Tools | U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit

Tools are available to help you manage your climate-related risks and opportunities, and to help guide you in building resilience to extreme events. Browse the list below, or filter by topic and/or tool functionality in the boxes above. To expand your results, click the Clear Filters link.

A Guide to Assessing Green Infrastructure Costs and Benefits for Flood Reduction

Communities can use this six-step process as a framework—and to spark discussion—when assessing the costs and benefits of green infrastructure projects.

Adaptation Workbook

Land managers, natural resource professionals, and motivated landowners can use this structured process to consider the effects of climate change on forests, urban forests, and agricultural properties.

Agricultural Conservation Planning Framework (ACPF) Toolbox

This downloadable GIS toolset can help conservation planners, landowners, and researchers better manage watershed runoff while supporting agricultural production, as well as to identify appropriate locations for implementing conservation options in a watershed.

Screen capture from the Assessing Health Vulnerability to Climate Change Guide

Assessing Health Vulnerability to Climate Change: A Guide for Health Departments

Health departments can consult this document for guidance on conducting climate and health vulnerability assessments.

Climate Change Response Framework

This collaborative, cross-boundary approach among scientists, managers, and landowners incorporates climate change considerations into natural resource management.

Climate Explorer

Explore climate projections for any county in the contiguous United States or borough in Alaska. Compare maps of past and projected conditions for coming decades. Consult historical records to see when weather has veered outside of normal climate.

Climate Ready Infrastructure and Sensitive Sites Protocol (CRISSP)

This assessment tool relies on available data and municipal staff’s own knowledge of their facilities and infrastructure to generate a relatively quick, low-cost assessment of the vulnerability of their assets to extreme weather.

Climate4Cities

This project by researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln supported municipal climate adaptation in the Missouri River Basin. The project website hosts climate reports for 11 Midwestern cities and and an online data explorer for 10 states across middle America.

Screen capture from the ENOW Explorer tool

Economics: National Ocean Watch (ENOW) Explorer

Explore economic data that characterize the size and makeup of the ocean economy in about 400 counties of the U.S.

Environmental Resilience Institute Toolkit (ERIT)

This interactive resource helps decision makers create an integrated package of information about climate change tailored specifically to their community and their needs.

Explore Climate Impacts

This interactive map—a companion to the Adaptation Workbook—lets you see how climate change may affect different regions and ecosystems in the U.S.

Great Lakes Climate and Demographic Atlas

This interactive site shows how the social and economic characteristics of the Great Lakes region are impacted by regionally specific changes in climate.

Screen capture from the Great Lakes Coastal Resilience Planning website

Great Lakes Coastal Resilience Planning Guide

This guidebook shows how Great Lakes counties and municipalities can use science-based information to address coastal hazards and incorporate concerns for climate change in local planning efforts.

Great Lakes Shoreviewer

Residents and businesses along Michigan's coastline can view aerial photographs and potential risk rankings for coastal property, buildings, roads, and infrastructure.

Great Lakes Water Level Dashboard

Businesses and residents in the Great Lakes region can use this dashboard to visualize dynamic water levels and seasonal and long-term forecasts.

Hoosier Resilience Index

Local communities in Indiana can use this tool to better understand their readiness and risks for environmental and climate change.

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Lake Level Viewer: United States Great Lakes

Visualize impacts of increased and decreased water levels in the Great Lakes in an online viewer, or access data and services directly to perform customized analyses.

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Living Near Dams

Communities located downstream from dams can learn about risks and find information about how to react if they fail. Dam owners, safety officials, and lawmakers can learn how extreme rainfall events affect the risk of dam failure, and how to reduce those risks.

MIKE-21 Spectral Waves

This professional software package helps engineers better predict the power of wind-waves, providing key input to breakwater design, wave agitation, and dynamic ship mooring modeling by establishing wave conditions adjacent to ports and terminals.

Rainbow Trout in Hand at Gechiak Creek from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

National Fish, Wildlife, and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy

Use this framework to take immediate, effective action toward building ecosystem resilience and maintaining ecosystem services in the face of climate challenges.

Screen Capture from the National Stormwater Calculator

National Stormwater Calculator—Climate Assessment Tool

This desktop application provides estimates for the amount of rainwater and frequency of runoff anywhere in the United States. Its primary use is to inform site developers on how well they can meet a desired stormwater retention target with and without the use of green infrastructure.

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National Weather Service | National Seasonal Safety Campaign

Individuals, communities, and professionals can access seasonal resources to help them be prepared for extreme weather, water, and climate events.

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National Weather Service | Office of Services Publications

Visit this website to download publications, brochures, and booklets to help prepare for weather emergencies.

Neighborhoods at Risk

View local maps of socioeconomic and climate data to identify communities that may be vulnerable to extreme weather and climate change, now and in the future. Obtain authoritative reports and data to make informed decisions when prioritizing capital improvements, informing land use and policy decisions, and updating Hazard Mitigation Plans.