Co-Led by UM, NRC Report Calls for Focus on Human Dimensions of Climate Change

UM Co-Chair of Report and Other UM Leaders in Climate Research Offer Insights

A major new report from the National Research Council (National Academies) says the U.S. government's climate change research program should expand to encompass research that will inform how regions and communities can cope with the effects of climate change, while continuing research to understand and detect climate change.

The University of Maryland played a leading role in the creation of this new NRC report, and the university is already spearheading the kinds of human-dimensions research the report says are essential.

According to report committee co-chair Christopher Justice, a professor of geography at the University of Maryland , the report recommends a reorganization of the nation's climate change research program around critical themes at the intersection of science and society, such as seal level rise, food and water security, human health, ecosystem management and economic impacts. "We believe the program should promote end-to-end research addressing both basic science and user-driven research aimed at providing useful information to resource managers and decision makers," says Justice.

"As our nation organizes to respond to climate change there is an ever greater need for scientific research, not only to understand how the climate is changing and the associated impacts, but also to address questions responsive to urgent societal needs created by climate change," said Justice.

Below read more insights from Maryland faculty who helped shape the report or who lead climate and human dimensions research

Christopher Justice, professor of geography and report committee vice chair
"The NRC Committee which I co-chaired was asked to identify the priorities for the federal climate change science program and identify any changes in program emphasis. The first report released in 2007 identified that good progress was being made in the natural sciences, but less so in the social sciences and noted with some alarm that the observing systems providing the data to feed the science are in decline. In this report, the committee recommended that the program needs to be broadened to address the human dimensions of climate change, with an emphasis on the underpinning research needed to address question of adaptation and mitigation.

"Funding for the program has decreased since 1995 and significant new funding is now needed to develop a US Climate Observing System; to develop a new generation of climate models at regional [geographical] and decadal [time] scales; to deliver climate services; and to support a comprehensive research effort on mitigation, adaptation and societal vulnerability.

"People contribute to climate change and will be impacted by it. Societies will need to adapt to climate change and to be involved in efforts to mitigate it. In some cases they are already doing so. Understanding this human dimension, for example by studying differential vulnerabilities and adaptive capacities, human behaviors and policy preferences and economic costs will require research in the social and behavioral sciences. The climate is changing and there is an increasing demand for scientific research to better understand what is happening and to inform policy and decision-making. This is both a challenge and a real opportunity for researchers in both the natural and behavioral sciences."

Research Priorities for Improving Our Understanding of the Natural Climate System and Climate Change (Appendix E) identifies two Overarching Priorities. "1. Observations . Long-term, stable, and well-calibrated observations are fundamental to all climate research, prediction, and applications. 2. Regional Climate Modeling. Given a sound operational foundation in climate observations, a second overarching priority for U.S. climate science that we identified is improved regional-scale climate change predictions and projections."

"Decisions on climate change policy depend on both a strong scientific foundation and on a meaningful public discussion of our societal values and ethics as applied to this complex challenge.

"For many years, US climate science, and climate research more broadly, has excelled in expanding the frontiers of our understanding of the geophysical and biological processes of our climate system. However, despite the leadership of our scientific and modeling communities, the conversation between these communities and the public served by our national science infrastructure has been hampered by a system that did not fully integrate these elements of expertise to foster strong and meaningful conversations on the risks, values, and societal responses to climate change.

"This report provides a solution. By recommending six clear priorities to enhance climate science and its use in parallel with our understanding of how climate change affects society, the report outlines a path toward the constructive conversation we can have among scientific communities and public stakeholders more broadly. In doing so, it can help create the conditions necessary for a sober and engaged discussion of America's climate choices."

Hultman also is an assistant professor in the School of Public Policy , University of Maryland , and an associate fellow in the Martin Institute for Science & Civilization, University of Oxford.

The center conducts research that explores the dynamic interactions among environmental, economic and social forces and stimulates active dialogue with stakeholders, researchers and decision makers.

"The report clearly shows that climate change is happening and that even though climate science has improved considerably, commensurate efforts need to be undertaken in the social sciences to fully comprehend the ramifications of that change, and to prepare ourselves so that we reduce vulnerability. Studies by the Center for Integrative Environmental Research have, and will continue, to quantify possible socioeconomic implications of climate change and help decision makers at the state, national and international realm identify policy options to reduce vulnerabilities."

Raghu Murtugudde, professor of atmospheric and oceanic science with a joint appointment in Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center -Murtugudde leads the Chesapeake Bay Forecasting System designed to provide customizable, user-specified forecasts showing multiple aspects of the region's climate, air and water quality, local chemistry and ecosystems months into the future.

"The Chesapeake Bay Forecasting System is the best model of Regional Earth System Prediction. It relates to the issues identified in the new report under Earth System Modeling: Sea level rise, Food security, Human dimensions, decision support and so on. "Timing could not be better in terms of a new Climate Services Agency [a proposed agency that would seem to be supported by the new report] and our own CIRUN initiative.

"A really important thrust of this report is that it seeks to propel a broadening of U.S. climate change research to include human systems as they respond to climate change.

"Research to better understand and predict climate change must continue, but we also really need human dimension research into climate change impacts, mitigation and adaptation. And not just a focus of these issues, but actual scientific study of them and this means social scientists as well as biological and physical scientists.