Register Now for an ESA webinar about submitting comments to the Fifth National Climate assessment Nov. 30, noon EDT.
The White House US Global Change Research Program released a draft version of the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5), which is now available for a 12-week public review and comment period.
ESA will hold a webinar about the draft Fifth National Climate Assessment Nov. 30 at 12 noon eastern time. Attend this webinar to hear from Allison Crimmins, NCA director, who will provide an overview of the NCA 5 draft and answer questions about submitting a public comment. RSVP for the webinar here.
Additional information can be found in the Federal Register Notice and in the USGCRP Open Notice. All comments must be submitted by 11:59 PM ET on January 27, 2023 via the USGCRP Review and Comment System.
Key findings published in leading news outlets about the draft NCA include that the continental U.S. has experienced around 2.5 degrees Celsius of warming over the last 50 years. The rate of warming in the U.S. has been 68 percent faster than the average rate of warming across the world. Americans across the country are experiencing the impacts of climate change, from coastal flooding to decreased snowfall to drought and wildfire. Deep cuts to current emissions are needed to meet national and international commitments to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius of warming.
In addition to the ESA webinar, the US Global Change Research Program is holding two public webinars about the report and submitting comments about the report Nov. 29 and Dec. 1. For more information, see the White House announcement.
Concurrent with the public comment period, the NCA5 is being reviewed by a committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
The Global Change Research Act, passed in 1990, requires the US Global Change Research Program to complete a National Climate Assessment every four years. The most recent assessment was released in November 2018.