Journal article
Unlocking the benefits of transparent and reusable science for climate risk management
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.123(3), e2422157123
01/20/2026
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2422157123
PMCID: PMC12818561
PMID: 41533440
Abstract
People around the world seek climate risk information to guide their decisions. For instance, projections about future flood risk inform where households choose to live, how lenders manage credit risks, and which communities receive federal funding. Yet data limitations and fundamental validation challenges raise important concerns about the reliability of such projections. The principles of transparency and reusability help address these concerns by enabling scrutiny of assumptions and methods, development of foundational data and tools, and consistent application of evaluation standards. While there is ongoing debate about how much transparency commercial climate risk services should provide, many expect noncommercial actors to lead the way on operationalizing transparency and reusability to fulfill their knowledge-building role in the climate risk ecosystem. However, despite prominent success stories, we find a substantial gap between principles and practice: Only four percent of the most-cited peer-reviewed climate risk studies in recent years fully share their data and code although this is a widely accepted minimum standard for transparency. We highlight low-cost measures that noncommercial researchers can take now to improve transparency and reusability. We also emphasize that transformative progress requires substantial investment, cross-sector collaboration, and careful consideration of tradeoffs, data rights, and multiple perspectives on equity. We hope this perspective accelerates both immediate actions and longer-term conversations to improve the ability of science to effectively support timely, evidence-based, and sound climate risk management.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Unlocking the benefits of transparent and reusable science for climate risk management
- Creators
- Adam B Pollack - University of IowaLisa Auermuller - Rutgers, The State University of New JerseyCasey D Burleyson - Pacific Northwest National LaboratoryJentry Campbell - Dartmouth HospitalMadison Condon - Boston UniversityCourtney Cooper - Berry CollegeMatteo Coronese - Scuola Superiore Sant'AnnaSönke Dangendorf - NOAA Office for Coastal ManagementJames Doss-Gollin - Rice UniversityPrabhat Hegde - Dartmouth CollegeCasey Helgeson - Pennsylvania State UniversityRobert E Kopp - Rutgers, The State University of New JerseyJan Kwakkel - Delft University of TechnologyCorey Lesk - Dartmouth CollegeJustin Mankin - Lamont-Doherty Earth ObservatoryRobert E Nicholas - Pennsylvania State UniversityJennie Rice - Pacific Northwest National LaboratorySamantha Roth - Dartmouth CollegeVivek Srikrishnan - Cornell UniversityMoira Scheeler - Rutgers, The State University of New JerseyNancy Tuana - Pennsylvania State UniversityChris Vernon - Pacific Northwest National LaboratoryMengqi Zhao - Pacific Northwest National LaboratoryKlaus Keller - Dartmouth College
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS, Vol.123(3), e2422157123
- DOI
- 10.1073/pnas.2422157123
- PMID
- 41533440
- PMCID
- PMC12818561
- NLM abbreviation
- Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
- ISSN
- 1091-6490
- eISSN
- 1091-6490
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences; WASHINGTON
- Grant note
- n/a / Dartmouth | Neukom Institute for Computational Science, Dartmouth College (NICS) n/a / Dartmouth College (Dartmouth) n/a / Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences n/a / Fonds de recherche du Quebec n/a / Penn State Center for Climate Risk Management n/a / Rock Ethics Institute ICER-2103754 / NSF (NSF)
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 01/20/2026
- Academic Unit
- School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability
- Record Identifier
- 9985129654302771
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