Research indicates that coastal wetlands might capture and store carbon at rates three to five times greater than forests. Research also suggests that nitrogen pollution from septic systems, stormwater runoff, and airborne pollution can significantly compromise a wetland’s ability to store carbon.
Wetland restoration occurs sporadically throughout the world—primarily to create wildlife habitat, restore water quality and quantity levels, and provide storm protection and food production. However, wetland restoration also provides the additional benefits of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions and climate change mitigation.
The North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC) is a network of individuals from universities, conservation organizations, and state and federal natural resource and transportation agencies focused on improving aquatic connectivity across a 13-state region, from Maine to West Virginia. It has developed common protocols and training for assessing road-stream crossings (culverts and bridges) and developed a regional database for storing and displaying the aquatic organism passability score derived from this field data.
This checklist can help communities identify opportunities to improve their resilience to future floods through policy and regulatory tools—including comprehensive plans, hazard mitigation plans, and local land use codes and regulations—and non-regulatory programs implemented at the local level. The checklist includes overall strategies to improve flood resilience, as well as specific strategies to:
This guide provides a brief introduction to key physical impacts of climate change on estuaries and a review of on-the-ground adaptation options available to coastal managers to reduce their systems’ vulnerability to climate change impacts.
Reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases, referred to as mitigation, is a necessary component of the overall response to climate change, and can help avoid, reduce, or delay future impacts. However, this guide focuses on climate change adaptation for estuaries and coastal areas because:
This decision support tool is designed to help communities in the southwestern United States understand the role water harvesting can play in meeting water resource challenges while providing multiple additional benefits. It also introduces water harvesting techniques and suggests ways to implement locally appropriate water harvesting efforts.
The Toolbox contains five tools:
This user-friendly tool from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can help communities and individuals find answers to questions like:
This guide, from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is a resource for tribes in their efforts to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate against emergencies and disasters that impact Indian Country. It answers questions about how FEMA engages with tribes, explains FEMA’s tribal policies, and provides contact information for FEMA team members who are working with tribal nations.
This compendium is intended to help Alaskan communities identify federal resources that can support local efforts to gather and evaluate information about the risks posed by coastal erosion and other hazards. The resources can help communities build their capacity to mitigate weather- and climate-related risks, implement on-site measures to increase their resiliency, and—if necessary—relocate community assets.
