Southeast & Caribbean

Climate change is occurring in the Southeastern United States, and one manifestation is changes in frequency and intensity of extreme events. A vulnerability assessment is performed in the state of Georgia (United States) at the county level from 1975 to 2012 in decadal increments. Climate change vulnerability is typically measured as a function of exposure to physical phenomena (e.g., droughts, floods), sensitivity to factors affecting the social milieu, and the capacity of a given unit to adapt to changing physical conditions.

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.

This report contributes to a relatively new body of research by exploring three important but understudied challenges of cultural resources climate change adaptation: (1) barriers to current cultural resource management and historic preservation given climate change impacts together with needs for overcoming the identified barriers; (2) the importance of factors influencing climate adaptation prioritization; (3) the potential utility of a geovisualization decision support to provide site managers with experts’ recommendations for adaptation.

This Adaptation Planning Guidebook is a compilation of more than 5 years of stakeholder involvement and research during the Community Resiliency Initiative (CRI) directed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) as part of the Florida Coastal Management Plan. Research began in 2011 and continued through 2017. During this time, upwards of 30 documents that focus on many aspects of adaptation planning and are specific to Florida were created.

From the mountainous areas of the Ozarks and southern Appalachians to the coastal plains of the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, and from the temperate climate of Kentucky and Tennessee to the subtropical climate of southern Florida, the wide range of environments across the southeastern United States provide the basis for the region’s long and rich cultural and economic history. Sea level rise, hurricanes, extreme heat, and decreased water availability are the major stressors outlined by the National Climate Assessment for the Southeast (Carter et al., 2014) This report assesses the region

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has deemed climate change a serious threat to agriculture and food security worldwide. In addition, the U.S.

After decades of implementation of territorial use rights in sheries (TURFs) and other sheries management measures around the world, it is clear that monitoring their progress and results in biological and socioeconomic terms is necessary, and that involving shers in the design and implementation will improve their likelihood of success.