Research

Led by the Prairie Research Institute and the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment, CACS facilitates multidisciplinary research and education across the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to accelerate the development of practical climate solutions. The center’s research falls under four main themes:

Climate Hazard Mitigation

Climate change has altered weather-related hazards — extreme heat, wildfires, drought, heavy precipitation, and flooding, among others — in virtually every global region. In the United States, weather-related hazard frequency and intensity are projected to increase across the country regardless of climate change mitigation. As recent extreme hazards and their devastating impacts have shown, better solutions for effective preparation, management, and response to weather-related hazards are critically needed.

Building Climate Resilience in Urban Living

Expanding urbanization and changing urban landscapes magnify climate change impacts and governance, equity, health, and mobility issues. As they become increasingly frequent and intense, storms are overwhelming aging water instructure and causing flooding, while heat waves are intensifying urban heat island effects, disproportionately affecting vulnerable, low-income urban areas. Hazard preparation in addition to holistic solutions for housing, transportation, and green infrastructure are all needed to foster future urban resilience.

Climate Change and One Health

Climate change, human health, and the health of ecosystems — including flora and fauna — are deeply interconnected and have significant consequences for public health. Examples of human impacts include the emergence and spread of vector- and water-borne infectious diseases from changes in organism migration patterns, increases in contamination across air, water, and food systems from droughts and heavy rainfall events, and direct health impacts from increased extreme weather events. The complexity of these human, animal, and environmental interactions requires adopting a One Health approach to develop effective climate–health solutions.

Decarbonizing the Economy

Climate change mitigation through the capture, storage, and utilization of emissions is necessary to ensure a productive world for future generations. This will require innovative solutions across many sectors — from power production, industrial processes, and manufacturing to transportation and food production.