Overview: The Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting is an organization within the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography that provides science training to journalists.
How to Use This Resource: In the Climate Science section, journalists will find ample research on how climate change is affecting oceans and how those oceanic changes in turn affect coastal communities and the global climate.
Climate Change Global Food Security and the U.S. Food System
Overview: The United States Global Change Research Program is a coalition of 13 federal departments and agencies research the human-induced and natural processes of climate change.
How to Use This Resource: This 157-page report, part of a peer-reviewed scientific assessment incorporated into the U.S. National Climate Assessment, analyzes how climate change is impacting global food security across multiple sectors. The web site includes a six-minute explanatory video.
U.N. Climate Change Newsroom
Overview: The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, and has near universal membership. The ultimate objective of both treaties is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.
How to Use This Resource: At the Paris 2015 Climate Change Conference, convention members are attempting to reach a global agreement on climate action. This website posted regular updates from the Paris conference, including the latest information on negotiations, documents, and live feeds, as well as resources for those journalists covering the conference. You can also find a list of on-demand webcasts and a hashtag tracker.
Adaptation Measures Reporting: Quantifying Our Efforts
Overview: International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives — Canada is an association of local governments with a mission to promote environmental sustainability in government.
How to Use This Resource: This database provides reports and statistics on the local governments across Canada that are implementing adaptation measures to combat climate change.
Building Resilience for Adaptation to Climate Change in the Agriculture Sector
Overview: The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development are intergovernmental agencies focused on sustainable agricultural development worldwide.
How to Use This Resource: This report includes more than two dozen research papers on climate resilience and adaptation in agriculture sectors worldwide.
Recent OECD work on Adaptation to Climate Change
Overview: The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is a consortium of 34 nations in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Asia that promote international economic development.
How to Use This Resource: This report details what actions the OECD has taken to assist developing countries prepare for climate change, how best to invest in future adaptation, and where funds are needed most.
Assessing Health Vulnerability to Climate Change: A Guide for Health Departments
Overview: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services. It uses its prevention expertise to advise cities and states on investigating, preparing for, and responding to the health ramifications of climate change.
How to Use This Resource: This report outlines how the nation’s health services are assessing risk and preparing to adapt to climate change.
Climate Change Resource Center
Overview: The U.S. Forest Service is the agency within the Department of Agriculture responsible for the preservation and upkeep of national forests and park
How to Use This Resource: This archive contains detailed reports on how the changing climate is impacting national forests, and the best practices for protecting them.
North Carolina Sea Level Rise Assessment Report
Overview: The North Carolina Coastal Resources Commission’s Science Panel is a group of volunteer scientists conducting research on behalf of the Coastal Resources Commission.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will an in-depth analysis of the science behind rising sea levels, the impact it will have on North Carolina, and initiatives in place to fortify the state infrastructure.
North Atlantic Coast Comprehensive Study Report
Overview: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers investigates, develops and maintains the nation environmental resources.
How to Use This Resource: This report and interactive map details the results of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study of coastal storm and flood risk to vulnerable populations, property, ecosystems, and infrastructure affected by Hurricane Sandy in the North Atlantic region.
Connecting People to Build Inclusive Urban Climate Change Resilience
Overview: The Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network works to contribute knowledge, create resources, and promote agendas to build inclusive urban climate change resilience.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find an archive of reports, research and data on the progress of climate change adaptation in developing Asian nations.
Rising Waters, Rising Threat: How Climate Change Endangers America’s Neglected Wastewater Infrastructure
Overview: The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan policy institute that is dedicated to improving the lives of Americans.
How to Use This Resource: As extreme weather strains sewer systems, wastewater infrastructure is becoming a critical public and environmental health concern. This report investigates the state of the sewage infrastructure and recommends policy to adapt it.
Ocean Acidification: From Knowledge to Action Summary Report
Overview: Washington State Blue Ribbon Panel on Ocean Acidification is a research group convened by Washington States’s Office of the Governor.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a comprehensive overview of what causes ocean acidification, the negative impact it has on local economies, and what policies and practices might curtail it.
Population Dynamics, Climate Change, and Sustainable Development in Africa
Overview: The African Institute for Development Policy is an an African-led nonprofit, established to help bridge the gaps between research, policy and practice in the areas of population change, public health, and the environment in Africa.
