There are two types of actions that can be taken to respond to climate change: mitigation or adaptation.  Climate mitigation refers to actions that are taken to reduce the speed and amount of climate change. Mitigation measures involve reducing greenhouse gas emissions or increasing the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. By reducing the net addition of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, mitigation measures will help to reduce climate change impacts in the long term. The greenhouse house gas and carbon sequestration indicators are the primary indicator for measuring climate mitigation.   

Climate adaptation refers to actions that are taken at the regional or local level to reduce adverse impacts from climate change, or to take advantage of beneficial impacts. The ability to cope with, and recover from, the effects of climate change is also called resiliency. The indicators related to disasters, heat stress related ER visits, and infectious disease assist us in understanding how we are being impacted by changing climate. For more information see the Chittenden County Climate Action Guide.