California Focused Tools & Data
This tab features climate science, mapping tools, modeling tools, and other data sources that focus on California climate impacts.
Resources are automatically presented by date, but you may also sort by network rating or title. Apply additional filters to narrow the list by sector, climate impact, or tool type.
39 results are shown below.
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The “Sea the Future” tool was developed by the State of California to help the state’s local planners and residents understand and be able to select from among a dozen different sea-level rise and flooding visualization tools that may be useful in efforts to plan for sea-level rise. Sea the Future provides summaries and information on tool features, similarities and differences across tools, and advantages and disadvantages of each tool so that end-users can make an informed decision about which tool(s) to use to support decisionmaking.
Related Organizations: California State Coastal Conservancy
Resource Category: Data and tools
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The California Local Climate Change Snapshot tool presents localized projections of changes in temperature, precipitation, and wildfire for all locations in California based on climate model output through the year 2100. The Snapshot is designed to be accessible for most or all users, and provides a brief overview of potential climate change impacts within a region.
Related Organizations: University of California, Berkeley, California Energy Commission, California Strategic Growth Council
Resource Category: Data and tools
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July 15, 2020
In San Diego, California, the city and various stakeholders are evaluating different land-use and planning alternatives to conserve and restore migrating wetlands in Mission Bay as a part of local decisionmaking processes. To conserve and restore Mission Bay, San Diego Audubon and other partners started an initiative called “ReWild Mission Bay” that evaluated different alternatives for protecting wetlands through a feasibility study. One of the feasibility study’s alternatives aims to relocate Campland on the Bay, an existing RV campground on land owned by the city, inland. By moving Campland on the Bay inland, the city could address wetland migration while providing community resilience and environmental benefits. The alternative to relocate the location for Campland on the Bay, if implemented, would be aligned with and build on other local planning efforts to convert a part of the surrounding Mission Bay Park into a regional amenity that accommodates both public and private uses. In July 2019, the San Diego City Council approved a lease extension and expansion for Campland on the Bay that has delayed any potential implementation of the ReWild Mission Bay wetland alternatives until after the term of the lease expires. The ongoing work in Mission Bay can serve as an example for other coastal jurisdictions addressing the tradeoffs raised in land-use and planning efforts for coastal retreat and the challenges that can arise in balancing competing stakeholder interests to achieve both human and environmental priorities. ReWild Mission Bay also shows how nongovernmental stakeholders can conduct planning processes to help government agencies make decisions about long-term land uses and restoration activities. This case study is one of 17 case studies featured in a report written by the Georgetown Climate Center, Managing the Retreat from Rising Seas: Lessons and Tools from 17 Case Studies.
Resource Category: Solutions
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The Conservation Lands Network Explorer Tool is an online decision support tool to explore the conservation and biodiversity values of areas within the nine counties that make up California’s San Francisco Bay Area. The Explorer is an interactive map that allows users to visualize various conservation- and climate-related spatial data. The tool was designed to be accessible to all users, no matter GIS skill level. The information provided can help inform land conservation and adaptation strategies.
Related Organizations: Bay Area Open Space Council
Resource Category: Data and tools
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October 2019
Between 2017 and 2019, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) produced climate change vulnerability assessments and corresponding GIS mapping tools for each of its twelve districts covering the state to help build resilience through transportation decisionmaking. For each Caltrans district, the assessments include high-level overviews of climate change impacts (summary reports) and detailed technical reports on the processes used to identify relevant climate impacts. The reports and mapping tools are designed to help Caltrans planners understand impacts to the portions of the State Highway System (SHS) and other assets in each district, and plan projects accordingly to ensure resilience under future conditions.
Related Organizations: California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
April 2019
From the San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) and the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), the San Francisco Bay Shoreline Adaptation Atlas offers nature-based coastal climate resilience strategies for the San Francisco Bay Area region of California. The Atlas presents a new view of the Bay area in a map divided into areas with common physical characteristics for which specific adaptation strategies can be developed to prepare for sea level rise. The report is intended to inform the regulatory community, regional governments, landscape designers, planners, developers, engineers, and other members of local communities in coordinating and planning for regional resilience - including flood control, transportation, parks, land use, and ecosystem restoration.
Related Organizations: San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI)
Resource Category: Solutions
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2019
The Adaptation Capability Advancement (Adapt-CA) Toolkit was developed to support local government climate change adaptation initiatives through an agency self-assessment process on institutional capacity. Adapt-CA helps to identify opportunities to build capacity for adaptation integration into local government agency’s operations, leadership, technical capacity and engagement. The tool was designed for California communities, but is relevant and can be useful to local governments throughout country.
Related Organizations: Alliance of Regional Collaboratives for Climate Adaptation (ARCCA)
Resource Category: Data and tools
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2018
The Nature Conservancy has mapped locations across California with strategic recommendations for land managers to support wildlife and plant resilience to climate change. The interactive online tool is a map of California’s Landscape Vulnerability which presents conservation actions for terrestrial species across the state.
Related Organizations: The Nature Conservancy (TNC)
Resource Category: Data and tools
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April 4, 2018
From UCLA’s Center for Climate Science, this report describes the findings on how climate change will impact the Sierra Nevada snowpack, the water cycle in the Sierra, and the larger implications for California's water resources. The project primarily focused on changes in climate averages: average springtime temperatures, snowpack at April 1st, and timing of runoff.
Related Organizations: UCLA Center for Climate Science
Resource Category: Assessments
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2018
California’s Adaptation Clearinghouse has been developed by the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) in response to CA’s 2015 Senate Bill 246 - which directed OPR to form the Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program. One main component of the Program is the State Adaptation Clearinghouse, which serves as a “centralized source of information and resources to assist decision makers at the state, tribal, regional, and local levels when planning for and implementing climate adaptation projects to promote resiliency across California.
Resource Category: Adaptation Websites
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