Case Studies | U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit

Communities, businesses, and individuals are taking action to document their vulnerabilities and build resilience to climate-related impacts. Click dots on the map to preview case studies, or browse stories below the map. Use the drop-down menus above to find stories of interest. To expand your results, click the Clear Filters link.

Photo of pararescueman Staff Sgt. Lopaka Mounts receiving a hug from a resident after Hurricane Ike, Sept. 13, 2008.

A Climate for Resilience

The City of Houston faces an array of climate vulnerabilities: flooding, drought, tropical cyclones, and extreme heat can all affect the city's population and industries. Government and non-profit agencies in the region combined their resources in a pilot project to plan for climate resilience.

Skyline of Las Cruces, NM and the Organ Mountains

Catalyzing Investment and Building Capacity in Las Cruces

Planning with extreme weather thresholds catalyzes a $400,000 green infrastructure investment in a historically underserved neighborhood in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

The Coleman Theater in downtown Miami, OK

Eighth Graders and Emergency Preparedness in Oklahoma

Educating local middle-schoolers about emergency preparedness allows the small city of Miami to build climate resilience in an accessible way—and broach the topic of climate change.

How Vulnerable Are Salmon to a Changing Climate?

Researchers in Washington's South Fork Nooksack River are seeking to better understand the potential impacts of climate change on water quality and salmon recovery—a process they hope can be replicated and scaled in other watersheds across the country.

Colorado National Guardsmen respond to floods in Boulder County, Colorado, on September 12, 2013

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night: Extreme Weather Leads to Collaboration in Boulder

The city charts its path to resilience by focusing on extreme weather and interdepartmental collaboration.

Our Spirits Remain Tied to This Land

The Puyallup Tribe conducted a climate change impact assessment for their ancestral lands along the Puyallup River and the coasts of Puget Sound—and improved tribal and regional adaptive capacity.

Fond du Lac Resource Management and Tribal Court Building

The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Combine Mitigation with Capacity Building

This Minnesota tribal community—which subscribes to the Seven Generations philosophy—is taking action to reduce its contributions to greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously building community capacity to adapt.

When Weather Becomes a Problem: Motivating Resilience Action in Texas

In San Angelo, a focus on addressing current weather-related concerns provided an avenue for taking action and created a foundation on which to build future climate resilience efforts.