Updated
11 October, 2003
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Products and Processes to Maintain Scientific Credibility |
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The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) and
Climate Change Research Initiative (CCRI) will consistently meet the highest standards
of credibility, transparency, and responsiveness -- to the scientific community,
to all interested constituencies, and to our international partners. To
ensure credibility, scientific activities of the program will be policy-neutral.
In keeping with this policy-neutral approach, products of the program's
scientific inquiries will include:
- Scientific descriptions of current climate and ecosystems status,
with particular emphasis on the factors that can impact (positively or
negatively) current conditions.
- Prioritization of the importance of the various factors that can change
current climate and ecosystems conditions.
- Trend information (based on careful evaluation of measurement records,
supplemented by reference to scientific and computer model analysis) that
helps identify significant patterns of variability, and that suggests
the high-priority concerns regarding future changes in climate and ecosystems
conditions.
Descriptions of cause-effect relationships between key
climate and ecosystem parameters. These descriptions should typically
include both one-by-one cause-effect descriptions relative to individual
key factors, and descriptions involving the combined influence of several
key factors acting jointly.
Comparisons between a selection of suggested scenarios that will facilitate
our search for the most effective and efficient approaches to adapt to
and mitigate the effects of both natural climate variability and potential
human-induced climate change.
Careful statements of the scientific uncertainties relative to each
of the matters described above. Note that careful analysis and description
of uncertainty will be included as a part of scientific descriptions.
To maintain scientific credibility in the conduct of the USGCRP and
CCRI, the following near-term steps are being taken:
- An integrated USGCRP/CCRI
strategic plan has
been produced after extensive open review. It describes major research
questions, products, and research needs.
- A workshop was held in December 2002 to provide an opportunity
for a comprehensive review of the updated plans for the USGCRP and CCRI.
- Ongoing reviews of the USGCRP/CCRI have been sought from the
National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council. Specifically,
the Academy was asked to review both the process and the substance of
the updated program plan (including the public workshop) [see the NRC
report,
Planning Climate and Global Change Research: A Review of the Draft U.S.
Climate Change Science Program Strategic Plan (2003).]
- Individual agencies will facilitate review of their research strategies
and plans by their respective Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) advisory
committees to ensure quality, relevance, and timeliness for both the interagency
program goals and agency-specific mission goals.
- The director, agency representatives, and staff of the Climate
Change Science Program (CCSP) are regularly
involved in ongoing discussions with a wide array of members of the national
and international scientific community. The program encourages comments
and critiques from all sources in the spirit of promoting open debate,
including from interested stakeholders. The program is strictly neutral
in these communications.
- The CCSP will provide all plans and reports to interested members
of Congress and their staff. Program representatives are available to
meet with members and staff upon request.
Finally, an important ongoing objective of the USGCRP/CCRI will be to
promote the dissemination and use of global change research and information
in a fair and equitable fashion, both nationally and internationally.
Open access to the information produced by the program is another way
in which the program can promote open debate that supports societal
decisionmaking. Products from the program inform a variety of decision
processes, ranging from El Niño/Southern Oscillation forecast products
used in regional and national planning in agriculture and resource management,
to research results on climate change that are incorporated in assessments,
such as those of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which
provides scientific underpinning for international negotiations. Information
is disseminated on the Internet via the USGCRP and
Climate Change Science
Program Web sites, the Global
Change Data and Information System, and the
Global
Change Research and Information Office.
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Change Science Program, Suite 250, 1717 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington,
DC 20006. Tel: +1 202 223 6262. Fax: +1 202 223 3065. Email: .
Web: www.climatescience.gov.
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the U.S. Climate Change Science Program 