The Resilience Roundup highlights announcements and events along with links to the previous month's state, regional, and national resilience news.
|
|
National Sea Grant Law Center: Coastal Resilience Program
The National Sea Grant Law Center is accepting applications from eligible applicants to conduct research on the effectiveness of coastal adaptation laws and policies. The Coastal Resilience Program grants have a recommended funding level of $75,000. The National Sea Grant Law Center anticipates sufficient funding to make one to two grant awards. Eligible applications for this funding opportunity are Sea Grant Programs, institutions of higher education, state agencies, and non-profit organizations that have the ability and capacity to conduct rigorous, non-partisan law and policy research. Letters of Intent are due on Wednesday, March 1. Full proposals are due on Friday, April 14, 2023.
|
|
Sea Grant: Long Island Sound Resilience Grant Writing Assistance Program
With funding from US EPA through the Long Island Sound Study (LISS), New York Sea Grant and Connecticut Sea Grant announced a funding opportunity open to municipalities and community organizations. This new program funds grant preparation and writing support to develop a grant application for sustainable and resilience projects that impact a community(ies) within or partially within the Long Island Sound Coastal boundary.
Funding is to be awarded in a range of $5,000- $9,950 per application directly to the applicant’s selected grant writing support contractor on a cost reimbursable basis. Match will not be required. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until all available funding is allocated, which may be no later than September 30th, 2023. A Connecticut Applicant Informational Webinar was held on December 13th - click HERE for a recording.
|
|
Rutgers: Clean Energy, Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction,
and Rapid Decarbonization in the PJM Region
February 10, 12:00
PJM is the Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) that operates the wholesale power markets and controls the transmission of electricity in New Jersey, the District of Columbia, and parts or all of twelve other states, which stretch as far south as North Carolina and as far west as Illinois. PJM also coordinates the flow of electricity produced between New Jersey and New York, which has a separate regional power system. The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act includes financial incentives that support all sources of carbon-free electricity, promote vehicle and building electrification and efficiency, and subsidize carbon capture and storage (CCS). Join Rutgers for a presentation by Professor Jesse Jenkins, Princeton University of a recent analysis on the impact that the federal Inflation Reduction Act will have on electricity cost, greenhouse gas emissions and investments in electricity capacity in the PJM region thru 2035 and what additional investments and resources would be needed to deeply decarbonize the PJM region by 2035.
|
|
EBC Ocean and Coastal Resources Webinar:
3rd Annual Regional Agency Update
February 10, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Regulators and practitioners continue to develop regulatory updates, policies, programs, and innovative solutions in the face of sea level rise and more intense and frequent coastal storms. Given the quickly evolving coastal resiliency landscape, it can be challenging to stay abreast of the latest developments. The need for property owners to remain current with state coastal zone management policies and design strategies is more important than ever. This EBC 3rd Annual Ocean and Coastal Resources Regional Agency Update will present a panel of state regulators discussing the latest coastal hot topics within their jurisdiction.
|
|
State and Regional News Clips |
|
City of Norwalk Seeks to Improve Infrastructure to
Prevent Flooding During Storms
News 12 CT - January 12, 2023
Driving through South Norwalk in the peak of a rainstorm, you'll see streets inundated with flooding. The City of Norwalk held a meeting to hear from residents who have been impacted by severe flooding. The city says they are preparing for more severe storms in the future due to climate change and want to get ahead by talking with residents about how they can mitigate the flooding, especially in South Norwalk.
|
|
Sea Levels Could Rise 20 Inches by 2050 Due to Climate Change.
Norwalk Is Developing Plans to Combat That.
The Hour - January 14, 2023
Staring down the possibility of a 20-inch rise in the sea level by 2050, city and state officials are outlining the flooding that Norwalk could experience if nothing is done to mitigate climate change.The Planning and Zoning Department, in a partnership with the Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation at the University of Connecticut, held the first of three public meeting outlining flood and heat mitigation plans for Norwalk.
|
|
Murphy Administration Awards $24.3 Million Through Its
Natural Climate Solutions Grant Program
State of New Jersey DEP - January 18, 2023
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette announced the award of $24.3 million in Natural Climate Solutions Grants to local governments and nonprofits to create, restore, and enhance New Jersey’s green spaces and tree canopies in urban areas, salt marshes and forests. “With Governor Phil Murphy's vision and leadership, New Jersey is waging its fight against climate change on multiple fronts,” said Commissioner LaTourette during a ceremony in Trenton.
|
|
Air Quality Can Affect Health. Climate Change Is Worsening Both
CT Mirror - January 22, 2023
High heat and poor air quality were relentless for much of the summer, though there have been worse summers in Connecticut. And it was nothing like the extremes climate change has brought to the western U.S., never mind other parts of the world.
