Climate Change Impacts on the United States
The Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change
A Report of the National Assessment Synthesis Team
U.S. Global Change Research Program

See also the main National Assessment web site.

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• Overview Report
• Foundation Report

The National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change is a landmark in the major ongoing effort to understand what climate change means for the United States. The Assessment was called for by a 1990 law, and has been conducted under the US Global Change Research Program in response to a request from the President�s Science Advisor. This site contains the final approved version of the report of the National Assessment Synthesis Team, which was a federal advisory committee made up of experts drawn from government, universities, industry, and non-governmental organizations. The report is provided in two parts: (1) an Overview report, and (2) a Foundation report that provides additional detail and full references. These two national-level, peer-reviewed documents synthesize results from studies conducted by regional and sector teams, and from the broader scientific literature. More information on the National Assessment and how it was conducted is available from the National Assessment web site.

The files provided are PDF files that can be viewed using Adobe Acrobat Reader. We realize the files are quite large, in large part because they include color graphics. For the benefit of those wanting a printed copy of the report, published copies of the Overview report and the Foundation report are available from Cambridge University Press.