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Glossary

The following definitions are used commonly used throughout the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit site. These terms can also be found in the Steps to Resilience Practitioner's Guide and are adapted from the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and other sources.

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Term

Vulnerability

Definition

The propensity or predisposition of assets to be adversely affected by hazards. Vulnerability encompasses exposure, sensitivity, potential impacts, and adaptive capacity

Example

Despite the thick walls of the aging lighthouse, its location on a barrier island and lack of resources to tie its foundations to bedrock made it vulnerable to shoreline erosion.