While heat is well-understood as a consequence of climate change, air quality is both cause and effect when it comes to the nexus with climate change. Emissions from motor vehicle tailpipes and burning fossil fuels cause the bad air. Those emissions also contribute to global warming, which in turn can cause or exacerbate air quality degradation.
|
|
New England Sees Record Heat in 2022, as Nation Faces
$165 Billion in Annual Climate Disaster Damage
CT Public Radio - January 25, 2023
Five of the six New England states saw record warm temperatures last year – part of a larger regional trend driven by climate change. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said earlier this month that Connecticut, Maine and New Hampshire recorded their 10th-warmest years, with Rhode Island and Massachusetts seeing their fifth- and sixth-warmest years, respectively, on record.
|
|
Half of World’s Glaciers to ‘Disappear’ With 1.5C of Global Warming
CarbonBrief - January 5, 2023
Even if the world is successful in meeting its most ambitious climate goal of 1.5C, glaciers could lose a quarter of their total mass by 2100 – raising global sea levels by 90mm. The world is not currently on track for 1.5C. The research finds that country promises made at the COP26 climate summit in 2021, which could lead to 2.7C of warming, would cause “the near-complete deglaciation of entire regions” including central Europe, western North America and New Zealand. If global warming reaches 4C, 83% of the world’s glaciers could disappear, the study adds.
|
|
Climate Change Makes Heat Waves, Storms and Droughts Worse,
Climate Report Confirms
NPR - January 9, 2023
Climate change is causing the weather around the world to get more extreme, and scientists are increasingly able to pinpoint exactly how the weather is changing as the Earth heats up. A sweeping new report by top climate scientists and meteorologists describes how climate change drove unprecedented heat waves, floods and droughts in recent years. The annual report from the American Meteorological Society (AMS) compiles the leading science about the role of climate change in extreme weather.
|
|
The Last 8 Years Were the Hottest on Record
New York Times - January 9, 2023
The eight warmest years on record have now occurred since 2014, the scientists, from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, reported, and 2016 remains the hottest year ever. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also issued analyses of global temperatures for 2022, and their findings were similar.
|
|
3 Ways to Advance Climate-Resilient Housing Solutions
in Vulnerable Communities
World Economic Forum - January 12, 2023
Housing presents an often-overlooked opportunity to address climate adaptation and mitigation solutions in a way that profoundly benefits vulnerable populations. As the world continues to deal with more frequent, more extreme weather events, it’s clear that we cannot tackle climate change without addressing the need for affordable and sustainable housing. The following three ideas capture ways in which we can increase the global housing supply with homes that are more energy-efficient and weather-resilient, without deepening the affordability crisis. They also focus on the needs of populations that are at highest risk from the adverse impacts of climate change, particularly in informal settlements.
|
|
State of the Climate: How the World Warmed in 2022
CarbonBrief - January 18, 2023
With a new year underway, most of the climate data for the whole of 2022 is now available. And this data shows that last year set new records for individual locations as well as the world as a whole. Here, Carbon Brief examines the latest data across the oceans, atmosphere, cryosphere and surface temperature of the planet (see the links below to navigate between sections).
|
|
Worst Impacts of Sea Level Rise Will Hit Earlier Than Expected,
Says Modeling Study
PHYS.ORG - January 24, 2023
Current models of sea level rise suggest the most widespread impacts will occur after sea level has risen by several meters. But a new study finds the biggest increases in inundation will occur after the first 2 meters (6.6 feet) of sea level rise, covering more than twice as much land as older elevation models predicted. The study used high-resolution measurements of land elevation from NASA's ICESat-2 lidar satellite, launched in 2018, to improve upon models of sea level rise and inundation.
|
|
The Resilience Roundup highlights CIRCA's presence in the news, provides links to recent local/state/national news articles related to resilience and adaptation, and announces upcoming events and seminars.
The Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation's (CIRCA) mission is to increase the resilience and sustainability of vulnerable communities along Connecticut's coast and inland waterways to the growing impacts of climate change and extreme weather on the natural, built, and human environment. The institute is located at the University of Connecticut's Avery Point campus and includes faculty from across the university. CIRCA is a partnership between UConn and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP).
|
|
State and Regional News Clips |
|
|
|
|
|
|
