Disasters can cause loss of life, damage buildings and infrastructure, and have devastating effects on a community’s economic, social and environmental well-being. Climate change is increasing the number and intensity of disasters overall and, in many communities, is changing the landscape of risk. These trends make mitigation even more important. By taking future climate change into account and proactively reducing risk, communities increase their chance of withstanding future events.
Natural and climate disaster risk information that is accurate, comprehensive, and produced or endorsed by an authoritative source can help decision makers better assess their community’s risk. Across the United States, communities are working to build resilience to hazards such as extreme heat, drought, flooding and wildfires. Adaptation to climate change also creates resilience.
The mitigation plan provides a ready-made opportunity for communities to account for climate change and climate risks in their planning. The plan’s risk assessment must include the probability of future hazard events. At its most basic, probability is the likelihood of a hazard happening. The probability description must discuss any hazard characteristics that may change, such as location, extent, duration and/or frequency. The mitigation strategy is a chance to identify, evaluate and carry out actions that will reduce future climate change-related risks. The mitigation plan also can and should be integrated with other community climate resilience activities, like a climate adaptation plan or a greenhouse gas reduction strategy.