Climate Information Needs for 5-10 Year Hazard Mitigation Planning Cycles NOAA Science Advisory Board report on Climate Information Needs for 5-10 Year Hazard Mitigation Planning Cycles

The report explores how NOAA research, operations, and facilities could be adapted to better support early identification, monitoring, and communication of emerging hazards and vulnerabilities in communities and ecosystems confronting near-term changes. The report was developed in response to how near-term changes in the characteristics of climate-related hazards are rendering some communities, infrastructure systems, and ecosystems highly vulnerable to extreme events. Decision-makers need information to prioritize funding in 2- to 5-year budgets and to implement decisions for mitigation solutions on the 5- to 10-year time horizons mandated by local, state, and federal agencies. The overarching recommendation is that a clearly defined pathway is required to document the process of engaging with decision-makers to identify the characteristics of needed climate products and to transition conceptual climate products from research to operations. This pathway would include a process outlining key decision points and the role of research, product development, and data services teams. The process should be accompanied by a roadmap which is periodically updated to report climate research products that are successfully transitioned to operations, to update the status of climate products in development, and to identify products that are a priority for transition to operations.