This page provides information about climate change and links to related tools and documents. The page is intended for anyone interested in learning more about our resources and other federal government resources to support climate preparedness and resilience.

Emergency Management in a Changing Climate

The challenges posed by climate change, such as more intense storms, frequent heavy precipitation, heat waves, drought, extreme flooding, and higher sea levels could significantly alter the types and magnitudes of hazards faced by communities and the emergency management professionals serving them.  Regardless of why the climate is changing, emergency managers have to be poised to respond to disasters and support preparedness efforts nationwide.  

Emergency managers and other FEMA partners need information to help them make decisions on how to manage climate-related risks and capitalize on opportunities to further preparedness. Our goal is to provide easy access to our products and other Federal products to support decision makers.

Tools and Data

• Hazard Mitigation Assistance and Sea Level Rise
• NFIP’s Community Rating System (CRS) Guidance
• Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment
• Sea Level Rise Map Tool, and a Sea Level Rise Flood Elevation Calculator
• Climate.gov - A NOAA site that provides science and information for a climate-smart nation
• US Global Change Research Program - Established to assist the Nation and the world to understand, assess, predict, and respond to human-induced and natural processes of global change.
• USGS National Climate Change Viewer
• EPA Stormwater Calculator
• US Climate Resilience Toolkit
• NASA Climate Resources
• DOE Climate Change Science and Innovation
• HHS Sustainability
• Transportation and Climate Change Clearinghouse
• Climate Data at data.gov

Knowledge and Capacity

• Risk Mapping, Assessment and Planning
• Technical Mapping Advisory Council
• Federal Flood Risk Management Standard
• Coastal Flood Risks
• Climate Change and Adapting to Climate Change (EPA)

Publications

• Strategic Foresight Initiative – Long Term Trends and Implications for Emergency Managers
• Impact of Climate Change and Population Growth on the National Flood Insurance Program
• National Climate Assessment 2014

Strategy and Policy

• Executive Order 13514: Federal Leadership is Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance (2009)
• FEMA Climate Change Adaptation Policy Statement (2012)
• President’s Climate Action Plan (2013)
• DHS Climate Action Plan (2013)
• Executive Order 13653: Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change (2013)
• DHS Climate Action Plan, Addendum (2014)
• President’s State, Local, and Tribal Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience, Recommendations to the President (2014)
• Executive Order 13690: Federal Flood Risk Management Standard