Jointly considering risks, vulnerabilities, and opportunities associated with energy, water, and land use is challenging, but can improve the identification and evaluation of options for reducing climate change impacts.

This finding is from chapter 10 of Climate Change Impacts in the United States: The Third National Climate Assessment.

Process for developing key messages: The authors met for a one-day face-to-face meeting, and held teleconferences approximately weekly from March through August 2012. They considered a variety of technical input documents, including a Technical Input Report prepared through an interagency process,552cc5f5-a7b3-4a64-8bee-98ae0cced150 and 59 other reports submitted through the Federal Register Notice request for public input. The key messages were selected based on expert judgment, derived from the set of examples assembled to demonstrate the character and consequences of interactions among the energy, water, and land resource sectors.

Description of evidence base: The key message and supporting text summarizes extensive evidence documented in the Technical Input Report (TIR): Climate and Energy-Water-Land System Interactions: Technical Report to the U.S. Department of Energy in Support of the National Climate Assessment.552cc5f5-a7b3-4a64-8bee-98ae0cced150 Technical input reports (59) on a wide range of topics were also received and reviewed as part of the Federal Register Notice solicitation for public input. Interactions among energy, water, and land resource sectors can lead to stakeholder concerns that shape options for reducing vulnerability and thus for adapting to climate change. The Columbia River System provides a good example of an area where risks, vulnerabilities, and opportunities are being jointly considered.429802a3-633d-447c-874c-250ae4ee0003 44b0f546-726b-4abb-9163-a09f0b893dc0 The 2011 Mississippi basin flooding, which shut down substations, provides another example of the interactions of energy, water, and land systems (Ch. 3: Water). For all multi-use river basins, understanding the combined vulnerability of energy, water, and land use to climate change is essential to planning for water management and climate change adaptation.

New information and remaining uncertainties: There are no major uncertainties regarding this key message; however, it is highly uncertain the extent to which local, state and national policies will impact options to reduce vulnerability to climate change.

Assessment of confidence based on evidence: Given the evidence base and remaining uncertainties, confidence is high. The primary limitation on confidence assigned to this key message is with respect to the explicit knowledge of the unique characteristics of each region with regards to impacts of climate change on energy, water, land, and the interactions among these sectors.

References :

• Climate Change Impacts on Boundary and Transboundary Water Management; Report to the Climate Change Impacts Adaptation Program (44b0f546)
• A Workshop in Risk-Based Framing of Climate Impacts in the Northwest: Implementing the National Climate Assessment Risk-Based Approach (429802a3)
• Climate and Energy-Water-Land System Interactions. Technical Report to the U.S. Department of Energy in Support of the National Climate Assessment. PNNL-21185 (552cc5f5)