Escaping the Heat: Climate Change and Visitation to the Lake Tahoe Basin

As climate change drives rising temperatures across the western United States, outdoor recreation destinations like Lake Tahoe are experiencing shifting visitation patterns.

In this talk, Dr. Susan Handy presents findings from her research, Escaping the Heat: Climate Change and Visitation to the Lake Tahoe Basin, and also shares how the study came about, the broader climate-related questions that motivated the work, and the more general challenges of managing transportation in the region.

Using visitation data and climate modeling, the study explores whether travelers are increasingly seeking cooler mountain destinations during heat events—and what this trend means for transportation systems, environmental sustainability, and regional planning. Dr. Handy will discuss the implications for managing peak visitation, reducing transportation emissions, and protecting the ecological integrity of climate refuge destinations like Lake Tahoe.