Global Change Research: Strategic Planning, Knowledge Production, and Barriers to Use

Concerns about global change resulting from global warming, ozone depletion and population pressures provided the motivation for the development of the United States Global Change Research Act (USGCRA) of 1990. The legislation was enacted to develop and coordinate a comprehensive, integrated research program with two primary goals: to advance scientific understanding of global change and provide "usable information" upon which to develop "effective policies to abate, mitigate, and cope with global change." An analysis of the USGCRA and United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) was conducted based on an examination of planning and reporting documents and proxy measures. Results of the analysis indicate three areas in which improvements in the policy can be made. The three improvements are: 1) Better metrics for quantifying reduction in uncertainties and knowledge production must be developed and employed to better measure progress, 2) Strengthening interagency working relationships should improve Program continuity particularly during periods of transition. Reducing the frequency of strategic plan revisions from every three years to every five years would help conserve personnel resources and focus energies to enable the 10-year strategic planning timeline for deliverables to be met, and 3) Congress should consider creating an independent governing structure for the USGCRP comprised of a combination of outside experts, lay public, agency scientists/officials and administration scientists/officials. There is limited evidence that water resource managers are using climate change science. This paper lays the foundation for additional work examining research priority setting of the USGCRP as well as an investigation of user information needs and barriers to use.