A New Interactive Education Module on Climate Change Effects on Forests and Grasslands

From the USDA:

Posted by Dr. Chris Swanston, Director, Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science, Hub Lead, Northern Forest Sub Hub, on April 3, 2015 at 11:00 AM

Screenshot of the climate change effects education module explaining changes in wildlife phenology observed and expected with climate change. This section has an interaction that explores observed phenological changes for different regions.

The Climate Change Resource Center (CCRC) has recently released a new education resource on climate change effects on forests and grasslands. The CCRC is an online, nationally-relevant resource that connects land managers and decision-makers with useable science to address climate change in planning and application.  The CCRC plays a key role in the USDA Climate Hubs’ effort to help land managers (the Forest Service, other agencies, and the general public) understand and respond to a changing climate.

Clear, engaging, and scientifically accurate climate education is an important part of the process for incorporating climate change into natural resource management.  Natural resource managers are already witnessing changes in their forests and rangelands that are associated with the changing climate.  These include increased droughts, more widespread insect outbreaks, longer fire seasons, and earlier starts to growing seasons.  In order to foster and maintain healthy forests and rangelands into the future, land managers need to understand how climate change is affecting forest ecosystems right now and what they can expect in the future.  Unlike traditional farming, the forests we establish now are a long-term investment and must be able to survive and thrive many decades into the future.  This requires that forest managers have an understanding of the stresses that lie ahead for the landscapes they manage.

The module, “Climate Change Effects on Forests and Grasslands: What You Need to Know”, gives a brief overview of the effects of climate change on water resources, vegetation growth, wildlife, and disturbances.  The first education module, “Climate Change Science and Modeling”, provides a basic climate change foundation, and this new module builds on that foundation by examining climate change effects around the country.  Both modules were developed to educate land managers and the general public about the causes and impacts of a changing climate on landscapes across the country. The module is available at http://www.fs.usda.gov/ccrc/climate-basics/education/climate-change-effects.

Screenshot of the climate change effects education module explaining changes in wildlife phenology observed and expected with climate change. This section has an interaction that explores observed phenological changes for different regions.

    

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Tags: Climate Change, Climate Change Resource Center, climate hub, Education, Forests, FS, Grasslands,OCE

2012 Carbon Cycle 2.0 Symposium

Video Published on Mar 6, 2012

Feb 10, 2012. Berkeley Lab Associate Laboratory Director for Energy & Environmental Sciences Don DePaolo introduces the Symposium with an overview of the Carbon Cycle 2.0 initiative and highlights of programmatic developments over the past year. 

Carbon Cycle 2.0 Distinguished Speaker: Mary Nichols

Interactive Online Tool Teaches Users About Climate Change

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Kailey Marcinkowski, Northern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service, on April 22, 2014 at 4:00 PM

Screenshot of the climate change science and modeling education module explaining the greenhouse gas effect. Without the natural greenhouse gas effect, the average temperature of the planet would be about zero degrees Fahrenheit.

As we celebrate Earth Day and think about ways to protect our environment, we cannot ignore the dramatic effects that climate change is having on our planet.

To help the U.S. Forest Service respond to a changing climate, the Climate Change Resource Center, an online portal to credible, relevant and timely information focused on forest management responses to climate change, recently released a new education resource on basic climate change science and climate modeling.

The new online interactive tool was designed to make climate change science accessible and easy to understand for Forest Service employees, as well as for land managers and the public. The 20-minute climate change module gives a brief overview of the climate system and the impact of greenhouse gases, and provides climate models, emissions scenarios, and information on current climate change impacts and future climate projections. Interactive features allow users to control their learning experience, with opportunities to explore outside links, and learn definitions and relevant facts.  Information is based on published, peer-reviewed literature and high-quality federal websites.

Climate change science and modeling learning material is followed by an activity that can be tailored to the user’s geographic region. Users earn a certificate for completing the module.

“Everyone plays an important role in sustaining the health of the nation’s forests and grasslands in a changing climate,” said Dave Cleaves, Forest Service Climate Change Advisor. “This online coursework will give Forest Service employees and the general public an exciting and convenient way to deepen their basic understanding of climate change science.”

Screenshot of the climate change science and modeling education module explaining the different emission scenario families from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report. This section has an interactive feature that explores the projections and expectations for each family.

