A Climate-Ready Nation is a thriving nation. It’s an America where prosperity, health, security, and continued growth benefit from and depend on understanding and reducing the impacts of climate change.

The science is clear - our climate is rapidly changing, and the associated increases in droughts, floods, wildfires, and extreme weather events are impacting every corner of the planet, including the communities in which we live. The last decade is among Earth’s warmest on record. In 2023, which was the Earth’s warmest year, the U.S. experienced a record-breaking 28 billion-dollar disasters, costing $92.9 billion.

The effects of human-caused climate change are already far-reaching and worsening across every region of the United States.

Fifth National Climate Assessment

Climate information is a crucial component of climate adaptation and resilience efforts, reducing economic losses, and most importantly, saving lives. As the Earth’s climate continues to change, it is in our nation’s best interest for NOAA to expand its climate services and provide equitable access to the most up-to-date and accurate depiction of the Earth’s environmental information, tools, data, and forecasts. 

With this in mind, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) launched the Climate-Ready Nation initiative, which has the goal of empowering and supporting our communities in making meaningful and sustainable climate actions to help reduce the impacts of climate change and build resilient communities.