Access a range of climate-related reports issued by government agencies and scientific organizations. Browse the reports listed below, or filter by scope, content, or focus in the boxes above. To expand your results, click the Clear Filters link.
An analysis of 45 years of U.S. Forest Service records from the western U.S. show that the number of large fires on Forest Service land is increasing dramatically. The area burned by these fires is also growing at an alarming rate.
The Arctic is changing at a startling pace. Understanding the role of freshwater in these changes—both how Arctic freshwater systems are affected by climate change, and how changes to the Arctic freshwater system will affect other environmentally relevant processes—is critical to understanding how these changes will affect the lives of people living in the Arctic and beyond. This report is intended to inform the non-expert reader about these changes to the freshwater systems in the Arctic, and their implications.
Rapidly rising seas threaten to drown tidal marshes and diminish the benefits provided to people and wildlife by these valuable coastal ecosystems. Increasingly, government agencies and non-government organizations are harnessing the power of computer-based models of marsh ecosystems to inform management and policy strategies to sustain tidal marshes. This report covers the entire modeling lifecycle, from developing a modeling approach and working with data to communicating modeling results. While some of the information pertains specifically to the northeastern United States, the report is also intended as a useful resource for modeling of marsh migration in other regions. The report is available online, with a printer-friendly version also available for download.
This technical report focuses on sharing the collective efforts of the Inuit Circumpolar Council-Alaska, 146 Inuit contributing authors, a 12-member Food Security Advisory Committee, and many other Inuit who provided input and guidance to the process. The report aspires to strengthen the evidence base of (1) what Inuit food security is, (2) what the drivers of food (in)security are, and (3) identify information needed to conduct an assessment through the development of a conceptual framework. The assessment tool is designed to build the baseline of information needed to understand the Arctic environment and allow a pathway for assessments (food security, ecosystem, political, cultural, etc.) to link eco- and socio- components of sciences and indigenous knowledge.
Living shorelines provide an innovative approach to reducing damage and erosion while simultaneously enhancing coastal community resilience by providing additional social, economic, and ecological benefits. NOAA supports alternative approaches to hardened shorelines and seeks innovative ways to increase coastal resilience to erosion and storm threats while conserving habitats for living marine resources. Important components of this report include what to consider when selecting appropriate techniques (e.g., vegetation, edging, sills, vegetated breakwaters) to balance shoreline stabilization and coastal and marine resource conservation, and how to navigate NOAA’s potential regulatory (consultation and permitting) and programmatic roles in living shorelines project planning.
This document identifies seven key steps to increase production, delivery, and use of climate-related information to support the management of fish stocks, fisheries, and protected species. The steps focus on how a changing climate affects living marine resources, ecosystems, and the communities that depend on them, and how to respond to those changes. The strategy identifies key risks in the U.S. from climate change, including millions of U.S. jobs, ocean fisheries worth billions, protected marine species, habitats that provide valuable services, and the health and enjoyment of our oceans and coasts from recreation and tourism.
Many climate-related hydrologic variables in New England have changed in the past century, and many are expected to change during the next century. It is important to understand and monitor these changes because they can affect human water supply, hydroelectric power generation, transportation infrastructure, and stream and riparian ecology. This report describes a framework for hydrologic monitoring in New England by means of a climate-response network.
The Northern Plains has experienced increased weather variability and climatic changes throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries. This assessment presents observed changes, such as increased length of frost-free seasons, which pose risks and opportunities to agricultural production in the region. The assessment also highlights adaptation practices working land managers might consider to prepare for and respond to changes in climate by adjusting management in ways that harness benefits or reduce anticipated effect.
This document guides federal land managers in the effective and efficient use of available resources and engaging public and private partnerships in taking action for the conservation and management of pollinators and pollinator habitat on federal lands.
Successfully negotiating climate change challenges will require integrating a sound scientific basis for climate preparedness into local planning, resource management, infrastructure, and public health, as well as introducing new strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or increase carbon sequestration into nearly every sector of California’s economy. This Research Plan presents a strategy for developing the requisite knowledge through a targeted body of policy-relevant, California-specific research over three to five years (from early 2014), and determines California’s most critical climate-related research gaps.
This report builds on Maine’s earlier report from 2009—it is not intended as a comprehensive revision of all aspects of the original report. This update focuses on highlights of the understanding in 2015 of past, present, and future trends in key indicators of a changing climate specific to Maine, and recent examples of how Maine people are experiencing these changes.
Find out how hometowns across the United States are building their resilience to climate change. Two women who studied climate change science and policy in graduate school took a three-month road trip to find out what climate change adaptation looks like in the United States. They visited more than 30 communities preparing for climate change and documented what they learned in blogs and through media reports. This report describes six big lessons from the ongoing adaptation work they saw across the country.
