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Suggested Citation:"D Committee to Review the U.S. Climate Change Science Program's Synthesis and Assessment Product 1.3 Statement of Task." National Research Council. 2008. Review of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program's Synthesis and Assessment Product 1.3: Reanalyses of Historical Climate Data for Key Atmospheric Features: Implications for Attribution of Causes of Observed Change. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12135.
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D Committee to Review the U.S. Climate Change Science Program’s Synthesis and Assessment Product 1.3 Statement of Task This committee will review the U.S. CCSP's draft Synthesis and Assessment Product 1.3 entitled “Reanalyses of Historical Climate Data for Key Atmospheric Features: Implications for Attribution of Causes of Observed Change”. The purpose of the CCSP SAP 1.3 is to provide an expert assessment of the capability and limitations of state-of- the-art climate reanalyses, to describe past and current climate conditions, and the consequent implications for scientifically interpreting the causes of climate variations and change. The role of the National Academies committee will be to provide a peer review of CCSP SAP 1.3. The committee will address the following issues: 1. Are the goals, objectives, terminology, and intended audience of the product clearly described in the document? Does the product address all questions outlined in the prospectus? 2. Are any findings and/or recommendations adequately supported by evidence and analysis? In cases where recommendations might be based on expert value judgments or the collective opinions of the authors, is this acknowledged and supported by sound reasoning? 3. Are the data and analyses handled in a competent manner? Are statistical methods applied appropriately? 4. Are the document's presentation, level of technicality, and organization effective? Are the questions outlined in the prospectus addressed and communicated in a manner that is appropriate and accessible for the intended audience? 5. Is the document scientifically objective and policy neutral? Is it consistent with the scientific literature? How do the conclusions and general approaches for addressing uncertainty compare with those embraced by other treatments of the topic (e.g., IPCC, NRC activities)? Are differences supported by explicit and sound reasoning? 6. Is there a summary that effectively, concisely and accurately describes the key findings and recommendations? Is it consistent with other sections of the document? 7. What other significant improvements, if any, might be made in the document? 58

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The U.S. Climate Change Science Program is in the process of producing 21 draft assessments that investigate changes in the Earth's climate and related systems. These assessments are designed to inform decisionmakers about the scientific underpinnings of a range of environmental issues, such as models of past climate conditions. This National Research Council book reviews one of these assessments, Synthesis and Assessment Product 1.3 "Reanalyses of Historical Climate Data for Key Atmospheric Features: Implications for Attribution of Causes of Observed Change." The committee commends the authors for clearly stating their goals and their intended audience and for their fidelity in following the prospectus. However, the current draft needs revision to better link reanalysis and attribution. In addition, the document needs to better explain how reanalysis fits into climate science and include a general description of how climate science is done and how the models, observations, and theories are related to the ultimate goal of reanalysis, especially for the benefit of non-specialists.

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