The U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program, in consultation with the Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group (CCIWG), coordinates and facilitates activities relevant to carbon cycle science, climate and global change issues under the auspices of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) Interagency Committee or USGCRP Principals.

The CCIWG supports the peer-reviewed research of carbon cycle science across the federal government and is responsible for defining program goals, setting research priorities, and reviewing the progress of the research programs that contribute to carbon cycle science.

Twelve federal agencies and departments coordinate and support our program activities.

For more information, follow this link, read about our programs or take a look at this poster.

• U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program

• Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group (CCIWG)

• Carbon Cycle Scientific Steering Group (CCSSG)

• North American Carbon Program (NACP) (U.S., Canada and Mexico)

• Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB)

• International Activities (CarboNA and Global Carbon Project)

• State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR) (A Report by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Change Research)

• A US Carbon Cycle Science Plan (Community document) NEW!!!!

Follow @USCarbonProgram

April 2013

Global Carbon Project (GCP) meeting at IIASA: The U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program Office presented the Program’s short and long-term USGCRP aligned priorities and discussed potential future actvities with the GCP. The GCP Scientific Steering Group (SSG) discussed the newly developed Global Carbon Atlas and the newly formulated goals of 'Future Earth' to which the GCP belongs. The GCP-IIASA workshop on 'negative emissions'immediately preceded the SSG meeting, which will yield a series of international papers on this emission reduction option's science, technology and policy aspects.

26th meeting of the CCSSG, NACP SSG meeting and First joint meeting of the CCSSG and the NACP SSG: The US Carbon Program Office and the CCIWG organized the historically first joint meeting of the CCSSG and the NACP SSG on April 23, 2013. Both SSGs reflected upon their existing strengths and missions and brainstormed paths for the future, including scientific questions, issues and possible new initiatives to address them. The individual 26th CCSSG meeting and the NACP SSG meeting were organized respectively before and after this meeting. The outcomes of all 3 meetings will aid the CCIWG in its strategic planning for future prioritization activities for the benefit of the carbon cycle science community. 

February 2013

NASA-ROSES Solicitation released on 2/14/2013 NEW!!!

NASA Carbon Cycle Science Solicitation, produced in collaboration with members of the Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group (CCIWG), can be accessed via this link http://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/solicitations/summary.do?method=init&solId={2EBEDEA0-817D-D318-55C3-BC5086A4AB70}&path=open

4th North American Carbon Program (NACP) All-Investigators Meeting

The Carbon Cycle Science Interagency Working Group (CCIWG) and the U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program Office staff from USGCRP, Gyami Shrestha, helped organize the 4th North American Carbon Program (NACP) All-Investigators Meeting (AIM4) in Albuquerque, NM, from February 4 to 7, 2013. Over 400 carbon cycle scientists from the US, Canada, Mexico and other nations attended the meeting. CCIWG co-chair Nancy Cavallaro (USDA) summarized the structure, functions, and priorities the CCIWG and US Carbon Program within the USGCRP framework. A CCIWG and U.S. Carbon Program Office panel discussion followed the CCIWG talk. Other sessions encompassed the current and future carbon budget for North America, approaches for communicating the science of climate change and science information needs for decision makers and international negotiations, including talks by NOAA’s Ko Barrett, and the National Climate Assessment’s Kathy Jacobs. The NACP was established in 2002 in response to Goal 1 of the 1999 Carbon Cycle Science Plan (i.e. quantify and understand the Northern Hemisphere terrestrial carbon sink). Its design addresses strategic research question 7.1 in the U.S. Climate Change Science Program Strategic Plan (2003) regarding the magnitudes and distributions of North American carbon sources and sinks on seasonal to centennial time scales, and the processes controlling their dynamics. For more information about the meeting: http://www.nacarbon.org/meeting_2013/index.htm

January 2013

The DRAFT 2013 U.S. National Climate Assessment http://ncadac.globalchange.gov/ has been released. Most chapters, if not all - such as the ones on mitigation, land use change, oceans, transportation, forestry and agriculture - are of interest to the carbon cycle science community. Please provide comments on this draft between January 14th, 2013 and April 12th, 2013 by going through the 'Review and Comment' System http://review.globalchange.gov/.

2011 Carbon Cycle Science Plan summary flier (1 page, PDF)

U.S. Scientists call for integrated study of carbon cycle

The carbon cycle science community in the United States finished its planning process for carbon cycle research for the upcoming decade. This reassessment of the U.S. carbon cycle science priorities was initiated by the U.S. Carbon Cycle Interagency Working Group (CCIWG) and the Carbon Cycle Science Steering Group (CCSSG) in 2008. This planning process has culminated in the publication of the new U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plan. The new Plan is intended to provide guidance for U.S. research efforts on the global carbon cycle for the next decade. The Plan outlines priorities for research in carbon cycle science, including a substantial expansion in the scope of the field. In addition to reaffirming the need for basic research and for continuing the current areas of research in carbon cycle science, the Plan outlines specific recommendations for new priorities...[Read entire summary of recommendations.]

Printed copies or copies on CD can be requested from the U.S Carbon Cycle Science Program Office, Dr. Gyami Shrestha at gshrestha[at]usgcrp.gov.

Background

Carbon Cycle Science Planning

The new 2011 Plan outlines a strategy for refocusing U.S. carbon cycle research based on the current state of the science. The development of this Plan was led by a committee of 25 active members of the carbon cycle research community, and the result is intended to provide U.S. funding agencies with information on community-based research priorities for carbon cycle science over the next decade. Please follow this link for further background information on the 2011 Carbon Cycle Science Plan.

Program and Carbon Cycle Science related events

More carbon cycle science news and peer-reviewed findings from the Program, the CCIWG agencies and the community