About the Climate Impacts Group

Overview

The Climate Impacts Group (CIG) engages in climate science in the public interest, working to understand the consequences of climate variability and climate change for the US Pacific Northwest (PNW). CIG’s unique focus is on the intersection of climate science and public policy – performing basic research aimed at understanding the consequences of climate fluctuations for the PNW, and promoting application of this information in regional decisions.

CIG's assessment examines climate impacts on four diverse, yet connected, natural systems of the PNW - water, forests, salmon and coasts - and the human socioeconomic and/or political systems associated with each. CIG works to provide regional planners, decision makers, and natural resource managers with valuable knowledge about the ways in which crucial regional resources are vulnerable to changes in climate, and how this vulnerability could best be reduced.

CIG's Research Approach

CIG’s unique focus is on the intersection of climate science and public policy

CIG’s research approach is retrospective, interdisciplinary, integrated, and contextual. We begin with an analysis of the patterns and predictability of regional climate variability and the impacts that past climate variations had on the PNW. By investigating observed regional responses to past climatic stresses, we assess the PNW’s sensitivity, adaptability, and vulnerability to climate variability. This provides a basis for suggesting how the same systems may respond to future climate change. By evaluating how human systems can adapt to better cope with or respond to climate variability, we can suggest how these same systems might adapt to future climate change.

Our approach comprises

• natural sciences research - to understand and quantify the consequences of climate variability and change for PNW climate and natural resources,
• social sciences research - to understand the human systems associated with natural resources management in the PNW and the role that human choices play in determining climate impacts, and
• outreach and interaction with the regional stakeholder community - to link large-scale climate forecast information to local/regional management needs.

Work with Regional Stakeholders

CIG has developed close connections with the public, private, and North American tribal groups and agencies responsible for managing the region’s water, forest, fishery, and coastal resources in order to ensure that our research results in information and products that are not only useful, but also used to shape decisions in the PNW. As a result of this interaction, CIG has gained a clear picture of the current use and perceived value of climate forecasts by natural resource managers, insight into their decision calendars, and an understanding of institutional barriers to adaptability. Stakeholders benefit from the development of improved tools and information for planning, such as resource forecasts and regional- and resource-specific interpretations of global climate change. Members of CIG’s user community are listed here.

Location and Funding

CIG is located in Seattle at the University of Washington, with affiliates in Boise, Idaho and Olympia, Washington. At the University of Washington, CIG is part of the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO) Center for Science in the Earth System (CSES). CSES combines and integrates expertise in climate dynamics, ecological dynamics, hydrologic dynamics, and institutional and policy analysis in order to perform integrated research on the impacts of climate on the U.S. Pacific Northwest. CIG is one of eight Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessment (RISA) teams (fact sheet) studying regional impacts of climate variability and climate change in the U.S. The RISA program is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Program Office. CIG enjoys additional financial and technical support from the University of Washington.