Top Five Reasons You Should "Root" for Soil Health Farmers on Earth Day 2014

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Ron Nichols, Natural Resources Conservation Service, on April 17, 2014 at 11:00 AM

What's underneath? Healthy soil has amazing water-retention capacity. USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service is celebrating Earth Day by highlighting the importance of soil health.

Earth Day is next Tuesday.  To meet the growing sustainability challenges of the 21^st Century, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is reminding people that many of the solutions are right at our feet — in the soil.

Here are the top five reasons NRCS says why on Earth Day 2014 you should “root” for soil health farmers:

5. A lot of people are coming to dinner. We all rely on the soil for our food and fiber. By the year 2050, an estimated 9 billion people will join us at Earth’s dinner table, meaning we’ll have to grow as much food in the next 40 years as we have in the past 500.

The Soil Health Solution: Improving soil health increases the productivity and function of our soil (including nutrient uptake to plants), which offers increased food security in a growing world.

4. There are fewer acres of land to grow the food we need. Globally, millions of acres of cropland are lost to development or resource degradation.

The Soil Health Solution: Improving soil health naturally can protect our working lands from erosion and desertification and ensure that our food-producing acres stay fertile and productive.

3. Weather extremes like drought and climate change pose increasing food production challenges.

The Soil Health Solution: Healthy soil is more resilient soil, with greater infiltration and water-holding capacity, which make farms more resistant to periods of drought. And since it holds more water, healthy soil helps reduce flooding during periods of intense rainfall.

2. There is growing competition for water and other food production resources — and many resources are limited (or in some cases finite) in their supply.

The Soil Health Solution: Healthy soils help optimize those inputs and maximize nutrient use efficiency. In addition, healthy soil keeps production inputs like fertilizers and pesticides on the land and out of our streams, lakes and oceans.

1. We can repair and rebuild it. For years, it was believed that a certain amount of cropland soil erosion was inevitable.

The Soil Health Solution: By using conservation techniques like cover crops, no-till and diverse crop rotations, an increasing number of farmers are proving that we can actually build our soils — and, in some instances, increase soil organic matter by as much as 3-4 percent. In the process, farmers are actually using less energy, maintaining or increasing production and improving their bottom lines. Meet some of those farmers.

In fact, there are many more reasons why soil health is important to all of us on Earth Day — and every day. Learn more about the basics and benefits of soil health and how NRCS is helping our nation’s farmers “Unlock the Secrets in the Soil.”

Healthy soil retains water, and is a key to the need to feed the world’s estimated 9 billion people by 2050. (NRCS photo)

Conservation Grant Helps Rice Growers Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Ciji Taylor, Natural Resources Conservation Service, on April 2, 2014 at 1:00 PM

A California farmer harvests his rice field. Photo by Robert Parkhurst, Environmental Defense Fund (used with permission).

Note: Three projects funded by a USDA Conservation Innovation Grant were recently honored by the American Carbon Registry for innovative approaches to environmental stewardship. The winners included Ducks Unlimited, Delta Institute and Terra Global Capital. Ducks Unlimited’s work aimed to generate a carbon credit system for North Dakota landowners, which not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions but also restores wetlands and grasslands that are crucial to waterfowl. Delta Institute is working with farmers to reduce use of nitrogen – one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Finally, Terra Global Capital and many others partners are working on a credit system for rice growers in California and the Midsouth. The below post provides more information on this project.

USDA is helping to provide rice growers in California and the Midsouth with new opportunities to voluntarily execute conservation practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions while cultivating a new income stream.

The California and Midsouth rice projects are funded by a Conservation Innovation Grant from USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, which is providing more than $1 million to help identify and develop new conservation methods. The grant also leverages new and emerging ecosystem income for landowners while addressing climate change.

Methane and nitrous oxide are potent greenhouse gases that are given off when rice fields are cultivated and fertilized. Precise water management and conservation-based nitrogen management can reduce greenhouse gas emissions while maximizing water-use nitrogen fertilizer efficiency.

Arkansas and California are the two largest rice growing states in the country, providing them with an opportunity to reduce methane and nitrous oxide emissions while maintaining yields.

This carbon offsets project was under development for many years and is the first of its kind from U.S. rice production. Partners include the Environmental Defense Fund, The American Carbon Registry, Terra Global Capital, California Rice Commission and the White River Irrigation District. NRCS has provided grant funding and technical support for the project.

