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.

Report cover with words: Initial Vermont Climate Action Plan
Published
December 2021

The Vermont Climate Action Plan aims to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, help protect Vermont communities and landscapes from the greatest risks of climate change, and create new clean energy industry and jobs. The Climate Action Plan includes strategies to:

  1. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation, building, regulated utility, industrial, commercial, and agricultural sectors;
  2. Encourage smart growth and related strategies;
  3. Achieve long-term sequestration and storage of carbon and promote best management practices to achieve climate mitigation, adaption, and resilience on natural working lands;
  4. Achieve net zero emissions by 2050 across all sectors;
  5. Reduce energy burdens for rural and marginalized communities;
  6. Limit the use of chemicals, substances, or products that contribute to climate change; and
  7. Build and encourage climate adaptation and resilience of Vermont communities and natural systems.

The Climate Action Plan serves as a guide for the Vermont Legislature in setting policy that supports climate change solutions for Vermonters and Vermont's landscape. 

A range of resources documenting report preparation are available in the Climate Action Plan Appendices.

Screen capture of Report cover
Published
September 2020

This report presents recommendations for how state governments can develop climate-resilience financial systems that help local communities invest in protecting residents, businesses, public infrastructure, private property, and natural resources from climate-driven stresses and shocks. To help states consider and act on the recommendations, a State Climate Resilience Action Checklist (page 50) identifies the essential actions that states need to take to build a comprehensive approach to resilience, including a financial system. The report also offers an Inventory of Climate Resilience Actions.

Report Cover
Published
May 2020

Planning for climate change resiliency is an increasingly pressing requirement for communities throughout the world and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) region. In order to help local officials, non-profits, and communities with this process, numerous planning tools have been developed by a wide range of public and private agencies. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to explain, organize, and prioritize the tools that currently exist in order to select ones that are broadly accessible to a wide range of organizations, applicable across a range of sectors, and not overly redundant. During this selection process, a list of over 60 tools was winnowed down to a final toolkit of 18 that are particularly useful at any stage in the resiliency planning process and can be used for communities throughout the DVRPC region.

screenshot of report site
Published
September 2019

This report and the accompanying community spotlights provide an overview of climate change science, reasons why action is needed, how science supports decision making and planning, ways to adapt to climate change and limit the severity of its effects, and how such efforts can help build resiliency. The report illustrates the ways in which science can help individuals, communities, businesses, and government agencies make informed decisions. By working together to identify solutions and bring about positive change, we can reduce the risks faced by current and future generations.

Published
May 2019

The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (Tlingit & Haida) is a federally recognized Indian Tribe that serves 20 villages and communities stretching over 43,000 square miles within the Alaska Panhandle. The Tlingit and Haida membership is among the largest, most isolated, and most geographically dispersed of Native or Tribal populations nationwide. The region encompasses a 525-mile strip of coastline and interior waterways, bordered by Canada on the north, south, and east, with the Gulf of Alaska on the west.

The Central Council recognizes that wild salmon, berries, clams, herring, halibut, yellow cedar and other species important for subsistence, cash and culture are at risk. In response, they have released a 53-page climate change adaptation plan. The document is a roadmap for prioritizing, monitoring, and responding to threats stemming from warming air and ocean temperatures, caused by increasing levels of greenhouse gases trapped in the atmosphere.

Report Cover
Published
April 2019

The Beloved Community is a vision for our future where all people share equally in the wealth and bounty of the earth, where we protect its abundance, diversity, and beauty for future generations. In this vision of liberation, racism, exploitation, and domination are replaced by democracy, cooperation, interdependence, and love. To get there, we pursue transformative, systems-change solutions. What do we mean by this? The root causes of the problems our communities face—like climate change, racism, and economic inequality—are all deeply connected. Since the problems are connected, so are the solutions. The purpose of this toolkit is to put us on the path toward achieving this vision. Through the context of building equity and resilience into climate adaptation planning, we introduce strategies to transform our communities and, by extension, society. Our ultimate goal is to create lasting and systemic change. At the same time, we recognize the urgency of the issues our communities face and the need to take action now. That is why we pursue change at every scale—from policy changes to community-based projects—to institute the transformative change we need to uphold our vision of the beloved community.

