The National Science Foundation primarily supports paleoclimatic
research through three efforts in the Directorate for Geosciences:
Marine Geology and Geophysics, the Paleoclimate program in atmospheric sciences and the Earth System
History (ESH) Program. ESH is part of the NSF Global Change Research Programs that support research
and related activities that advance fundamental understanding of dynamic physical, biological, and
socioeconomic systems as well as interactions among those systems. Additional paleoclimatic research
is supported by the Office of Polar Programs, the
Division of Earth Sciences and other NSF programs.
The Paleoclimate program
supports research on the natural evolution of Earth's climate with the goal of providing a baseline
for present variability and future trends through improved understanding of the physical, chemical,
and biological processes that influence climate over the long-term. Proposals may be submitted at
any time during the year for all programs except those involving the allocation of observational and
computing facilities.
The Marine Geology and Geophysics
program supports research on all aspects of geology and geophysics of the ocean basins and margins,
as well as the Great Lakes.
The Earth System History (ESH) program
supports coordinated projects that focus on the past behavior of the coupled
Earth-Ocean-Atmosphere-Biosphere system which are conducted to provide insight into the factors
that govern environmental variability, rates of climate change, and large-scale responses to
climate forcing. NSF has issued a
program announcement for Earth
System History.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
supports paleoclimatic research through participation in the Earth System History Program
with NSF and through an independent call for proposals from the Climate Change Data and Detection
program element in the NOAA Climate and Global Change Program at the
NOAA Office of Global Programs. The NOAA Climate and Global
Change Program represents a NOAA contribution to evolving national and international programs
designed to improve our ability to observe, understand, predict, and respond to changes in the
global environment. The NOAA Program is a key contributing element of the U.S. Global Change
Research Program (USGCRP), which is coordinated by the interagency Committee on Environmental and
Natural Resources.
NOAA supports paleoclimatic research through the jointly managed
NSF/NOAA Earth System History (ESH) Program Announcement.
The NSF/NOAA ESH initiative represents a U.S. contribution to Past Global Changes (PAGES),
a core project of the International Geosphere - Biosphere Programme (IGBP). Within the ESH
iniative is an area of special emphasis on Paleoclimate Variability that specifically addresses
the goals of the PAGES/CLIVAR Program (IGBP-WCRP), and the proposals submitted to the
Paleoclimate Variability emphasis are given priority for NOAA funding.
NOAA also supports paleoclimatic research through the
NOAA Climate and Global Change Programs Grants.
The Climate Change Data and Detection
(CCDD) paleoclimatology effort is directed at supporting the CCDD goals of producing long time
series of key climate variables, analyzing these time series for information on climate trends
and variability, and characterizing the natural background signal of the climate system for the
purposes of detection and attribution. For FY 2003, letters of intent must be received at the
Office of Global Programs (OGP) no later than May 8, 2002. Full proposals must be received at
OGP no later than July 8, 2002.
