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ARS Home » Plains Area » Las Cruces, New Mexico » Range Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #410215
Research Project: Science and Technologies for the Sustainable Management of Western Rangeland Systems

Location: Range Management Research

Title: Climate change in the Southern Great Plains and Southwest: Syntheses, trends, and projections

Author
item Elias, Emile
item BRUNSON, MARK - Utah State University
item STEELE, CAITRIANA - New Mexico State University
item WHITE, DAVE - Arizona State University

Submitted to: Society for Range Management Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/1/2023
Publication Date: 2/1/2024
Citation: Elias, E.H., Brunson, M., Steele, C., White, D.D. 2024. Climate change in the Southern Great Plains and Southwest: Syntheses, trends, and projections. Society for Range Management Meeting Abstracts. Abstract.

Interpretive Summary: We share rangeland-relevant highlights from the Fifth National Climate Assessment with a focus on the Southern Great Plains and Southwest.

Technical Abstract: The Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) is a comprehensive synthesis of the most recent science on how climate change is impacting the natural environment, agriculture, energy production and use, land and water resources, transportation, human health and welfare, human social systems, and biological diversity. NCA5 will be published in late 2023 and builds on the previous for assessments from 2000, 2009, 2014, and 2018. This most recent assessment goes beyond climate change impacts as authors were asked to include current understanding of climate adaptation and mitigation solutions, as well as how climate change differentially impacts overburdened communities. NCA5 is organized into 32 chapters, including 10 regional chapters. This presentation highlights key findings related to rangelands in the Southwest and Southern Great Plains regional chapters. We also share rangeland relevant information from chapters focused on 1). Agriculture, Food Systems, and Rural Communities, 2). Tribes and Indigenous Peoples, 3). Ecosystems, Ecosystem Services, and Biodiversity, 4). Adaptation and 5). Mitigation. Our talk will present the NCA5 from a rangelands perspective with a focus on new findings, novel elements of the NCA5, and new resources available to the rangeland community to evaluate future change.