Land Use Primer:
How can land use policy be used to adapt to Climate Change? *
The impacts that Climate Change has on a region will depend, in part, on the land use and land cover in that region. Proactive land use planning can be used to anticipate and adapt to Climate Change. The following are examples of potential strategies to minimize the potential negative impacts from climate change:
a) One possible impact from climate change is an increase in severity of storms, which would lead to an increase in flash flooding. Adaptation strategies include banning new construction in vulnerable areas with high risk of flooding, minimizing flashy runoff from impervious surfaces, changing the requirements for stormwater retention structures in new developments, and protection of wetlands that buffer runoff from heavy rainstorms.
b) Increased temperatures will make urban heat effects more severe. Land use planning should reduce urban heat effects, through maintenance of green areas, use of different building materials. For more information about actions that can be taken to reduce urban heat effects, see http://www.epa.gov/heatisland/strategies/index.html 
c) The climate in the CARA region is expected to become more variable. This will increase stress on natural ecosystems. Species that rely on natural, undisturbed habitat will have difficulty surviving droughts and storms, particularly if that habitat exists only in small patches. These habitats will be more resilient to climate variation if they are connected, so that populations can move and repopulate areas that are impacted by drought or severe storms. Land use planning can include provisions for habitat corridors that connect isolated patches of suitable habitat.
d) As sea levels rise, the shoreline along coastal areas will erode. Where there are beachfront or bayfront houses, the owners will try to protect their property, through shoreline hardening for example. It is much easier to adapt to sea level rise if those properties are not built to begin with. Land use policies that discourage shoreline building will leave communities more flexibility to deal with sea level rise. For a case study discussion of this issue, click ( http://ccrm.vims.edu/cara_web/Jiayi.htm).
e) Climate change will make some agricultural areas more suitable for production and other areas less so. The impacts of climate change on agriculture will be less if production is allowed to move in response to changing climate. Some land that is not currently suitable for agriculture because of climate may become suitable in the future. If that land is not available because it has already been developed, then the farming sector will be less able to adapt. It may make sense to preserve land for future agricultural production, even if it is not currently being used for that purpose. Similarly, forest land that is currently dominated by lower-valued species may become more valuable in the future, and vice versa.
Next: How does climate change impact land use?
* In this primer we mention some of the possible adaptation strategies related to land use/land cover. The interested reader can refer to http://www.grida.no/climate/ipcc_tar/wg2/641.htm for a detailed technical discussion on adaptation regarding climate change that includes other dimensions such as health, or personal behavior. This discussion also includes the conceptual framework of the processes and characteristics of adaptation. back to top