Practitioner Guides

Overview

GLISA develops guidance with and for practitioners in the region to increase the usability of climate information needed in adaptation planning.  Each guidance resource is designed to bridge a specific climate information gap that practitioners often face. Much of our guidance is targeted toward climate data use to aid practitioners who are selecting and using climate projections in their work. Other areas of guidance are developed as GLISA identifies need for it within the region.

GLISA is also developing a new guide: A Guide to Downscaled Climate Data for the Great Lakes Region.

A Practitioner’s Guide to Climate Model Scenarios

This Guide is written for practitioners already using or wanting to use future climate information in their work, but who are not familiar with the underlying assumptions and choices surrounding climate data. Here, we introduce the climate model scenarios that are used to “drive” climate models forward in time. These scenarios are a combination of socioeconomic and climate forcing pathways. We summarize differences between these scenarios for the Great Lakes region to show users how their choice of model scenario affects future temperature and precipitation projections.

Consumer Reports for Climate Information

As a knowledge broker for climate information in the Great Lakes region, the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments (GLISA) team has developed a suite of climate model consumer-report-style documents to help climate information consumers make decisions when selecting models and projections for their work.

Read more in our consumer reports publication. Explore our other consumer report documents.

Read the buyer’s guide.

How to Use Economics to Build Support for Climate Adaptation

Local governments face an increasingly urgent need to adapt to a changing climate in ways that reflect their unique environmental, social, and economic conditions, all on a balanced budget and with limited federal support. This report extends the application of economics beyond monetary costs and benefits or jobs and income, providing information to help local governments make the case for action. The report demonstrates how economic analyses can help sustainability directors, local government staff engaged with sustainability and climate work, and other partners make concise, data-driven cases for community adaptation and resilience.

Read the report.

Testimonials

“[The Practitioner’s Guide to Climate Model Scenarios] overview is easily the best I’ve seen in laying out the model basics and process questions that users need to consider as they work to incorporate model projections into impacts and decision processes.”

Deputy Director, SE Climate Adaptation Science Center, US Geological Survey