INDEXES OF LEADING CLIMATE INDICATORS FOR IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Could users of climate information for impact assessment be overlookin g an important source of information in climate indicators? We argue t hat indexes of leading climate indicators of impacts may be usable kno wledge for consumers and may provide guidance to the global climate ob serving community concerning the types of data and information that us ers need. Five classes of indexes are suggested: Climate Extremes Inde x (CEI) and Greenhouse Climate Response Index (GCRI) - such are alread y available from scientists at the U.S. National Climatic Data Center plus proposed indexes of Hazard Warning, Ecosystem Health, and Energy Demand and Renewable Natural Resources. We conclude that the CEI and G CRI possess several necessary attributes to become usable knowledge; t he other indexes have the potential to become usable knowledge, but re main to be implemented with climate data and fully evaluated.