How to Use This Resource: Sub-Saharan African nations need more funds to combat climate change, but weak political systems make it difficult to channel those funds where they are needed. This report analyzed the data and found that improving health, schooling, and economic opportunities would greatly increase the continent’s capacity to adapt.
Progress Report: Targets and Initiatives 2
Overview: Greenworks Philadelphia is the City’s first comprehensive sustainability plan. Its drafting incorporated existing work within the Philadelphia government and external partners.
How to Use This Resource: This report details the Philadelphia government’s policies to combat climate change and make the city more resilient.
California Climate Change Assessments
Overview: The California Natural Resources Agency is the state governmental body designated to address climate change adaptation and resiliency.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a portfolio of projects for California’s climate change assessment plans. The state recently released a Climate Change Research Plan that spells out near-term research needed to keep the state on track with its climate goals.
Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise in Florida
Overview: The Florida Oceans and Coastal Council is a research organization sponsored by the federal government to develop priorities for ocean and coastal research statewide.
How to Use This Resource: This report on the effects of climate change on Florida’s ocean and coastal resources found the state extremely unprepared, because none of its infrastructure was built to accommodate sea level rise. The Florida Oceans and Coastal Council calls for immediate action in this comprehensive guide.
Africa’s Adaptation Gap: A Technical Report
Overview: The United Nations Environment Programme represents the environment within the United Nations system.
How to Use This Resource: Africa’s Adaptation Gap Report is a stark analysis of where Africa stands in relation to its adaptation goals. The continent serves as a cautionary indicator of what may happen should the emissions gap remain.
Connecting on Climate: A Guide to Effective Climate Change Communication
Overview: The Center for Research on Environmental Decisions is an interdisciplinary center that studies decision-making during climate uncertainty. It is run through Columbia University’s Earth Institute.
How to Use This Resource: This is a guide for communicating about climate change in a manner that is clear but not simplified.
Paris Climate Change Conference Information Hub
Overview: The Paris 2015 Climate Change Conference was the 21st meeting of parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, whose aim is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system.
How to Use This Resource: The extensive conference information hub is a go-to site for reporters covering the Nov. 30-Dec. 11, 2015 summit, providing agendas, reports, schedules, research pertaining, and more. There’s also a web site on Understanding the UNFCC that includes a detailed discussion of adaptation initiatives.
Business Risk Assessment and the Management of Climate Change Impacts: Eight Philippine Cities
Overview: The World Wide Fund for Nature is an international conservation organization working to reduce the impact of human activity on the environment and wildlife.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find extensive reporting on the business of funding climate change adaptation in the Philippines.
Beyond Storms & Droughts: The Psychological Impacts of Climate Change
Overview: The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific psychological organization in the United States. It works to advance the application of psychological knowledge nationwide.
How to Use This Resource: This report details psychological ramifications of climate change on human welfare.
Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap
Overview: The U.S. Department of Defense serves as the principal defense policy advisor to the president and works under his direction. It embodies the U.S. military and a civilian force of thousands.
How to Use This Resource: Extreme weather will affect both the Department of Defense’s ability to defend the United States and increase the immediate risks it faces. This report outlines what those “threat multipliers” are and what the Department of Defense can do to address them.
Adapting to Climate Change in Coastal Parks
Overview: The National Park Service is a branch of the United States Department of the Interior and is responsible for the upkeep and protection of national parks.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a comprehensive report on how rising sea levels threaten national parks and what action is underway to address this threat.
FEMA on Climate Change
Overview: The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency supports citizens and first responders to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate hazards.
How to Use This Resource: FEMA’s climate change site provides access to a wide range of its own tools and data, as well as those from other agencies. Links are provided to information on risk mapping, the federal flood risk management standard, coastal flood risks and hurricanes. Search elsewhere within the FEMA site for information on flood insurance, emergency response, and activities in regions of the country, as well as preparing for emergencies.
Resilient Cities: A Grosvenor Research Report
Overview: Grosvenor is a privately owned property group with properties across the globe that advocates for sustainable growth and climate adaptation.
How to Use This Resource: This report ranked the major cities of the world by climate resiliency. American cities dominated the top of the list and only two European cities, Stockholm and Zurich, made the top 10. The lowest ranking cities were those with high population forecasts and shoddy infrastructure, such as Mexico City. This data will be useful to journalists looking for contextual information.
