Review of the Draft Fourth National Climate Assessment (2018) / Chapter Skim
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2 Synthesis of Comments on the Draft FourthNational Climate Assessment
2 Synthesis of Comments on the Draft FourthNational Climate Assessment
Pages 7-16
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From page 7... ...
The Committee found that the most effectively communicated sections of the draft report had three elements: foundational science about the relevant climate change drivers, understandable examples of climate change impacts, and clear examples of adaptation or mitigation actions. The draft NCA4 is generally written at a technical level appropriate for a wide range of stakeholders, but there are many opportunities for the draft report's key messages and supporting information to be conveyed more concisely, with greater cross-referencing between relevant draft NCA4 sections and chapters, and with expanded inclusion of examples of adaptation and mitigation response actions.
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From page 8... ...
. The draft report effectively addresses climate change, a critical component of global change, which was found to be an appropriate scope for a national climate assessment.
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From page 9... ...
. Discussing climate change impacts alongside examples of current and planned steps to address those impacts, therefore, can leave readers with a sense of how to respond beyond concern or fear of observed and projected impacts.
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From page 10... ...
Recommendation: Reframe the Overview Chapter of the draft NCA4 to center around the twelve report findings that reflect the impacts and responses that are discussed throughout the draft report. COMMUNICATING KEY MESSAGES Key messages in the draft NCA4 convey relevant information and are well supported by the peer-reviewed literature, but most are long and contain multiple unique points.
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From page 11... ...
Key messages and supporting text are most compelling when concrete examples are given, including stories where response actions have been shown to reduce climate change impacts. The Committee found the draft NCA4 Chapter 18, "Northeast," to be a good example of effective key message use and thinks it could serve as a model for other chapters.
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From page 12... ...
Minor chapter-specific concerns about confidence and likelihood are provided in Chapter 3 of this review report. Many chapters effectively utilize traceable accounts and provide robust support for key messages presented in a transparent manner, but some inconsistency in the utilization of this section was identified.
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From page 13... ...
Additionally, a well-articulated acknowledgement of sectoral interdependencies and their effects on uncertainty and risk, multiple stressors, and complex systems is a primary component of the draft report -- although this topic is largely relegated to Chapter 17 rather than embedded more broadly throughout the draft report. Interconnectedness and interdependencies spatially and across sectors increase uncertainty that could lead to negative, cascading impacts.
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From page 14... ...
shows up in the key messages in many regions, but the water chapter focuses largely on the impact of changing temperatures on snowpack and runoff while the regional chapters emphasize the timing of precipitation and increasing extreme events as important impacts. Generally, the topics are connected well within the individual regional chapters, in large part because they provide a relatively holistic treatment of relevant climate change impacts and they discuss interrelated issues together.
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From page 15... ...
. For individual chapters, some possible options for distinguishing this new material would be to color code the key messages or provide notation or language that explains whether a key message has changed since the NCA3 based on new scientific understanding or may be the same or similar to the NCA3 but has new evidence that provides continued support.
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From page 16... ...
Citations taken from media sources should be avoided; instead, reference should be made to the primary sources. Recommendation: Authors of the draft NCA4 should explicitly identify significant advancements made since the Third National Climate Assessment, with emphasis on emerging science, impacts, and examples of new response actions.
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