Abstract
Chapter 25 of the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) is an
assessment of climate change and variability, climate-related risks,
impacts and adaptation in the U.S. Southwest. The chapter builds on
assessments of climate change in the Southwest from the three previous
U.S. National Climate Assessments. Each assessment has consistently
identified drought, water resource reliability, and loss of ecosystem
integrity as climate change challenges for the Southwest region. Chapter
25 further examines interconnections among water, ecosystems, coastal
and marine systems, food, and human health and adds new key messages
concerning energy and Indigenous peoples. The Southwest chapter is one
of 29 chapters in Volume II of the Fourth National Climate Assessment -
Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States. The National
Climate Assessment fulfills the mandate of the Global Change Research
Act (GCRA) of 1990 to provide the nation with a timely assessment and
analysis of scientific findings of the effects of global change on
multiple economic and natural resource sectors in the United States, and
an analysis of observed and projected trends in global change. Chapter
25, Southwest, was written by a team of scientists and practitioners
with expertise spanning areas specified in the GCRA, after extensive
stakeholder engagement that involved the collection of input on key
climate-related challenges, impacts, and opportunities in the Southwest
region. The chapter went through multiple rounds of public and
governmental review, during 2017 and 2018. This poster will focus on the
findings from Chapter 25.