Natural resource managers need impartial, scientifically robust information on climate impacts on species and ecosystems to inform resource management decisions and planning. Climate science evolves rapidly; keeping up with the prolific information is a daunting challenge, even for natural resource management agencies with staff dedicated to climate resilience work. The challenge is even greater for agencies without staff dedicated to climate resilience. The Northwest Climate State of Knowledge will increase accessibility and ease of use, thereby increasing the capacity of the region's wildlife and natural resource management agencies.

The Northwest Climate State of Knowledge will synthesize existing information in three areas of climate science:
1. Projected changes in the climate relevant for ecosystems and wildlife, including biophysical changes such as temperature and precipitation, as well as changes in disturbance processes such as wildfire and flooding.
2. Expected impacts of these changes on multiple ecosystems and habitats, including coastal and marine systems, wetlands and aquatic habitats, forests, grasslands, and shrublands.
3. Adaptation options to reduce negative impacts, as well as existing information on the potential effectiveness of these options.

Compilations of existing information, including research supported by the Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center, will be delivered in a user-friendly format, accessible to a wide audience of natural resource managers to support use of climate science in management decisions. By consolidating and highlighting science findings in a single resource for the region, it is our hope that this common resource can facilitate cross-agency, collaborative climate change responses.

We will conduct the project in three general phases and undergo review before publication.

1. Scoping and team building: The project includes a scoping period to hear the needs and interests of the Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center stakeholders and audience regarding climate projections, climate impacts science, and adaptation options. We will build a team from NW Science Center consortium universities to fill the expertise needed to complete the State of Knowledge.

2. Content development: The State of Knowledge will synthesize literature, with a focus on publications of the last 5 years, to describe current understanding of climate impacts to species and ecosystems in the Northwest. Sectoral and ecosystem focus areas will depend on information gathered during the scoping phase and the expertise of the project team. In addition to climate projections and impacts, each section will include current understanding of adaptation options and their effectiveness.

3. Format and delivery: Information will be aggregated, and data summaries provided, at multiple geographic scales relevant for resource management (e.g., ecoregion and watersheds). Climate projections will be provided in succinct descriptions of projected changes that can easily be included in reports and plans. Science findings will be presented in an “easy-to-skim” format with functionality to query by impact or ecosystem. The product will include features such as annotated lists of datasets and bibliographies and links to data sources and will be designed to be easily updated. We will explore creative delivery formats beyond the traditional multichapter reports.

The Climate Impacts Group’s State of Knowledge reports for Washington state and the Puget Sound region set the stage for a new approach to synthesizing climate science and impacts for a region. These reports were designed recognizing that NW adaptation practitioners need quick access to internally consistent quantitative information about projected future conditions. The Northwest Climate State of Knowledge will build from this experience and the feedback we’ve received regarding their utility of these products.

The project team will also explore creating high-level briefs for some topic areas, depending on the interest and need of the Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center stakeholders. These will be modeled after CIG’s success with briefs developed to summarize large international climate reports: Shifting Snowlines and Shorelines and No Time to Waste.

The synthesis will complement other climate science syntheses underway, including the Northwest Region Chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment (PI Raymond is also an author on this chapter) and topic-specific chapters such as Forests and Ecosystems and Biodiversity.