Climate Adaptation

Human actions are significantly impacting Earth's environment. Scientists have strengthened their ability to attribute certain changes, especially related to sea-level rise and extreme weather events, to global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions. The effects of climate change are more obviously beginning to influence communities around the world, and are expected to generate even more challenging consequences in the future. Even as governments and industry must work rapidly to cut emissions to prevent the worst effects of a warming climate, communities must also take actions now to begin adapting to the new realities that global warming will certainly bring. This is particularly urgent for people living in areas historically subject to extreme heat, semi-arid zones, coastal areas, small island nations, or communities that live in or near the Arctic Circle.

Our faculty and researchers deploy their expertise in natural sciences, engineering, and economics to model how global warming will influence sea level rise, coastal flooding, hurricanes, heat waves, and droughts, and the communities who experience them.

From a policy perspective, our researchers recommend policies and actions to both lessen climate change risks and also prepare for the impact that an already warming climate is having on communities.

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Author
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Scientists Question the Use of “Tipping Point” Metaphor in Climate Change Discussions
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