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430 results
Confronting Climate Change in Washington
Climate change is causing record-breaking wildfires, ocean acidification, and declining snowpack in Washington, threatening the state's shellfish, forestry, and hydroelectric industries. Projections suggest temperatures could rise by 5°F to 8.5°F by the end of the century, with significant risks to coastal property and forest health. The document advocates for carbon pricing, cleaner transportation fuels, and a transition to zero-carbon electricity to mitigate these risks.
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Document type: Fact sheet
The Science Connecting Extreme Weather to Climate Change
The document outlines the quantitative scoring system used to translate qualitative likelihood and confidence levels from the Climate Science Special Report (CSSR) and the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) into a visual guide for extreme weather attribution in the continental United States.
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Document type: Report
Connecting Extreme Weather to Climate Change
The document outlines the development of 'climate attribution' science, which allows researchers to quantify the role of human-caused climate change in extreme weather. It identifies that evidence is strongest for heat waves, coastal flooding, and extreme precipitation, while remaining less conclusive for tornadoes and thunderstorms. The text provides specific examples of US events, such as Hurricane Harvey and the February 2017 heat wave, where climate change significantly increased likelihood or intensity.
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Document type: Fact sheet
NATIONAL ADAPTATION PLAN (NAP) APPROACH: KEY OBSERVED & ANTICIPATED CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS PRIORITY SECTORS FOR ADAPTATION
Malawi initiated its National Adaptation Plan (NAP) process in 2014, completing a stocktaking exercise and establishing a roadmap. The process is managed by a core team of adaptation experts collaborating with cross-sectoral experts to identify long-term priorities. To support this, Malawi submitted a NAP formulation proposal to the Green Climate Fund with technical assistance from UNEP. The document identifies key climate impacts—including wildfires, drought, floods, rainfall variability, and increasing temperatures—and priority sectors for adaptation such as agriculture, fisheries, health, infrastructure, energy, forestry, water, wildlife, and gender.
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Document type: Fact sheet
How to Talk to Your Relatives About Climate Change (And Maybe Change Their Minds)
The guide encourages people to overcome the 'spiral' of silence regarding climate change by engaging in interpersonal conversations. It suggests using a combination of scientific data on extreme weather, personal narratives of climate impacts, and economic arguments regarding the competitiveness and job-creation potential of clean energy to persuade others.
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Document type: Guide
Built to Last
The report argues that California's public infrastructure is deteriorating and based on outdated historical climate data, making it vulnerable to a 'new normal' of extreme heat, sea level rise, wildfires, and erratic precipitation. It proposes a 'climate-smart' framework based on rigorous science, equitable outcomes, financial transparency, and holistic planning. Key barriers identified include outdated design codes, a lack of actionable climate data for engineers, and systemic underinvestment in underserved communities. The author recommends updating state standards, establishing a centralized coordinating center for climate information, and adopting innovative financing mechanisms like resilience bonds to protect critical services and vulnerable populations.
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Document type: Report
10 key signs of climate change
The document outlines twelve key signs of climate change, including rising global, ocean, and soil temperatures, increasing ocean acidity, and rising sea levels. It attributes these phenomena to the buildup of heat-trapping gases caused by the burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of tropical forests. The text highlights specific regional impacts, such as the rapid warming of the Gulf of Maine and the thawing of permafrost in the Arctic, and notes the resulting increase in extreme weather events and shifts in species ranges.
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Document type: Fact sheet
GLOBAL FOREST WATCH WATER METADATA DOCUMENT
The World Resources Institute developed Global Forest Watch Water (GFW Water) to provide a public database and mapping tool for 230 major global watersheds. The tool assesses watershed health by scoring four primary risks—recent forest loss, historical forest loss, erosion, and fire—within the context of baseline water stress. It aims to support downstream beneficiaries, financing institutions, and researchers in implementing natural infrastructure, such as forest protection and restoration, to enhance water security and quality. The document details the underlying hydrologic science, the specific spatial data sets used (including Landsat imagery and the RUSLE erosion model), and the normalization process used to generate risk scores from 1 to 5.
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Document type: Report
The Health Benefits of the Clean Power Plan
The document argues that transitioning from fossil fuel-based electric power to clean renewable energy is a public health imperative. It details how climate change exacerbates respiratory, cardiovascular, and mental health issues, and how the Clean Power Plan's goal to reduce carbon pollution by 32% below 2005 levels by 2030 will prevent thousands of premature deaths and asthma attacks. The toolkit provides clinicians with messaging and model letters to influence state policymakers, while explicitly arguing against nuclear power due to radiation risks and waste management failures.
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Document type: Guide
Sustainable land use in Quito to safeguard vulnerable communities from floods, droughts and fires
The document outlines a CDKN-supported initiative in Quito, Ecuador, to address climate vulnerabilities such as landslides and wildfires affecting low-income hillside communities. Through a vulnerability study and a five-year Action Plan, the project promoted ecosystem restoration, sustainable agriculture, and the integration of climate resilience into municipal development planning.
