Climate Programs

The Oregon Wildfire Risk Explorer is designed to increase wildfire awareness, give a comprehensive view of wildfire risk and local fire history, and educate users about wildfire prevention and mitigation resources. The site provides decision support for homeowners, communities, and professionals to identify and prioritize local fire prevention and mitigation efforts.

Categories: wildfire, prevention, planning, mitigation, natural hazard

Two of the biggest challenges facing the United States - and the world - are the growing inequalities that unfairly disadvantage large segments of the population, and climate change, which exacerbates existing risks in our communities. The effects of climate change including rising temperatures, more polluted air, and more frequent and intense extreme storms, will disproportionally affect already poor and disenfranchised people. Policymakers must find ways to focus not only on the physical impacts of climate change, but also on the ways that policies can have a differential impact on certain individuals and communities. In this portal we will refer to people facing disproportionate climate impacts as "frontline communities" since these are groups that are on the frontlines of impacts from climate change.

Categories: climate change, adaptation, policy, planning, management, social justice, community health, racial justice, activism

The Adaptation Clearinghouse seeks to assist policymakers, resource managers, academics, and others who are working to help communities adapt to climate change.Content in the Adaptation Clearinghouse is focused on the resources that help policymakers at all levels of governments reduce or avoid the impacts of climate change to communities in the United States. The Adaptation Clearinghouse tends to focus on climate change impacts that adversely affect people and our built environment. Content focal areas include the water, coastal, transportation, infrastructure and public health sectors, and adaptation planning, policies, laws, and governance. Resources that fall within these areas receive priority and are the most likely to be published in the Adaptation Clearinghouse.

Categories: climate change, adaptation, policy, infrastructure, resiliency, planning, database

ADAPTAlaska provides resources and tools for people and communities in Alaska to develop climate change adaptation strategies and plans. Their website also includes stories on climate change adaptation stories and sustainability success in Alaskan communities.

Categories: climate change adaptation, planning, resources, sustainability, stories

The Source Water Protection Program (SWPP) is a joint project with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the National Rural Water Association (NRWA), a non-profit water and wastewater utility membership organization. The SWPP is designed to help prevent pollution of surface and ground water used as the primary source of drinking water by rural residents. Through NRWA, full-time rural source water technicians with practical experience are hired. The technicians work with specialists from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and state and county FSA staff, to identify areas where pollution prevention is most needed. Once areas for pollution prevention are identified, technicians work with state rural water associations to create local teams made up of citizens and individuals from federal, state, local, and private organizations. These teams collaborate to create a Rural Source Water Protection plan to promote clean source water. The plan identifies voluntary actions that farmers and ranchers can install to prevent source water pollution.

Categories: source water, water protection, water quality, pollution prevention, agricultural runoff

This site is an effort by county, state, and Federal agencies and Indian Tribes to coordinate and aggregate information for Washington communities affected by smoke from wildland fires. The information is posted here by the agencies themselves while volunteers built and maintain the page.

Categories: wildfire, air quality, human health, policy, planning, information, outreach, education, data, curriculum, collaboration, climate change, risk, hazard,

This training module is designed to increase your understanding of the causes of climate change, its potential impacts on water resources, and the challenges water resource managers are facing. The course contains three parts which will take about 45 minutes to complete. Optional supplementary information on climate change impacts in the United States is included at the end of the course if you are interested in more details.

Categories: Training Module, Climate Education, Water Resources Impacts

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) is a member of the Interagency Working Group on Climate Change and Health (IWCGGH). The IWCGGH is an effort to develop a strategic plan for basic and applied research on the human health of effects of climate change for use by federal agencies and institutes with a human and environmental health mission. The aim of this project is to look at all aspects of the health implications of climate change.

Categories: Tribal Health, research

This series of short videos was developed during a three-day digital storytelling workshop with members of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. The pilot project explored digital storytelling as a method for building partnerships, understanding local climate impacts and raising awareness about community concerns. Each story touches on different cultural traditions and resources already threatened by climate change and the impacts on individual and community identity and wellbeing.
Each participant developed their own narrative and chose their own visuals to portray their story. The videos represent multigenerational tribal voices.

Categories: climate change, TEK, tribal narratives, oral history, observation, cultural resources, community health