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  At the international level a program on global change has been organized under the rubric of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program. On the national level, the President's Office of Science and Technology Policy has organized an interagency Committee on Earth and Environmental Sciences to bring together the resources of the U.S. on issues relating to global change. The Smithsonian has played an active role in the Committee's work to formulate a U.S. Global Change Research Program.

  The Smithsonian has extensive experience in many areas of global change research, especially long-term environmental and biological monitoring; fundamental research in atmospheric, earth, marine, and biological sciences; and studies of evolutionary processes revealed through the fossil record that provide perspective on natural global change. No agency of government or private organization has such facilities, expertise or collections in these areas, and the Smithsonian's ability to maintain long-term programs focused on specific studies is a crucial element in ensuring understanding of global change processes.

  The following bureaus are involved in specific programs:

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory - solar physics (how our sun's activities vary), chemistry and physics of the earth's atmosphere.

Smithsonian  Astrophysical Observatory, National Air and Space Museum, and the National Museum of Natural History - geological processes and how they vary through time; geodesy (i.e. sophisticated measurements) and remote sensing of earth, to monitor environmental change. 

National Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute - systemics, biogeography and evolution of the earth's biota.

National Zoological Park, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, and Smithsonian Tropical Research Center - biological properties, including ecology, behavior, physiology and conservation of organisms, and the structure and function of ecosystems.

National Museum of Natural History, Office of Folklife Programs, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute - cultural diversity and its relationship to biological diversity.

National Zoological Park, National Museum of Natural History - training workshops for scientists and managers in developing countries.