The White House is launching an initiative Wednesday that aims to expand the use of climate data nationwide, to help communities cope with the impacts of global warming.

The effort includes making federal data more accessible through www.climate.data.gov; launching a design competition to demonstrate the extent to which Americans are vulnerable to coastal flooding; releasing new federal map data to depict which aspects of the nation’s infrastructure are vulnerable to climate change; and enlisting private firms such as Google and the software company Esri to disseminate and store data.

In a joint blog post, White House counselor John D. Podesta and the president’s science adviser John P. Holdren wrote that the effort “will help create easy-to-use tools for regional planners, farmers, hospitals, and businesses across the country—and empower America’s communities to prepare themselves for the future.”

“Every citizen will be affected by climate change—and all of us must work together to make our communities stronger and more resilient to its impacts,” they wrote.