North American Carbon Program

The North American Carbon Program (NACP) is one of the major elements of the Strategic Plan for the U.S. Climate Change Science Program. The central objective of NACP is to measure and understand carbon stocks and the sources and sinks of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and carbon monoxide (CO) in North America and in adjacent ocean regions.

The specific program goals are to:

Develop quantitative scientific knowledge, robust observations, and models to determine the emissions and uptake of CO2, CH4, and CO, changes in carbon stocks, and the factors regulating these processes for North America and adjacent ocean basins.

Develop the scientific basis to implement full carbon accounting on regional and continental scales. This is the knowledge base needed to design monitoring programs for natural and managed CO2 sinks and emissions of CH4.

Support long-term quantitative measurements of fluxes, sources, and sinks of atmospheric CO2 and CH4, and develop forecasts for future trends.

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