|
|
|
|
||
|
||
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NOTICE: SOCCR Proposals due 18 June 04 (28 May 04) |
NEW: NACP Draft Science Implementation Strategy document available for public comment (posted 28 May 04; comments accepted through 26 June 04) |
First NACP Intensive Announced (25 March 04) |
NACP Intensives White Papers (11 Feb 04) |
North American Carbon Planning (15 March 02)
Download Report Here |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Click to read short summaries of each agency's contribution to the US Carbon Cycle Science Program |
||||||||
Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration and its potential impact on future climate is an issue of global economic and political significance. The need to understand how carbon cycles through the Earth system is therefore critically important to our ability to predict any future global change. Recent policy debates have demonstrated the need for a comprehensive, unbiased scientific understanding of sources and sinks of carbon dioxide on continental and regional scales, and how sinks might change naturally over time or be enhanced by human activities. The National Research Council's report, "Global Environmental Change: Research Pathways for the Next Decade," specifically emphasizes the need for a comprehensive carbon cycle research strategy.
The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP; http://www.usgcrp.gov) has answered this call by establishing the Carbon Cycle Science Program. The new Program is poised to provide critical unbiased scientific information on the fate of carbon dioxide in the environment to contribute to the ongoing public dialogue. The Program will also provide the scientific foundation for estimating the capacity of the land and the ocean to sequester and store the considerable quantities of carbon dioxide anticipated from human activities in the future.
Research will be coordinated and integrated to identify and quantify regional- to global-scale sources and sinks for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases and to understand how these sources and sinks will function in the future, providing essential information for future predictions of the state of the Earth system. An interagency working group has developed an implementation plan. A scientific working group was established in the spring of 1998 and has published a comprehensive science plan for integrated research. Implementation of the new program will require a significant investment of resources and a high level of interagency coordination and integration.
http://www.carboncyclescience.gov
Please direct comments and questions to webmaster@carboncyclescience.gov
Last modified: