RAPID CITY, SD (Feb. 22, 2017) –
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology is host to the Northern Great
Plains Regional Engagement Workshop as part of the Fourth
National Climate Assessment process.
During the workshop, key players from
across the region discuss information to include in the next National
Climate Assessment. Topics of discussion during breakout sessions include the
impact of a changing climate on: agriculture and livestock, water resources,
land use, fish and wildlife, and tribal and indigenous communities. The meeting
seeks to engage climate researchers and members of the public across business
and government sectors to better understand how climate change is affecting the
Northern Great Plains.
“Global climate change’s impacts
are felt differently across a country as large as the United States,” said Bill
Capehart the coordinator of the Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences Program
at SD Mines. “Sea-level rise, changes in extreme event frequency, droughts, deluges,
and changes in pest migration as they follow rising temperatures and changes in
rainfall impact us both at the town-level and as a nation at large. These regional meetings are key to assessing
not only these local impacts but also to develop ready, responsive and
resilient ways forward to protect our infrastructure, economy, health, safety and
national security in the coming decades.”
The National Climate Assessment
occurs every four years as part of the U.S. Global Change Research Program. The
report fulfills the requirements of the Global Change Research Act of 1990. The
next national assessment is set to be published in late 2018. Regional
workshops are being held around the country to organize and gather input for
the next report. The workshop at Mines includes participants from Colorado,
Nebraska and Montana who are taking part in satellite meetings via video
conferencing.