Background
One of the key questions the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) faces is how can we improve the link between climate sciences and society. The Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) Program is helping to realign our nation's climate research to better serve society. Established by NOAA in the mid-1990s, RISA projects point the way toward a new paradigm of stakeholder-driven climate sciences that directly address society's needs and concerns.
The RISA program began with university-based efforts in regions of the United States where recent advances in integrated climate sciences held the greatest promise to assist decision-making. Much of the first-generation RISA success built on breakthroughs in predicting variability, change, and impacts of climate processes occurring in the tropical Pacific Ocean. This is the area where El Niño and La Niña conditions, which affect much of the western and southern United States, as well as Mexico, originate.
RISA scientists provide information that decision makers can use to cope with drought, understand climatic influences on wildfire, and assess climate impacts on the transportation sector, coastal communities and human health. Stakeholders can use such information to evaluate potential climate change impacts on water supplies and hydroelectric power and support disaster management planning. RISAs are helping farmers, ranchers, and fishermen use climate information to produce the nation?s foods and fibers, and Pacific Islanders to figure out how to weave climate information into their quest for sustainability.
With each passing year, the impacts of climate variability and change on water availability, wildfire regimes, public health, agriculture, energy issues, and coastal communities become more acute. At the same time, climate sciences are making great strides in producing knowledge that could aid decision makers dealing with these issues.
As climate prediction skill improves, much of the nation stands to benefit from regional RISA activities. The RISA goal is to conduct the kinds of research and product development needed to help society make decisions in the face of climate variability and change, using experts from NOAA and other partner institutions.
