Oct 15 -- NASA, on behalf of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), is soliciting nominations for authors and scientific/technical inputs for the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5). Refer to the NCA5 Draft Prospectus (accessible via www.globalchange.gov/notices) for further information on the scope, topics, and overarching themes for the report. Nominations are due by November 15, 2020.
FR notice:
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/10/15/2020-22729/request-for-public-nominations-for-authors-and-scientifictechnical-inputs-and-notice-of-planned
The Global Change Research Act (GCRA) of 1990 mandates that the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) deliver a National Climate Assessment (NCA) to Congress and the President not less frequently than every four years that “(1) integrates, evaluates, and interprets the findings of the Program; (2) analyzes the effects of global change on the natural environment, agriculture, energy production and use, land and water resources, transportation, human health and welfare, human social systems, and biological diversity; and (3) analyzes current trends in global change, both human-induced and natural, and projects major trends for the subsequent 25 to 100 years.”
To date, four NCAs have been released. The first NCA was published in 2000, and the second was published in 2009. The third NCA was published in 2014, and the most recent assessment, NCA4, was released in two volumes and completed in November 2018.
NCA5 development will be transparent and inclusive, offering opportunities for public participation throughout the process. The production and review processes are designed to result in a report that is authoritative, timely, relevant, and policy neutral; valued by authors and users; accessible to the widest possible audience; and fully compliant with the GCRA. In July 2020, comments were solicited through a 30-day request for information on the draft Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) Prospectus (
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/07/10/2020/14904/request-for-comment-on-the-draft-prospectus-of-the-fifth-national-climate-assessment). Comments received on the draft Prospectus informed the list of potential topics included in Section I of the current request.
Author nominees may be invited to serve as Chapter Lead Authors, Authors, or Technical Contributors to NCA5. Both federal and non-federal experts may serve as Chapter Lead Authors. Chapter Lead Authors will, with input and guidance from the Federal Steering Committee (FSC), establish author teams comprising federal and non-federal experts. A Federal Coordinating Lead Author selected by the FSC will serve as a liaison between the author team and federal agencies. For more information on author roles, see www.globalchange.gov/nca5.
In addition, this request presents an opportunity to submit relevant scientific/technical inputs to inform the assessment. This request also outlines planned opportunities for the public to engage in the NCA5 development process.
Nominations are sought for authors with pertinent subject matter expertise and background in the natural or social sciences. Nominees should be accomplished scholarly writers with a demonstrated history of scientific and technical expertise and academic proficiency in at least one of the regions/climate-related topics delineated below. Nominations are encouraged from all non-governmental sectors (academia, not-for-profit, and private). Submissions must document that nominees have demonstrated technical backgrounds such that they could contribute to the development of a robust scientific and technical assessment as subject matter experts in one or more of the listed topics. In addition, individuals interested in being considered for chapter leadership positions should have experience with leading collaborative teams under deadlines.
NCA5 will attempt to address the full breadth of each topic and seeks a suitably diverse author pool, including experts representing the natural and social sciences, as well as traditionally underrepresented groups. Selection criteria for all author positions will consider technical expertise, disciplinary background, career status, and geographic representation. Nominees may be invited to serve as Chapter Lead Authors, Authors, or Technical Contributors to NCA5. Persons selected as Chapter Lead Authors will be informed after the close of the nominations window. Eligible nominees not selected as Chapter Lead Authors will be considered for roles as Authors or Technical Contributors.
In accordance with statutory language in the GCRA, NCA5 seeks authors with expertise in the areas of climate/earth system science, as well as sectoral, issue-specific, and regional impacts. This includes expertise in the following broad topic areas (subject to change):
Climate/earth system science expertise to integrate, evaluate, and interpret the latest scientific findings; discuss the associated uncertainties; analyze current trends in global change; and project major trends for the subsequent 25 to 100 years.
Sectoral and issue-specific impacts expertise, including in the social sciences, to analyze the effects of global change on the natural environment (including terrestrial, aquatic, and marine ecosystems); agriculture (including food); energy production and use; land and water resources (including land cover/land-use change, forests, coasts, oceans, and terrestrial/marine resources); transportation; human health and welfare (including air quality); human social systems (including the built environment, urban/rural systems, cities, and economics); biological diversity; tribes and Indigenous peoples; and response.
Regional expertise that integrates across relevant natural and social science areas for the NCA regions (available at
https://www.globalchange.gov/nca5).
Further, authors are welcome to nominate themselves for topics not listed above that are consistent with the GCRA mandate.
Submissions of scientific/technical inputs are sought for NCA5. Relevant scientific and/or technical research studies—including observed, modeled, and/or projected global change and climate science information, as well as societal drivers, vulnerability, impacts, and responses—are requested. Scientific/technical inputs that are peer-reviewed and published, or accepted for publication, in journals and/or government reports are welcome. Please refer to the NCA5 topics list above to target submissions. Submissions of regional information and information for cross-cutting or new topics since NCA4 are encouraged.
