Policy Program

 

About the Policy Program

The Policy Program promotes understanding and use of science and services relating to weather, water, and climate. Our goal is to help the nation, and the world, avoid risks and realize opportunities associated with the Earth system.

News and Announcements

What's it Worth? Four Perspectives on the Valuation of the Weather, Water, Climate Enterprise
What's it Worth? Four Perspectives on the Valuation of the Weather, Water, Climate Enterprise

Valuation is critical to decision making at all levels. The set of studies synthesized here can contribute to a common understanding how value can be enhanced and communicated within and outside of the weather, water, and climate enterprise.

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Actionable Scientific Assessments for the Energy Sector
Actionable Scientific Assessments for the Energy Sector

Understanding, accounting for, and communicating weather and climate variables is critical for the planning and optimization of the energy system. This puts increasing pressure on the scientific community to provide the right information to meet the key decision-making needs of the energy sector. This American Meteorological Society (AMS) Policy Program study is the second of two pilot projects on the provision of actionable information for decision-making through the tailored and targeted assessment of weather and climate science.

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Framework for the Advancement of Inclusion, Equity, and Justice in the Weather, Water, and Climate Enterprise
Framework for the Advancement of Inclusion, Equity, and Justice in the Weather, Water, and Climate Enterprise

The weather, water, and climate (WWC) enterprise provides science and services critical to the future of society. Making these sciences and services truly inclusive and beneficial to all people is necessary to ensure that they are impactful, meaningful, and ethical. Here, we present a set of principles, actionable steps, and metrics to support and outline a shift towards a more inclusive, equitable, and just culture within and beyond the enterprise.

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Managed Retreat: An Introduction and Exploration of Policy Options
Managed Retreat: An Introduction and Exploration of Policy Options

Managed retreat is a tool for community adaptation to repeated environmental threats that involves the physical relocation of people, structures, and infrastructures away from areas exposed to repeat hazards. In this study, we introduce and explore managed retreat as an adaptive strategy to climate hazards with the goal of identifying the policy options for enacting managed retreat and exploring these policies’ strengths and limitations.

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The U S Federal Budget and Policy Process
The U S Federal Budget and Policy Process

An overview of the U.S. federal budget and policy process presented by Dr. Paul Higgins.

Global Environmental Change and Workforce Need
Global Environmental Change and Workforce Need

The weather, water, and climate community will be essential in navigating the various physical and societal transformations that global environmental change will bring. This American Meteorological Society (AMS) Policy Program study examines the developing “climate workforce” as a key component of society’s response to global environmental change and adds to the foundational understanding that the WWC enterprise needs to meet future workforce challenges in Earth system observations and science.

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