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Publications on Climate Resilience

Browse RAND publications on climate resilience.

2022

Mid-Atlantic Regional Climate Impacts Summary and Outlook: Spring 2022 June 27, 2022

Krista Romita Grocholski, Michelle E. Miro, Jessica Spaccio, Samantha Borisoff, Lena Easton-Calabria, Arthur T. DeGaetano
This seasonal climate summary draws from a variety of scientific resources for the benefit of policymakers, practitioners, residents, and community leaders in the Mid-Atlantic region, with a focus on the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This edition includes details on spring 2022 weather, regional climate trends, and the upcoming summer season. An interactive tool shows an analysis of future projected changes in total monthly precipitation, compared to two baseline periods, across the Mid-Atlantic.
Streamlining Emergency Management: Issues, Impacts, and Options for Improvement June 24, 2022

Jason Thomas Barnosky, Andrew Lauland, Michelle E. Miro, Jay Balagna, Liisa Ecola, Soo Kim, Chelsea Kolb, Kristin J. Leuschner, Ian Mitch, Andrew M. Parker, et al.
In research for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, analysts sought ways to streamline, simplify, and strengthen the U.S. emergency management system, assessing how overlap, duplication, and fragmentation could affect implementation and outcomes. They propose options — some broad and transformative and others on a smaller scale — and discuss trade-offs of each.
Preparing for California's Edible Food Recovery Mandate: Findings from the Los Angeles Food Recovery Study June 21, 2022

Alina I. Palimaru, Joslyn Fleming, Jay Balagna, Marcy Agmon, Marc Robbins, Sarah B. Hunter
Under a new state law, by 2025 California must reduce organic waste by 75 percent and recover 20 percent edible food that would otherwise be landfilled. RAND researchers reviewed the literature and government documents, and interviewed stakeholders to assess the preparedness for the new mandate in Los Angeles County. They suggest ways in which the mandate could be turned into an opportunity for innovation and capacity-building.
Los Angeles County's Preparedness for California's Edible Food Recovery Mandate (SB 1383): An Examination of Food Recovery Logistics and Other Challenges June 21, 2022

Alina I. Palimaru, Joslyn Fleming, Jay Balagna, Marcy Agmon, Marc Robbins, Sarah B. Hunter
California's 2016 food recovery mandate, Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383), could make an important contribution toward mitigating the climate crisis and food insecurity. In this report, the authors review food recovery in Los Angeles County and specific challenges relating to SB 1383 implementation, and they suggest ways in which the mandate could be turned into an opportunity for innovation and capacity-building.
Forecasting Public Recovery Expenditures' Effect on Construction Prices and the Demand for Construction Labor June 17, 2022

Aaron Strong, Jeffrey B. Wenger, Isaac M. Opper, Drew M. Anderson, Kathryn A. Edwards, Kyle Siler-Evans, Jessie Coe, R. J. Briggs
The scale of Puerto Rico's recovery efforts after Hurricane María means that these efforts are likely to fundamentally change Puerto Rico's economy in terms of labor, materials, and equipment. Researchers aimed to develop estimates of future construction costs and build factors that cost estimators can apply to current costs to reflect the future cost of construction. This report documents their approach, data, findings, and recommendations.
Climate Change and Implications for Disasters in the United States: Examples from the Arctic, Caribbean, Northeast, and Gulf States June 10, 2022

Abbie Tingstad, Susan A. Resetar, Jordan R. Fischbach, Jessie Riposo
Climate change is contributing to more frequent and more severe disasters. In this video, three climate researchers discuss climate change and risks for disasters in the United States. They focus on several regions: the Arctic, the Caribbean, the Northeast, and the Gulf states. They examine how climate effects and hazards are affecting communities in the region, ongoing adaptation activities, and remaining needs and opportunities.
Disasters and Indigenous Peoples: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Expert News Media May 19, 2022

Anuszka Maton-Mosurska, Aaron Clark-Ginsberg, Susannah M. Sallu, James D. Ford
In this article, we aim to understand framings of Indigenous peoples in disaster management through a critical discourse analysis of how Indigenous peoples in disasters are represented in the expert news media.
Assessing Risk to the National Critical Functions as a Result of Climate Change April 5, 2022

