Reducing Risks of Economic Impacts Throughout Multiple U.S. Sectors and Regions: National Climate Assessment Vol II

Research advances have allowed scientists to address a key gap identified in the third national climate assessment (NCA3) regarding economic risks. In Volume II of the Fourth National Climate Assessment - Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation in the United States, authors assessed the scientific literature for how potential mitigation pathways can avoid or reduce the long-term risks of climate change. NCA4 fulfills a Congressional mandate to include policy-relevant information about climate change impacts on sectors and regions across the United States. Significantly greater numbers of local or regional mitigation activities are occurring in the United States compared to the time of NCA3 (2014). These include cities supporting emissions reductions to state-level mitigation activities, including those in the affiliated Territories. Research published after NCA3 has increased understanding of multi-sectoral interactions and the associated economic consequences under different scenarios of global change, including EPA’s updated Climate Change Impacts and Risk Analysis report. Drawing upon the AMS meeting theme and location, examples will draw upon multiple sectors in Arizona and the southwest region. This presentation will also highlight the complex interactions between adaptation and mitigation actions.