U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit

These graphs illustrate two levels of resilience. On the left, a community operates at a steady state until an acute hazard occurs. In response, the level of service drops below a tipping point; the community recovers somewhat, but suffers a permanent loss. On the right, actions taken prior to an acute hazard increase the community capacity. From this higher baseline, the same acute hazard still requires a period of recovery, but no irreversible damage occurs. Building resilience means improving conditions that help a community accommodate future disruptions.