Incorporating the Needs of User Communities into a Climate Information System

Weather information and, to a lesser extent, ocean information,is well incorporated into public and private sector decision making on matters as diverse as airplane and ship routing, crop harvesting, and school and recreational facility closure. In general, the institutions and support services needed to make such information useful to end users exist in the federal government and private industry. This is not the case, however, for climate information. Even though many aspects of our use of natural resources depend on climate-related information, there is  no overall national effort to identify what type of information would be most useful and how to distribute what is available to interested parties. This project poses the following key questions: What are the longer-term planning and policy decisions being made today and in the near future that will benefit from our understanding of tomorrow’s climate? What are the key information needs, and how can that information be made available in a usable and accessible manner? To answer these questions, The Heinz Center will convene a series of workshops involving potential users from industry, government, and consulting companies that provide strategic planning services.

For further information, please contact Tony Janetos, Vice President.