Climate change poses many challenges that affect society and the natural world. With these challenges, however, come opportunities to respond. By taking steps to adapt to and mitigate climate change, the risks to society and the impacts of continued climate change can be lessened. The National Climate Assessment, coordinated by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, is a mandated report intended to inform response decisions. Required to be developed every four years, these reports provide the most comprehensive and up-to-date evaluation of climate change impacts available for the United States, making them a unique and important climate change document. The draft Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4) report reviewed here addresses a wide range of topics of high importance to the United States and society more broadly, extending from human health and community well-being, to the built environment, to businesses and economies, to ecosystems and natural resources. This report evaluates the draft NCA4 to determine if it meets the requirements of the federal mandate, whether it provides accurate information grounded in the scientific literature, and whether it effectively communicates climate science, impacts, and responses for general audiences including the public, decision makers, and other stakeholders.

This book introduces and explains the statistical methods used to describe, analyze, test, and forecast atmospheric data. It will be useful to students, scientists, and other professionals who seek to make sense of the scientific literature in meteorology, climatology, or other geophysical disciplines, or to understand and communicate what their atmospheric data sets have to say. The book includes chapters on exploratory data analysis, probability distributions, hypothesis testing, statistical weather forecasting, forecast verification, time(series analysis, and multivariate data analysis. Worked examples, exercises, and illustrations facilitate understanding of the material; an extensive and up-to-date list of references allows the reader to pursue selected topics in greater depth.Key Features* Presents and explains techniques used in atmospheric data summarization, analysis, testing, and forecasting* Includes extensive and up-to-date references* Features numerous worked examples and exercises* Contains over 130 illustrations