From roads to clean water systems, the built infrastructure sustaining urban populations is increasingly vulnerable to climate. Understanding the dilemma and identifying a path forward is particularly important as cities are significant agents of climate action.

A follow-up to the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA), Climate Change and U.S. Cities documents the current and future climate risk for U.S. cities, urban systems, and their residents. It is an examination of research findings since early 2012, with a critical emphasis on the cross-cutting factors of economics, equity, and governance.

Urban stakeholders and decision makers will gain an understanding of climate risks and a set of conclusions and recommendations for action. Climate Change and U.S. Cities boldly lays out the tools that cities must harness to effect decisive, meaningful change.

William Solecki is a Professor of Geography at Hunter College, CUNY, and a founding member of both the Urban Climate Change Research Network and the International Human Dimensions Programme's Urbanization and Global Environmental Change Project. Dr. Solecki is currently a lead author of the IPCC Sixth Assessment.

Cynthia Rosenzweig is a Senior Research Scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, where she heads the Climate Impacts Group. She is a Professor at Barnard College and a Senior Research Scientist at The Earth Institute at Columbia University.