Maryland and Virginia Score Well on Climate ‘Preparedness Report Card’

BALTIMORE — Maryland is one of only a handful of states in the nation that has taken strong action to prepare for future risks associated with climate change, while Virginia has done more to prepare than the majority of states, according a new report.

The States at Risk: America’s Preparedness Report Card gave Maryland an overall B+ and says the state is relatively prepared to face changing levels of extreme weather, including extreme heat and coastal flooding.

Virginia received a B score for its work in preparing communities for inland flooding and rising sea levels.

States at Risk Project says the interactive report card is the first-ever quantitative assessment of its kind designed to help states assess risks and build action plans to increase their preparedness levels.

“We know that heat is increasing and drought is more acute in certain places and coastal flooding is more due to sea level rise, and the question is, are states prepared for this?,” says Richard Wiles, senior vice president for Climate Central.

Wiles says the scores for our region appear promising, but many other states are behind in preparing for climate change.

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