Climate Research and Development Program
News
Earth Science Matters - Volume 3, Fall 2015
This issue of Earth Science Matters focuses on USGS research from the Climate Research and Development Program designed to improve understanding of patterns of precipitation and drought in the western U.S., impacts of climate variability on the land surface and carbon sequestration, and the use of climate models to understand climate patterns of the past and present.
A 7,600-year record of climate and vegetation change from the northern Ruby Mountains, Nevada, USA
This article is part of the Fall 2015 issue of the Earth Science Matters Newsletter.
Sand dune mobility at Grand Falls on the Navajo Nation, southwestern United States
This article is part of the Fall 2015 issue of the Earth Science Matters Newsletter.
Tracing long-term changes in Rocky Mountain climate, water, and ecosystems
This article is part of the Fall 2015 issue of the Earth Science Matters Newsletter.
Climate models: applications to understand past climates and climate change
This article is part of the Fall 2015 issue of the Earth Science Matters Newsletter.
Las Vegas Holds Key to Abrupt Climate Change
According to new U.S. Geological Survey research springs and marshes in the desert outside Las Vegas expanded and contracted dramatically in response to past episodes of abrupt climate change, even disappearing altogether for centuries at a time when conditions became too warm.
EarthWord: Anthropogenic
Scientists use the word “anthropogenic” in referring to environmental change caused or influenced by people, either directly or indirectly.
Global Vulnerability of Forests to Climate Change-Related Tree Mortality is Widely Underestimated
BALTIMORE -- Forests worldwide are vulnerable to growing risks of drought- and heat-induced tree mortality and forest die-off because of a rapidly warming Earth, according to just-published research in the scientific journal Ecosphere. The paper is an invited “ESA Centennial Paper” to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Ecological Society of America.
Study Reveals Recent Geologic History of Roanoke River Floodplain
After surveying and analyzing centuries of evidence in the floodplain of the lower Roanoke River, USGS researchers, along with colleagues from the universities of Wisconsin and North Carolina, have developed a highly accurate estimate of sediment deposition amounts along the course of the river over three timescales — annual, decadal, and centennial.
Secretary Jewell Announces New Wildlife and Climate Studies at the Southeast Climate Science Center
Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced today that Interior’s Southeast Climate Science Center is awarding nearly $150,000 to its host university and other partners for research to guide managers of parks, refuges and other cultural and natural resources in planning how to help species and ecosystems adapt to climate change.
Interior, Agriculture Departments Partner to Measure Conservation Impacts on Water Quality
A new partnership will provide a clearer picture of the benefits of farmers' conservation practices on the quality of our Nation's water. Working together, USDA's NRCS and DOI's USGS will quantify the benefits of voluntary agricultural practices at a watershed scale.