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.

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Published
January 2014

The U.S. Department of State prepared the first Biennial Report of the United States of America to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The report details actions the United States is taking domestically and internationally to mitigate, adapt to, and assist others in addressing climate change.

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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
December 2013

This report examines climate change impacts in Hawai'i and also assesses the adaptive capacity of the Pacific Island communities.

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Published
December 2013

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.

Report cover, depicting a skyline of the City of Grand Rapids
Published
December 2013

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.

Cover of the Preparing California for Extreme Heat report
Published
October 2013

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.

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Published
October 2013

In 2013, the Baltimore City Department of Planning and Office of Sustainability created the Disaster Preparedness and Planning Project (DP3) as an effort to address existing hazards while simultaneously preparing for predicted hazards due to climate change. This project develops an integrated All Hazards Mitigation Plan, floodplain mapping, and Climate Adaptation Plan program that links research, outreach, and actions to assure implementation of a comprehensive and new risk-preparedness system for addressing existing and future impacts. Integrating hazard mitigation planning, which focuses on past events, with climate adaptation planning, which focuses on what will likely happen in the future, offers a positive, win-win solution for Baltimore City.

Report cover, depicting a map of Madison's heat island
Published
October 2013

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.

Cover of the Water and Climate Change Adaptation report
Published
September 2013

This report provides a risk-based approach to achieve resilient water security in a changing climate, documents key trends, and highlights best practice from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Survey of Policies on Water and Climate Change Adaptation. The report examines options to improve the flexibility of water governance, policy, and financing approaches.

Cover of the Developing Climate Change Environmental Public Health Indicators report
Published
September 2013

This guidance report helps local health departments leverage existing resources on climate change and public health indicators to make plans and decisions at the local level.

Cover of the Climate Change 2013 report
Published
September 2013

This report, representing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group I's contribution to the IPCC Fifth Assessment report (AR5), explores the hard science elements of global climate change.

Cover of The Delta Plan
Published
September 2013

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.

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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
September 2013

Coastal areas are especially vulnerable to hazards, now and in the future, posed by waves and surges associated with sea level change and coastal storms. Coastal risk reduction can be achieved through a variety of approaches, including natural or nature-based features (e.g., wetlands and dunes), nonstructural interventions (e.g., policies, building codes, and emergency response such as early warning and evacuation plans), and structural interventions (e.g., seawalls and breakwaters). This report discusses the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' capabilities to help reduce risks to coastal areas and improve resilience to coastal hazards through an integrated planning approach.

Report cover, depicting a winter landscape on the coast of Lake Superior
Published
September 2013

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"

Cover of the Oceans and Marine Resources report
Published
August 2013

Prepared for the 2013 National Climate Assessment and a landmark study in terms of its breadth and depth of coverage, this report is the result of a collaboration among numerous local, state, federal, and nongovernmental agencies to develop a comprehensive, state-of-the-art look at the effects of climate change on the oceans and marine ecosystems under U.S. jurisdiction.

Cover of the Colorado Drought Mitigation and Response Plan
Published
August 2013

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.

Cover of the Climate Sensitivity of the National Estuarine Research Reserve Network report
Published
July 2013

The United States' 28 National Estuarine Research Reserves (NERR) are experiencing negative effects of human and climate-related stressors, according to this report. This is the first national-scale climate sensitivity analysis of estuaries to help coastal managers protect the health of estuaries.

Cover of the U.S. Energy Sector Vulnerabilities to Climate Change and Extreme Weather report
Published
July 2013

This report examines current and potential future impacts of climate trends on the U.S. energy sector.

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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. 

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Published
July 2013

This handbook describes the five-step process for developing multivariate climate change scenarios taught by the Global Business Network (GBN) during a series of training workshops hosted by the National Park Service in 2010 and 2011. The authors created this guide as a reference for workshop participants, who possess some familiarity with scenario planning. Detailed instructions are provided on how to accomplish each step of the scenario-building process; appendices include a hypothetical scenario exercise that demonstrates how to implement the process, some early examples of how national parks are using climate change scenarios to inform planning and decision making, and advice on designing and facilitating scenario workshops. Building scenarios is a dynamic, flexible, iterative practice that you can tailor to fit your needs—the handbook can be used as a reference when designing scenarios and scenario exercises. 

