Regional Climate Centers in the US: Monitoring the Local Effects of Climate Change

Ken Salazar, the Secretary of the Department of the Interior (DOI) recently announced the University of Alaska will be the first of eight Regional Climate Change Response Centers. These Centers were already being developed to help manage fish and wildlife in the face of the effects of climate change. The secretarial decree (how archaic!) indicates a wider role, though, stating that it will:

...broaden their mandate to encompass other climate change-related impacts on Departmental resources...and develop tools that the Department's managers and partners can use when managing the Departments land, water, fish and wildlife, and cultural heritage resources.

The importance of this is threefold. First, increasing local data will lead to more accurate global climate forecasts. The climate forecasts in the IPCC reports are fairly rough because the data from some areas is sparse or incomplete. Having better local data will help refine climate forecasting. Imagine you're at the eye doctor and you can only read a few lines of the eye chart. Suddenly the doctor gives you glasses and the whole chart is much clearer. These centers will be a great new pair of glasses for scientists trying to refine forecasts.

Second, as the decree states, managers of the Department's resources will be able to plan better for the future. Cultural resources such as coastal forts can be retrofitted if data shows an increase in storm surges. Natural resources such as new habitats for the pika, a rodent that lives in high alpine environments, could be protected if data shows that they're migrated further uphill. While climate change is a global problem, the effects will be felt locally. More localized information means DOI managers can better protect the resources in National Parks and Forests that both American and global citizens value.

Finally, a third and perhaps unintended consequence is an increase in local data that can be used to refute skeptics. Climate skeptics have used singular events, such as the cold spell the Northeastern US had this year, to "show" climate change is a hoax. More local data will strengthen the case that the climate is changing. Perhaps its not uniform and perhaps not every year will show increases in temperature. But having a reliable, local climate record will be valuable in showing single seasons or events in the context of long term trends.

Alaska is a great place to get the first Center up and running since the higher latitudes are very sensitive to fluctuations in the climate. Still, let's hope the other seven get going soon. The data and tools they produce will be valuable on many levels, from improving future forecasts to resource management to quieting skeptics with cold, hard data.

Photo Credit: Flickr