Indicators of a Changing Arctic

The Arctic is undergoing dramatic climate change.  Indicators of change enable better understanding of the trends in changing climate and, consequently, decision-making from community to policy levels.  The results presented here focus on a select subset of physical, biological, societal, and economic indicators of change in the Arctic recommended in one of a group of papers emanating from the earlier National Climate Indicators System (NCIS) work led by Kenney et al., 2016.  The intent of the NCIS was to establish a “system of physical, natural, and societal indicators that communicate and inform decisions about key aspects of the physical climate, climate impacts, vulnerabilities, and preparedness” in support of the sustained U.S. National Climate Assessment.  Criteria used to select and recommend the Arctic indicators will be presented.  The team’s analysis resulted in a list of “existing” indicators, as well as those “in development”, “recommended”, and “aspirational”.  A goal of the effort is to identify a set of sustained indicators that are based on a reliable data source with a known user community.  The intent is for these indicators to guide decision-makers in their responses to climate change, and help inform the decisions of groups like the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) and Arctic Council in development of future planning and prioritization of resources.