Tying in with their Climate Ready Water Utilities program, the EPA has released four case studies looking at specific adaptation steps communities are taking. The communities are East Bay (CA), New York City, Seattle (WA), and Spartanburg (SC). You can download the case study from EPA’s website.
Tag Archives | adaptation & mitigation
EPA Launches Climate Ready Water Utilities
Posted on March 10, 2011
EPA has released another set of tools to help communities adapt to climate change: this time they’re focusing on water and wastewater utilities. If you only have a moment, start with the Climate Ready Water Utilities Toolbox. I know—another toolkit. But the EPA has taken an interesting strategy to address the primary challenge of toolkits: […]
FEMA Releases Wind Retrofiting Guide
Posted on March 7, 2011
FEMA has released a new publication on how to best retrofit existing residential buildings. While it was designed with the Gulf of Mexico in mind, it should be applicable for coastal areas around the country (or at least those subject to major wind). You can download the (large) PDF directly from FEMA’s website.
Sea Level Rise and Beaches: Not a Pretty Combination
Posted on March 7, 2011
Orrin Pilkey, always a lightening-rod for coastal climate change issues, has written a gloomy forecast for the world’s beaches, and has the photos to justify his positions. He acknowledges that predicting the effects of sea level rise on beaches is complex, and that results will vary greatly depending on many factors. But overall, the picture […]
New Research on the Benefits and Detriments of Coastal Armoring
Posted on March 4, 2011
A new paper looking at structural shore protection in Massachusetts and Hawaii finds a few things to like, and a lot to cause consternation. Among the benefits: Stabilizes the upland Protects infrastructure Maintains property values for some . . . And the detriments: Source sediment impoundment resulting in increased erosion of the fronting and adjacent […]
Do Sea Walls Cause more Harm than Good? More Evidence Suggests Yes
Posted on January 10, 2011
A new article reiterates that seawalls may increase erosion rates of beaches, so while they (temporarily) protect what’s behind them, it’s at the expense of the beach in front of them. “We thought we could engineer and control nature by these techniques, but you’re fighting a losing battle,” [Rick Murray of Scituate, MA] said. “And […]
UN Program Tries to Make Cities More Climate Ready
Posted on December 7, 2010
No targeting funding for communities, but the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction may help with coordination. For more info, see the United Nations Making Cities Resilient: My City is Getting Ready website.
New Guidance for Post-Disaster Redevelopment Planning
Posted on October 21, 2010
The Florida Department of Community Affairs and Florida Division of Emergency Management yesterday released its long-awaited Post-Disaster Redevelopment Planning: A Guide for Florida Communities. [QUICK NOTE: while this is written for Florida, it’s likely to be useful for communities anywhere in the US.] From their announcement: Over the past four years the Department and the […]
An Argument for Not Returning to Normal [Editorial]
Posted on September 20, 2010
An interesting editorial by Global Ethics professor Tom Sorell on why our natural post-disaster instinct to return things to normal is so often exactly the wrong response, and why we instead ought to work to “usher in discontinuity.” The problem with returning to “normal” is obvious: we’re often returning to the same conditions that put […]
Webinar Series Includes Presentation on "Sea Level Rise and Property Rights"
Posted on September 8, 2010
The International Submerged Lands Management has announced its new conference dates. Unlike most conferences, this one takes place on your computer, so those of us with limited travel budgets can still participate. You can find a schedule of all the conference’s events on their website (and we’ll add the lot to the StormSmart Coasts Calendar), […]