A moderated discussion on the National Climate Assessment

Background/Question/Methods

The National Climate Assessment (NCA) is an important resource for understanding and communicating climate change science and impacts in the United States. During the Symposium, speakers will:

• Discuss the context for the NCA and describe the process for preparing periodic topical and synthesis reports
• Present initial findings from several technical inputs and report chapters of interest to the ecological sciences community
• Set out a vision for a system of indicators to track climate change and impacts of climate change across the US
• Introduce methods for sustaining the NCA process

Following these presentations, Symposium speakers will join a panel to respond to questions and engage with the audience in discussion about the NCA.

Results/Conclusions

This moderated discussion will allow audience members to engage in an extended dialogue with NCA report authors and others involved in the long-term assessment process. Potential areas for conversation include, but are not limited to:

• The general vision for the NCA
• Further exploration of the initial findings presented during the Symposium
• The topics covered in NCA reports, including intersections across topics and suggestions for future assessment topics
• Working with the Ecological Society of America and with ecologists more generally to gather relevant science for assessment reports
• Engaging with and communicating about the NCA and its findings to various audiences
• Using NCA findings to support decision making about responses to climate and global change (including for ecosystem services valuation, restoration, and management)
• The process for creating a sustained assessment and building assessment capacity across the US

Following the Symposium, organizers will summarize the major themes of the discussion and report on the conversation to the National Climate Assessment Development and Advisory Committee (NCADAC), which oversees the writing of the 2013 NCA report and provides advice on the sustained assessment process, to individual chapter author teams, and to the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) agencies responsible for implementing the NCA process and products. This summary will also be available on the NCA website (http://assessment.globalchange.gov).