Resilient pathways: The Adaptation of the ICT Sector to Climate Change
Overview: Three United Nations Agencies – the International Telecommunications Union, UNESCO and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change – collaborated on this report, which calls for updated policy on climate change policy.
How to Use This Resource: This report explores the impacts of climate change on the information and communication technology sector, the potential for adaptation, and recommends new standards that need to be developed in order to protect economic growth.
Climate Change and the Small Business Sector
Overview: Small Business Majority is a network of 12,000 small business owners that conducts polling, focus groups and economic research to better inform policy makers about the concerns of their constituents. The American Sustainable Business Council represents more than 165,000 businesses nationwide and advocates for sustainability in the economic sector.
How to Use This Resource: To illustrate how American businesses are responding to climate change, this report presents six case studies from a wide range of sectors, including roofing, retail, tourism, landscape architecture, agriculture, and small-scale manufacturing.
U.S. Congress Bills on Climate Change Adaptation Database
Overview: The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to advance climate change and energy policy in the United States.
How to Use This Resource: This database provides a list of every climate change bill in the 113th Congress. It identifies the bill’s sponsor, summarizes its contents, and reports on its status. Bills are organized by topic, which include climate change adaptation, energy, transportation, renewable fuels, and carbon.
How Climate Change Action is Giving Us Wealthier, Healthier Cities
Overview: This Carbon Disclosure Project report surveyed 110 municipal governments worldwide to research the effect of climate change action on cities. It found it would enhance the municipalities’ economies, as well as the health of their residents.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find data on the municipal governments: which policymakers are addressing climate change, what they are doing, and how their efforts are working. The study found 91 percent of cities believe cutting greenhouse gas emissions will improve their economies, 55 percent are combatting climate change by promoting walking and cycling, and more than 75 percent of cities reported that their action will improve the health of their residents.
Crowdsourcing Climate Change Adaptation
Overview: Climate CoLab uses crowdsourcing and contests to unite citizens, experts and policymakers and create innovative proposals for climate change action worldwide.
How to Use This Resource: Climate CoLab’s adaptation contest features proposals on preparing for and adapting to climate change. The site also feature numerous other contests and research from internationally recognized experts paired with practical perspectives from local communities.
The Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Program
Overview: Adaptation Scotland is a collaboration of businesses and policymakers funded by, and working for, the Scottish government.
How to Use This Resource: Adaption Scotland details how climate change has and will affect Scotland as well as the Scottish government’s plans to adapt its infrastructure and prepare its populace.
Climate Change Evidence & Causes
Overview: The Royal Society and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences co-authored this status report on climate change science.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists can reference this document to help clarify what climate science is established, where consensus is growing, and where there is still uncertainty.
Climate Change Adaptation: Lessons From Urban Economics
Overview: The NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management specializes in urban economies research, their reports feature important data on how climate change influences urban markets.
How to Use This Resource: This paper develops a dynamic model for measuring the contributions urban residents and businesses make to readying their cities for climate change.
Climate Communication Research and Reports
Overview: Climate Outreach is a European climate change communication organization. It focuses on how to engage in climate change conversations with young people, conservative policymakers or people of faith.
How to Use This Resource: This archive of reports focus on climate change communication, and makes good reading for journalists. In addition, there’s a resource page on communicating climate impacts.
Climate Change Synthesis Report Summary for Policymakers
Overview: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scientific body within the United Nations that reviews scientific, technical and socio-economic information on climate change.
How to Use This Resource: This synthesis report is provides a global perspective of climate change and addresses its causes, future impacts, and future pathways for adaptation.
Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability
Overview: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scientific body within the United Nations that reviews scientific, technical and socio-economic information on climate change.
How to Use this Resource: This report details the impacts of climate change worldwide to date. It found that while the process of adaptation has already begun, most climate change action is still reactionary.
Risky Business: The Economic Risks of Climate Change to the United States
Overview: The Risky Business Project is an independent assessment of the economic risks posed by a changing climate in the United States. It is the product of economic research firm Rhodium Group, which specializes in analyzing disruptive global trends, led by project co-chairs former New York Major Michael R. Bloomberg, former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, and philanthropist Tom Steyer.
