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 study investigates how climate change will impact the telecommunications and data center services sector. The report looks not only at the headline-grabbing impacts of extreme weather events, such as those incurred by Hurricane Sandy, but also the risks brought on by slow-onset, gradual changes to the base climate.
Colorado experienced extensive flooding and landslides in September 2013. During the recovery effort, several important economic recovery issues emerged—among them was a desire to learn from the disaster and integrate resilience into the economic sector. To that end, the Economic Development Administration conducted a study to establish a baseline of current economic resilience planning efforts in the area, identify trends and current resiliency practices, and develop recommendations to assist communities, state and regional economic development organizations, and federal agencies in stimulating resilience planning. This document provides an overview of resilience in the context of economic development and its application to a tool for evaluating resilience in economic development plans.
Without significant changes, existing water systems will soon no longer be able to provide the services that citizens have come to expect. After six years of research, The Johnson Foundation presents a resource intended to examine challenges associated with quality, availability, and resilience of U.S. freshwater resources due to climate change, aging infrastructure, and extreme events. The report contains a set of principles to help guide the efforts of leaders in various sectors as they act upon the recommendations offered.
This report outlines 100 recommendations to help improve federal programs and their ability to prepare for climate change, drawing from a series of workshops with leading federal, state, and local officials and building upon lessons learned post-disaster in New Orleans (following Hurricane Katrina), New York (following Hurricane Sandy), and Vermont (after Hurricane Irene). The report identifies more than 30 federal programs, initiatives, and laws that can be used to prepare for extreme events such as storms, floods, and heat waves as well as rising seas. This report informed the White House's State, Local, and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience.
This report is a synthesis of climate science relevant for management and planning for Colorado's water resources. The report focuses on observed climate trends, climate modeling, and projections of temperature, precipitation, snowpack, and streamflow.
This report reviews the coastal risk-reduction strategies and levels of protection that have been used along the United States East and Gulf Coasts to reduce the impacts of coastal flooding associated with storm surges. It evaluates their effectiveness in terms of economic return, protection of life safety, and minimization of environmental effects. According to the report, the vast majority of the funding for coastal risk-related issues is provided only after a disaster occurs. The report calls for the development of a national vision for coastal risk management that includes a long-term view, regional solutions, and recognition of the full array of economic, social, environmental, and life-safety benefits that come from risk reduction efforts.
NJADAPT is a collaborative effort consisting of scientists and data managers in academia, government, the private sector, and the NGO community who have developed a strategic plan for a New Jersey platform to host and apply climate science and impacts data. This effort has been supported by the New Jersey Recovery Fund, the New Jersey Coastal Management Program, and NOAA.
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.
This technical report looks at more than 60 years of coastal water level and local elevation data, analyzing sea level rise and nuisance flood frequency changes around the United States.
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.
This plan summarizes the U.S. General Service Administration's approach, accomplishments, plans, actions, and coordination activities to evaluate the agency’s climate change risks and vulnerabilities to manage both the short and long-term effects of climate change on the agency’s mission and operations.
The City of Norfolk is using an integrative process of planning, preparing, mitigating, and communicating to reduce the impacts of flooding. Working with international and regional experts and residents, Norfolk is creating planning models to predict future shoreline conditions. The models will predict how local rates of sea level rise affect the construction of public buildings, shipyards, naval facilities, homes, and other private development.
This plan evaluates the risks that different hazards pose to Berkeley and engages the community in dialogue to identify the most important steps that the city and its partners should pursue to reduce these risks. The plan updates the city's plan initially adopted in 2004. To develop the 2004 Disaster Mitigation Plan, the city conducted detailed research on four major natural and two major “man-made” hazards present in Berkeley: earthquake, wildland-urban interface fire, landslide, flood, hazardous materials release, and terrorism. Since that time, new maps and data depicting the extent and possible impacts from tsunami and climate change have become available. In 2011, the city added these hazards to the list and they are incorporated into this plan..
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 publication, known by the acronym SOFIA, is released every two years to provide policymakers and civil society with a global view of fisheries and aquaculture and associated policy issues. The 2014 report includes a special study of initial assessments of vulnerabilities to climate change in fisheries and aquaculture. The full archive is available online.
On September 27, 2006, then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed California's Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, which required the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The California Air Resources Board is the lead agency for implementing the bill. One of the board's tasks was to create a scoping plan that would outline California’s strategy to achieve the 2020 greenhouse gas emission goal. This current scoping plan is an update from the original version, published in 2008. In addition to updates, this plan also contains progress reports on how California is progressing towards its goals.
This report focuses on livestock diseases that are sensitive to climate change. The report aims to help practitioners reduce the risks of key climate-sensitive infectious diseases by strengthening risk management systems for disease outbreaks. The three diseases chosen for the study—Rift Valley fever, Bluetongue, and East Coast fever—spread through “vectors” such as insects and parasites, the prevalence of which fluctuates depending on key weather and climate variables such as temperature and humidity. As the symptoms of climate change continue, the frequency and extent of these diseases are expected to escalate.
Climate change is making the Arctic a greener, warmer, and increasingly accessible place for economic opportunity. However, climate impacts such as sea ice loss and rising ocean acidification are straining coastal community resilience and sound resource stewardship. NOAA's Arctic Action Plan outlines ways for scientists and stakeholders to share their progress regarding this vast, valuable, and vulnerable region.
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.
In April 2014, the National Park Service (NPS) convened a select group of leaders in the fields of planning, architecture, landscape architecture, historic preservation, archeology, science, and park and cultural resource management to participate in a planning session entitled Preserving Coastal Heritage. This summary report provides the recommendations and feedback that emerged over the course of the two-day work session, along with highlights from the presentations and remarks. Case studies include four sites in New York and New Jersey. The Preserving Coastal Heritage work session was part of an NPS effort to develop a cultural resources climate change response strategy.
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.
This report summarizes the impact of climate change on Navajo Nation lands and discusses factors that affect people’s vulnerabilities to climate impacts, outlining a way for the region's residents to plan for ongoing environmental change.
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.
The dramatic impact of climate variability and climate change continued to be felt all over the world throughout 2013. The World Meteorological Organization statement on the status of the global climate in 2013 provides a snapshot of global and regional trends in weather and climate over the past year and highlights some of the year’s most significant extreme events.
In anticipation of rising sea levels, a team worked to to gauge the impact of rising tides on local communities and infrastructure. This report describes the process and outcomes of efforts to protect at-risk assets through proactive planning and early identification of adaptation measures.
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.
This report was designed to Identify how beachgoers perceive the risk of dangerous currents and waves in the Great Lakes; evaluate existing messages and delivery mechanisms (such as National Weather Service Surf Zone Forecasts); translate complex beach conditions into understandable, actionable messages for specific beachgoer audiences; and identify effective delivery mechanisms for specific audiences.
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 uses a Question and Answer format to discuss climate change and its causes. The booklet provides an authoritative overview of global climate change for decision makers, policy makers, educators, and other individuals seeking information on climate science.
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.