The NCA5 Companion Podcast

This is a recorded audiobook reading of the summary chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment titled, “Overview: Understanding risks, impacts, and responses.” Listeners can also read the Overview chapter on the NCA5 website.

For navigation purposes, the episode is split into chapters, corresponding to the 5 major sections of the Overview. Those sections are:

• Section 1: How the United States is Addressing Climate Change (starts at 01:28)

• Section 2: How the United States is Experiencing Climate Change (starts at 13:00)

• Section 3: Current and Future Climate Risks to the United States (starts at 22:04)

• Section 4: The Choices That Will Determine the Future, and (starts at 48:26)

• Section 5: How Climate Action Can Create a More Resilient and Just Nation. (starts at 56:11)

The Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) Companion Podcast is a limited series intended to introduce the report, showcase the perspectives of NCA5 authors and staff, and demonstrate how the Assessment can help inform decisions.

NCA5, which was released in fall 2023, is the US. Government’s preeminent report on climate change impacts, risks, and adaptation across the Nation. It is a congressionally mandated, interagency effort that brings together hundreds of experts from federal, state, and local governments, as well as the academic, non-profit, and private sectors.

Credits:

Narrator: Chris Avery, NCA Chief of Staff

Producers: Chris Avery, Allison Crimmins

Editing, Mixing, and Scoring: Mallory Hinks

Additional support: Allyza Lustig, Laurie Howell, Aaron Grade, and Michael Kuperberg

Music: AudioCoffee

Cover image: Chris Avery

Financial support: NSF

This podcast is produced by the US Global Change Research Program. All rights reserved.

Additional links:

The Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) Companion Podcast is a limited series intended to introduce the report, showcase the perspectives of NCA5 authors and staff, and demonstrate how the Assessment can help inform decisions.

Bonus Episode! Art has the ability to capture the imagination and communicate lived experiences in profound ways. In this episode, we discuss the major art-related efforts of the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) with the artists themselves. First, we are joined by the 24th U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, who reads her NCA5 poem “Startlement.” Ada discusses what artists and scientists have in common and how deeply intertwined art and science can be. 

NCA5 Director Allison Crimmins is also joined by USGCRP Senior Staff Manager Allyza Lustig for a behind the scenes look at the NCA5 Art x Climate initiative. This first-of-its-kind effort is a significant achievement of NCA5, and Allyza explains how it evolved and why, as well as the impact it had even before the NCA5 was released. We are also joined by Tammy West and Simona Clausnitzer, two of the award-winning artists, who explain their artworks and reasons for contributing to Art x Climate.

NCA5, which was released in fall 2023, is the US. Government’s preeminent report on climate change impacts, risks, and adaptation across the Nation. It is a congressionally mandated, interagency effort that brings together hundreds of experts from federal, state, and local governments, as well as the academic, non-profit, and private sectors.

Credits:

Producers: Chris Avery, Allison Crimmins

Host: Allison Crimmins

Editing, Mixing, and Scoring: Mallory Hinks

Additional support: Allyza Lustig, Laurie Howell, Aaron Grade, and Michael Kuperberg

Music: AudioCoffee

Cover image: Chris Avery

Poetry: Ada Limón

Financial support: NSF

This podcast is produced by the US Global Change Research Program. The perspectives shared by the participants do not represent official positions of the United States Government. All rights reserved. 

Additional links:

The Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) Companion Podcast is a limited series intended to introduce the report, showcase the perspectives of NCA5 authors and staff, and demonstrate how the Assessment can help inform decisions.

In this final episode of our series, we examine the evolution of climate science and look to the future. What opportunities does the NCA5 reveal, and what challenges can it help you overcome? How can people use the National Climate Assessments as they face future risks? We’ll discuss how the NCA can be a tool to address climate change and how you can be a part of a brighter, safer future.

Guests include:

• Dave Reidmiller, Author, Northeast chapter;

• Zeke Hausfather, Author, Climate Trends chapter;

• Julian Reyes, Deputy Director for Climate Services at USGCRP;

• Rebecca Dodder, federal Coordinating Lead Author, Mitigation chapter;

• AR Siders, Author, Adaptation chapter; and

• Michael Kuperberg, Executive Director of the US Global Change Research Program.

NCA5, which was released in fall 2023, is the US. Government’s preeminent report on climate change impacts, risks, and adaptation across the Nation. It is a congressionally mandated, interagency effort that brings together hundreds of experts from federal, state, and local governments, as well as the academic, non-profit, and private sectors.

Credits:

Producers: Chris Avery, Allison Crimmins

Host: Allison Crimmins

Editing, Mixing, and Scoring: Mallory Hinks

Additional support: Allyza Lustig, Laurie Howell, Aaron Grade, and Michael Kuperberg

Music: AudioCoffee

Cover image: Chris Avery

Poetry: Ada Limón

Financial support: NSF

This podcast is produced by the US Global Change Research Program. The perspectives shared by the participants do not represent official positions of the United States Government. All rights reserved. 

Additional links:

The Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) Companion Podcast is a limited series intended to introduce the report, showcase the perspectives of NCA5 authors and staff, and demonstrate how the Assessment can help inform decisions.

From health and economics to food and the built environment, climate change has the potential to affect everything about our lives. In this episode, we discuss with authors of the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) what the science reveals about some of the most important climate-related risks facing the United States. 

