Preparing for disruption

In January 2020, no one saw the pandemic coming. Organizations that had anticipated the scale of disruption—the lockdowns, the visitor behavior shifts, the operational strain—could have positioned themselves to respond faster and more effectively.

Climate change is a different situation. Unlike the pandemic, it comes with decades of scientific research, increasingly accurate regional models, and a clear trajectory. For zoos and aquariums willing to engage with that data, the advantage is real: the ability to prepare rather than react.

Climate disruption is already reshaping the profession

The evidence is unmistakable. 2024 marked the warmest year on record, continuing a century-long trend in rising global temperatures.

Concerningly, the ten hottest years have all occurred in the last decade. Across the zoo and aquarium profession, we’re seeing these impacts manifest in very tangible ways:

• Animal care teams at zoos are adjusting summer transport schedules because historical temperature windows are narrowing.
• Horticulture departments at gardens and theme parks are facing budget challenges as previously wet regions experience unexpected drought and desiccation, requiring extensive irrigation retrofits.
• Operations teams are implementing seasonal schedule adjustments, while Admissions teams are altering guest access times.

Beyond survival: the resilience advantage

Forward-thinking organizations are responding to climate risk through three key strategies: mitigation, adaptation, and resilience—each reinforcing the others.

Mitigation: reducing your contribution

Cultural institutions and attractions are uniquely positioned to showcase sustainability. Energy efficiency upgrades, renewable power, and electric transportation aren’t just reducing carbon footprints—they can also bring numerous benefits to the community. When the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden showcases its solar array as a part of its sustainability story, the organization also generates power for its neighbors in the community and provides shade for cars and buses in its parking lot and helps reduce urban heating, which benefits the Zoo’s neighbors. The solar arrays are visible examples to visitors of the Zoo’s commitment to renewable energy and climate resiliency.

Adaptation: weatherproofing your operations

Knowing what’s coming allows you to proactively adapt your infrastructure, operations, and visitor experience. This might involve redesigning outdoor queues with enhanced shade and cooling features, developing flexible indoor-outdoor programming that can adapt to changing conditions, or investing in water management systems that convert heavy rainfall into a resource rather than a threat.

Resilience: turning disruption into opportunity

Resilience strategies increase the ability of an organization to adapt quickly to, or recover quickly from, disruptions. True resilience means more than just surviving disruption—it means using it as a catalyst for innovation. When outdoor attractions face increasing storm frequency that disrupts operations, they can use dynamic pricing models to address weather disruptions. When the Dallas Zoo adjusted its summer hours to earlier in the day, it enhanced the guest experience during the hottest months of the year and improved conditions for the animals. 

Forecasting your organization’s climate future

While we can’t predict everything, climate science offers organizations something remarkably close to a crystal ball. By leveraging these projections, you can prepare for specific challenges on clear timelines:

Examples of Risks and Strategic Opportunities

Time Horizon	Risks	Strategic Opportunities
1-5 years(Immediate)	Increased heat illness incidents among staff and visitors	Redesign high-use outdoor spaces for climate comfort
5-10 years(Medium-term)	Shifts in produce yields, quality, and nutrition content – impacting human and animal diet options	Develop localized supply networks
10-30 years(Long-term)	Increasing loss of plant and animal species	Strategic focus on species propagation and habitat restoration as carbon sequestration strategies

From insight to action: Building your climate resilience roadmap

The most resilient organizations are translating climate insights into concrete actions through a systematic approach:

1. Identify your climate story

Begin by understanding the specific climate impacts relevant to your location and attraction type. Use resources like The Climate Toolbox to access localized projections, then engage your team in identifying climate effects they’re already managing—you’ll be surprised how many operational adjustments are already happening in response to changing conditions.

Quick Start: Gather department heads for a “climate impacts inventory” session, where each area identifies changes they have already observed or begun adapting to.

2. Map your vulnerability points

Every attraction has critical functions that are climate-sensitive. For an aquarium, it might be water quality and supply; for a zoo, animal comfort and habitat integrity. Cross-reference essential functions with climate sensitivities.

Identify these vulnerability points by mapping your essential operations against projected climate impacts:

Example: Operations Team Climate Vulnerability Assessment
Critical Function: Outdoor queue management
Climate Sensitivity: Heat events, sudden and intense storms
Current Resilience Level: Low (minimal shade, limited indoor alternatives)
Resilience Opportunity: Redesigned queue environments, virtual queuing technology

3. Prioritize for impact and visibility

Not all resilience investments are equal. Focus on visible, high-return actions with multiple benefits. Look for interventions that:

• Address your most vulnerable systems
• Create multiple benefits (operational efficiency, guest experience enhancement, marketing value)
• Demonstrate your leadership visibly to guests and staff

Read about our regenerative work with Seattle Aquarium

4. Build your climate narrative

The most successful organizations are turning their climate resilience journey into a compelling story that engages visitors and builds brand loyalty:

• Documentable Progress: Create transparent metrics around your climate initiatives that can be shared with visitors
• Educational Integration: Weave climate stories into interpretive elements throughout your attraction
• Immersive Experiences: Develop programming that allows visitors to participate in resilience-building activities, such as planting native species 

The competitive advantage of foresight

The parallels to our pandemic experience are instructive. When COVID struck, every attraction was forced into reactive mode—scrambling to develop protocols, redesign experiences, and communicate changes under extreme pressure.

Those who had invested in operational flexibility, digital infrastructure, and scenario planning before the pandemic had a significant advantage. They could pivot more quickly, communicate more confidently, and recover more completely.

Climate change presents a fundamentally different opportunity. Unlike the pandemic’s sudden onset, climate impacts are arriving on a more predictable trajectory. The zoos and aquariums that will thrive in the coming decade won’t just be those with the biggest budgets—they’ll be those that strategically position themselves for the operational realities of a changing climate.

By acting now, while competitors may still be in the “wait and see” phase, you can build resilience into your institution’s DNA, creating competitive advantages that will compound over time.

Ready to build your organization’s climate resilience?

Our Climate Vulnerability Assessments (CVA) provide organizations with a structured framework for identifying climate risks and opportunities specific to your operations. We help you translate climate science into actionable strategies that protect your bottom line while enhancing the visitor experience.

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Authors: Wayne Warrington and Belyna Bentlage

Originally published on blooloop.com