By employing voluntary management practices, such as dry seeding, precise water management and nutrient management, farmers can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and generate carbon offset credits. These rice carbon offset credits are expected to be available to the California Air Resources Board’s regulatory compliance market later this year.

In order to quantify carbon offsets, the partners developed the “Voluntary Emissions Reductions in Rice Management Systems” quantification methodology that was recently approved by the American Carbon Registry. This will allow producers to quantify and validate their carbon reductions. The credits are then verified by a third party to ensure the integrity of the carbon credits.  Once the carbon credits are verified and approved for sale, the credits can be sold into the carbon market.

The carbon credits generated by farmers are also expected to be the first agricultural credits exchanged in the California regulatory market.   The adoption of the first crop-based agriculture offset methodology also opens the door for other agricultural opportunities.  California’s regulatory market is seen by many people as a gold standard throughout the world.  Since credits can be sold into California’s market from anywhere in the country, this project has a broad scope of rice producers that include Arkansas, Louisiana and other Midsouth states that grow rice.

The conservation techniques applied to reduce greenhouse gas emission can also help farmers manage water more efficiently, manage nitrogen fertilizer more efficiently and maintain yields while maintaining aquatic wildlife habitat.

USDA Updates Multi-year Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Dean Johnson, USDA Facilities Energy & Water Program Manager, on December 5, 2013 at 10:00 AM

Many of the USDA programs touch almost every American, every day.  And as concerns grow about climate change, greenhouse gases and depleting natural resources, USDA continues creating opportunities for farmers, ranchers, forest landowners, public land managers and families in rural communities. These opportunities help these stakeholders generate prosperity in innovative, sustainable ways while conserving the Nation’s natural resources and preventing pollution.

USDA is committed to leading by example through fostering a clean energy economy, improving the environment by conducting operations in a sustainable and environmentally responsible manner and complying with environmental laws and regulations. To accomplish this, USDA focuses on the future. The Department recognizes the significance of global climate change and utilizes this knowledge to create and maintain conditions under which people and nature can exist in productive harmony.

Building upon past sustainability efforts, USDA released its 2013 Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan, which aligns sustainability goals, greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, and overarching objectives for sustainability with its Strategic Plan. The Sustainability Plan helps USDA meet the targets the President set for agencies in 2009 for reducing energy use, pollution and waste in agency operations, and saving taxpayer dollars as a result.

Moreover, the Sustainability Plan integrates all statutory and policy requirements into a single implementation framework for advancing sustainability goals together with existing Departmental goals. The Plan makes the best use of existing and available resources. It also includes methods for obtaining data needed to measure progress, evaluate results and improve performance. The Department’s 2013 Plan is an annual update to its first edition, which was developed in June 2010.

Specifically, the Sustainability Plan provides a review of past performance, addresses challenges to achieving sustainability, discusses lessons learned and outlines actions planned beyond 2013.  So far, USDA has accomplished the following:

• Purchased and generated enough green power to meet 7.3 percent of the Department’s 2012 electricity use.

• 17.9 percent reduction in indirect greenhouse gas emissions compared to the 2008 base year.

• 5.5 percent reduction in direct greenhouse gas emissions compared to the 2008 base year.

• 21.3 percent reduction in energy intensity compared to the 2003 base year.

• 11.4 percent of buildings meet the Guiding Principles for Federal High Performance and Sustainable Buildings.

• 836.9 percent increase in alternative fuel consumption (for fleet vehicles) compared to the 2005 base year.

• 75 percent of the applicable (also known as covered) light duty vehicles USDA acquired are alternative fuel type.

• 12.6 percent reduction in potable water use compared to the 2007 base year.

More information about USDA’s 2013 Strategic Sustainability Plan is at http://www.dm.usda.gov/emd/sspp.htm.

Moving Up and Out - These Trees Were Made for Walking

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Joanna Stancil, State and Private Forestry, U.S. Forest Service, on December 3, 2013 at 1:00 PM

Although birch trees can’t literally walk, warming temperatures are causing a gradual migration of these and other tree and plant species to northern or higher elevation climates. USDA photo.

With large areas of our planet heating up because of climate change, some trees (and plants) are pulling up roots and heading north, to higher elevations and to cooling climes—well, sort of.

A U.S. Forest Service-led study suggests there are a few dozen tree species in the eastern U.S. that are moving north at an unexpected rate.

“For some plants and trees, moving north is real and their only chance for survival,” said Chris Woodall, a research forester for Northern Research Station and the study’s author. “Our study confirms a link between global warming and forest migration. It’s no longer conjecture.”

