Jesse Bell, PhD, director of the Water, Climate and Health Program at UNMC, is a co-author of the commentary “Research priorities for robust climate assessments in the United States,” recently published in Earth’s Future and Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society.
The paper brings together 175 authors to outline research priorities that can inform future national, regional, local, sectoral and topical climate assessments.
“This article provides an opportunity to advance science for understanding climate risk and turn that knowledge into action,” Dr. Bell said. “By identifying research and assessment priorities, we can better equip communities and decision-makers with the information needed to prepare for and respond to a changing climate.”
The commentary is the first paper in the U.S. Climate Collection: Informing Assessment of Risks and Solutions – a joint special collection of the American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological Society that will publish U.S.-focused climate assessment science and research synthesis papers that can inform future national and sub-national assessments.
Dr. Bell, who also is director of water, climate and health at the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, is an expert in climate change and human health, with research focused on understanding how climate-related hazards – including drought, extreme heat, and air pollution – affect society. His work integrates climate and environmental science with public health to identify impacted populations, characterize health risks, and translate scientific evidence into actionable information for communities and decision-makers.
The commentary identifies assessment opportunities and research needs across planetary-scale systems, environmental settings, economic sectors, U.S. regions and U.S. international interests.
Across these areas, the authors identify several cross-cutting priorities for research synthesis, including:
- How greenhouse gas emissions continue to alter and amplify climate hazards;
- How compounding extremes and cascading risks are straining legacy policies, infrastructure and institutions;
- How social systems shape both climate impacts and responses; and
- How future assessments should evaluate mitigation, adaptation, disaster management, climate interventions and resilience planning and implementation decisions as a climate action portfolio.
The commentary also argues that the pace of assessment and the integration of science with decision-making must accelerate as climate impacts continue to grow. The most recent U.S. National Climate Assessment was published in 2023, although climate assessments are continuing by states, localities and businesses.