Report Cover
Published
March 2019

This plan represents the efforts of the State of Minnesota in fulfilling the responsibility for hazard mitigation planning. The purpose of this plan is to identify the state’s major hazards, assess the vulnerability to those hazards, and take steps to reduce vulnerability using the technical and program resources of Minnesota agencies. The process has included consideration of current and expected future impacts from Minnesota’s already changing climate, as relevant to hazard mitigation planning. The plan identifies goals and recommends actions and initiatives for the state government to adapt to, reduce, and/or prevent injury and damage from hazardous events.

Cover of report with tree and people
Published
March 2019

The frequency and severity of disasters over the last few decades have presented unprecedented challenges for communities across the United States. This report summarizes the existing portfolio of relevant or related resilience measurement efforts and notes gaps and challenges associated with them. It describes how some communities build and measure resilience, and offers four key actions that communities could take to build and measure their resilience to address gaps identified in current community resilience measurement efforts. The report also provides recommendations to the Gulf Research Program to build and measure resilience in the Gulf of Mexico region.

Cover of report with people in boat on a flooded street.
Published
March 2019

Flooding is the natural hazard with the greatest economic and social impact in the United States, and these impacts are becoming more severe over time. This report contributes to existing knowledge on urban flooding by examining real-world examples in specific metropolitan areas: Baltimore, Houston, Chicago, and Phoenix. The report identifies commonalities and variances among the case study metropolitan areas in terms of causes, adverse impacts, unexpected problems in recovery, or effective mitigation strategies, as well as key themes of urban flooding. It also relates, as appropriate, causes and actions of urban flooding to existing federal resources or policies.

Report cover
Published
May 2017

The protocol developed and used in this report is unique in that it is an asset-level assessment of the vulnerability of infrastructure to multiple coastal hazards and climate change factors (e.g., erosion, flooding, storm surge, sea-level rise, and historical flooding) over a 35-year planning horizon (2050). The protocol was applied to all buildings and roads in Cape Lookout National Seashore; the results are summarized in the report.

Report Cover
Published
March 2016

The State of Maine is experiencing shifts in atmospheric and oceanographic conditions that put it at the precipice of abrupt climate change. This report—part of the Department of Homeland Security's Regional Resiliency Assessment Program (RRAP)—focuses on the local and regional consequences of climate disruptions and their impacts on critical infrastructure in the Casco Bay region, the most developed and populous region in Maine. The report identifies vulnerabilities that may potentially affect the region’s ability to maintain its critical infrastructure systems and recover from the impacts of climate change.

report cover
Published
December 2015

This report documents recommendations made by the Virginia Climate Commission and describes how they were  acted upon. Highlights include appointment of a Chief Resilience Officer and development of a protocol for sea level rise projections. The report also makes 113 recommendations to help Virginia adapt to the consequences of climate change, and to reduce Virginia’s contributions to the problem. 

Coer of the King County Strategic Climate Action Planåç 2015 Update
Published
November 2015

King County, Washington's Strategic Climate Action Plan sets forth strategies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preparing for climate change impacts.

Cover of the Storm Damage Risk Reduction Guide for Low-Volume Roads
Published
October 2015

This guide provides a framework for the selection of appropriate storm damage risk reduction treatments for low-volume roads. There are important tasks and processes that are necessary to make informed treatment selections that this guide does not cover in detail, but should be included in comprehensive road management programs. These tasks include road condition inventories, hazard assessments, and strategic plans for treating high-hazard sites. Specific “stormproofing” measures discussed in this guide include timely road maintenance, many key road drainage measures, culvert diversion prevention, pulling back marginal fill slopes, use of biotechnical and vegetative slope stabilization and erosion control, gully prevention, bridge maintenance, and many other measures.

Screen capture from report
Published
July 2015

The New River Valley Livability Energy Report uses nine principles to describe a sustainable, affordable, and reliable regional energy plan for the New River Valley in Virginia.  Each principle is accompanied by practical strategies communities can use to promote sustainability. The report could serve as a model for other regional energy plans.

Report cover
Published
June 2015

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.

Report Cover
Published
June 2015

The two main objectives of this pilot project were to (1) assess the vulnerability of Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel System to sea level rise and extreme storm events, and (2) investigate and present adaptation options to reduce identified vulnerabilities.

Cover of the Climate Change Research Plan for California
Published
February 2015

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.

Cover of the report
Published
February 2015

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. 

