Socio-economic impacts of climate change on rural United States

Abstract

Directly or indirectly, positively or negatively, climate change will affect all sectors and regions of the United States. The impacts, however, will not be homogenous across regions, sectors, population groups or time. The literature specifically related to how climate change will affect rural communities, their resilience, and adaptive capacity in the United States (U.S.) is scarce. This article bridges this knowledge gap through an extensive review of the current state of knowledge to make inferences about the rural communities vulnerability to climate change based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios. Our analysis shows that rural communities tend to be more vulnerable than their urban counterparts due to factors such as demography, occupations, earnings, literacy, poverty incidence, and dependency on government funds. Climate change impacts on rural communities differs across regions and economic sectors; some will likely benefit while others lose. Rural communities engaged in agricultural and forest related activities in the Northeast might benefit, while those in the Southwest and Southeast could face additional water stress and increased energy cost respectively. Developing adaptation andMitig Adapt Strateg Glob Change (2011) 16:819-844 DOI 10.1007/s11027-011-9295-9Research highlights • Rural U.S. population is more vulnerable to climate change than urban counterparts.• Climate change impacts differ across regions and economic sectors.• Geography and vulnerability of rural communities impact climate change tradeoffs.• Local and regional studies to discern climate impacts on rural U.S. are needed.• A suite of policy actions is needed to enhance coping capacity of rural communities Author's personal copy mitigation policy options geared towards reducing climatic vulnerability of rural communities is warranted. A set of regional and local studies is needed to delineate climate change impacts across rural and urban communities, and to develop appropriate policies to mitigate these impacts. Integrating research across disciplines, strengthening research-policy linkages, integrating ecosystem services while undertaking resource valuation, and expanding alternative energy sources, might also enhance coping capacity of rural communities in face of future climate change.

Native Americans: Where in Environmental Justice Research?

“…in local environments (Cochran et al 2013; Doyle, Redsteer, and Eggers 2013; McNeeley 2012). Additionally, tribal environmental concern can stem from government restrictions on hunting and harvesting of tribal natural resources (McNeeley 2012) and some tribes are increasingly facing difficulties storing food (Doyle, Redsteer, and Eggers 2013; Lal, Alavatapati, and Mercer 2011). For example, natural ice cellars traditionally used for storing perishables such as fish are less efficient, often causing food-related illnesses and less traditional food use throughout Native Alaskan communities (Cochran et al 2013).…”

“…Some researchers argue that TEK may be a valuable resource for climate adaptation (Cochran et al 2013; Lal, Alavatapati, and Mercer 2011; Lynn et al 2013; Reo and Parker 2013; Robyn 2002). TEK can better inform policy, resource management and scientific research in order to reduce negative impacts of climate change on natural resources (Lal, Alavatapati, and Mercer 2011; McBeath and Shepro 2007).…”

Vulnerability Indicators of Adaptation to Climate Change and Policy Implications for Investment Projects

“…According to the IPCC (1997) report, reduced precipitation can bring higher frequency and greater intensity of drought in some areas. Lal et al (2011) points out that possible limitation on water supply by projected temperature increases in the region becomes more serious if the rain and snowfall in the spring months are reduced substantially. They also pointed out that as regional and seasonal precipitation patterns change and rainfall becomes more concentrated in heavy events, floods are also projected to be more frequent and intense.…”

“…Rising temperature and increasing run-off from increasing rainfall itself have been identified as a key factor affecting vulnerability in the forest sector (e.g. Lal et al, 2011;Rawlani and Sovacool, 2011).…”

Plants on the move: Assisted migration of forest trees in the face of climate change

“…Negative effects on commercial crops also have been projected (Deryng et al, 2014;Lobell et al, 2011), with concomitant socio-economic impacts (Lal et al, 2011). Effective management of commercial forests, in particular, will require long-term strategies to help mitigate the anticipated impacts of climate change (Millar et al, 2007), with a key component of such strategies taking the form of assisted migration, or the selection and deployment of seeds from trees that are best adapted to projected local conditions (Ledig and Kitzmiller, 1992;Millar et al, 2007;Ying and Yanchuk, 2006).…”