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Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center

SE CASC Researchers Contribute to the North Carolina Climate Science Report

March 17, 2020

USGS Research Ecologist, Adam Terando, and SE CASC Faculty Affiliates, Kathie Dello, Gary Lackmann, and Walter Robinson, are part of the author team of the recently published North Carolina Climate Science Report. USGS Deputy Director, Ryan Boyles, was an external reviewer for the publication.

Photo Credit: North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies

In October 2018, the Governor of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, committed to Executive Order 80 (EO80), titled “North Carolina’s Commitment to Address Climate Change and Transition to a Clean Energy Economy.” This order mandated that all state cabinet agencies must integrate climate adaptation and resiliency planning into their policies, programs, and operations. The requirements of this executive order also mandated that the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality develop an “objective and credible climate science analysis to support the EO80 activities and the development of the resiliency plan.”
Thus, the North Carolina Institute for Climate Studies, an inter-institutional research organization administered by North Carolina State University, initiated the development of the North Carolina Climate Science Report (NCCSR). This report provides a scientific assessment of historical climate trends and potential future climate change in North Carolina under increased greenhouse gas concentrations. More specifically, the document includes an overview of the physical science of climate change, details the observed and projected changes in temperature and precipitation averages and extremes, and discusses hurricanes, large storms, sea level, and other climate metrics. These findings are presented both in a holistic view of the state and are also broken down into three regions – the Coastal Plain, the Piedmont, and the Western Mountains.
Kenneth Kunkel, NCICS Lead Scientist for Assessments and NC State Research Professor was the lead author on this report which was prepared independently by North Carolina-based climate experts. USGS Research Ecologist, Adam Terando, and SE CASC Faculty Affiliates, Kathie Dello, Gary Lackmann, and Walter Robinson were all a part of this talented author team and USGS Deputy Director, Ryan Boyles, was an external reviewer for the publication.
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