Reports and Publications

This document is intended to provide an introductory overview to climate models and their function. It explains the basics of how a climate model works, how data can be transformed from a global to a regional scale, and the constraints placed on modeling as a result of computational power. It also explains the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) and modeling scenarios established by CMIP. It is not an exhaustive overview, nor is it intended to replace a formal modeling course for those wishing to run climate models. The intended audience includes those who would like to understand or are interested in using model output. 

This product is part of the Agricultural Weather Study funded by the Minnesota State Department of Commerce.

This handbook, by MCAP Director Dr. Heidi Roop, explains why we need to take action now to combat climate change and offers 100 varied and doable solutions. A visually stunning guide, it does what no other climate change book manages to do: it's approachable, digestible, and offers the average person ideas, options, and a roadmap for action. It also offers hope—often overlooked in climate change conversations. Climate actions can create near-instantaneous improvements in air quality and can offer ways to address societal inequities, green our communities, save money, and build local economies. 

This study investigated climate information needs and priorities of stakeholders in the U.S. Corn Belt. Results reveal that stakeholders are primarily concerned with practical and tactical decision making to inform agricultural, water, and risk management and to support desired economic outcomes. The study can be used to inform development of decision support tools that respond to these information needs and present data in a meaningful and accessible way. 

In this study, the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership (MCAP) and HGA characterize the climate projection data needs of Architecture and Engineering (A&E) professionals in the United States; challenges they encounter accessing, understanding, and applying these data; and opportunities to advance A&E climate resilience services and expertise.  

MCAP Climate Resilience Researcher, Brenda Hoppe, and colleagues Leah Prussia, Christie Manning, Kristin Raab, and Kelsey Jones-Casey share their findings in the new publication “It’s Hard to Give Hope Sometimes”: Climate Change, Mental Health, and the Challenges for Mental Health Professionals in the journal Ecopsychology.The paper highlights research regarding the growing challenges facing mental health professionals as clients experience the mental health impacts of climate change. A comprehensive survey was conducted with over 500 active licensed Minnesota mental health professionals and found a need for more interdisciplinary research to design and implement tools to address the impacts of climate change on clients.

In January 2021, a survey was distributed to assess climate projection information needs among potential users in Minnesota. 218 people from the private sector, academia, NGOs, and government answered questions about the usefulness of downscaled climate projection data, possible applications, and their preference for project leadership, funding, and management. The majority of respondents indicated that temperature and precipitation data would be useful at seasonal, monthly, and annual time scales. More than any other entity, the University of Minnesota was the preferred institution to lead the project and house the data. These survey results will inform the Dynamically Downscaled Climate Projections, a two-year project recently funded by the Minnesota State Legislature.