II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1667 

To provide for the development and coordination of a comprehensive and 

integrated United States research program that assists the people of 

the United States and the world to understand past, assess present, 

and predict future human-induced and natural processes of abrupt climate change, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Ms. CANTWELL, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. KERRY, and Mrs. 

GILLIBRAND) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To provide for the development and coordination of a comprehensive and integrated United States research program that assists the people of the United States and 

the world to understand past, assess present, and predict 

future human-induced and natural processes of abrupt 

climate change, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Abrupt Climate 

5 Change Research Act of 2009’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGE DEFINED. 

2 In this Act, the term ‘‘abrupt climate change’’ means 

3 a change in the climate that occurs so rapidly or unexpect4 edly that human or natural systems have difficulty adapt5 ing to the climate as changed. 

6 SEC. 3. ABRUPT CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH PROGRAM. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—The Secretary 

8 of Commerce shall establish within the Office of Oceanic 

9 and Atmospheric Research of the National Oceanic and 

10 Atmospheric Administration, and carry out, a program of 

11 extramural awards, made on a peer-reviewed and competi12 tive basis, to conduct scientific research on abrupt climate 

13 change. 

14 (b) PURPOSES OF PROGRAM.—The purposes of the 

15 program established under subsection (a) shall be as fol16 lows: 

17 (1) To develop a global array of terrestrial and 

18 oceanographic indicators of paleoclimate in order to 

19 sufficiently identify and describe past instances of 

20 abrupt climate change. 

21 (2) To improve understanding of thresholds and 

22 nonlinearities in geophysical systems related to the 

23 mechanisms of abrupt climate change. 

24 (3) To incorporate such mechanisms into ad25 vanced geophysical models of climate change. 


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1 (4) To test the simulation of climate change by 

2 such models against an improved global array of 

3 records of past abrupt climate changes. 

4 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

5 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

6 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Com7 merce for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2016, 

8 $10,000,000 to carry out the research program estab9 lished under section 3(a). 

10 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts appro11 priated pursuant to the authorization of appropriations in 

12 subsection (a) are authorized to remain available until ex13 pended. 

Æ 


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