Nate Hultman contributed expertise on international approaches to integrate science and policy strategies, helping identify science that can guide communities, institutions and decision-makers as climate risks evolve
Nate Hultman is a co-author of the commentary “Research priorities for robust climate assessments in the United States” published earlier this week 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.
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.
Hultman contributed to the commentary through his expertise in international approaches to integrate science and policy strategies. Drawing from his experience in the research community, in the U.S. government, and working with international, national, and subnational policy communities,his contribution focused on the critical role for science to inform ongoing policy discussions, more effective action, and better outcomes for people across the United States and the world. This includes how to understand and respond to risks as well as how countries can continue to best utilize that knowledge in coordination with each other.
“Good science is central to good policy and good outcomes for people. This roadmap is a much needed advancement to ensure that the scientific community continues to answer the most urgent and relevant questions for understanding how climate impacts affect people across the United States, and how we can collectively inform effective climate responses,” Hultman said. “Understanding the breadth of issues covered in this appropriately ambitious research agenda is a major pillar for supporting our communities, businesses, and policy leaders across this country and around the world in making decisions based on the best and most relevant current knowledge and science.”
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.
Scientific assessments synthesize complex bodies of evidence so households, communities, businesses, institutions and governments can make informed decisions as climate hazards intensify. The most recent U.S. National Climate Assessment was published in 2023; scientific understanding has advanced since then, and climate assessments are continuing via states, localities and businesses. The commentary argues that the pace of assessment and the integration of science with decision-making must accelerate as climate impacts continue to grow.
About the U.S. Climate Collection
The “U.S. Climate Collection: Informing Assessment of Risks and Solutions” is a joint initiative of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and the American Meteorological Society (AMS) to catalyze assessment-ready climate science for the United States. The special collection comprises synthesis papers and other assessment-related research across the AGU and AMS family of journals that can inform future national and sub-national assessments.