In fact, some tree species may be able to migrate from their home range more than 60 miles in a century. That could mean the yellow birch from the eastern U.S. might cross into Canada by the early 2100s. Other trees that are moving north or to higher elevations include the northern white cedar, American basswood, sugar maple, black ash and bigtooth aspen.

Trees depend on wind currents, birds or other animals to transport their seeds. Now seeds deposited in northern ranges, that were once too cold for these species, have also warmed and are now suitable for some migrating trees and plant species to take root.

Another study led by the University of Arizona found Alligator juniper at an elevation of 3,500 feet in the upland desert and grasslands of the Catalina Mountains near Tucson. Today, you won’t find the first stands of alligator junipers until you reach 5,000 feet.

Our Forests and Climate Change

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Robert Bonnie, Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and the Environment and Anne Castle, Assistant Secretary for Water & Science at the Department of the Interior, on September 12, 2013 at 10:45 AM

Cross posted from the White House Council on Environmental Quality blog:

Americans know the importance of forests to our communities and our economy.  They provide jobs and recreational opportunities, filter our air and water, and make up essential habitat for wildlife and natural resources.  But increasingly, we’re also recognizing that forests play an important role in mitigating climate change.

Recently, President Obama announced a Climate Action Plan to reduce carbon pollution, prepare for the impacts of climate change on our communities and economy, and lead international efforts to combat global climate change. This plan recognizes that America’s forests play a critical role in addressing carbon pollution, absorbing as much as 14 percent of our country’s greenhouse gas emissions each year.  Over the last several decades, forest regrowth on former farm lands, reforestation, and maturing forests have kept our forest growth rates high, helping us absorb even more carbon.

At the same time, development of forest lands is reducing the amount of carbon we can absorb now and in the future.  Carbon pollution is also taking a toll on our forests – heat waves, wildfires, pests and drought are all worsened by climate change, reducing our forests’ ability to sequester carbon.

It is difficult to predict precisely how much these impacts will reduce the potential of our forests to combat climate change – but we do know that we must start now to find new ways to enhance forests’ ability to absorb carbon and become more resilient. As part of the President’s Climate Action Plan, the Administration is bringing Federal agencies together to tackle this challenge.  An interagency Task Force is working to provide more accurate and consistent annual updates of carbon fluxes from forests and other lands.  This will help us ensure that we have up-to-date information on how major disturbances like wildfires, as well as land development trends, impact the capacity of the nation’s forests to absorb carbon. It will also provide the tools we need to make more effective policy decisions, ensuring land managers are able to take into account the carbon sequestration value of our forests.   The Task Force is also developing new approaches to retain and restore our forests and other important landscapes like grasslands and wetlands.

This initiative will build on the significant work the Administration already has underway to ensure healthy, thriving forests. For example, the Department of Agriculture announced this year the creation of seven new regional hubs to provide research and timely information to farmers and forest landowners as we work together to combat climate change. This work will complement research by DOI Climate Science Centers, in areas such as evaluating management options, projecting forest conditions and carbon storage under climate change, evaluating the effects of changing rainfall and snow conditions, and studying the effects of changing forests on particular species and ecosystem services. This information is helping to inform restoration efforts undertaken by the Forest Service and its partners to make our forests more resilient. And DOI and USDA are working together with other Federal agencies, states, tribes, and private landowners to engage in historic, landscape scale conservation projects that will put critical ecosystems on a stronger footing for the future.

Climate change poses a tough new challenge for the forest ecosystems that provide so much for all Americans. Following President Obama’s lead, we’re getting ahead of the game – focusing on new partnerships, strengthening interagency collaboration, and ensuring that the best science is available as we take on climate change in the years to come.

Robert Bonnie is Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and the Environment

Anne Castle is Assistant Secretary for Water & Science at the Department of the Interior

COMET-Farm™: Conservation Calculation

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USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Spencer Miller, NRCS, on August 21, 2013 at 11:35 AM

Healthy soil captures and stores carbon. Photo by Ron Nichols, NRCS

USDA’s new online carbon-capture calculator, COMET-Farm™, has nothing to do with comets. This tool is all about farms and their potential to help planet Earth. Since its recent release more than 4,200 visitors have already explored the new online COMET-Farm™ tool to learn how they can become part of the climate change solution.