Report cover, showing a cityscape of Milwaukee
Published
July 2013

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District created a systematic plan to implement widespread green infrastructure. As a regional agency, the District is uniquely positioned to lead green infrastructure planning for the Milwaukee region and has funding to undertake the work. This effort will help the District make logical green infrastructure funding decisions, will help municipalities and non-governmental organizations prioritize their actions, and will help inform municipalities and private funders where their green infrastructure money can do the greatest good. Technical analyses for the region’s impervious surfaces, costs/benefits, and recommendations were all completed; the report comprises the final Regional Green Infrastructure Plan. The plan was approved by the MMSD Commission on July 22, 2013.

Cover of the Stronger, More Resilient New York report
Published
June 2013

PlaNYC is a long-term sustainability plan based on the latest climate science. This report includes ideas on how to rebuild the communities in New York City affected by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and how to increase resilience and infrastructure of buildings city-wide in order to protect against future extreme events.

The cover of the President's Climate Action Plan
Published
June 2013

President Obama's Climate Action Plan includes a series of executive actions to reduce carbon pollution, prepare the United States for the impacts of climate change, and lead international efforts to address global climate change.

Cover of the Southwest Assessment report
Published
May 2013

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.

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.

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Published
April 2013

The Resilience Measurement Index (RMI) was formulated to capture the fundamental aspects of resilience for critical infrastructure with respect to all hazards. The RMI methodology supports decision making related to risk management, disaster response, and maintenance of business continuity. It complements other indices that have been developed―the Protective Measures Index and the Consequences Measurement Index―and thus, in combination with other tools, allows critical infrastructure to be compared in terms of resilience, vulnerability, consequences, and ultimately risk.

Cover of one of the Resource Guides for Advanced Learning
Published
March 2013

These five Resource Guides facilitate access to existing climate change learning materials and support the development of complementary learning resources. The guides are compiled for selected topics of climate change for which a wealth of learning resources is available and that have been identified as important topics from a country perspective.

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Published
March 2013

This report from the Alaska Interagency Working Group describes environmental, social, and economic issues in the Arctic U.S. to address management challenges in the region.

Cover of the Abrupt Impacts of Climate Change report
Published
March 2013

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.

Cover of the Strategy report
Published
March 2013

From the Arctic to the Everglades, impacts like rising sea levels, warmer temperatures, loss of sea ice, and changing precipitation patterns are affecting the species we care about, the services we value, and the places we call home. Federal, state, and tribal partners with input from many other diverse groups from across the nation have worked to develop a common strategy to respond to these challenges. The National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy provides a unified approach for reducing the negative impacts of climate change on fish, wildlife, plants, and the natural systems upon which they depend.

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Published
March 2013

Two national workshops were convened in 2011 to assist the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) with identifying critical gaps and needs in tools and metrics for assessing the resilience of the built environment. The Resilience Roundtable convened invited leaders from engineering practice and research communities and the standards development community to identify gaps in current practice, standards, and codes and the assessment and design of resilient buildings and infrastructure systems. This report—NIST Technical Note 1795—presents the technical gaps and research needs for developing standards on community resilience planning, metrics, and tools for assessing facility and community resilience.

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Published
January 2013

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.

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Published
January 2013

This Climate Action Plan represents Baltimore's commitment to being a leader in sustainability and improving their city environment. The plan contains feasible measures to help the city reduce greenhouse gas emissions and curb the effects of climate change. The plan calls for a goal of a 15 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. In order to reach this goal, the plan promotes renewable energy generation and energy retrofits, waste diversion, and water efficiency. CAP measures will help citizens save energy and money, as well as encourage the use of sustainable modes of transit, high-density urban land use, and increased tree plantings. From the mayor's message: "While we as a City alone cannot change the course of world climate patterns, we must do our part. The City of Baltimore’s Climate Action plan is our promise to take action, reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, increase our quality of life, and grow Baltimore. "

Cover of the Strategic Climate Action Plan for King County, Washington
Published
December 2012

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.

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Published
December 2012

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.

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