Guests include:

• Virginia Jin, Author, Agriculture, Food Systems, and Rural Communities chapter;

• Emile Elias, Federal Coordinating Lead Author, Southwest chapter;

• Eric Chu, Chapter Lead, Built Environment chapter;

• Kacey Ernst, Author, Human Health chapter and Lead, Focus on Covid-19 Box;

• Julie Maldonado; Author, Human Health chapter;

• Simon Greenhill; Chapter Lead, Economics chapter;

• Ariela Zycherman, Agency Chapter Lead, Social Systems and Justice chapter; and

• Adrienne Hollis, Author, Mitigation chapter.

NCA5, which was released in fall 2023, is the US. Government’s preeminent report on climate change impacts, risks, and adaptation across the Nation. It is a congressionally mandated, interagency effort that brings together hundreds of experts from federal, state, and local governments, as well as the academic, non-profit, and private sectors.

Credits:

Producers: Chris Avery, Allison Crimmins

Host: Allison Crimmins

Editing, Mixing, and Scoring: Mallory Hinks

Additional support: Allyza Lustig, Laurie Howell, Aaron Grade, and Michael Kuperberg

Music: AudioCoffee

Cover image: Chris Avery

Financial support: NSF

This podcast is produced by the US Global Change Research Program. The perspectives shared by the participants do not represent official positions of the United States Government. All rights reserved. 

Additional links:

The Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) Companion Podcast is a limited series intended to introduce the report, showcase the perspectives of NCA5 authors and staff, and demonstrate how the Assessment can help inform decisions.

We’re taking a classic American road trip, with a modern virtual twist! In this episode, travel across the country with NCA5 Director Allison Crimmins to some of the geographic regions highlighted in NCA5. You’ll hear from NCA5 authors along the way about the impacts of climate change on their own regions, what makes their regions unique, and some of the things their communities care about most. 

Guests include:

• Michael Chang, Chapter Lead, Northwest chapter;

• Alyssa Quintyne, Author, Alaska chapter;

• Aaron Wilson, Chapter Lead, Midwest chapter; 

• Jeremy Hoffman, Chapter Lead, Southeast chapter;

• Isabel Rivera-Collazo, Author, U.S. Caribbean chapter; and 

• Abby Frazier, Chapter Lead, Hawai’i and U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands chapter.

NCA5, which was released in fall 2023, is the US. Government’s preeminent report on climate change impacts, risks, and adaptation across the Nation. It is a congressionally mandated, interagency effort that brings together hundreds of experts from federal, state, and local governments, as well as the academic, non-profit, and private sectors.

Credits:

Producers: Chris Avery, Allison Crimmins

Host: Allison Crimmins

Editing, Mixing, and Scoring: Mallory Hinks

Additional support: Allyza Lustig, Laurie Howell, Aaron Grade, and Michael Kuperberg

Music: AudioCoffee

Cover image: Chris Avery

Financial support: NSF

This podcast is produced by the US Global Change Research Program. The perspectives shared by the participants do not represent official positions of the United States Government. All rights reserved. 

Additional links:

The Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) Companion Podcast is a limited series intended to introduce the report, showcase the perspectives of NCA5 authors and staff, and demonstrate how the Assessment can help inform decisions.

Many communities across the country are already addressing the impacts of climate change. In this episode, we hear from several authors of the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) about innovations in mitigation, adaptation, and resilience and lessons learned from those communities taking action. 

Guests include:

• Rebecca Dodder, federal Coordinating Lead Author, Mitigation chapter;

• Emily Wasley, Chapter Lead, Adaptation chapter;

• Jess Whitehead, Chapter Lead, Northeast chapter; and

• Tischa Muñoz-Erikson, Author, Built Environment chapter.

NCA5, which was released in fall 2023, is the US. Government’s preeminent report on climate change impacts, risks, and adaptation across the Nation. It is a congressionally mandated, interagency effort that brings together hundreds of experts from federal, state, and local governments, as well as the academic, non-profit, and private sectors.

Credits:

Producers: Chris Avery, Allison Crimmins

Host: Allison Crimmins

Editing, Mixing, and Scoring: Mallory Hinks

Additional support: Allyza Lustig, Laurie Howell, Aaron Grade, and Michael Kuperberg

Music: AudioCoffee

Cover image: Chris Avery

Financial support: NSF

This podcast is produced by the US Global Change Research Program. The perspectives shared by the participants do not represent official positions of the United States Government. All rights reserved. 

Additional links:

The Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) Companion Podcast is a limited series intended to introduce the report, showcase the perspectives of NCA5 authors and staff, and demonstrate how the Assessment can help inform decisions.

In our first episode, we’ll hear from the leadership of the National Climate Assessment: NCA5 Director Allison Crimmins and NCA Chief of Staff Chris Avery. They discuss what NCA5 is, where it came from, and how you use it. We’ll also hear from two NCA5 authors, Kate Marvel and Adam Parris, about how climate science is relevant to our daily lives and how this report connects to the lived experience of people across the country.

NCA5, which was released in fall 2023, is the US. Government’s preeminent report on climate change impacts, risks, and adaptation across the Nation. It is a congressionally mandated, interagency effort that brings together hundreds of experts from federal, state, and local governments, as well as the academic, non-profit, and private sectors.

Credits:

Producers: Chris Avery, Allison Crimmins

Host: Allison Crimmins

Editing, Mixing, and Scoring: Mallory Hinks

Additional support: Allyza Lustig, Laurie Howell, Aaron Grade, and Michael Kuperberg

Music: AudioCoffee

Cover image: Chris Avery

Poetry: Ada Limón

Financial support: NSF

This podcast is produced by the US Global Change Research Program. The perspectives shared by the participants do not represent official positions of the United States Government. All rights reserved. 

Additional links: