ALM UNDP

Summary:

The following country profile is found in the Meister Consultants Group study: Floating Houses and Mosquito Nets: Emerging Climate Change Adaptation Strategies Around the World.

Summary

The US does not yet have a national adaptation strategy. However, adaptation to climate change has been part of the discussion on the climate protection legislation currently being debated in Congress. Some states are more advanced, with Alaska, California, and Florida being the early pioneers in this field. For instance, California is currently in the process of developing a comprehensive adaptation strategy, and it has already implemented adaptation measures with regard to water management. Alaska also faces the consequences of climate change, and is working on an adaptation strategy (p. 50).

Country Profile

The United States is a large, geographically diverse nation with a wide variety of climatic regions. It is difficult to generalize about climate change impacts in a country where the impacts are projected to range from reduction of sea ice in Alaska to inundation of low lying areas on the Gulf Coast. According to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projections, the continental United States will have an increase of 3–7ºC in certain regions, with Alaska and the Arctic region projected to warm by 4–11ºC over this century.98

There has been a surge of research activity during the past few years on the national, regional, and local impacts of climate change.99 The IPCC and the Union of Concerned Scientists have predicted that with warmer temperatures, current ecological systems will migrate north. Under the IPCC low emissions scenario, for example, the state of Illinois will have a climate similar to present-day Missouri. Under high-emissions scenarios, Illinois would have a climate similar to Texas. These changes in the regional climate will bring a broad range of impacts. The table below lists the major impacts projected for each region, while the remainder of this section summarizes specific regional impacts as illustrative examples. This section concludes with a brief discussion of potential regional advantages to be gained from climate change.

For more detailed information (and references) refer to Floating Houses and Mosquito Nets: Emerging Climate Change Adaptation Strategies Around the World.

Source: Dr. Hans-Peter Meister, I. K., Martina Richwein, Wilson Rickerson, Chad Laurent. Additional contributors: Jeff Snell, Elisa Burchert, Florian Lux. (2009). Floating Houses and Mosquito Nets: Emerging Climate Change Adaptation Strategies Around the World. Boston: Meister Consultants Group. p. 50-56.