USGCRP
Program Elements

Atmospheric Composition

Ecosystems

Global Carbon Cycle

Decision-Support Resources Development and Related Research on Human Contributions and Responses

Climate Variability and Change

The Global
Water Cycle

Observing and Monitoring the Climate System

Communications

International Research and Cooperation

The following are some of the USGCRP's major accomplishments related to Human Dimensions of Global Change during Fiscal Year 2000:

NOAA, NSF, EPA, NASA, and the Electric Power Research Institute initiated and produced the first joint research announcement on Climate Variability and Health. This announcement was released in November 1999, and proposals are now undergoing evaluation. NOAA made significant progress in overcoming legal hurdles to allow a high degree of interagency cooperation and private sector involvement.

Interdisciplinary investigations of human responses to seasonal and yearly swings in climate are highlighting the effects of market forces, access to resources, institutional flexibility, transboundary context, and the role of indigenous knowledge on the likelihood that individuals and institutions will use improved scientific information.

Integrated assessment studies are increasing our understanding of the relationship between climate change and human responses. Generally, scientists have found that people fear projected future changes in their environments -- but that small events and slowly-changing environmental conditions rarely generate levels of concern that lead people to adopt new adaptation or mitigation strategies.

EPA's Global Change Research Program issued its first Request for Assistance (RFA) related to human dimensions issues. This RFA, titled "Assessing the Consequences of Interactions between Human Activities and a Changing Climate," represents the first step in a multi-year plan to foster the development of models that capture the interaction of human behavior with natural (nonhuman) responses to climate change. Proposals are now undergoing peer review.

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently established a virtual Center for Climate Change and Environmental Forecasting to identify effective ways to reduce transportation sector emissions and help prepare the Nation for the impacts of climate change. As part of its research efforts, the Center plans to investigate how climate change might affect transportation infrastructure.