Understanding the Knowledge and Data Landscape of Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation in the Chesapeake Bay Region: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Climate change is increasingly threatening coastal communities around the world. This article reviews the literature on climate change impacts and adaptation in the Chesapeake Bay region (USA). We reviewed both climate impacts and adaptation literature (n = 283) published in the period 2007–2018 to answer the questions: (i) how are indicators of climate impacts measured and reported by different types of authors (e.g., scientists, government, and NGOs), document types (e.g., academic articles or reports), and geographic focus (e.g., State, region, county, or municipal level)? (ii) what are the current approaches for measuring the most pressing climate impacts in the Chesapeake Bay? We found that scientists produce the most amount of data but are increasingly shifting towards engaging with practitioners through reports and online resources. Most indicators focus on the Chesapeake Bay scale, but data is most needed at the local level where adaptive policies are implemented. Our analysis shows emerging approaches to monitoring climate hazards and areas where synergies between types of authors are likely to increase resilience in the 21st century. This review expands the understanding of the information network in the Chesapeake Bay and explores the institutional landscape of stakeholders involved in the production and consumption of environmental and social change data. The analysis and insights of this review may be extended to similar regions around the planet experiencing or anticipating similar climate hazards to the Chesapeake Bay.

The Climate Just City

“…The city's population is around 620,000, with 64 percent African American, 30 percent white, 4 percent Hispanic or Latino, and with 24 per cent of its population living below the federal poverty line [104]. Baltimore City is situated in the state of Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay, which is the largest and most diverse estuary in the United States [105]; it is the largest city in the state of Maryland.…”

Quantifying stakeholder learning in climate change adaptation across multiple relational and participatory networks

“…The island is experiencing an increase in flooding and coastal erosion related to a changing climate (Paolisso et al, 2019). Projections of future climate change in the Chesapeake Bay show, among others, an increase in sea-level rise, storm frequency and severity, flooding, and erosion (Teodoro and Nairn, 2020). In light of these impacts, community members have sought out for support from county and state government (Paolisso et al, 2019).…”

“…Climate change is increasingly portrayed as a complex, 'wicked' environmental problem (Balint et al, 2011;Markowska et al, 2020). Developing local responses to climate change requires flexible, adaptive strategies based on a holistic understanding of climate change, its drivers and impacts, and the governance structures at varying geographic scales (Pasquier et al, 2020;Teodoro and Nairn, 2020). Stakeholder participation is increasingly seen as a key factor in acquiring a more holistic understanding of complex environmental problems (Baird et al, 2016;Calliari et al, 2019;Pasquier et al, 2020; van Aalst et al, 2008) and developing well-informed local governance responses to climate change impacts (Calliari et al, 2019;Shackleton et al, 2019).…”

A flooded future for River Chub? Future impacts of climate change and urbanization on reproduction of a keystone native fish species

“…Climate change models suggest that some regions will experience much less precipitation, whereas others will experience more precipitation, seasonal shifts in precipitation peaks, more heavy precipitation events, or a mix of these impacts (Trenberth 2011). Projected precipitation changes due to climate change are complex and are less understood than temperature projections (Teodoro and Nairn 2020). For the mid‐Atlantic portion of the United States, climate change predictive models generally suggest an increased amount of precipitation, changes in seasonal peak precipitation (Najjar et al 2010; Teodoro and Nairn 2020), and an increase in heavy precipitation events (Butler‐Leopold et al 2018), leading to increased flooding frequency and intensity.…”

“…Projected precipitation changes due to climate change are complex and are less understood than temperature projections (Teodoro and Nairn 2020). For the mid‐Atlantic portion of the United States, climate change predictive models generally suggest an increased amount of precipitation, changes in seasonal peak precipitation (Najjar et al 2010; Teodoro and Nairn 2020), and an increase in heavy precipitation events (Butler‐Leopold et al 2018), leading to increased flooding frequency and intensity. Significant increases in seasonal heavy precipitation have already been observed over the last 100 years across parts of the mid‐Atlantic region (Groisman et al 2004).…”