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.
This report describes a community-driven project built on efforts by Shaktoolik and other at-risk, mainly Alaska Native villages on the Bering Sea coast to adapt to potentially devastating effects of climate change. The project involved a multi-party approach to assist the community of Shaktoolik to make a decision whether to relocate or stay at the current location. The result is a well-defined process that may be replicated by other at-risk communities in the region. The final report documents lessons learned, adaptation methods for Shaktoolik, potential funding sources, and a step-by-step action plan to implement the community's decision.
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.
This report examines climate change impacts in Hawai'i and also assesses the adaptive capacity of the Pacific Island communities.
The Pennsylvania Climate Change Act requires the state's Department of Environmental Protection to submit an updated climate change action plan to the governor every three years. This report is the first update to the original plan issued in December 2009.
California’s Climate Action Team developed this document to provide California agencies with guidance for incorporating extreme heat projections and best practices for adapting to heat-related climate change impacts into planning and decision making.
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.
This plan looks at strategies for incorporating climate change resilience throughout New York's entire transportation system.
This plan was developed to provide an effective and systematic means for the State of Colorado to reduce the impacts of water shortages over the short and long term.
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.
A contribution to the 2013 National Climate Assessment, this report is a summary and synthesis of the past, present, and projected future of the Southwest region’s climate. It emphasizes new information and understandings since publication of the previous national assessment in 2009.
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.
This report summarizes the current state of knowledge on potential abrupt changes to the ocean, atmosphere, ecosystems, and high-latitude areas, and identifies key research and monitoring needs. The report calls for action to develop an abrupt change early warning system to help anticipate future abrupt changes and reduce their impacts.
This report is the result of almost a year of studying the effects of sea level rise, coastal flooding, and extreme weather events on Connecticut's shoreline communities. It provides suggestions for coastal resiliency, as well as prevention measures that could reduce the impact of future storms.
Preparation of the Strategic Climate Action Plan is an opportunity to take stock of progress related to climate change, to look forward, and to plan for the future.
This report assesses the state of climate knowledge, impacts, and adaptive capacity of Hawai‘i and the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI). Federal, state, and local government agencies, non-government organizations, businesses, and community groups worked together to produce the report. Its aim is to inform people about climate and help them prioritize their activities in the face of a changing climate.
This document was written for those tasked with the development, maintenance, and implementation of a state disaster recovery plan, and is intended to serve as an evaluative guidebook from which users can draw from widely accepted steps derived from planning processes and informative best practices adopted in other states. The guide can be used to assess where a state plan stacks up relative to emerging federal planning standards.
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.
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.
Oxfam America, in their work to shed light on the vulnerability of the geography and people of the U.S. Southeast, commissioned two reports from the Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute at the University of South Carolina. The first one covers the entire 13-state region, while the second one contains much more detail about Louisiana and Mississippi. This document provides a brief overview of the findings, the concepts, and the methodology. The aim of these materials is to be useful tools to people in coastal communities, and to decision makers shaping policies in the region.
This strategic plan for 2012–2017 uses a science-based approach to address climate change, sustainable fisheries and ecosystem health, land-sea interactions, and existing and emerging ocean uses. For each sector, an overarching goal is articulated along with key issues to be addressed by the California Ocean Protection Council. The plan identifies objectives for making progress toward each goal, as well as actions that the council anticipates undertaking over the plan's five-year time period.
The report introduces key health connections to climate change mitigation strategies, suggestions of where these fit into a Climate Action Plan, a process for forging partnerships between planning and health organizations, links to data that will help planners identify and reference the existing health status of their jurisdiction, and supporting resources.
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.
In November 2008, Governor Beshear of Kentucky issued a report that included a strategy to lessen carbon dioxide emissions and to reduce Kentucky’s carbon footprint. In 2010 the Kentucky Climate Action Plan Council (KCAPC) was established to assist in developing the Kentucky Climate Action Plan. The KCAPC was charged with producing a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and forecast, compiling a Climate Action Plan with recommended greenhouse gas reduction goals, and potential actions to assuage climate change and improve energy efficiency in various sectors. This document is the KCAPC's final report.
The San Francisco Bay Plan, originally adopted by the California Legislature in 1969, contains the policies that the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) uses to determine whether permit applications can be approved for projects within the Commission’s jurisdiction—consisting of the San Francisco Bay, salt ponds, managed wetlands, certain waterways, and land within 100 feet of the Bay. On October 6, 2011, the BCDC unanimously approved an amendment to the Plan to update the 22-year-old sea level rise findings and policies and more broadly address climate change adaptation.
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.
The report provides a comprehensive overview of observed and predicted changes to Massachusetts’ climate and the anticipated impacts. It also describes potential adaptation strategies the state may take to prepare for climate change.
A report on climate change impacts and climate change action plans for marine ecosystems on California's north-central coast. It presents scientific observations and expectations to identify potential issues related to changing climate—with an emphasis on the most likely ecological impacts and the impacts that would be most severe if they occur.
In 2008, agricultural greenhouse gas sources accounted for about six percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. This report, known as the USDA GHG Inventory, was developed to provide a comprehensive assessment of the contribution of U.S. agriculture and forestry to greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration, providing an in-depth look at greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration at the state and regional scales.
This plan identifies Ohio's mitigation strategy, which helps guide local mitigation planning and project efforts. The State of Ohio Standard Hazard Mitigation Plan was first approved by FEMA in 2005. This 2011 plan revision details Ohio’s highest priority hazards: river/stream flooding, tornadoes, winter storms, landslides, dam/levee failure, wildfire, coastal flooding, earthquakes, coastal erosion, drought, severe summer storms, invasive species, and land subsidence hazards. The plan also integrates and introduces the State Hazard Analysis, Resource and Planning Portal (SHARPP), a web-based system that captures and disseminates state and local hazard mitigation planning and project information.
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.
In August 2009, New York’s Governor, David Paterson, signed Executive Order 24 establishing a statewide goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. In addition, his Executive Order named the Climate Action Council to determine how to meet the goal. The Climate Action Council was also ordered to develop a plan to increase New York’s resiliency to a rapidly changing climate. This document is the council's interim report on New York's progress toward these goals.
This guide was designed to help U.S. state and territorial coastal managers develop and implement adaptation plans to reduce the impacts and consequences of climate change and climate variability. It was written in response to a request from state coastal managers for guidance from NOAA on adaptation planning in the coastal zone.
This Needs Assessment report represents the initial step in creating a Strategic Plan for the state of New Hampshire to prepare for and address the public health impacts of climate change.
The Alaska Climate Change Sub-Cabinet was established on September 14, 2007, to advise the state's governor on creating a comprehensive Alaska Climate Change Strategy. This document contains the recommendations of the Adaptation Advisory Group, which was charged with evaluating and developing options to adapt to climate change. The report also includes background about projected climate impacts on Alaska.
The workbook for practitioners uses strategic questions and activities to assess resilience in social-ecological systems. The approach involves constructing a conceptual model of a system that includes resources, stakeholders, and institutions, and identifies potential thresholds between alternative systems states in order to provide insight into factors that build or erode a system's resilience. A resilience assessment can help with developing strategies for coping with uncertainty and change.
The state of New Jersey enacted the Global Warming Response Act on July 2007, calling for a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and further reduction of emissions to 80 percent below 2006 levels by 2050. This report was given to the Governor, Treasurer, and State Legislature in compliance with the Global Warming Response Act.