How to Use This Resource: This extensive and high-profile financial risk-assessment report outlines a range of potential negative impacts if climate change adaptation lags for each region of the United States, as well as for selected sectors of the economy. More extensive reports have since been released on the Midwest, Southeast and California.
National Climate Assessment Report
Overview: The U.S. Global Change Research Program is a coalition of 13 federal departments and agencies research the human-induced and natural processes of climate change.
How to Use This Resource: This interactive report details public and private sector adaptation planning happening in the United States. Few adaptation plans have been implemented and several enact only incremental changes.
Climate Change and Cities: First Assessment Report of the Urban Climate Change Research Network
Overview: The Urban Climate Change Research Network institutionalizes the assessment process of climate change science, tailored for urban needs.
How to Use This Resource: The ARC3 report is a global, interdisciplinary, science-based assessment of the climate change risks unique to cities. The next report in the series was to be published in time for the 2015 Paris UN climate conference.
President Obama’s Plan to Fight Climate Change
Overview: WhiteHouse.gov serves as an archive of news and information pertaining to the President of the United States. It regularly publishes policies, speeches, reports and briefs.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a structured explanation of federal government policies to reduce carbon pollution and encourage investment in clean energy. It also provides links to policy assessment reports, supporting research, and comprehensive fact sheets.
Climate Change Adaptation by Federal Agencies: An Analysis of Plans and Issues for Congress
Overview: The Congressional Research Service is the public policy research agency within the U.S. Congress.
How to Use This Resource: This report reviews federal agencies and their plans to adapt their infrastructure and operations to future climate change.
Hurricane Sandy Recovery Progress Report
Overview: This report provides updates on the progress of the Office of the Mayor’s Housing Recovery Operations and the Build it Back Program in the three years since Hurricane Sandy first hit New York City.
How to Use This Resource: The city intends to provide financial relief and expedite recovery for homeowners and better engage local communities directly in the rebuilding process. This report provides a detailed analysis of those efforts, as well as the Build it Back Program, which offers financial assistance to homeowners who were hit by the Hurricane Sandy.
COP22: UN climate gathering falls under Trump shadow
Road from Paris: Global climate deal expected to take effect soon
Climate Knowledge Center
Overview: The Association of Climate Change Officers is a U.S. coalition of private and public sector community leaders that promotes sustainable building and adaptive policies on the municipal level.
How to Use This Resource: This nonprofit publishes extensive research on adaptation initiatives on the local level, which can be found on its Knowledge Center page. This is an excellent resource for journalists researching climate adaption in U.S. corporations.
Risk Reduction Action and Research
Overview: The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) coordinates disaster reduction activities of the United Nations. It was founded in 1999 and focuses primarily on building resilience against climate change.
How to Use This Document: This website contains extensive data and research collected by the UNISDR, as well as updates on its activities. Of note are the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, a Climate Risk Early Warning Systems initiative launched at COP21 and a report on “The Human Cost of Weather Related Disasters.”
Climate Resilient Cities
Overview: Climate Resilient Cities is the overarching program on urban resilience of the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), a worldwide network of over 1,000 cities, towns and metropolises with a mission to promote environmental sustainability in government.
How to Use This Resource: This initiative provides information and toolkits on municipal-level disaster risk reduction, food security, policy making and financing. Links on the web site include an adaptation database and planning tool, a white paper on financing resilience and various guidebooks. The site also includes a link to the the Durban Adaptation Charter, which has been signed by leaders from over 100 cities.
The Business Case for Responsible Corporate Adaptation
Overview: Caring for Climate is a joint initiative of the United Nations Global Compact, the United Nations Environmental Programme and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, working to mobilize business leaders to implement climate change adaptation policies.
How to Use This Resource: This report provides recommendations on climate adaptation from the United Nations to businesses with the aim of fighting poverty and environmental degradation worldwide. It includes chapters on the business benefits of adapting responsibly and on overcoming barriers to corporate adaptation, as well as 17 case studies of business adaptation around the world.
National Adaptation Plans
Overview: A national adaptation plan process, part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, enables parties to formulate and implement the plans as a way to identify adaptation needs, and to develop and implement strategies and program to address them.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a complete database of UNFCCC plans to adapt Least Developed Countries to a changing climate. This resource page also includes links to technical guidelines and publications.
The Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage
Overview: The Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage, part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, is a protocol to address loss and damage associated with climate change impacts in developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.
