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Pages 1-16

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From page 1...
... Vulnerabilities to climate change impacts exist all across America and differ by region, sector, scale, and segment of our society. Consider, for example, the likelihood of reduced surface water supply in America's West because of reduced snowfall and snowpack in the western mountains and, at least in the Southwest, prospects for reduced total rainfall.
From page 2...
... FuTuRE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANgE THAT CALL FOR ADAPTATION Effective adaptation depends on an understanding of projected climatic changes at geographic and temporal scales appropriate for the needed response. Projected changes include average and extreme temperature; average and extreme precipitation; the intensity, frequency, duration, and/or location of extreme weather events; sea level; and atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2)
From page 3...
... with climate change adaptation that has been undertaken in some regions of the world, a limited number of careful analyses of adaptation possibilities, and an onrush of creative thinking in connection with emerging efforts to do adaptation planning. But, in many cases, the options that we can identify for adaptation to impacts of climate change lack solid information about benefits, costs, potentials, and limits for three reasons: an inability to attribute explicitly many observed changes at local and regional scales to climate change (and therefore to document effects of adaptation in reducing those impacts)
From page 4...
... emissions and adapt to climate change impacts in a common sustainability agenda reduces risks of maladaptation. In the long term, adaptation to climate change calls for a new paradigm that takes into account a range of possible future climate conditions and associated changes in human and natural systems instead of managing our resources based on previous experience and the historical range and variability of climate.
From page 5...
... Managing risk in the context of adapting to climate change involves using the best available social and physical science to understand the likelihood of climate impacts and their associated consequences, then selecting and implementing the response options that seem most effective. Because knowledge about future impacts and the effectiveness of response options will evolve, policy decisions to manage the risk of climate change impacts can be improved if they are done in an iterative fashion by continually monitoring the progress and consequences of actions and modifying management practices based on learning and recognition of changing conditions.
From page 6...
... . conditions Adapt infrastructure and dredging to cope with altered water levels.
From page 7...
... reach coast Increased Increased storm surge Strengthen and implement building codes that make existing intensity/ and flooding; increased buildings more resilient to storm damage along the coast. frequency wind damage; sudden Increase building "free board" above base flood elevation coastal storms coastal/shoreline alterations Identify and improve evacuation routes in low-lying areas (e.g., causeways to coastal islands)
From page 8...
...  Establish monitoring and mapping efforts to measure changes in Changes in Changes in salinity; physical, biological, and chemical conditions along the coast. physical and changes in circulation; chemical changes in seawater Utilize approaches that do not endanger species that are characteristics temperature; changes harvested or endangered.
From page 9...
... , Limiting (ACC: Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change [NRC, 2010c]
From page 10...
... It cannot be thought of simply as a set of actions to be taken right now, although this report does identify some effective short-term actions. Adapting calls for the development of a multiparty, public-private national framework for becoming more adaptable over time, including improving information systems for telling us what is happening, both with climate change impacts and with adaptation experiences; working together across institutional and social boundaries to combine what each party does best; and making it a part of our national culture to continually review the effectiveness of current risk-management strategies as we learn more about projected climate changes and impact vulnerabilities.
From page 11...
... Elaborating on this approach, the panel found that emerging adaptation efforts in the United States are not well coordinated, and as a result adaptation choices could result in unintended consequences and inconsistent, inefficient investments and outcomes. A national adaptation program is needed, guided by a strategy that focuses on cooperation and collaboration among different levels of government and between government and other key parties.
From page 12...
... Overall, devising solutions and making decisions about adaptation options should be placed within a broad international context. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOgy ADvANCES NEEDED TO SuPPORT ADAPTATION CHOICES America's climate choices in adapting to impacts of climate change are limited by the nation's insufficient knowledge of adaptation, tools, and options related specifically to climate change.
From page 13...
... Such a strategy offers potential to reduce costs of current and future climate change impacts, not only by realizing and supporting adaptation capacities across different levels of government, different sectors of the economy, and different populations and environments, but also by providing resources, coordination, and assistance in ensuring that a wide range of distributed actions are mutually supportive. Placed in a larger context of sustainable development, climate change adaptation can contribute to a coherent and efficient national response to climate change challenges that encourages linkages and partnerships across boundaries between different sectors and institutions in our society.
From page 14...
... They call for the development of a collaborative national adaptation strategy and program, including a significant climate change research effort as part of an integrated climate change research initiative. They suggest adaptation planning and implementation by U.S.
From page 15...
... Recommendation 6: Local governments should develop and implement climate change adaptation plans pursuant to the national climate adaptation strategy, in consultation with the broad range of stakeholders in their communities. Recommendation 7: The private sector, NGOs, and society at large should assess their own vulnerabilities and risks due to climate change and actively engage and partner with the respective governmental adaptation planning efforts to help build the nation's adaptive capacity.


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