Michelle E. Miro, Andrew Lauland, Rahim Ali, Edward W. Chan, Richard H. Donohue, Liisa Ecola, Timothy R. Gulden, Liam Regan, Karen M. Sudkamp, Tobias Sytsma, et al.
National Critical Functions (NCFs) are government and private-sector functions so vital that their disruption would debilitate security, the economy, public health, or safety. Researchers developed a risk management framework to assess and manage the risk that climate change poses to the NCFs and use the framework to assess 27 priority NCFs. This report details the risk assessment portions of the framework.
Environmental Racism: A Tool for Exploring the Enduring Legacy of Redlining on Urban Environments March 31, 2022

Jaime Madrigano, Carlos Calvo Hernandez, Scott R. Stephenson, Alyson Youngblood, Sameer M. Siddiqi, Grace Gahlon, Alexandra Huttinger, Ramya Chari, Benjamin Lee Preston
Systemic discriminatory practices in past urban planning and housing policies, including redlining, have contributed to the development of cities and are associated with disproportionate environmental burdens in some communities to this day. To explore this issue, RAND researchers developed an online tool for visualizing the spatial relationships between redlining and exposure to various environmental hazards.
The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Mitigation Grant Program: Incorporating Hazard Risk and Social Equity into Decisionmaking Processes March 23, 2022

Noreen Clancy, Melissa L. Finucane, Jordan R. Fischbach, David G. Groves, Debra Knopman, Karishma V. Patel, Lloyd Dixon
Based on the premise that investing in hazard risk mitigation will reduce spending on recovery and response, the federal Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program recognizes that equity issues are important in helping communities' mitigation efforts. Researchers identified ways to address these issues while enhancing the accuracy of natural hazard assessment in future BRIC grant decisionmaking, as described in this report.
Mid-Atlantic Regional Climate Impacts Summary and Outlook: Winter 2021–2022 March 18, 2022

Krista Romita Grocholski, Michelle E. Miro, Lena Easton-Calabria, Jessica Spaccio, Samantha Borisoff, Arthur T. DeGaetano
This seasonal climate summary draws from a variety of scientific resources for the benefit of policymakers, practitioners, residents, and community leaders in the Mid-Atlantic region, with a focus on the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This edition includes details on winter 2021–2022 weather, regional climate trends, and the upcoming spring season. An interactive tool shows an analysis of future projected changes in precipitation, compared to climate normals, across the Mid-Atlantic.
Observed Impacts, Future Risks, and Adaptation Solutions: Highlights from the Recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II Report March 10, 2022

Robert J. Lempert
Testimony presented before the Minnesota House of Representatives Committee on Climate and Energy Finance and Policy on March 10, 2022.
A Green Costa Rican COVID-19 Recovery: Aligning Costa Rica's Decarbonization Investments with Economic Recovery February 24, 2022

David G. Groves, Edmundo Molina-Perez, James Syme, Gabriela Alvarado, Felipe De León Denegri, Juan Daniel Acuña Román, Agripina Jenkins Rojas
In this follow-on analysis to their 2020 study on the benefits and costs of Costa Rica's National Decarbonization Plan (NDP), the authors assess how the implementation of NDP could contribute to a just and robust COVID-19 recovery. The authors find that five years of decarbonization investments would offset the lingering impacts that COVID-19 would have on employment and economic activity.
Equity Metrics for Climate Adaptation in the Electricity Sector February 17, 2022

Nidhi Kalra, Swaptik Chowdhury, Kelly Klima, Liam Regan
Social equity has become a key concern among public agencies. In 2020, the California Public Utilities Commission adopted a ruling that requires utilities to assess communities' vulnerability to climate impacts and evaluate how climate adaptation efforts can promote equity. The authors developed a set of context-specific equity metrics that Southern California Edison could build on and incorporate into its ongoing work toward climate adaptation.
Identifying and Planning for Vulnerabilities in the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District’s Water Management Plans January 6, 2022

Michelle E. Miro
This interactive tool presents the results of a study that evaluated the performance of the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District water plans — specifically, the 2015 Regional Urban Water Management Plan — under a range of future conditions. Researchers assessed whether demand for water outstripped the sustainable use of supply sources, taking into consideration future uncertainty in climate, drought, imported water supply, and water demand.
Do We Prioritize Floodplains for Development and Farming? Mapping Global Dependence and Exposure to Inundation January 21, 2022

Rachel Steratore, Mira Anand, Bernhard Lehner, Etienne Fluet-Chouinard
Mapping global floodplain exposure and dependence.
Assessing Social Equity in Disaster Preparation, Response, and Recovery January 5, 2022

Melissa L. Finucane, Linnea Warren May, Joan Chang
In this webinar, senior social scientist Melissa Finucane reviews the complex nature of social equity—including contextual, procedural, and distributional equity dimensions—and how a robust, evidence-based approach is needed to measure progress toward equity in disaster contexts. Challenges in identifying underserved groups and selecting appropriate equity metrics are discussed in the context of current policy initiatives to advance racial equity.

2021

Adaptive Water Management in the Face of Uncertainty: Integrating Machine Learning, Groundwater Modeling and Robust Decision Making December 21, 2021

Michelle E. Miro, David G. Groves, Bob Tincher, James Syme, Stephanie Tanverakul, David Catt
This study examines climate change and water resources management challenges facing water suppliers in drought-prone regions.
Mid-Atlantic Regional Climate Impacts Summary and Outlook: Fall 2021 December 21, 2021

Krista Romita Grocholski, Michelle E. Miro, Lena Easton-Calabria, Jessica Spaccio, Samantha Borisoff, Arthur T. DeGaetano
This seasonal climate summary draws from a variety of scientific resources for the benefit of policymakers, practitioners, residents, and community leaders in the Mid-Atlantic region, with a focus on the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This edition includes details on fall 2021 weather, regional climate trends, and the upcoming winter season. An interactive tool shows an analysis of future projected changes in temperature, compared to climate normals, across the Mid-Atlantic.
Run Uphill for a Tsunami, Downhill for a Landslide November 12, 2021

Lisa Busch, Robert J. Lempert, Max Izenberg, Annette Patton
Following fatal landslides, the town of Sitka, Alaska, worked with scientists to create a new, individualized hazard warning system, revealing the complexities of coproducing knowledge.
Measuring Global Climate Risk October 28, 2021

Robert J. Lempert
Risks generated by climate change are growing and a strong international response is needed to contain and reduce them.
Citizen Science for Disasters: A Guide for Community Groups September 29, 2021

Ramya Chari, Sameer M. Siddiqi, Vishnupriya Kareddy, Elizabeth L. Petrun Sayers, Jaime Madrigano, Lori Uscher-Pines
This toolkit provides guidance to community groups on engaging with disaster citizen science to support public health preparedness. Regardless of the specific disaster problem, or the size or scope of the intended project, this toolkit should help community groups design and implement disaster citizen science projects and identify resources to support activities.
Citizen Science for Disasters: A Guide for Local Health Departments September 29, 2021

Ramya Chari, Sameer M. Siddiqi, Vishnupriya Kareddy, Elizabeth L. Petrun Sayers, Jaime Madrigano, Lori Uscher-Pines
This toolkit provides guidance to local health departments on engaging with disaster citizen science to support public health preparedness. Regardless of the specific disaster problem, or the size or scope of the intended project, this toolkit should help health departments design and implement disaster citizen science projects and identify resources to support activities.
When Disaster Management Agencies Create Disaster Risk: A Case Study of the US's Federal Emergency Management Agency September 28, 2021

Aaron Clark-Ginsberg, Lena Easton-Calabria, Sonny Patel, Jay Balagna, Leslie Adrienne Payne
This study is the first to examine disaster risk creation from an organizational perspective, and the first to focus explicitly on how disaster management agencies can shape risk creation.
Potential Drivers of Crises in the Arctic September 22, 2021

Benjamin J. Sacks, Scott R. Stephenson, Stephanie Pezard, Abbie Tingstad, Camilla T. N. Sørensen, Alyson Youngblood
Historically in the Arctic, regional tensions have been resolved before turning into major crises. With the Arctic gaining more attention in recent years, are existing governance mechanisms enough to handle future diplomatic challenges?

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