How to Use This Resource: This page leads to various resources related to loss and damage, including an overview of milestones, various decision documents and meeting schedules, as well as access to a database of examples of existing loss and damage measures.
Green Infrastructure Toolkit
Overview: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a federal agency within the United States Department of Commerce dedicated to the preservation of oceans and the atmosphere.
How to Use This Resource: This toolkit provides local-level data about the coastal risks of climate change and provide an extensive menu of techniques to mitigate those risks.
Mitigation and Adaptation Policies
Overview: The Global Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet is a NASA-sponsored project that archives timely news and data on Earth’s changing climate.
How to Use This Resource: This database makes NASA-sponsered data available to the general public with a special focus on adaption and mitigation.
Climate Adaptation: Seizing the Challenge
Overview: The World Economic Forum is an independent, international organization that collaborates with decision makers in the political and business spheres to shape global policies.
How to Use This Resource: Sub-Saharan African nations are among the most vulnerable to climate change and the least ready to adapt, according to this World Economic Forum report. Journalists will find data on the climate change and economic factors that weakens these nations.
Impacts and Adaptations Research Hub
Overview: Climate Access is a network for those engaging the public in the transformation to low-carbon, resilient communities.
How To Use This Research: This archive holds extensive reports on adaptation efforts across the globe and is searchable by region and by climate change impacts.
Climate Adaptation Planning, Research and Practice
Overview: weADAPT is an online space to access and share climate adaptation information from across the globe.
How to Use This Resource: weADAPt features an archive of relevant adaption reports, as well as an interactive map of initiatives happening across the globe.
Building a Stronger Coast
Overview: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services is the agency dedicated to protecting oceanic ecosystems.
How to Use This Resource: This website features state fact sheets, an infographic on coastal resilience, restoration and repair videos, and an interactive story map of Hurricane Sandy recovery projects, with detailed profiles of each and a database of media resources that is searchable by state.
Beach Nourishment: How Beach Nourishment Works
Overview: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers investigates, develops and maintains the nation environmental resources.
How to Use This Resource: This report explains how climate change and human activity erode the coastline and what might be done to restore it and reduce flood risk.
The Big One: The East Coast’s USD 100 Billion Hurricane Event 
Overview: Swiss Reinsurance Company is a reinsurance company based in Zurich.
How to Use This Resource: In 1821, a powerful hurricane decimated the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast United States. If it were to strike today, it would potentially cost more than $100 billion in property losses. This report examines what data exists from that storm to predict the impact of future mega-storms.
Introduction to Storm Surge
Overview: The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a federal agency dedicated to the preservation of oceans and the atmosphere.
How to Use This Resource: Storm surge is an abnormal rise of water generated by a storm. And as climate change intensifies the power of tropical storms, storm surge will become one of the greatest challenges facing coastal cities. This fact sheet explains the science behind the surge.
Protecting Our Capital: How Climate Adaptation in Cities Creates a Resilient Place for Business
Overview: C40 is a network of international cities that share information and collaborate on climate change action.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find data from more than 200 cities on their adaptation initiatives on the micro and macro level.
Yale Climate Connections
Overview: The Yale Project on Climate Change Communication conducts research on public climate knowledge and provides communicators with tools to engage their audiences.
How to Use This Resource: Yale Climate Connections is a multimedia service that broadcasts daily radio and print stories about climate change.
Building Climate Resilient Transportation
Overview: The Federal Highway Administration is run through the U.S. Department of Transportation and is responsible for the upkeep of our roads and highways.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a detailed analysis of climate changes’ impact on the U.S. transportation system and what efforts are in place to combat it on the federal and state level.
Center for Government Excellence
Overview: The Johns Hopkins University Center for Government Excellence improves upon government decision-making by providing grassroots evidence, transparent accountability, and citizen engagement.
How to Use This Resource: Journalist will find meticulously researched metadata in this Johns Hopkins database on its partner cities such as New Orleans, Seattle, and Chattanooga.
Climate, Mind and Behavior Symposium
Overview: The Garrison Institute is a nonprofit organization that explores the intersection of contemplation and action in the world.
How to Use This Resource: This symposium and resultant report examine the integration of climate change research findings about what drives human thinking on climate solutions.
Resilience to Extreme Weather
Overview: The Royal Society is a Fellowship of the world’s top scientists. It is headquartered in London with branches across the globe.