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Document type: Fact sheet
WESTERN WILDFIRES
Climate Central's analysis of U.S. Forest Service records shows that the average annual number of large wildfires in the western U.S. more than tripled between the 1970s and 2010s, with the area burned increasing more than six-fold. The report attributes these trends to rising temperatures, decreased snowpack, and earlier snowmelt. Projections using the Keetch-Byram Drought Index (KBDI) suggest that high-risk fire days will increase substantially by 2050, particularly in Southwestern states. The report also highlights the growing risk to populations living in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) and the health impacts of wildfire smoke.
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Document type: Report
Confronting Climate Change in New Mexico
New Mexico is experiencing a warming trend with an average annual temperature increase of approximately 0.6°F per decade since 1970. This shift is driving more intense droughts, reduced snowpack, and more frequent, destructive wildfires, which threaten the state's multibillion-dollar agricultural sector and forest ecosystems. The document recommends accelerating renewable energy investments, increasing energy efficiency, retiring coal plants, and implementing robust water management and monitoring systems to build climate resilience.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Climate Change in California
California is experiencing significant damages from climate change, including increased heat-related mortality, more frequent and severe wildfires, and rising sea levels. The state faces critical water shortages, record-low snowpacks in the Sierra Nevada, and a high risk of extinction for 83 percent of its native freshwater fish species.
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Document type: Briefing
An Open Letter from Oregon Climate Change Scientists
A group of Ph.D. scientists and researchers in Oregon have issued an open letter to state leadership warning that human-caused climate change threatens the state's quality of life and future. The authors highlight specific regional risks, including reduced snowpack, increased wildfires, and rising sea levels, and call for a combination of community adaptation investments and strict adherence to the state's 2050 emissions reduction target.
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Document type: Statement
Understanding ecological transitions under recurrent wildfire: a case study in the seasonally dry tropical forests of the Chiquitania, Bolivia
The study examines the impact of wildfires occurring between 2000 and 2012 on the Chiquitania forests of Bolivia. It finds that recurrent fires lead to a significant loss in biomass and a shift in species composition where fire-tolerant species become more dominant, resulting in an increase in species richness despite the biomass loss. The authors warn that this transition to a fire-adapted state could become irreversible under future conditions of increased drought and forest fragmentation.
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Document type: Case study
Public Call from Scientists, Economists and Other Scholars Supporting Climate Change Objectives of SB 350 and SB 32
A group of Ph.D. researchers and scholars call upon Governor Brown and California legislators to pass SB 32 and SB 350. The signatories argue that human activity is the primary cause of global warming and that California is already experiencing climate impacts such as increased wildfires and extreme heat waves. They advocate for three specific targets: reducing heat-trapping emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050, increasing renewable electricity to 50% by 2030, and reducing transportation petroleum use by 50% by 2030.
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Document type: Statement
Public Opinion on Climate Change, 2024 Alabama
The 2024 data for Alabama indicates that while a majority of residents (62%) believe global warming is occurring, there is a split in perception regarding its cause, with 51% attributing it to human activities. Support for clean energy transitions and renewable energy research is notable, with 57% supporting a transition to 100% clean energy by 2050 and 72% supporting renewable energy research. Risk perceptions are significant, as 54% of residents are worried about global warming and 61% believe it will harm future generations and animal species.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Poverty and the climate crisis are two sides of the same challenge
The author contends that the climate crisis and poverty are linked, requiring a radical shift toward social justice and sustainability. Using Portugal as an example, the text highlights how renewable energy can drive GDP growth and job creation, while criticizing austerity measures and the lack of public awareness in Portugal, where only 6% of the population views climate change as a serious problem.
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Document type: Statement
FACT SHEET How California Is Tackling Global Warming, Cutting Oil Use, and Saving Drivers Money
California's climate strategies, centered on the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, are reducing oil use and emissions from the transportation sector, which accounts for nearly 40% of the state's global warming emissions. Key mechanisms include a cap-and-trade program, the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), and stringent vehicle emissions standards. These policies have led to a 12% drop in oil consumption between 2006 and 2012 and are projected to save drivers money through increased fuel efficiency. Additionally, the state is investing carbon permit proceeds into disadvantaged communities and seeing a boom in clean technology investment and patent registrations.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Rocky Mountain Forests at Risk
The Rocky Mountain forests are facing a "triple assault" of tree-killing insects, wildfires, and heat and drought, all driven by human-caused global warming. Bark beetle outbreaks killed trees on 46 million acres between 2000 and 2012, while large wildfires increased by 73 percent from 1984 to 2011. Iconic species like whitebark pines, aspens, and piñon pines are in catastrophic decline, with projections suggesting a 60 percent loss in suitable area for aspens by 2060 under medium-high emissions scenarios. The report argues that without reducing heat-trapping emissions and managing for resilience, these forests may be irrevocably degraded.
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Document type: Executive summary