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Global Climate Change

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Global climate models developed by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predict glacial retreat, rises in sea level, and other impacts on human and natural activity, from agriculture to migratory patterns. RAND researchers have studied and are continuing to examine the effects of climate change, particularly how governments and businesses respond to both observed changes and projected scenarios.

Essay
An Early Warning System for Landslides Protects Sitka, Alaska
A 2015 landslide that killed three people in Sitka, Alaska, changed how residents looked at the steep hills all around them. The community worked with researchers to develop a warning system to prevent such tragedies in the future.
Mar 14, 2023
Commentary
California's Ambitious Decarbonization Plan Hasn't Been Future-Proofed
California has an ambitious blueprint to make the state carbon-neutral by 2045. But there's been no integrated stress test of the whole plan. The state needs and deserves a future-proofed, stress-tested plan that all Californians can trust to achieve its climate goals.
Dec 15, 2022

Explore Global Climate Change

Blog
Reconstructing Ukraine, Wildfires, Telehealth: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on reconstructing Ukraine, what to do about wildfires, virtual mental health care services, and more.
Jun 16, 2023
Journal Article
The Effect of Natural Disasters on Human Capital in the United States
Natural disasters affect a region's human capital as well as its physical capital, reducing both student achievement and educational attainment. These effects are persistent, and when monetized are of a similar magnitude as the property damage.
Jun 13, 2023
Commentary
We Aren't Helpless in the Face of Increasing Fires and Smoke
Modernizing, better funding, and expanding wildland firefighting forces in North America won't make fires or smoke magically disappear. A massive paradigm shift is necessary. But it's clear something needs to happen immediately too.
Jun 12, 2023
Blog
Extremist Beliefs Among Veterans, Space Traffic, Teacher Well-Being: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on whether extremist beliefs are more prevalent among veterans, why it's time to manage traffic in outer space, crises facing the Russian military, and more.
Jun 9, 2023
Report
Climate Change Dilemmas for UK Defence and Security: Exploring implications, challenges, opportunities and threats through future scenarios
We explored the implications of climate-change on the UK Ministry of Defence's ability to deliver its priority outcomes. We developed narrative vignettes to facilitate analysis of climate change dilemmas and implications in a participatory event.
May 31, 2023
Report
How Does Climate Change Affect Force Readiness?
Droughts, flooding, wildfires, and tropical storms are likely to become more severe as global temperatures rise. Understanding the links between climate and readiness can help the U.S. military ensure that forces are able to reliably and affordably sustain readiness in a changing climate.
May 24, 2023
Commercial Book
Age of Danger: Keeping America Safe in an Era of New Superpowers, New Weapons, and New Threats
An urgent look at how America's national security machine went astray and how it fails to keep us safe — and what we can do to fix it.
May 24, 2023
Dissertation
Beliefs, Needs, and Participation: Aligning Risk Governance and Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty Methods
Explores three ways that incorporating social heterogeneity derived from risk governance principles can enhance the application of decision making under deep uncertainty-based analyses of disasters.
May 11, 2023
Report
Elicitation of Climate Information to Support Water Agency Planning: Report of a Workshop with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
Expert elicitation can supplement information from climate models to support adaptation planning. This report describes how the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission used elicitation to identify climate impacts on the city's water supply.
May 8, 2023
Journal Article
Consistency of UK Climate Risk Approaches with New ISO Guidelines
This study aimed to understand differences between climate risk approaches and identify possible improvements, to help climate risk practitioners determine appropriate approaches, and to support society in assessing its management of climate risk.
May 2, 2023
Report
How Can DoD Compare Damage Costs Against Resilience Investment Costs for Climate-Driven Natural Hazards? Overview of an Analytic Approach, Its Advantages, and Its Limitations
This report assesses methods to compare the damage costs from climate change-related extreme weather events against the costs of investing in U.S. Department of Defense installation resilience.
Apr 28, 2023
Journal Article
From Least Cost to Least Risk: Producing Climate Change Mitigation Plans That Are Resilient to Multiple Risks
Using electricity system decarbonization as a focus area to highlight the different types of technological solutions, different risks that may be associated with them, and the approaches situated in a decision-making under deep uncertainty paradigm.
Apr 18, 2023
Journal Article
Nonstructural Risk Reduction Evaluation Results: Attachment E3
Nonstructural project results for the 2023 Coastal Master Plan and summarizes the mitigation measures derived from the technical analysis conducted using the Coastal Louisiana Risk Assessment (CLARA) model.
Apr 4, 2023
Journal Article
Planning Tool Methods and Results: Attachment G1
As part of the 2023 Coastal Master Plan, the Planning Tool was updated to use more detailed modeling data, including a structure-based asset inventory, and to respond to new CPRA planning priorities.
Apr 4, 2023
Tool
Mid-Atlantic Regional Climate Impacts Summary and Outlook: Winter 2022–2023
This climate summary aims to inform Mid-Atlantic policymakers and practitioners about winter 2022–2023, regional climate trends, and the upcoming spring season. A tool shows an analysis of how the average number of days per year with cold low temperatures is projected to change in the future.
Mar 29, 2023
Report
An Initial Methodology for Evaluating Social Equity Performance in Disaster Mitigation Grants: The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Program
The authors explore how the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant program addresses the greatest natural hazard risks for mitigation (predisaster actions to reduce damage and ease recovery) while also integrating social equity factors.
Mar 22, 2023
Journal Article
Collective Action by Community Groups: Solutions for Climate Change or Different Players in the Same Game?
This article investigates how community groups solve collective action problems though data gathered across 25 organizations in three sites—Sitka, Alaska, USA; Toco, Trinidad; and a global site of distributed citizen science organizations.
Mar 8, 2023
Report
Growing Toward a Low-Carbon Future: Estimating Greenhouse Gas Emissions in California's Westlands Water District
The authors assessed the greenhouse gas emissions of crop production in California's Westlands Water District and the trade-offs of policies aimed at decarbonization. They provide policy insights and recommendations to local and state decisionmakers.
Mar 1, 2023
Journal Article
Community-Level, Participatory Co-Design for Landslide Warning with Implications for Climate Services
This paper describes a community-level co-design process among academic, state, and federal scientists and the community of Sitka, Alaska to develop a novel landslide warning system for the small coastal town.
Mar 1, 2023

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RAND Topic:
Global Climate Change

Topic Synonyms:
Climate Change;
Global Warming

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Kristin Van Abel

Senior Technical Analyst

Kristin Van Abel is a senior technical analyst at the RAND Corporation with a multidisciplinary background. Van Abel's research covers energy and environmental policy, Arctic policy, critical infrastructure, national security, and strategic and long-term planning. Van Abel is a skilled project…
Ramya Chari

Policy Researcher

Ramya Chari is a policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. Her research focuses on environmental and social determinants of health, public health preparedness, occupational health and well-being, and environmental risk assessment. Chari has particular expertise in community-based participatory…

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