IGN 4

Developing a Pilot Indicator System for U.S. Climate Changes, Impacts, Vulnerabilities, and Responses

The National Climate Indicators System (NCIS) is being developed as a sustained assessment activity for the U.S. National Climate Assessment (NCA), conducted under the U.S. Global Change Research Program. The NCIS is a set of physical, ecological, and societal indicators that communicate key aspects of the physical climate, climate impacts, vulnerabilities, and preparedness for the purpose of informing both decision makers and the public with scientifically valid information. The NCIS will address questions important to multiple audiences including (but not limited to) nonscientists (e.g., Congress, U.S. citizens, students), resource managers, and state and municipal planners. The pilot system is a test of the NCIS to assess the readiness of indicators and usability of the system. This pilot has been developed given the recommendations of over 150+ scientists and practitioners and 14 multidisciplinary teams, including, for example, greenhouse gases, forests, grasslands, water, human health, oceans and coasts, and energy. The purpose of the pilot is to work with stakeholder communities to evaluate the system and the individual indicators using a robust portfolio of evaluation studies, which provides a data driven approach to further develop and improve the NCIS. This session will highlight the initial set of indicators in the pilot program, set up of the website and accessible data that was used to make the graphics for the indicators. This session will also include a moderated discussion that will allow participants to ask questions about the process and product, and offer feedback toward building a more inclusive set of indicators.