How to Use This Resource: This document is an examination of people’s resilience to extreme weather such as floods, droughts and heat waves. It looks at possible improvements that might save lives by comparing the systems already in place.
Disaster and Crisis Coverage
Overview: The International Center for Journalists is a non-profit organization that promotes journalism worldwide.
How to Use This Resource: This report serves as a practical guide for journalists preparing to report on natural disasters during a crisis.
The Plumbing of Adaptation Finance: Accountability, Transparency, and Accessibility at the Local Level
Overview: The World Resources Institute is a global research organization that focuses on the critical elements of achieving sustainability worldwide.
How to Use This Resource: This report analyzes adaptation financing in Nepal, the Philippines, Uganda, and Zambia to examine how much finance is available within developing countries and whether the needs of the most vulnerable are being met.
Natural Disasters: Saving Lives Today, Building Resilience for Tomorrow
Overview: The Institution of Mechanical Engineers is an international research organization based in London that campaigns for sustainable policies worldwide.
How to Use This Resource: The rapid increase of people living in cities and is worsening the world’s susceptibility to natural disasters. This report details the ramifications of that susceptibility and makes economic and policy recommendations to improve urban resiliency.
Seizing the Global Opportunity
Overview: The Global Commission on the Economy and Climate is an independent think tank, commissioned by Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Norway, South Korea, Sweden and the United Kingdom, to address the financial concerns caused by climate change.
How to Use This Resource: This report explores initiatives that would result in both stronger economic growth and a better climates in developing countries.
Dawn of the Smart City? Perspectives from New York, Ahmedabad, Sao Paulo and Beijing
Overview: The Wilson Center is a non-partisan policy forum that addresses global issues through independent research to draft actionable policy recommendations.
How to Use This Resource: This collection of essays examines the application of smart technology innovations in New York, Sao Paulo, Beijing and Ahmedabad to combat the risks of climate change.
United States Federal Adaptation Resources
Overview: The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions is an independent nonprofit advocating for policy action to address climate change. It is the successor to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find a database of adaptation resources such as reports, bill proposals, and datasets for policymakers on the federal, state and municipal level.
Regional Climate Action Plan Database
Overview: The Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact is an ongoing collaborative effort among the region’s counties to foster sustainability and climate resilience.
How to Use This Resource: This database contains surveys and case studies of activities that Southeast Florida municipalities and counties are engaged in to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Louisiana’s Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast
Overview: The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority was established after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, in order to unify the state entities involved with protecting the coastline. For the first time in state history, Louisiana is uniting infrastructural and environmental agencies to produce a more climate-resilient community.
How to Use This Resource: Louisiana is one of the most vulnerable states, as well as one of the most innovative. This master plan details projects that provided relief to areas hit by Hurricane Katrina and lays groundwork for large-scale efforts to fortify the coastline in time for the next extreme storm.
Climate Registry for the Assessment of Vulnerability
Overview: The U.S. Geographical Survey is a science organization that provides the government with information on America’s ecosystems, natural hazards and resources, and the impacts of climate change.
How to Use This Resource: Users can search this database – administered by the National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center and the advisory group EcoAdapt – for assessments by specific geographic regions, relevant agency, species, ecosystem and other factors.
Climate Adaptation Case Studies Map
Overview: The Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange is a shared information database by EcoAdapt and Island Press. It focuses on managing natural and built systems in the face of rapid climate change.
How to Use This Resource: The Case Studies Database map profiles on-the-ground adaptation investments across the globe and provides links to complete project information.
Environmental and Climate Justice Program
Overview: The Environmental and Climate Justice Program is the branch of the NAACP advocating for climate change action in African-American communities.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find information the specific impact climate change has on African-American communities in the United States. The database includes policy reports, toolkits, and blog articles.
Resilience and Adaptation in New England
Overview: The Northeast Regional Ocean Council is a state and federal partnership that assists the region’s states, federal agencies and local organizations to address oceanic issues.
How to Use This Resource: This presentation from the EPA Region 1 Climate Mapping Effort in May, 2015 details the efforts of the Northeast Regional Ocean Council to adapt the New England coastline to climate change.
Low Carbon Transformation Research
Overview: Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership is a University of Cambridge institution that publishes scholarly articles on issues of global concern with a strong focus on climate change.
