U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit

Extreme Heat. More frequent, severe, and longer heat waves will increase people's vulnerability to heat-related health impacts, especially among the elderly, the poor, and those suffering from chronic ...

Increased Levels of Air Pollutants. Reduced air quality—from increased ozone and particulates, smoke from more frequent wildfires, and increased pollen levels—is associated with many health issues, in ...

Extreme Events. Increased storm activity—including more severe and frequent flooding and higher, more far-reaching storm surge—will result in increased physical and mental health hazards. * Home ...

Biodiversity Conservation. Ecosystems that are already stressed by habitat loss, pollution, and human harvesting are increasingly sensitive to the impacts of climate change. * Home ...

Invasive Species. The impacts of climate change increase the frequency of ecological disturbances. These disturbances present opportunities for invasive species to become established and spread. ...

Carbon Balance. Forests, grasslands, wetlands, and oceans are significant absorbers of carbon dioxide. Climate change threatens carbon sequestration by promoting processes that release carbon dioxide ...

Water Resources. Increasing temperatures and changing precipitation patterns can alter the volume and quality of stream flows, impacting communities of plants and animals. * Home ...

Fire Regimes. Increasing temperatures and decreasing precipitation can change the frequency and severity of fires in natural vegetation, altering the succession of plants and animals that can thrive i ...

Food Distribution. Food distribution systems at the local, national, and international scales are vulnerable to impacts of climate variability and change. Such impacts can affect transit time, deliver ...

International Food Security. Changes in crop and livestock production yields resulting from climate variability and change will have consequences for global food security, and could lead to global pri ...