Adaptation

The Earth’s climate is rapidly changing. In the United States and other nations, people are seeing how the impacts of rising global temperatures affect their communities, their livelihoods, and the natural environment. Substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions is essential to avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. But mitigation alone is not enough. Even with emission reductions, some warming will still occur. Adaptation planning at the local, state, and national levels can limit the damage caused by climate change, as well as the long-term costs of responding to climate-related impacts that are expected to grow in number and intensity in the decades to come.

To learn more about adaptation, read Climate Change 101: Adaptation and check out the additional resources below. 

U.S. Federal Adaptation Resources:

• Report - Climate Change Adaptation: What Federal Agencies are Doing
  February 2012 Update
• Workshop - Federal Government Leadership: Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change
  July 27, 2010
• Report - Adapting to Climate Change: A Call for Federal Leadership
  April 2010
• Hill Briefing: Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation
  January 8, 2010
• Congressional Testimony - Adaptation: The Federal Government's Role in Building Resilience to Climate Change
  October 22, 2009
• Adaptation Provisions in H.R. 2454 (Waxman-Markey as passed by the U.S. House of Representatives)
  June 26, 2009
• Adaptation Provisions in the Waxman-Markey Discussion Draft
  April 2009
• Adaptation Bill Proposals in the 111th Congress
  Regularly Updated
• Adaptation Bill Proposals in the 110th Congress
  November 2008
• Coping With Climate Change: The Role of Adaptation in the U.S.
  June 2004

U.S. States & Regions Adaptation Resources:

• Impacts and Adaptation Options in the Gulf Coast
  June 2012
• Adaptation Planning: What U.S. States and Localities are Doing
  Updated August 2009
  • Related Reading: Regional Impacts of Climate Change: Four Case Studies in the U.S.
    December 2007
• MAP: State Adaptation Plans
  Updated Regularly
• Adaptation 101 - A brief on U.S. climate adaptation efforts (pdf)
  January 2011

Markets & Business Adaptation Resources:

• Adapting to Climate Change: A Business Approach
  April 2008

International Adaptation Resources:

• Adaptation to Climate Change: International Policy Options
  November 2006