How to Use This Resource: This archive of reports and scholarly articles focuses on the need to adapt to cleaner energy sources and details initiatives taking place in the financial sector.
Disaster Resilience: A National Imperative
Overview: The National Academies Press publishes the reports of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, and operates under a United States Congress charter.
How to Use This Resource: This book focuses on the particular challenges of crafting federal policies on climate resiliency that suite a vast amount of Americans communities, each with their own individual needs.
Which Coastal Cities Are at Highest Risk of Damaging Floods?
Overview: The World Bank is an intergovernmental financial institution based in Washington D.C. that fights poverty by providing loans to developing countries, sponsoring research and promoting policy change worldwide.
How to Use This Resource: The cost of urban losses from flooding in coastal cities will rise 850 percent in 50 years, according to this World Bank report. Its findings are summarized in this article, which includes a link to purchase the full report. The report is part of a series, “Turn Down the Heat,” that looks at expected rises in sea level and their impact on vulnerable regions around the world.
Overwhelming Risk: Rethinking Flood Insurance in a World of Rising Seas
Overview: The Union of Concerned Scientists is an independent consortium of scientists and advocates that work to develop and promote sustainable policies worldwide.
How to Use This Resource: As sea levels and flood risks rise, coastal development and a growing population put more people in harm’s way. This report studies how flood insurance reform can better manage growing risk.
National Landmarks at Risk
Overview: The Union of Concerned Scientists is an independent consortium of scientists and advocates that work to develop and promote sustainable policies worldwide.
How to Use This Resource: Climate change has put many of the United States’ iconic landmarks and heritage sites at risk. This report is a selection of case studies that illustrate the urgency of the problem. According to its findings, the Statue of Liberty, the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Boston Historical Districts, and Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado could all face dire fates without action.
State and Local Climate Adaptation Map
Overview: The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions is an independent nonprofit advocating for policy action to address climate change. It is the successor to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
How to Use This Resource: This map shows how American cities and states are adapting to their individual climate challenges. It includes examples of city adaptation actions and provides plan details on a city and state level where available.
Climate News Coverage
Overview: Mashable is a global media company that caters to the digital generation. It reports 45 million monthly unique visitors and 25 million social followers.
How to Use This Resource: Mashable’s climate coverage is led by Science Editor Andrew Freedman, one of the most prolific climate reporters in the United States. He covers breaking climate news, writes long-form analyses, and digests complex data on climate change. He publishes on a daily basis.
Updating Maryland’s Sea-level Rise Projections
Overview: The Maryland Climate Change Commission is a state government agency devoted to implementing policy to fortify Maryland’s infrastructures.
How to Use This Resource: Maryland has 3,100 miles of tidal shoreline and low-lying rural and urban lands, which leave the state highly vulnerable to rising sea levels. This report is filled with data about how the Maryland coast will change and what needs to be done to adapt.
Global Risks 2014: Understanding Systemic Risks in a Changing Global Environment
Overview: The World Economic Forum is an independent, international organization that collaborates with decision makers in the political and business spheres to shape global policies.
How to Use This Resource: In a ranking of the top 10 global risks facing humanity, climate change is the cause of almost half, according to this risk assessment report from the World Economic Forum. It details the various ways extreme weather puts the planet at risk.
The Resilient Social Network
Overview: The Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute is a federally funded research and development center that produces independent analysis on homeland security.
How to Use This Resource: Within hours of Sandy’s landfall in New Jersey, Occupy Wall Street members had created a social media network of humanitarian volunteers that would eventually grow to 60,000 members. This report studies how such grassroots activism might be utilized by the government when the next disaster strikes.
Infrastructure Update Three Years Later: Progress Being Made Toward A More Resilient New York
How to Use This Resource: This archive of reports examines how New York City’s infrastructures, such as its transportation systems and public housing, fare after being hit by Hurricane Sandy. It is updated monthly.
Floodplain Management
Overview: The Association of State Floodplain Managers promotes policies that would mitigate losses, costs, and human suffering caused by flooding.
How to Use This Resource: The site includes reports on FEMA and federal flood risk policies, as well as on floodplain management strategies to addresses how American communities are adapting to extreme flooding on a local and state level.
Adaptation in Action: Grantee Success Stories from CDC’s Climate and Health Program
Overview: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services. It uses its prevention expertise to advise cities and states on investigating, preparing for, and responding to the health ramifications of climate change.
