Workshop Report:
Session 4
Applications of Climate Science

Session 4 of the workshop consisted of five breakout sessions focusing on applications of climate science in the management of water, ecosystems, coasts, air quality, and energy systems. Session objectives were to:

Discuss how well research is meeting the needs of decisionmakers
Describe development and application of resources to support adaptive management and climate policy development
Identify program needs and gaps

Each breakout session was asked to address four cross-cutting questions to report back to plenary:

Effectiveness: What are the barriers to using decision support resources in decision making, and how can these barriers be overcome? How can we continuously evolve our approach to decision support as we evaluate experiences and learn more?
Information needs: Across the applications covered in your breakout group, are there unmet high-priority information needs shared by user groups?
Research priorities: What observations and research are most needed to develop resources for meeting the needs identified in question 2?
Communication: What are the characteristics of effective communication of science to decision makers, and what is needed to better sustain a continuing dialogue? What are examples of successful decision support collaborations that should inform program design?

Illustrative Examples of Outcomes

The main messages reported in the breakout sessions in response to the cross-cutting questions are summarized below.

Effectiveness

Barriers to use in decision making

Communication – information prepared by scientists is not always completely understood or used by decision makers;
Absence of users at science meetings;
Lack of integration with and tools addressing other community management concerns, and (e.g. water management, hazards management);
Decision makers’ lack of familiarity with climate issues, and related associations and impacts;
Lack of trust of scientists by decisionmakers;
Climate change work (e.g., modeling) done on a global scale, may not be relevant to local decisionmakers.

How can the barriers be overcome?

Improve regional coverage of observations, data, models, impacts, and applications;
Encourage scientists to attend user forums and vice versa;
Identify tools needed by decision makers (e.g., monitoring, maps), and make them user-friendly. This includes modifying language in climate forecasts, especially probabilistic climate forecasts;
Increase understanding of decision maker motivations, timelines for decisions, resources and constraints;
Increase education and outreach to user communities;
Assess and communicate what the socioeconomic consequences would be if climate variability and change were not accounted for in decision making;
Provide tangible, visual evidence of climate variability and change;

Information Needs

Improved and consolidated water supply information provided through data portals;
Information on forecast confidence and illustrative distributions of model outcomes;
Descriptions of the major scientific uncertainties and our ability to resolve them,
Climate forecasts with consistency, quality, and timeliness;
Model-blended representations of hydrology, weather, and climate, elements developed through the use of testbeds;
Information on socioeconomic context and impacts;
Information in the context of multiple stressors;
Linkage of predictions to consequences and outcomes;
Iterative decision frameworks to accommodate adaptive responses;
Information on what others are doing, including climate information users and decision support resource developers;
Information on multiple spatial scales, including regional and local;
Ensemble modeling to achieve greater robustness and confidence in results ranging from air quality, human health, costs, technologies, and emissions;
Assessments of full public health impacts and costs;
Scientists’ understanding of what decisionmakers do (and in what context) to help assess their information needs and ultimately to provide more useful information.

Research Priorities

Higher resolution, regional knowledge of climate models;
Use of teleconnections in predictions and impact assessments;
Improved understanding of the hydrologic cycle, particularly as it relates to society and ecosystems;
Improved understanding of mountain climate and processes;
Closer engagement with the social scientists;
Economic indicators, such as the costs of response options and the value of taking action;
Development of decision support tools that incorporate historical and real time data;
Development of decision support tools that address multiple factors/drivers with positive and negative feedbacks, e.g. Ability to address carbon sequestration and nutrient management;
Prioritization of decision support activities based on regional vulnerabilities;
Continuous ecosystem monitoring;
Improved observations of atmospheric composition, and integration of that information into modeling studies related to human health and ecosystems;
Improved understanding of the impacts of seasonal to inter-annual climate variability;
Improved prediction and statistical characterization of extremes – low probability, high impact events.

Communication

What is needed to sustain the dialog?

Engagement of stakeholders prior to a disaster;
Communication through a variety of effective media (e.g. newsletters, web sites);
Sustained funding;
Building the capacity of users;
Product evaluation;
Education and outreach.

Examples of successful decision support collaborations that should inform program design

NOAA RISA (Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessment) ;
National Integrated Drought Information System.

Other recommendations
Listen to users/clients and include them up-front when building tools for them;
Don’t “dumb down” the information too much

Convey the complexity of potential effects in ways that highlight options for decisionmakers;
Instill confidence that information is based on sound science by providing enough detail.

Convey data in forms that can be grasped by users

Employ technology familiar to the users;
Managers need desktop visualization and manipulation tools to facilitate routine use of satellite and other environmental data.

Decision makers and managers should share lessons learned;
Is a climate extension service needed?

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