NGO

The recently published IPCC Special Report “Global Warming of 1.5°C” reveals an alarming truth in terms of climate change: Global warming has almost reached 1°C compared to the average temperature in the pre-industrial era and is currently increasing by 0.2°C per decade due to past and ongoing emissions. The RegionsAdapt members that reported this and the last years to CDPs states and regions reporting platform are already experiencing the impacts of this global warming, which is also confirmed by the IPCC report.

A warming atmosphere is giving extra energy to storms, making the hurricanes, tornadoes, and thunderstorms of today more intense than those of the past. This trend is projected to accelerate in the years to come. These stronger storms are more likely to cause power outages, and the loss of power can be costly in terms of lives lost, economic impact, and public health. This fact sheet outlines strategies that local governments could implement to reduce the frequency and duration of power outages and help communities better withstand them when they do occur.

As the 2018 IPCC Special Report makes clear, the need to advance mitigation and adaptation is now more urgent than ever before; moreover, integrating the two streams of action in research and practice via what we call “low carbon resilience” (LCR) policy, planning, and development approaches is potentially more efficient and effective than the current, largely siloed approach. This project focused on the key role professionals play as change agents in climate action, and what is needed for all sectors to advance uptake of LCR-based practices.

A warming atmosphere is giving extra energy to storms, making the hurricanes, tornadoes, and thunderstorms of today more intense than those of the past. This trend is projected to accelerate in the years to come. These stronger storms are more likely to cause power outages, and the loss of power can be costly in terms of lives lost, economic impact, and public health. This fact sheet outlines strategies that local governments could implement to reduce the frequency and duration of power outages and help communities better withstand them when they do occur.

Climate change is contributing to more frequent, severe, and longer heat waves during summer months across the United Sates. The number of heatwaves observed in 2011 and 2012 were triple the long-term average, and require planning for economic, health and environmental tolls.

Across the United States, the risk of drought is expected to grow due to reduced precipitation and higher temperatures caused by climate change. Drought’s far-reaching impacts can ripple through communities, regions, watersheds, economies and ecosystems. This fact sheet overviews strategies for areas with a projected increase in drought conditions to become more resilient. It concludes with a community case study that has used a number of these strategies, and a list of tools to help communities evaluate the costs and benefits of resilience strategies.

The United States is facing increasingly frequent and intense precipitation events and ever higher damages from flooding each year due to climate change and urbanization. Communities, counties, and states are responding by upgrading stormwater and sewage systems with a growing emphasis on strategies to become more resilient to flooding. This paper outlines resilience strategies for flash flooding, with an emphasis on riverine and precipitation-caused flooding. For each strategy, the paper will discuss primary and co-benefits, and associated costs.