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.

Wooden boardwalk leading to a beach with trees on either side and mountains in the distance.

A Community Effort Stems Runoff to Safeguard Corals in Puerto Rico

In Culebra, Puerto Rico, the community used green infrastructure to decrease coastal erosion and mitigate damage to their near-shore coral reef.

A Coral Bleaching Story With an Unknown Ending

Changing ocean conditions pose an increasing threat to the health and resilience of coral reefs. Across the two Samoas—American Samoa and the Independent State of Samoa—people are planning to protect these important ecosystems.

Panorama of the Homer Spit in Homer, Alaska

A Town with a Plan: Community, Climate, and Conversations

Homer, Alaska, has been taking action to reduce climate change for almost a decade. As the ten-year anniversary of their first plan looms on the horizon, the community is engaging in conversations about adaptation.

Alaskan Tribes Join Together to Assess Harmful Algal Blooms

Tribal communities in southeastern Alaska are partnering with federal and state agencies to investigate increasing frequency, duration, and extent of harmful algal blooms—events that pose human health risks to subsistence harvesters.

Building Resilience in the Face of Ocean Acidification

The Alutiiq Pride Shellfish Hatchery in Seward, Alaska, is collaborating with federal and academic partners to measure the impacts of ocean acidification on shellfish—and develop possible adaptation strategies.

How Will Fish Fare in the Future? Assessing Vulnerability Across an Ecosystem

Fisheries in the Northeast—and the businesses that depend on them—want to know how fish will respond to climate change. A new methodology helps scientists and fisheries managers identify species' vulnerability across an ecosystem.

Keeping Toxins From Harmful Algal Blooms out of the Food Supply

Dense populations of some microscopic algae (phytoplankton) in ocean waters can contaminate seafood, resulting in serious health problems for humans. Satellite data displayed in an online tool help fishermen monitor and avoid these harmful algal blooms.

Luck Is Not a Policy We Can Count On: Boston Takes a Proactive Approach to Climate Adaptation

After witnessing what happened in New York City during Hurricane Sandy, Boston city leaders were determined to get ahead of their potential problems. To do so, they convened a diverse coalition of residents and worked to craft a comprehensive plan to adapt to climate change.

Maine's Lobster Fishing Community Confronts Their Changing Climate

Participatory planning and system dynamics modeling help fishermen in coastal Maine make decisions to improve their bottom lines.

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.

Oyster Growers Prepare for Changing Ocean Chemistry

As the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide, ocean acidity changes—inhibiting the growth of oysters. A new tool may be able to help oyster growers understand how they will be affected.

Healthy coral reef in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands.

Pollution and Coral Health in the Virgin Islands

Coral communities are under pressure from land-based pollutants and sediments. Now, coastal managers now can access an effective tool to correlate human land-use activity with coral reef condition. Resource managers can use this information to increase resilience for corals—and the people who depend on them.

Protecting Fish to Save Coral Reefs

Coral reefs off the west coast of Maui are readily accessible and heavily used by visitors and locals alike. Managers needed a plan to boost the resilience of the reefs so they could continue providing critical habitat for marine species.

Homeland of the Suquamish Tribe taken from Port Madison Bay

Suquamish Build Resilience to Ocean Acidification Through Education

Changing ocean chemistry could have a disastrous impact on shellfish and fisheries in Puget Sound. The Suquamish Tribe is working with partners to inform the public about this problem while they elicit support for research and monitoring the issue.

Pago Pago Harbor, American Samoa with fuel tanks in foreground.

The Pacific Islands Climate Storybook

To empower community climate adaptation in the Pacific Islands, a multi-island coalition expanded upon a 2015 comprehensive template for writing climate stories and the collection of case studies. The new Storybook is a roadmap to predict, prepare, and adapt, to a changing climate.

Cloudy sky over ocean and flat beach environment

Tribal Community Partners with Researchers to Monitor Food and Climate

Residents of a rural Alaska village are studying their environment to understand and protect their food. Their research partnership hires and trains students and local residents to contribute to high-quality research...and builds the capacity of the local workforce.