitigation decisions.
  2. To be effective, decision support processes need to take account of the values and goals of the key stakeholders, evolving scientific information, and the perceptions of risk.
  3. Many decision support processes and tools are available. They can enable decision-makers to identify and assess response options, apply complex and uncertain information, clarify tradeoffs, strengthen transparency, and generate information on the costs and benefits of different choices.
  4. Ongoing assessment processes should incorporate evaluation of decision support tools, their accessibility to decision-makers, and their application in decision processes in different sectors and regions.
  5. Steps to improve collaborative decision processes include developing new decision support tools and building human capacity to bridge science and decision-making.

Chapter 27. Mitigation

Key Messages

  1. Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere by natural processes at a rate that is roughly half of the current rate of emissions from human activities. Therefore, mitigation efforts that only stabilize global emissions will not reduce atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, but will only limit their rate of increase. The same is true for other long-lived greenhouse gases.
  2. To meet the lower emissions scenario (B1) used in this assessment, global mitigation actions would need to limit global carbon dioxide emissions to a peak of around 44 billion tons per year within the next 25 years and decline thereafter. In 2011, global emissions were around 34 billion tons, and have been rising by about 0.9 billion tons per year for the past decade. Therefore, the world is on a path to exceed 44 billion tons per year within a decade.
  3. Over recent decades, the U.S. economy has emitted a decreasing amount of carbon dioxide per dollar of gross domestic product. Between 2008 and 2012, there was also a decline in the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted annually from energy use in the United States as a result of a variety of factors, including changes in the economy, the development of new energy production technologies, and various government policies.
  4. Carbon storage in land ecosystems, especially forests, has offset around 17% of annual U.S. fossil fuel emissions of greenhouse gases over the past several decades, but this carbon “sink” may not be sustainable.
  5. Both voluntary activities and a variety of policies and measures that lower emissions are currently in place at federal, state, and local levels in the United States, even though there is no comprehensive national climate legislation. Over the remainder of this century, aggressive and sustained greenhouse gas emission reductions by the United States and by other nations would be needed to reduce global emissions to a level consistent with the lower scenario (B1) analyzed in this assessment.

Chapter 28. Adaptation

Key Messages

  1. Substantial adaptation planning is occurring in the public and private sectors and at all levels of government; however, few measures have been implemented and those that have appear to be incremental changes.
  2. Barriers to implementation of adaptation include limited funding, policy and legal impediments, and difficulty in anticipating climate-related changes at local scales.
  3. There is no “one-size fits all” adaptation, but there are similarities in approaches across regions and sectors. Sharing best practices, learning by doing, and iterative and collaborative processes including stakeholder involvement, can help support progress.
  4. Climate change adaptation actions often fulfill other societal goals, such as sustainable development, disaster risk reduction, or improvements in quality of life, and can therefore be incorporated into existing decision-making processes.
  5. Vulnerability to climate change is exacerbated by other stresses such as pollution, habitat fragmentation, and poverty. Adaptation to multiple stresses requires assessment of the composite threats as well as tradeoffs among costs, benefits, and risks of available options.
  6. The effectiveness of climate change adaptation has seldom been evaluated, because actions have only recently been initiated and comprehensive evaluation metrics do not yet exist.

Chapter 29. Research Needs for Climate and Global Change Assessments

Five Research Goals

  1. Improve understanding of the climate system and its drivers
  2. Improve understanding of climate impacts and vulnerability
  3. Increase understanding of adaptation pathways
  4. Identify the mitigation options that reduce the risk of longer-term climate change
  5. Improve decision support and integrated assess­ment

Five Foundational Cross-Cutting Research Capabilities

  1. Integrate natural and social science, engineering, and other disciplinary approaches
  2. Ensure availability of observations, monitoring, and infrastructure for critical data collection and analysis
  3. Build capacity for climate assessment through training, education, and workforce development
  4. Enhance the development and use of scenarios
  5. Promote international research and collaboration

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Thanks to Nick Sundt at WWF for this compilation.

Earlier posts:

U.S. National Climate Assessment: Resources and media

U.S. National Climate Assessment to be released May 6