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The Natural Environment

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As scientists learn more about how the environment responds to human activity, it has become an area of increasing concern to the global community. RAND research has helped inform policies and direct further studies of environmental issues, from building efficiency and natural resource management to risk management and decisionmaking in the face of deep scientific and economic uncertainties.

Essay
Manipulating the Climate: What Are the Geopolitical Risks?
Geoengineering technologies that could block the sun's rays or siphon huge amounts of carbon from the air are not that far out of reach. Yet the international community has not established the kinds of guardrails you might expect for potentially world-changing technologies.
Dec 29, 2021
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

Explore The Natural Environment

Journal Article
Trends in 2-1-1 Calls During Public Health Emergencies, Overall and By Gender: Hurricane Irma and COVID-19 in Broward County, Florida
The study examined how changes in 2-1-1 call volume after two public health emergencies in Broward County, Florida, varied by emergency type and whether variations differed by gender and over time.
Jun 22, 2023
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
Testimony
Addressing the Needs of Older Adults and People with Disabilities During Disasters
Disasters and public health emergencies disproportionately affect older adults and people with disabilities—especially those with complex medical conditions. Best practices and policies are needed that consider the specific challenges to preparedness, response, and recovery related to these populations.
Jun 15, 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
Residential Landslide Insurance in Sitka, Alaska: Market Conditions and Options for Improving Availability
This Perspective includes a characterization of the market for landslide insurance in Southeast Alaska and a description of four approaches that stakeholders might consider to make landslide coverage more available.
Jun 7, 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
Blog
RAND Turns 75: A Look Through the Decades At World-Changing Research
From anticipating the Space Age in the 1940s to studying gun policy and COVID-19 responses in the 2020s, RAND is celebrating 75 years of research that has made a difference.
May 8, 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
Report
Community and Individual Disaster Resilience for Floods: Options for Improving Protective Action Guidance
This report describes options for Department of Homeland Security officials to improve protective action flood guidance and messaging in response to growing flood risks that continue to cause adverse effects and threaten lives and property.
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
Commentary
Do Car Companies Know Where Their Critical Minerals Come From?
The initial slate of electric vehicles qualifying for a new federal tax credit was announced in April. Key to eligibility is the source of critical minerals used in their batteries. While the list of acceptable nations of origin is still being worked out, there's an important practical question the IRS should ask: Do carmakers really know where their critical minerals come from?
Apr 28, 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
Multimedia
What Does Environmental Justice Look Like? Two Case Studies
The RAND Corporation has partnered with community organizations and activists in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and San Diego, California to show how community engagement can contribute to environmental justice for residents affected by neighborhood disinvestment.
Apr 19, 2023
Commentary
Militaries, Metals, and Mining
Securing access to supply, increasing global and domestic capacity, and diversifying supply chains for critical minerals should be at the top of the agenda for both nations and private industry. Failure could jeopardize climate mitigation strategies and U.S. military readiness.
Apr 18, 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

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Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Aaron C. Davenport

Associate Director, Infrastructure, Immigration, and Security Operations Program, RAND Homeland Security Research Division

Aaron C. Davenport is an associate director of the Infrastructure, Immigration, and Security Operations (IISO) Program, part of the RAND Homeland Security Research Division (HSRD), and a senior policy researcher. HSRD oversees the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center (HSOAC), a…
Joan Chang

Assistant Policy Researcher, RAND, and Ph.D. Candidate, Pardee RAND Graduate School

Joan Chang is an assistant policy researcher at RAND and doctoral candidate at Pardee RAND Graduate School. Prior to joining RAND, she taught peer language students in East Asia, researched medical sciences in the United States, and joined humanitarian and health care teamwork in South Asia. Her…

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