How to Use This Resource: This progress report on the CDC’s climate change adaptation program details what health risks are caused by climate change and which programs have been most effective in combatting them.
Sustainable Cities: Building Cities for the Future
Overview: The United Kingdom’s Climate Action Programme and the American C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group partnered to publish this report on innovative climate change adaptation in Adelaide, Chicago, Copenhagen, Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find detailed analyses of city-level initiatives in carbon neutrality, public transportation, ecological architecture, and other such green topics.
Mayors Challenge
Overview: Bloomberg Philanthropies is a nonprofit led by Michael Bloomberg, former New York City mayor, that promotes municipal climate change adaptation.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists interested in innovative city responses to climate change should examine Stockholm’s biochar project and Houston’s new recycling technology.
C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
Overview: The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group is a network of international cities that share information and collaborate on climate change action. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a key funder.
How to Use This Resource: The site’s database allows journalists to search among participating cities for adaptation and other initiatives. Its research menu provides access to extensive reports, case studies and data, including on adaptation and on low carbon emissions in cities.
Climate Security 101
Overview: The Climate Security 101 site is a project of the policy institute, The Center for Climate and Security, researching how climate risks affect security. It also posts updates on climate security research and policy documents.
How to Use this Resource: This site’s database on climate change and security features primary documents organized into categories of sources: U.S. Government, intergovernmental bodies, think tanks, etc.
Quadrennial Defense Review
Overview: The U.S. Department of Defense serves as the principal defense policy advisor to the President and works under his direction. It embodies the United States military and a civilian force of thousands.
How to Use This Resource: This reports includes an in-depth analysis of climate change’s impact as a “threat multiplier” to national security, as well as a discussion of preparations and adaptation to climate change.
Forests and Land Use Database
Overview: ClimateWorks is a non-governmental organization of researchers, strategists, and grant-makers who lobby for climate action.
How to Use This Resource: ClimateWorks’ portfolios provide up-to-date data on clean energy initiatives and the effect of carbon emissions on forests across the globe.
National Climate Assessment NCANet Toolkit
Overview: The United States Global Change Research Program is a coalition of 13 federal departments and agencies research the human-induced and natural processes of climate change.
How to Use This Resource: Participants of this information-sharing platform contribute their climate change research materials to this easily searchable database. The Adaptation + Mitigation and Built Infrastructure sections cover climate change action on the federal, state, and local level.
Economic Aspects of Adaptation Research
Overview: The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is a consortium of 34 nations in Europe, North America, Asia, the Middle East and Asia that promote international economic development.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find research and reports from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on the economic aspects of climate change adaptation.
Strategic Sustainability Performance and Adaptation Plans
Overview: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the Department of Defense agency responsible for investigating and maintaining the nation’s environmental resources.
How to Use This Resource: Journalists will find the most recent U.S. Army Corps of Engineers progress reports on its climate change risk assessment research, as well as video and other resources on climate resilience.
Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding: Strategy Stronger Communities, A Resilient Region
Overview: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Hurricane Sandy is a federal agency that oversees disaster relief funding and investment in resilient infrastructure.
How to Use This Resource: This report has extensive data on Hurricane Sandy’s impact on Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and the Shinnecock Indian Nation. It also clearly outlines the strategies federal government has taken and will take to repair and strengthen the coastline’s infrastructure.
A Stronger More Resilient New York
Overview: The New York City Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency is a city agency created to address infrastructure concerns in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.
How to Use This Resource: This report outlines precisely what elements of New York City’s infrastructure are vulnerable to extreme weather, what has been done to fortify it, and what remains to be done. Updates have followed in the city’s OneNYC initiative (2016 report)
Coastal Vulnerability to Sea Level Rise Map
Overview: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is a federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce dedicated to the preservation of oceans and the atmosphere.
How to Use This Resource: This map provides clear data on where sea levels rising will have the largest impact in the United States. The data can be sorted by erosion rate, tide range and wave height.
Cities and Flooding: A Guide to Integrated Urban Flood Risk Management
Overview: The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery is a World Bank organization assisting policymakers to prepare low-income countries for future climate change events.
How To Use This Resource: Journalists can mine this 200-page report for information on flood risk assessment and the development of low-risk infrastructure.