Abstract
Climate variability and change have long posed substantial challenges for social, economic and natural systems throughout the world. Incorporating information about climate fluctuations and their impacts is an increasingly important component of risk management and planning in key socio-economic sectors. Understanding and meeting these challenges through effective risk management strategies that foster preparedness, impact mitigation, and adaptation requires a long-term investment in and commitment to sound science, transition, and translation of information among communities, and the application and evaluation of climate services and decision support resources. This science should be developed, implemented and applied in the context of the practical needs and capabilities of communities, stakeholders, and socio-economic sectors if it is to inform resource management challenges, and contribute to the field of study of climate, climate information services, preparedness and adaptation.During the early 1990s, the United States expressed a desire to capitalize on emerging developments in atmospheric and oceanic research and early climate impact studies, in order to develop the institutional capacity to meet these needs on global and regional scales. As a member of the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), and working in partnership with the international scientific and governmental community, NOAA led the development of an international research institute, which is known today as the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI). Over several decades - from the initial conceptual and demonstration phases, to today’s mature institution – IRI had a substantial influence in linking science and action to risk management. This essay briefly reflects upon the initial vision for and evolution of the IRI; the importance of investments in endeavors of this nature to the US climate research and services communities, including model development, climate prediction and integrated research and assessments; and the value of such an institution to a Federal entity concerned with development and risk management in developing countries - the US Agency for International Development (USAID). We conclude with some thoughts about future directions.
Highlights
Climate variability and change have long posed substantial challenges for social, economic and natural systems throughout the world
It became increasingly clear to many involved in the Tropical Oceans-Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Program, including NOAA and other US science agencies (e.g., the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Science Foundation (NSF)) that the time was ripe to begin exploring how these new scientific breakthroughs brought about by trans-disciplinary, international collaboration in process studies - as well as the associated observations, monitoring, assessment and modeling capabilities - could generate information products and decision support tools that could be utilized for planning, preparation, and disaster mitigation in the face of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) related extreme events such as droughts and floods
Just as the initial emphasis of the Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) was on improving modeling capabilities, but over time expanded to include a greater focus on applications development, capacity building, training and social/policy sciences - examples of which are included in this special issue – NOAA’s climate program followed a similar path of expansion beyond understanding and predicting the physical climate system to embracing focused social science research and stakeholder involvement in recognition that a prediction alone –no matter how technically accurate - is not useful if issues such as impacts, vulnerability, institutional opportunities and barriers, and other contextual information are not considered in the design and use of this information
Summary
Climate variability and change have long posed substantial challenges for social, economic and natural systems throughout the world.
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