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USGS looks back 2,000 years to study the relationship between hurricanes and climate

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Climate R&D - 2022 Year in Review

Explore summaries of research highlights from 2022

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The Glacier - Climate Connection

The story of the U.S. Geological Survey Benchmark Glacier Project, one of the longest running studies of glaciers on Earth

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A Disappearing Act in Alaska

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The National Climate Change Viewer (NCCV)

A tool that helps land managers and decision makers plan for climate change

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Paleoclimate Research

Lessons from the Past, Roadmap for the Future

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Climate Research and Development Program

The Climate Research and Development (Climate R&D) Program strives to advance the understanding of the physical, chemical, and biological components of the Earth system, the causes and consequences of climate and land use change, and the vulnerability and resilience of the Earth system to such changes.

Earth Science Matters Newsletter

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Climate history, land cover and land surface data and models are vital for assessing the impacts of climate change, evaluating ecosystem status and health, understanding spatial patterns of biodiversity, and informing land use planning. 

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New 2,000-year record of ocean and climate variability in the Beaufort Sea documents recent rapid changes in water mass properties

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USGS looks back 2,000 years to study the relationship between hurricanes and climate

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Marmots do not drink coffee: Human urine contributions to the nitrogen budget of a popular national park destination

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Publications

An aridity threshold model of fire sizes and annual area burned in extensively forested ecoregions of the western USA

Wildfire occurrence varies among regions and through time due to the long-term impacts of climate on fuel structure and short-term impacts on fuel flammability. Identifying the climatic conditions that trigger extensive fire years at regional scales can enable development of area burned models that are both spatially and temporally robust, which is crucial for understanding the impacts of past and
Authors
Paul D. Henne, Todd Hawbaker
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Climate Research and Development Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Assessing the seasonal evolution of snow depth spatial variability and scaling in complex mountain terrain

Dynamic natural processes govern snow distribution in mountainous environments throughout the world. Interactions between these different processes create spatially variable patterns of snow depth across a landscape. Variations in accumulation and redistribution occur at a variety of spatial scales, which are well established for moderate mountain terrain. However, spatial patterns of snow depth v
Authors
Zachary Miller, Erich Peitzsch, Eric A. Sproles, Karl W. Birkeland, Ross T. Palomaki
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Climate Research and Development Program, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center

Marshes and mangroves as nature-based coastal storm buffers

Tidal marshes and mangroves are increasingly valued for nature-based mitigation of coastal storm impacts, such as flooding and shoreline erosion hazards, which are growing due to global change. As this review highlights, however, hazard mitigation by tidal wetlands is limited to certain conditions, and not all hazards are equally reduced. Tidal wetlands are effective in attenuating short-period st
Authors
Stijn Temmerman, Eric M. Horstman, Ken Krauss, Julia C. Mullarney, Ignace Pelckmans, Ken Schoutens
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Climate Research and Development Program, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center
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Drying soil samples in the lab

Regional Assessment of Drought Impacts on Soils (RADIS)

Soils are the foundation of terrestrial ecosystems. They provide critical services including supplying a substrate and the nutrients necessary for plant growth, retaining moisture from precipitation, filtering contaminants from percolating waters, and acting as a sink of carbon. Healthy soils are key to sustaining both human and ecosystem health. However, global- and regional-scale disturbances...
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Climate Research and Development Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Southwest Biological Science Center
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Regional Assessment of Drought Impacts on Soils (RADIS)

Soils are the foundation of terrestrial ecosystems. They provide critical services including supplying a substrate and the nutrients necessary for plant growth, retaining moisture from precipitation, filtering contaminants from percolating waters, and acting as a sink of carbon. Healthy soils are key to sustaining both human and ecosystem health. However, global- and regional-scale disturbances...
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Bear Lake, Colorado

Did we start the fire? Climate, Fire and Humans

The past decade encompasses some of the most extensive fire activity in recorded history. An area the size of Vermont (~24,000 km2) burned in a single Siberian fire in the summer of 2019 (Kehrwald et al., 2020 and references therein) while Australia, Indonesia and the Amazon have all experienced their most intense fires in recorded history (van Wees et al, 2021 and references therein). As more...
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Climate Research and Development Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
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Did we start the fire? Climate, Fire and Humans

The past decade encompasses some of the most extensive fire activity in recorded history. An area the size of Vermont (~24,000 km2) burned in a single Siberian fire in the summer of 2019 (Kehrwald et al., 2020 and references therein) while Australia, Indonesia and the Amazon have all experienced their most intense fires in recorded history (van Wees et al, 2021 and references therein). As more...
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patch of burned conifers in California

Response of plant, microbial, and soil functions to drought and fire in California

California is experiencing changes in precipitation and wildfire regimes. Longer, hotter fire seasons along with extremes in precipitation are expected to continue. Not only do these disturbances affect the productivity and resilience of ecosystems, they also directly impact human health and wellbeing. Soils hold an immense amount of our terrestrial carbon pool, and the microorganisms and minerals...
By
Climate Research and Development Program, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
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Response of plant, microbial, and soil functions to drought and fire in California

California is experiencing changes in precipitation and wildfire regimes. Longer, hotter fire seasons along with extremes in precipitation are expected to continue. Not only do these disturbances affect the productivity and resilience of ecosystems, they also directly impact human health and wellbeing. Soils hold an immense amount of our terrestrial carbon pool, and the microorganisms and minerals...
Learn More
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