Documents

This report assesses climate adaptation planning efforts in Shreveport, Louisiana, discusses how community members experience challenges associated with extreme weather variability, and describes how those impacts are considered in Shreveport’s planning efforts. Recommendations for improved planning are also provided. The work presented in this report is part of a larger study investigating climate adaptation in low-capacity cities throughout the region: Tulsa, Oklahoma, Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Shreveport, Louisiana.

To examine opportunities to build resilience, An Extreme Weather and Resilience Workshop was held in the City of Shreveport, Louisiana in March 2025. Participants from city departments and partners collaborated with staff from the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program (SCIPP) to examine the greatest weather-related challenges the city faces. Three areas were highlighted: High winds and storms; heat and cold; and intense rainfall. This report highlights the discussion and recommendations related to these three areas, along with general community preparedness.

The goal of this report is to provide a concise summary of the climate and extreme weather events that affect the City of Shreveport. This information could be used to help inform planning and preparedness for extreme weather events now and in the future.

This report is a summary of community-centered resilience networks and peer learning exchange across the U.S.

This report provides a summary of SCIPP’s 2025 Summer Internship Program’s participants, procedures, early outcomes, and recommendations. It highlights data collected from both the interns and the host organizations.

This report highlights numerous recommendations from members of the home builder, insurance, and real estate industries to improve the resilience of homes to severe weather hazards commonly seen in central Oklahoma.

This resource was produced in conjunction with the research project, Building Capacity for Hazard Mitigation Planning in Low-Capacity Communities.

NCA5 is a technical scientific assessment of climate change-related risks, impacts, and responses in the United States. This file contains Chapter 26: Southern Great Plains. The full report with 32 chapters on physical science, national-level sectors (e.g., water, energy, agriculture, infrastructure, etc.), regional impacts, and responses (mitigation and adaptation), can be accessed and downloaded at the NOAA Archives link here.

NCA5 is a technical scientific assessment of climate change-related risks, impacts, and responses in the United States. This file contains Chapter 22: Southeast. The full report with 32 chapters on physical science, national-level sectors (e.g., water, energy, agriculture, infrastructure, etc.), regional impacts, and responses (mitigation and adaptation) can be accessed and downloaded at the NOAA Archives link here.

NCA5 is a technical scientific assessment of climate change-related risks, impacts, and responses in the United States. This file contains Chapter 2: Climate Trends. The full report with 32 chapters on physical science, national-level sectors (e.g., water, energy, agriculture, infrastructure, etc.), regional impacts, and responses (mitigation and adaptation) can be accessed and downloaded at the NOAA Archives link here.

SCIPP team members, Dr. Vincent Brown and Derek Thompson, created a preliminary report for the January 2025 snowstorm along the Gulf Coast. Information about snowfall depth and minimum temperatures are included in the report.

SCIPP works to understand the impacts of climate variability and change across the south-central U.S. This includes studying how cities are preparing to handle the challenges associated with climate change, while also building capacity and creating resources on climate hazards. The work presented in this report on Fayetteville is part of a larger study investigating climate adaptation in three cities throughout the region: Tulsa, Oklahoma, Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Shreveport, Louisiana.

During winter 2023/2024, SCIPP worked alongside the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) to draft a report titled, “Heat-Related Emergency Department Visits in Louisiana: Review of Syndromic Surveillance Data for April through October 2023.” The report details the historic heat of 2023 and provides important information for heat safety. Additionally, SCIPP’s Vincent Brown and Charles Simson co-produced Python code with the LDH for a heat-related illness dashboard on their website that shows near-real time daily maximum temperatures and emergency department visits across Louisiana. The dashboard is available here.

Tulsa is at a crossroads: develop climate adaptation strategies for the future or continue with business as usual. To understand if and how the city is progressing with adaptation, we conducted a series of interviews, analyzed documents from Tulsa city offices, and surveyed residents to hear where they are already experiencing extreme heat and flooding. The results are clear: Tulsa struggles with environmental issues across the board and is doing little when it comes to planning for the future. There is a deep distrust of the city government from residents and even across various agencies. Despite the adoption of a new comprehensive plan in June 2023, there is no sustainability or climate office within the city that can champion the environmental portions of the plan, making it unclear if these actions will be implemented.

This report describes stakeholders contributing to a community’s discourse on flooding events in three SCIPP communities.

An assessment of the state of knowledge on prediction of wildfire and winter storms on the seasonal to subseasonal scale was produced to support operations of the Oklahoma National Guard. The report discusses predictability and global circulation linkages, weather conditions associated with wildfire and winter storms, global weather and climate patterns, and applications to subseasonal and seasonal prediction.

As part of a collaboration with several universities and research institutes, SCIPP has produced a report summarizing the changing climate and common weather and climate hazards of the Gulf Coast states (TX, LA, MS, AL, GA, FL). This report is part of a broader package of resources produced in concert with Gulf Coast communities threatened by a growing flood risk in the face of climate change. The primary target audience is city planners, community leaders, and local/state governments seeking deeper knowledge of the region’s climate and broader context for observed local climate trends.