The Pacific Northwest (PNW) regional assessment is an integrated examination of the consequences of natural climate variability and projected future climate change for the natural and human systems of the region. The assessment currently focuses on four sectors: hydrology/water resources, forests and forestry, aquatic ecosystems, and coastal activities. The assessment begins by identifying and elucidating the natural patterns of climate vanability in the PNW on interannual to decadal timescales. The pathways through which these climate variations are manifested and the resultant impacts on the natural and human systems of the region are investigated. Knowledge of these pathways allows an analysis of the potential impacts of future climate change, as defined by IPCC climate change scenarios. In this paper, we examine the sensitivity, adaptability and vulnerability of hydrology and water resources to climate variability and change. We focus on the Columbia River Basin, which covers approximately 75 percent of the PNW and is the basis for the dominant water resources system of the PNW. The water resources system of the Columbia River is sensitive to climate variability, especially with respect to drought. Management inertia and the lack of a centralized authority coordinating all uses of the resource impede adaptability to drought and optimization of water distribution. Climate change projections suggest exacerbated conditions of conflict between users as a result of low summertime streamfiow conditions. An understanding of the patterns and consequences of regional climate variability is crucial to developing an adequate response to future changes in climate. (KEY TERMS: integrated regional assessment; climate sensitivity and vulnerability; management adaptability; long-term water resources planning; hydroclimatology; Columbia River Basin; climate variability; climate change.)

To better understand North Pacific climate variability at interannual to interdecadal scales, we have developed a new tool for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. We show that growth rings in long‐lived geoduck clams (Panopea abrupta) can provide high quality, annually resolved records of sea‐surface temperature (SST). We used shell samples from the Strait of Juan de Fuca, in Washington State, to extend the coastal SST record back to 1877. The spatial correlation pattern between the growth index and gridded SSTs bears a strong resemblance to the leading pattern of interdecadal global SST variations and underscores the remarkable long‐distance coherence evident among coastal SST records in the northeast Pacific. Our results also indicate that the 1990s was the warmest decade in this region since at least the 1850s.

Research Articles: "Doc2b is a high-affi nity Ca 2+ sensor for spontaneous neurotransmitter release" by A. J. Groffen et al. (26 March, p. 1614). Several author affi liations were not footnoted properly; three corrected affi liations follow.

Climate variability and change are considerably important for a wide range of human activities and natural ecosystems. Climate science has made major advances during the last two decades, yet climate information is neither routinely useful for nor used in planning. What is needed is a mechanism, a national climate service (NCS), to connect climate science to decision-relevant questions and support building capacity to anticipate, plan for, and adapt to climate fluctuations. This article contributes to the national debate for an NCS by describing the rationale for building an NCS, the functions and services it would provide, and how it should be designed and evaluated. The NCS is most effectively achieved as a federal interagency partnership with critically important participation by regional climate centers, state climatologists, the emerging National Integrated Drought Information System, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Regional Integrated Sciences Assessment (RISA) teams in a sustained relationship with a wide variety of stakeholders. Because the NCS is a service, and because evidence indicates that the regional spatial scale is most important for delivering climate services, given subnational geographical/geophysical complexity, attention is focused on lessons learned from the University of Washington Climate Impacts Group's 10 years of experience, the first of the NOAA RISA teams.Pacific Northwest climate ͉ regional integrated sciences and assessments T he last 20 years have seen exciting advancements in climate science, from seasonal forecasting to understanding anthropogenic climate change. Equally exciting is the growing awareness in scientific and resource management communities of the opportunities and challenges presented by these scientific advancements. Capturing the full potential of this increasing synergism between the producers and users of climate information, however, requires more than can be provided by existing institutional arrangements. What is needed is a sustained mechanism for promoting science to support decision-relevant questions, translating new climate information into relevant decision environments, and building regional and national capacity to anticipate, plan for, and adapt to climate variability and change.