Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center
The Southwest Climate Adaptation Science Center is one of nine regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASCs) under the Department of the Interior (DOI) managed by the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Climate Adaptation Science Center. The mission of the Centers and National CASC is to "deliver science to help fish, wildlife, water, land, and people adapt to a changing climate." CASCs provide the tools that managers need to develop and implement strategies that address the impacts of climate change on natural and cultural resources.
The Southwest CASC is a collaborative partnership between USGS and a consortium of seven academic institutions from across the region, including:
- University of Arizona (Host Institution)
- Colorado State University
- Desert Research Institute
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego
- University of California, Davis
- University of California, Los Angeles
- Utah State University
The Southwest CASC region encompasses the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah. Additionally, as the Southwest is heavily dependent on the Colorado River Basin, the SW CASC also addresses the upper Colorado River basin, particularly with respect to climate change impacts and management on water supply and delivery to the lower basin.
The consortium brings a wide range of scientific and impact assessment capabilities to the Southwest CASC because it includes institutions located in and familiar with the diversity of ecosystems and human settlements and activities that characterize the U.S. Southwest. The consortium is well versed in issues such as coastal management, drought and its impacts on people and the environment, water management in the Colorado and other Southwest rivers, and the impacts of exploding populations of bark beetles on western forests.
Sectors:
Related Organizations:
- National Climate Adaptation Science Center
- University of Colorado at Boulder
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography
- University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
- University of California, Davis
- University of Arizona
- Utah State University
- Colorado State University
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
- U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI)
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