Climate change works both ways. Trees can help mitigate its impact. But climate change creates risks for your urban forest: higher temperatures, more drought, rising sea levels. And that risk varies community by community, even site by site.
Rapid change means rethinking what we plant, where we plant it, and how we care for it. As important as staff and budget: The ability to plan forward and anticipate how your urban forest might fare as the world changes. These resources can help.
Climate change increases global risk to urban forests
By 2050, more than 70 percent of urban trees could be vulnerable to climate-drive changes in mean annual temperature and annual precipitation.
Projected coastal sea level rise
This tool produces location-specific scenarios for sea level and flooding, as well as information about present-day and past conditions.
Coastal Resilience
Provides a framework for using nature to reduce coastal flood risk. Includes a mapping tool.
Climate Change Response Framework
The Urban Forestry Framework project addresses urban forest vulnerability for US cities and offers tools to help local managers adapt to the effects of climate change.
US Climate Resilience Toolkit
Explore past, present, and projected future climate in easy-to-understand maps and graphs. The site shows climate data from 1950 through 2100 for every county in the United States.
Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science
NIACS offers a diverse array of decision-support frameworks, tools, and resources to support natural resource professionals as they address climate change.