Overview: Climate-related issues like sea-level rise, extreme weather, and wildfires are becoming more severe, forcing governments, businesses, and individuals to make difficult decisions with limited resources. Researchers within this Focus Area consider the uncertainties of climate projections and focus on resource distribution, tradeoffs between benefits and drawbacks, and strategies reflecting community values. They use advanced tools like cost-benefit analysis and computational modeling to evaluate climate adaptation strategies and three of the below projects in particular are using an innovative decision analysis framework that can account for evolving future conditions. Overall, this group’s research explores how values, economics, and politics shape effective and ethically defensible adaptation strategies.

Focus Area Lead:

• Klaus Keller, Dartmouth College

Senior Personnel:

• Casey Helgeson, Penn State University
• Nancy Tuana, Penn State University
• Thomas Wahl, University of Central Florida