Western Water Assessment, in collaboration with the University of Colorado Boulder and Colorado State University, conducted a broad study of climate vulnerability for the state of Colorado. Drawing from existing data and peer-reviewed research, the study summarizes the key challenges facing seven sectors: ecosystems, water, agriculture, energy, transportation, outdoor recreation and tourism, and public health.
This report provides current and relevant climate adaptation information to a diverse audience of legislators, government agencies, policy makers, educators, nongovernment organizations, business, industry, researchers, other stakeholders and the public.
In support of the Eugene-Springfield Multi-Jurisdictional Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan, staff from the cities of Eugene and Springfield, Oregon, with support from the Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience, convened meetings in 2014 with representatives from the following sectors: drinking water, health care and public education, electricity, transportation, food, housing, communication, stormwater, wastewater, natural systems, and public safety. The team met for six hours with each sector and, working from a standard list of questions, collected information about the adaptive capacity and sensitivity to specific hazards. This report includes sector summaries resulting from these interviews that reflect the conversations and thinking of the participants.
In this Priority Agenda, the Council on Climate Preparedness and Resilience outlined four strategies to help make our natural resources more resilient to climate change. The agenda represented a first-of-its-kind, comprehensive commitment across the federal government to support resilience of our natural resources, documenting progress and providing roadmaps for action. The actions outlined in the agenda focus on protecting important landscapes and developing new science, planning, and tools to foster climate-resilient lands and waters; enhancing U.S. carbon sinks such as forests, grasslands, wetlands, and coastal areas; promoting innovative 21st century infrastructure that integrates natural systems into community development, including green storm water infrastructure; and modernizing federal programs, investments, and services to build resilience and enhance carbon storage.
A five-year effort by the California Department of Water Resources, this report presents the status and trends of California's water-dependent natural resources, water supplies, and agricultural, urban, and environmental water demands for a range of plausible future scenarios. Update 2013, as it is known, is designed to work in tandem and help implement the Governor’s Water Action Plan. At more than 3,500 pages, Update 2013 covers a variety of information, from detailed descriptions of current and potential regional and statewide water conditions to a “Roadmap For Action” intended to achieve desired benefits and outcomes.
A 24-year tradition encompassing the work of 425 authors from 57 countries, 2013's State of the Climate report uses dozens of climate indicators to track patterns, changes, and trends of the global climate system.
This plan—an update to the 2009 California Climate Adaptation Strategy—augments previously identified strategies in light of advances in climate science and risk management options.
This report provides a basic summary of the observed and projected changes to the ecosystems in Hawai'i and their resulting impacts for residents.
The report highlights the state’s achievement of returning to 1990 emissions levels by 2010. Additionally, Connecticut is likely to meet its goal of acheiving emissions levels 10 percent below 1990 levels before 2020. The report also presents the state’s climate adaptation and resiliency work.
This report documents the effort to develop an understanding of possible impacts of climate change and potential future responses by the Towns of Acushnet and Fairhaven and the City of New Bedford, Massachusetts. It focuses specific attention on sea level rise, precipitation, and frequency or intensity of storms that may affect public infrastructure related to water quality and habitat protection.
Intense rainstorms, floods, and heat waves will become more common in the Great Lakes region due to climate change in the coming decades. While ice-cover declines will lengthen the commercial navigation season on the lakes, warmer lake temperatures will increase risks from invasive species, and could threaten water quality. Material in this report is largely a synthesis of the information contained in the National Climate Assessment’s chapters on the Midwest (Chapter 18) and Northeast (Chapter 16). Donald Scavia, GLISA's co-director, was one of the convening authors of the NCA's Midwest regional chapter; GLISA also served as a hub for the compilation of technical inputs for the Midwest chapter.
This report looks at how climate change is affecting the nation’s wildlife and habitats, and addresses how natural resource managers need to prepare for and adapt to these unprecedented changes.
The National Climate Assessment assesses the science of climate change and its impacts across the United States, now and throughout this century. It documents climate change-related impacts and responses for various sectors and regions, with the goal of better informing public and private decision making at all levels.
The assessment draws from a large body of scientific peer-reviewed research, technical input reports, and other publicly available sources; all sources meet the standards of the Information Quality Act. The report was extensively reviewed by the public and experts, including a panel of the National Academy of Sciences, the 13 federal agencies of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, and the Federal Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Sustainability.
This Fifth Assessment Report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group III is a comprehensive assessment by of all relevant options for mitigating climate change through limiting or preventing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as activities that remove them from the atmosphere.
The plan guides research and monitoring investments that will improve our understanding of ocean acidification, its potential impacts on marine species and ecosystems, and adaptation and mitigation strategies. Highlights of the plan's research goals include improving existing observing systems that monitor chemical and biological effects of ocean acidification; undertaking laboratory and field research to examine the physiological, behavioral, and evolutionary adaptive capacities of selected species; developing comprehensive models to predict changes in the ocean carbon cycle and effects on marine ecosystems and organisms; developing vulnerability assessments for various carbon dioxide emissions scenarios; and assessing the cultural, subsistence, and economic effects of ocean acidification.
