Coastal Resilience in the Great Lakes Region

This briefing transcript features a panel of experts discussing coastal resilience in the Great Lakes region, focusing on climate impacts, nature-based solutions, tribal adaptation strategies, and climate-smart agriculture. The discussion emphasizes the economic and environmental importance of the Great Lakes, the role of coastal wetlands in mitigating flooding and improving water quality, and the necessity of integrating traditional ecological knowledge and local leadership into federal and state policy.

• The Great Lakes region is of immense economic and environmental significance, with the U.S. portion generating over three trillion dollars in gross domestic product, approximately 15 percent of the total. The lakes contain more than 20 percent of the world's freshwater, providing drinking water for one in ten Americans and one in three Canadians.
• Climate change has already caused measurable shifts in the Great Lakes region between 1951 and 2017, including a temperature increase of 2.3 degrees and an extension of the growing season by 16 days. Future projections for 2070 suggest potential temperature increases of six degrees and precipitation increases of six inches.
• Historical injustices, specifically redlining policies from the 1920s and 30s, continue to impact urban resilience. A report of 108 U.S. cities found that redlined neighborhoods experience greater urban heat island effects, with an average difference of two degrees; in Minneapolis, this differential is 10.8 degrees.
• Coastal wetlands are critical for resilience as they absorb wave energy, protect coastal infrastructure, and provide water storage and flood retention. However, over 50 percent of wetlands in the Great Lakes basin on the U.S. side have been lost due to drainage, filling, or land-use changes.
• The Coastal Assembly, a bi-national organization, promotes a 'landscape conservation design' approach to wetland restoration. This strategy moves away from 'random acts of restoration' toward a system where projects work together, such as a 'stormwater treatment train' to reduce phosphorus loads, specifically targeting a 40 percent reduction in Sandusky Bay.
• The Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC) utilizes Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) to assess climate vulnerability for over 60 culturally important beings. Wild rice is identified as the most vulnerable species, posing an existential threat to Ojibwe culture.
• GLIFWC developed the Tribal Climate Adaptation Menu to facilitate culturally appropriate adaptation. The tool emphasizes 'decolonizing' scientific research and shifting toward a worldview where animals, landscapes, and rocks are viewed as 'relatives' (Nindinawemaaganidag) rather than resources to be managed top-down.
• Agriculture is presented as a significant tool for carbon sequestration, with 40 percent of the U.S. landmass being farmable cropland. Farmers using 'climate-smart' practices, such as cover crops to improve soil health and reduce compaction, can potentially reduce agricultural emissions from 8.5 percent to 3.8 percent over five years.
• The American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP) recommends that the federal government mainstream climate considerations into all projects, modernize the Stafford Act to include climate projections in flood insurance maps, and expand the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative into a 'Great Lakes Restoration and Resilience Initiative'.

APA

Environmental and Energy Study Institute (2020). Coastal Resilience in the Great Lakes Region. https://www.eesi.org/files/transcript_021320.pdf

Chicago

Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Coastal Resilience in the Great Lakes Region. 2020. https://www.eesi.org/files/transcript_021320.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |title=Coastal Resilience in the Great Lakes Region |date=February 2020 |url=https://www.eesi.org/files/transcript_021320.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{environmentalandenergystudyinstitute2020coastal, author = {{Environmental and Energy Study Institute}}, title = {{Coastal Resilience in the Great Lakes Region}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2020}, month = feb, url = {https://www.eesi.org/files/transcript_021320.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }