Climate change is already increasing global temperatures, leading to rising sea levels and more frequent and intense extreme weather events. These changes could affect coastlines, water supplies, human health, ecosystems, and more. Each community will be affected differently, so formal planning and concrete actions are needed to address these changes at both the state and local level. States and municipalities are recognizing the importance of pre-emptive action to address their vulnerabilities to climate change impacts and many have begun to address adaptation concerns either within broader climate action plans, or through separate efforts.
This map shows how cities and states are adapting (or becoming more resilient) to their individual vulnerabilities. It highlights examples of municipal adaptation planning efforts and concrete adaptation actions. It also indicates the status of adaptation planning for each state, and provides plan details where available. Jurisdictions are at various stages in their implementation, but many have begun adaptation planning that follows the same basic structure:
The map is not a comprehensive compilation of every city plan or action, but rather highlights examples of what both large and small U.S. cities are doing to adapt to a changing climate.
The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) wishes to acknowledge the US EPA’s Office of International and Tribal Affairs  for their role in initiating a process to bring together information on the status of urban climate adaptation efforts among U.S. cities, and make that information widely available in the interest of sharing knowledge and experiences domestically and internationally.