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PART 1—GLOBAL CHANGE RESEARCH 
SEC. 4611. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following 
findings: 
(1) Industrial, agricultural, and other human 
activities, coupled with an expanding world popu-
lation, are contributing to processes of global change 
that are significantly altering the Earth habitat. 
(2) Such human-induced changes, in conjunc-
tion with natural fluctuations, may lead to signifi-
cant alterations of world climate patterns. Over the 
next century, these changes could adversely affect 
world agricultural and marine production, coastal 
habitability, biological diversity, human health, glob-
al social and political stability, and global economic 
activity. 
(3) Developments in interdisciplinary Earth 
sciences, global observing systems, and satellite and 
computing technologies make possible significant sci-
entific understanding of global changes and their ef-
fects, and have resulted in the significant expansion 
of environmental data and information. 
(4) Development of effective policies to prevent, 
mitigate, and adapt to global change will rely on im-
provement in scientific understanding of global envi-
ronmental processes and on development of informa-
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tion that is of use to decisionmakers at the local, re-
gional, and national levels. 
(5) Although the United States Global Change 
Research Program has made significant contribu-
tions to understanding Earth’s climate and the an-
thropogenic influences on Earth’s climate and its 
ecosystems, the Program now needs to produce more 
information to meet the expressed needs of decision-
makers. 
(6) Predictions of future climate conditions for 
specific regions have considerable uncertainty and 
are unlikely to be confirmed in a time period nec-
essary to inform decisions on land, water, and re-
source management. However, improved under-
standing of global change should be used to assist 
decisionmakers in the development of policies to en-
sure that ecological, social, and economic systems 
are resilient under a variety of plausible climate fu-
tures. 
(7) In order to most effectively meet the needs 
of decisionmakers, both the research agenda of the 
United States Global Change Research Program and 
its implementation must be informed by continuous 
feedback from documented users of information gen-
erated by the Program. 
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191 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this part is to provide 
for the continuation and coordination of a comprehensive 
and integrated United States observation, research, and 
outreach program which will assist the Nation and the 
world to understand, assess, predict, and respond to the 
effects of human-induced and natural processes of global 
change. 
SEC. 4612. DEFINITIONS. 
For purposes of this part— 
(1) the term ‘‘global change’’ means human-in-
duced or natural changes in the global environment 
(including alterations in climate, land productivity, 
oceans or other water resources, atmospheric chem-
istry, biodiversity, and ecological systems) that may 
alter the capacity of the Earth to sustain life; 
(2) the term ‘‘global change research’’ means 
study, monitoring, assessment, prediction, and infor-
mation management activities to describe and under-
stand— 
(A) the interactive physical, chemical, and 
biological processes that regulate the total 
Earth system; 
(B) the unique environment that the Earth 
provides for life; 
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(C) changes that are occurring in the 
Earth system; and 
(D) the manner in which such system, en-
vironment, and changes are influenced by 
human actions; 
(3) the term ‘‘interagency committee’’ means 
the interagency committee established under section 
4613; 
(4) the term ‘‘Plan’’ means the National Global 
Change Research and Assessment Plan developed 
under section 4615; 
(5) the term ‘‘Program’’ means the United 
States Global Change Research Program established 
under section 4614; and 
(6) the term ‘‘regional climate change’’ means 
the natural or human-induced changes manifested in 
the local or regional environment (including alter-
ations in weather patterns, land productivity, water 
resources, sea level rise, atmospheric chemistry, bio-
diversity, and ecological systems) that may alter the 
capacity of a specific region to support current or 
future social and economic activity or natural eco-
systems. 
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