In April 2025, the Trump Administration put a stop to all work on the National Climate Assessment, a landmark report that is congressionally mandated to be released roughly every four years. This September, the first paper in the new U.S. Climate Collection was released as a joint effort between the American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological Society. The initiative aims to fill the gap left by the absence of any future government reports and provide a guide for the latest state of climate impacts, risks, and solutions across the country. As lead author of the new paper, Melissa Kenney helped coordinate 175 independent climate scientists who contributed to it. The hope is the research will be a resource for states wishing to design their own climate assessments, and for any future administration that wants to publish another National Climate Assessment. —Kyla Mandel
What is the single most important action you think the public, or a specific company or government, needs to take in the next year to advance the climate agenda?
Scientists and funders should direct more research toward new solution pathways that empower communities, businesses and governments to take smart climate actions. The science is clear: Climate change is already impacting us, and it will continue to affect communities. But the choices we make now—the amount of greenhouse gases we emit and how we adapt to and reduce the impacts of climate-related hazards—will shape the risks that we, our children and our grandchildren face. There are many solutions that we already know work, such as wind and solar energy, reducing food waste, and protecting forests, wetlands and peatlands. The urgent challenge is to understand how to implement and scale these solutions and to develop ambitious pathways that could significantly reduce emissions or meaningfully increase community resilience. Research, done in partnership with communities and decision-makers, can identify novel options to overcome technological, financial, policy, and social barriers to advance evidence-based climate actions.
What’s one sustainability effort you personally will try to adopt in the next year?
I have a lovely urban yard that different animals—turkeys, songbirds, naughty squirrels, bunnies, bees and butterflies—call home. My daughter and I like to observe these animals’ habits and special creature features. This has me thinking about how I can create a yard that supports local plant and animal biodiversity, stores carbon, soaks up water effectively and reduces the urban heat island effect. So this year I’m transitioning our traditional grassy areas into a bee lawn that mixes low-growing flowers with turfgrasses. In doing so, I hope we’ll provide food that attracts pollinators, make our yard more colorful and eliminate the need for fertilizer, which is a source of greenhouse gas emissions.
What is a climate solution that isn't getting the attention or funding it deserves?
Nature-based climate solutions deserve greater attention and investment. These include wetland restoration, riparian stream corridors and urban forests and green spaces. These solutions are gaining popularity because they are win-wins: They store or remove carbon while also providing adaptation benefits such as reduced flooding, extreme heat and pollution. Additionally, unlike traditional engineered solutions that weaken and depreciate over time, well-designed and maintained nature-based solutions strengthen over time as plants and ecosystems mature. They improve air and water quality, provide habitat for wildlife and create healthier and more beautiful communities—a solution that provides benefits that extend well beyond climate change.
What gives you hope about the future of the planet?
What gives me hope is the creativity, optimism and determination of students and early-career scientists building careers devoted to a more sustainable future. At the Institute on the Environment, we train cohorts to become these interdisciplinary, community-engaged, visionary leaders and bridge-builders. They work with partners to synthesize knowledge and conduct research that supports decisions about strengthening building standards, reducing plastic use in the health care sector, improving land management practices and making flood and drought warnings more effective. Their commitment to producing rigorous science that helps people make informed decisions gives me confidence that we can address our climate challenges.