Record-breaking concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are accelerating climate change. Agriculture has the unique opportunity to help contribute to a solution, as demonstrated by COMET-Farm™.

“When farmers use conservation practices, they improve soil health,” NRCS air quality scientist Dr. Adam Chambers says. “Healthy soil captures and stores carbon, effectively removing it from the atmosphere.”

Chambers, a lead developer of COMET-Farm™, has spent the past three years improving this tool, which calculates the environmental benefits of conservation.

Here’s how it works: producers enter information about their land and management—including location, soil characteristics, land uses, tillage practices and nutrient use—into the online tool. The tool then estimates the environmental benefits associated with conservation practices for cropland, pasture, rangeland, livestock operations and energy.

NRCS scientists released the first version of CarbOn Management & Emissions Tool (COMET) in 2005. Developed in partnership with Colorado State University, the first version calculated only how much carbon soil could capture. Later versions expanded the scope of the tool to include agroforestry components, energy and livestock.

“As scientists, our greatest challenge in developing COMET-Farm has been knowing when good is good enough,” says Chambers. “We wanted the tool to be as accurate as possible, but we had to find that balance between scientific accuracy and simplicity.”

With environmental markets emerging around the country, COMET-Farm™ will help producers estimate the value of carbon credits they could earn from various conservation practices. Conservation will not only pay indirectly through improved yields, lower energy costs, soil resiliency and other production-related benefits,– but could also be profitable in the environmental marketplace.

COMET-Farm™ is applicable to all agricultural lands in the lower 48 states. The tool is available for use at www.comet-farm.com. Future model releases are planned by NRCS as new methods for calculating greenhouse gas emissions become available.

Since its inception in 1935, the NRCS conservation delivery system has advanced a unique partnership with state and local governments and agricultural producers delivering conservation based on specific, local conservation needs, while accommodating state and national interests.

Follow NRCS on Twitter.

Check out other conservation-related stories on the USDA blog.

Reducing Wildfire Risk and Protecting Our Drinking Water in a Changing Climate

USDA Blog Post:

Posted by Tom Tidwell, Chief of the U.S. Forest Service and Mike Connor, Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, on July 19, 2013 at 12:00 PM

Cross-posted from the White House Council of Environmental Quality blog:

Americans are all too familiar with the devastation catastrophic wildland fires can wreak on the landscape. Fire takes lives, destroys homes, impacts wildlife, and devastates millions of acres of valuable forests and grasslands every year. But what is lesser known is that these fires also severely damage watersheds—the very lands that provide clean and abundant drinking water for millions of Americans every day.

To address this problem, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell this week announced an historic agreement between the Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service and the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation to focus on proactively restoring forest lands around important watersheds and preventing costly, destructive wildfires in these areas.

The partnership is included in President Obama’s Climate Action Plan as a means to reduce wildfire risk, protect critical infrastructure, and lessen the impacts of climate change, which include higher risks of large and destructive wildfires. The damage caused to rivers, dams, and irrigation systems after a wildfire can be tremendous. Clearing out the sediment and ash left behind is costing the nation millions of dollars every year, and the impacts of climate change are expected to continue to intensify.  Climate change also exacerbates dry conditions, which can slow the natural recovery time after a wildfire.

Through this Western Watershed Enhancement Partnership, our two federal agencies will begin working with water users on both the local government and private sector level to restore healthy forested watersheds across the West. In cooperation with regional Colorado government agencies, our first effort in this partnership will start in the Upper Colorado Headwaters and Big Thompson watersheds. Our goal is to ensure these important watersheds are kept reliable and clean for the hundreds of thousands of people who depend on them for drinking water, farming and electricity.

Heavy rains after a wildfire caused this heavy sediment deposit (Photo Credit: R. H. Meade, U.S. Geological Survey)

On a national level, our partnership will work to restore forest and watershed health and conduct planning for post-wildfire actions and responses. We will strive to protect municipal and agricultural water supplies and water delivery systems from future threats and we invite cities, towns, and rural communities to partner with us.

As land managing agencies, we share an interest in the long-term sustainability of our Nation’s water supplies. These waters are the life blood for American agriculture, the source of drinking water for millions of Americans, and a key component of healthy local economies. By working cooperatively across agency lines, we can keep our forested and grassland watersheds safe for the millions of Americans and wildlife that depend on these clean and abundant water sources.

Tom Tidwell is the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service.

Mike Connor is the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation.

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