The Department of Energy updated a report as part of the Administration’s efforts to support national climate change adaptation planning and to promote energy security. The report examines the impacts of climate change and extreme weather on the U.S. energy sector and identifies activities underway to address these challenges as well as potential opportunities to enhance energy technologies.

The study focused on four major climate trends relevant to the energy sector: Increasing air and water temperature, decreasing water availability, increasing intensity and frequency of storm events, and sea level rise. According to the report, each of these climate trends will affect the U.S.’s ability to produce energy. For example, thawing permafrost in the Arctic could cause damage to oil and gas pipelines; limited water availability could negatively affect global oil and gas production; and changes in precipitation and drought could hamper renewable energy sources.