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The Climate Change working group is focusing on identifying and managing issues regarding climate change in New York

The mission of the Climate Change working group is to identify and manage issues regarding climate change in New York

Members

Albert Gomez Amanda Cole Jesse_Keenan Kathy Gilbeaux mdmcdonald

Email address for group

climate-change-ny@m.resiliencesystem.org

PlaNYC Newsletter Returns, August 2014

      

CLICK HERE - Newsletter - August 2014

PlaNYC is the sustainability and resiliency blueprint for New York City. Together with our collaborators – the agencies, organizations, and New Yorkers who make this plan a reality – we have made significant progress in just a few years:

  • The cleanest air in 50 years
  • 865,000 trees and five million square feet of reflective rooftop added to our urban landscape
  • Building codes upgraded to prepare for floods, wind, and extreme weather
  • 19% reduction in carbon emissions since 2005, well ahead of our goal to reach 30% reduction by 2030

A changing climate, a growing population, aging infrastructure, and an evolving economy with increasing inequality pose challenges to our city’s success and quality of life. Recognizing that we determine New York's future by how we shape our response to these challenges, PlaNYC includes actions to mitigate climate change while also preparing for the risks it presents, ensuring quality of life for generations of New Yorkers to come.

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Northeast Hurricane Modeling Outdated

URI professor of oceanography Isaac Ginis. (Tim Faulkner/ecoRI News)

submitted by Sarah Slaughter

ecori.org - by Tim Faulkner - July 26, 2014

NARRAGANSETT — Hurricanes bound for New England will get about 10 percent more powerful by 2100, but the state lacks the tools to access their impacts, according to University of Rhode Island professor Isaac Ginis.

Hurricanes are powered by warm water, and the predicted increase in ocean temperatures caused by climate change is expected to make hurricane season longer and the storms stronger in the years ahead. .

. . . Numerous studies and models suggest the frequency of category 4 and 5 hurricanes are expected to increase by 81 percent, while the volume of rainfall is expected to increase 20 percent by 2100, Ginis said.

However, a key current modeling method used to measure the impacts of hurricanes and set flood insurance maps is outdated, he said.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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The Blue Carbon Project

submitted by Joe Browder

      

Offsetting carbon emissions by conserving ocean vegetation

thebluecarbonproject.com

What is Blue Carbon?

The problem: The growing emission of carbon dioxide from a wide range of human activities is causing unprecedented changes to the land and sea. Identifying effective, efficient and politically acceptable approaches to reduce the atmospheric concentration of CO2 is one of society’s most pressing goals.

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Despite Renovations After Hurricane, Unease Persists in the Rockaways

      

Johanna Dominique in her apartment on the Rockaway Peninsula. A water stain that appeared when Hurricane Sandy hit, persists across her repaired ceiling. Ángel Franco/The New York Times

nytimes.com - by Sarah Maslin Nir - January 13, 2014

The buildings are offset by the Atlantic, a pastiche of warm tones and cool grays, jutting balconies overlooking tranquil landscaped gardens and million-dollar views. The apartment complex is in the Arverne section of the Rockaway Peninsula; it looks as if it could be Boca Raton, Fla.

But in this cluster of buildings, looks are often deceiving.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Is NYC's Climate Plan Enough to Win the Race Against Rising Seas?

      

Areas that are expected to be in a 100-year flood zone in the 2020s and 2050s as sea levels rise from global warming, according to new projections by the NYPCC

The city's climate adaptation projects should be devised to handle conditions far worse than even the most severe sea level rise estimates, scientists say.

insideclimatenews.org - by Katherine Bagley and Maria Gallucci- June 20, 2013

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's plan to protect New York City from future superstorm Sandys and other climate-related threats is the most ambitious and scientifically accurate plan of its kind in the world. But as global warming intensifies and sea levels rise, even this strategy may not be enough to flood-proof the city for very long, experts say.

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Nov. 18: Controversial Predictions of the 5th Climate Report

Date: 
Monday, November 18, 2013 - 18:00 to 20:00

Local & Global Impacts of Extreme Weather: 

The Hard Math of Flood Insurance in a Warming World

      

A man walks through flooded streets in Hoboken, New Jersey, after Superstorm Sandy | Emile Wamsteker/Bloomberg via Getty Images

As subsidized rates of federal flood insurance rise, property owners along the coasts get angry. But we need insurance that reflects the risks of a changing planet

time.com - by Bryan Walsh - October 1, 2013

Thousands of homeowners in flood-prone parts of the country are going to be in for a rude awakening.  On Oct. 1, new changes to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which offers government-subsidized policies for households and businesses threatened by floods, mean that businesses in flood zones and homes that have been severely or repeatedly flooded will start going up 25% a year until rates reach levels that would reflect the actual risk from flooding. (Higher rates for second or vacation homes went into effect at the start of 2013.) That means that property owners in flood-prone areas who might have once been paying around $500 a year—rates that were well below what the market would charge, given the threat from flooding—will go up by thousands of dollars over the next decade.

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Reinsurance Association of America's Senate Testimony on Climate Change

On July 18, 2013, Frank Nutter, President of the Reinsurance Association of America, testified before the Senate Committee on Environment Protection and Public Works as to the RAAs perspective on weather and climate-related impacts in the United States.

 

Following are excerpts from his report:

"In the 1980’s, the average number of natural catastrophes globally was 400 events per year. In recent years, the average is 1000. Munich Re’s analysis suggests the increase is driven almost entirely by weather-related events. North America has seen a fivefold increase in the number of such events since 1980. In comparison, Europe has seen a twofold increase.

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Urban Resilience in an Era of Climate Change: Global Input for Local Solutions

      

nyc.gov

The National Park Service, New York City Department of Environmental Protection, New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, the City University of New York, and Natural Areas Conservancy are pleased to announce the Urban Resilience in an Era of Climate Change: Global Input for Local Solutions symposium at Kingsborough College, Brooklyn on October 17-18, 2013.

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Where Streets Flood With the Tide, a Debate Over City Aid

           

A Soggy Neighborhood Fights to Stay Dry In order to mitigate flooding in Broad Channel, Queens, which is built on a marsh jutting into Jamaica Bay, city engineers have a plan to raise parts of the neighborhood.

nytimes.com - by Kia Gregory - July 9, 2013

As the sun began to set one recent Sunday, saltwater poured off Jamaica Bay onto West 12th Road, one of the lowest-lying areas in New York City.

Now, the city is budgeting $22 million to try to save the neighborhood by installing bulkheads and by raising streets and sidewalks by three feet.

But the project also raises fundamental questions about whether, in an era of extreme weather, the government should come to the aid of neighborhoods that are trying to fend off inevitably rising waters.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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