NCA4: Agriculture and Rural Communities Chapter

As per the Presidential Initiative in 1989 and 1990 Global Change Research Act, the U.S. Climate Change Research Program (USGCRP) is required to conduct a national climate change assessment report every four years. The report is mandated to include findings of climate change impacts on major sectors in the U.S. over multi-decadal to centennial timescales, while also highlighting the uncertainties associated with such findings. This paper presents the scope and processes adopted to develop "Chapter 10: Agriculture and Rural Communities" for the 4th National Climate Assessment and discusses its key findings and associated uncertainties. The chapter was developed through active engagement with regional and sectoral stakeholders, collaboration with author teams from other NCA4 chapters, and an extensive assessment of peer-reviewed literature on climate impacts on agriculture and rural communities with emphasis given to literature published after 2012. Climate change has the potential to adversely impact agricultural productivity at local, regional, and continental scales. This poster will present these impacts as described in the chapter's four Key Messages.