Cover of the Colorado Climate Change Vulnerability Study
Published
January 2015

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.

report cover
Published
December 2014

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.

Report Cover
Published
December 2014

The Maine Department of Transportation study identified transportation assets that are vulnerable to flooding from sea level rise and storm surge in six coastal towns. The team developed depth-damage functions and adaptation design options at three of the sites, and evaluated the costs and benefits of the alternative design structures.

Report cover
Published
December 2014

This report presents the results of a Climate Resilience Pilot Project in which the Connecticut Department of Transportation conducted a systems-level vulnerability assessment of bridge and culvert structures six feet to 20 feet in length from inland flooding associated with extreme rainfall events. The vulnerability assessment of inland flooding was conducted because in recent years extreme precipitation events have been more frequent and intense, resulting in damage to infrastructure in several locations. 

Cover of the Safeguarding California report
Published
July 2014

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.

report cover
Published
January 2014

This update serves as guidance for hazard mitigation for the State of Connecticut. Its vision is supported by three central goals, each with an objective, a set of strategies, and associated actions for Connecticut state government, stakeholders, and organizations that will reduce or prevent injury from natural hazards to people, property, infrastructure, and critical state facilities.

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Published
September 2013

This plan looks at strategies for incorporating climate change resilience throughout New York's entire transportation system. 

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Published
July 2013

This report offers an evaluation of the projected impacts of climate change on Connecticut agriculture, infrastructure, natural resources, and public health, and recommends strategies to mitigate those impacts. 

Cover of the Caltrans Activities to Address Climate Change report
Published
April 2013

This report provides a comprehensive overview of activities undertaken by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt the state’s transportation system to the impacts of climate change. It also identifies opportunities for additional reductions in GHG emissions and climate adaptation activities that Caltrans may consider in the future.

Report Cover
Published
April 2012

This document contains a framework for steps to protect Washington State’s natural resources and economy from the impacts of climate change and build the capacity to adapt to expected climate changes. It outlines how existing and new state policies and programs can improve so that Washington can respond to climate change. In addition, it contains recommendations on how to strengthen existing efforts and build partnerships to help local governments, private and public organizations, and individuals reduce their vulnerability to climate change.

Cover of the ODOT Climate Change Adaptation Strategy Report
Published
April 2012

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has developed this adaptation strategy, which is inclusive of an impact assessment for its infrastructure and operations. The purpose of the strategy is to provide a preliminary assessment of the climate change impacts to ODOT’s assets and systems operations, underline the need for a vulnerability and risk assessment, and identify current areas of adaptive capacity and potential long- and short-term actions to be taken by ODOT. 

Washington State DOT Climate Impacts Vulnerability Assessment
Published
November 2011

The Washington State Department of Transportation prepared this report in fulfillment of a grant from the Federal Highway Administration to test its conceptual climate risk assessment model developed for transportation infrastructure. WSDOT applied the model using scenario planning in a series of statewide workshops, using local experts, to create a qualitative assessment of climate vulnerability on its assets in each region and mode across Washington.

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Published
October 2011

This report was prepared for the New York State Department of Transportation to help them identify the vulnerabilities of the state’s transportation system, as well as opportunities to adapt the system and mainstream adaptation into the transportation decision-making process.

report cover
Published
December 2010

The Florida Transportation Plan (FTP) is the statewide long-range transportation plan for all of Florida. It is complemented by this Strategic Intermodal System Policy Plan, which identifies policies for planning and implementing the statewide high-priority network of transportation facilities critical to Florida’s economic competitiveness.

Page of text
Published
October 2009

This document meets two distinct, but related, needs. First, it prepares Maine’s Department of Transportation (MaineDOT) to respond to the challenges presented in Maine's LD 460, Resolve to Evaluate Climate Change Adaptation Options for the State. Second, this document positions MaineDOT to receive support for its proactive approach from funding and policy agencies such as the Federal Highway Administration because it constitutes a commitment to action.

report cover
Published
October 2008

This plan contains 50 separate policy recommendations to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions. The report estimates that if all its recommendations were implemented, the state would meet its emissions reduction targets, enjoy increased energy security, and see a net cost savings of more than $28 billion from 2009 to 2025.

Published
July 2008

This report offers recommendations to protect Maryland’s future economic well-being, environmental heritage, and public safety from the impacts of sea level rise.