Climate change impacts in Alaska are much more pronounced than in other regions of the United States. These impacts have been well-documented in the Kenai Peninsula, where communities are coping with a variety of impacts related to a warming climate, including reductions in wetland areas, glacial ice coverage, and harmful algal blooms. Although communities and state agencies have responded in different ways to these signs of climate change, they have yet to develop tangible recommendations or a long-term strategy for climate adaptation. Barriers to effective climate change planning on the peninsula include the uncertainty of future trajectories, a need for a synthesis of regional data, and limited capacity for interagency collaboration.
This project aimed to address these barriers and help coastal communities on the Kenai Peninsula plan for a changing climate by engaging regional leaders and community stakeholders to collaboratively develop plausible future planning scenarios based on a wide range of possible environmental responses to a changing climate.