As the climate changes, critical challenges face water managers, farmers, public agencies, and conservationists in the Colorado River Basin. This report by Carpe Diem West, in partnership with the Center for Natural Resources and Environmental Policy at the University of Montana, documents the concerns of some Colorado River thought leaders and their ideas about potential solutions and paths ahead.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II's contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) relates to climate impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. A Summary for Policymakers and the underlying scientific and technical assessment are also available.
These guidelines—which include climate change and sea level rise considerations—were developed to provide a comprehensive framework for site assessment and alternatives analysis to determine the need for shore protection and identify the technique that best suits the conditions at a given site. There are many guidelines and manuals for the design of "protection" techniques for the more typical open coast, but prior to the Marine Shoreline Design Guidelines (MSDG) there was almost no guidance that reflected the variety of conditions found in Puget Sound. For this reason, the MSDG were created to inform responsible management of Puget Sound shores for the benefit of landowners and shared natural resources.
As with the rest of the world and the Caribbean region in particular, the coastal and marine communities of the US Virgin Islands (USVI) are susceptible to the effects of climate change. Hazards include increasingly hazardous coastal conditions and loss of life-sustaining marine, coastal, and island resources. Climate change is anticipated to add to the stresses of the coastal environment by altering temperature and precipitation patterns, increasing the likelihood of extreme precipitation events, and accelerating rates of sea level rise.
Responding and adapting to such changes requires an understanding of the risks; weighing options for adapting to changing conditions; and instituting a suite of strategies to implement, measure, and fund response actions having the most benefits to the ecosystems and communities that depend on those services. With support from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Coral Reef Conservation Program, The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Caribbean Program directed a project with the objective of developing decision-support tools and conservation strategies that will advance the implementation of ecosystem-based adaptation (EBA) to climate change within the USVI.
This report examines climate change impacts in Hawai'i and also assesses the adaptive capacity of the Pacific Island communities.
This report, the first of its kind for the City of Grand Rapids, outlines the condition of the city's climate resiliency and offers recommendations for how it can both impact and adapt to climate change. The report's goal is to both spur a larger community conversation around processes that will enable Grand Rapids to become a more climate-resilient city and to spur many specific short- and near-term projects, policies, programs, and plans to mitigate the effects of climate change. The report documents projected local climate changes, their potential negative impact to low-income families, and outlines small near-term solutions that the city can make to curb or adapt to climate change. Recommendations include investing in green space and improving the city's tree canopy, improving the city's energy autonomy, and implementing green street infrastructure materials and maintenance techniques.
The Dane County Climate Change Action Council was formed in March 2013 with a mission to ensure that Dane County government was better prepared for weather extremes brought on by global climate change. The Council facilitated an internal review of county preparations and potential modifications to the operations and capital investments of the county, resulting in this report identifying Dane County’s potential vulnerabilities to weather extremes associated with global climate change and strategies to adapt to a changing climate. The report is the first step in the county’s effort to improve the resiliency of its climate-sensitive resources in the face of climate change; future steps will include cross-departmental collaborations to implement the adaptation strategies outlined in the report.
The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is the grand confluence of California’s waters, the place where the state’s largest rivers merge in a web of channels—and in a maze of controversy. In 2009, seeking an end to decades of conflict over water, the California Legislature established the Delta Stewardship Council with a mandate to resolve long-standing issues. The first step toward that resolution is the Delta Plan—a comprehensive management plan for California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, developed to guide state and local agencies to help achieve the co-equal goals of providing a more reliable water supply for California and protecting, restoring, and enhancing the delta's ecosystem.
The City of Marquette is the largest city in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and one of the most economically diverse in the state. The city is especially vulnerable to environmental, economic, and social impacts of climate change, largely because it borders Lake Superior. A team of Michigan State University Extension specialists and educators received funding from the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments Center (GLISA) to collaborate with GLISA researchers, relevant decision makers, and stakeholders in Marquette to increase community resilience through incorporating climate variability and change adaption strategies into local land use master plans and policies. Key stakeholders in the agriculture, forestry, natural resources, health, planning, and tourism fields participated in the development of climate change concerns and strategies. Overwhelmingly, residents and local leaders wanted to protect the natural environment that makes Marquette such a desirable place to live. This report details the process and results of this community-driven process, and also contains specific, detailed GIS maps of the region that reflect the climate vulnerabilities and concerns of the residents and leaders in the Marquette region.
NOTE: This report inspired the creation of another report: "Climate and Health Adaptation Planning Guide for Michigan Communities"
