Individuals, businesses, non-profits, and governments have the capacity to make land-use decisions to adapt to the effects of climate change.

This finding is from chapter 13 of Climate Change Impacts in the United States: The Third National Climate Assessment.

Process for developing key messages: The author team benefited from a number of relevant technical input reports. One report described the findings of a three-day workshop held from November 29 to December 1, 2011 in Salt Lake City, in which a number of the chapter authors participated.94a7e73a-f733-42d4-be5a-5bd6d861a6e4 Findings of the workshop provided a review of current issues and topics as well as the availability and quality of relevant data. In addition, from December 2011 through June 2012 the author team held biweekly teleconferences. Key messages were identified during this period and discussed in two phases, associated with major chapter drafts. An early draft identified a number of issues and key messages. Based on discussions with National Climate Assessment (NCA) leadership and other chapter authors, the Land Use and Land Cover Change authors identified and reached consensus on a final set of four key messages and organized most of the chapter to directly address these messages. The authors selected key messages based on the consequences and likelihood of impacts, the implied vulnerability, and available evidence. Relevance to decision support, mitigation, and adaptation was also an important criterion for the selection of key messages for the cross-cutting and foundational topic of this chapter. The U.S. acquires, produces, and distributes substantial data that characterize the nation’s land cover and land use. Satellite observations, with near complete coverage over the landscape and consistency for estimating change and trends, are particularly valuable. Field inventories, especially of agriculture and forestry, provide very reliable data products that describe land cover as well as land-use change. Together, remote sensing and field inventory data, as well as related ecological and socioeconomic data, allow many conclusions about land-use and land-cover change with very high confidence.

Description of evidence base: The key message is supported by well-understood aspects of land-use planning and management, including the legal roles of government and citizens and management practices such as zoning and taxation. Participants in the NCA workshop (Nov 29-Dec 1, 2011 in Salt Lake City) on land use and land cover presented and discussed a number of examples showing the influences of land-use decisions on climate change adaptation options.94a7e73a-f733-42d4-be5a-5bd6d861a6e4 The chapter describes specific examples of measures to adapt to climate change, further supporting this key message.242fbbd5-25a0-4751-bac5-596b6384036e d1231c2d-9396-4146-8025-65038a7170e9 af79e6ab-05c2-451e-9c0c-af791d8bf2fb

New information and remaining uncertainties: Experience with climate change adaptation measures involving land-use decisions is accumulating rapidly.242fbbd5-25a0-4751-bac5-596b6384036e d1231c2d-9396-4146-8025-65038a7170e9 af79e6ab-05c2-451e-9c0c-af791d8bf2fb Although there is little uncertainty that land-use decisions can enable adaptation to climate change, the information about climate change, at scales where such decisions are made, is generally lacking.

Assessment of confidence based on evidence: Very High. The aspects of land-use planning that can enable climate change adaptation are well understood and examples demonstrate where actions are being taken. Chapter 13. Land Use and Land Cover Change Key Message Process: See key message #1.

References :

• Climate Leadership Academy: Promising Practices in Adaptation & Resilience, A Resource Guide for Local Leaders, Version 1.0 (242fbbd5)
• Land Use and Land Cover National Stakeholder Workshop Technical Report. Report prepared for 2013 National Climate Assessment (94a7e73a)
• Living with a Rising Bay: Vulnerability and Adaptation in San Francisco Bay and on its Shoreline (d1231c2d)
• Sea Level Rise Adaptation Strategy for San Diego Bay (af79e6ab)