The Resilience Roundup highlights announcements, events, and funding opportunities along with links to the previous month's local, state, and national resilience news.
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Resilient Connecticut Project Updates |
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June Research Webinar Series
Throughout the month of June, hear about innovative Resilient Connecticut climate change research in this CIRCA "brown bag" webinar series. Focused on specific topics and condensed on time, enjoy one or all nine of these free webinars when you Register. Each event will be held for 30 minutes during the lunch hour with ~ 20 minutes of presentation and 10 minutes of Q&A. The final webinar on June 25 will run a full hour and feature a panel of previous speakers who will discuss policy implications of their research.
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Regional Vulnerabilities and Resilience Opportunities Workshops
The Resilient Connecticut team held workshops in four Councils of Governments (COGs) regions. Merging past planning with climate vulnerability science, the team highlighted areas at-risk for more intense flooding and heat. Group conversations focused on places needing climate planning solutions or those that present "resilience opportunities" in New Haven and Fairfield Counties. These areas are not just places at risk from high heat or high flooding. They are also areas with high social vulnerabilities, regional assets like wastewater treatment plants, water supplies, energy facilities that serve multiple communities, and may have the potential to support more resilient transit and housing. Visit the Workshop Website for each event's presentation, video, and map packet.
A draft report summarizing resilience opportunity areas will be available for public comment in late June - stay tuned for more info in next month's Roundup!
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Governor’s Council on Climate Change (GC3)
Equity and Environmental Justice Working Group Meeting
June 1, 4:30 - 6:00 pm
The Connecticut GC3 addresses mitigation strategies to reduce greenhouse gases and also consider adaptation and resilience in the face of climate change impacts. Today's Equity and Environmental Justice Working Group meeting will focus on legislative and funding updates, CT DEEP's new public participation plans, and solar incentives for multifamily units.
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CEF Meeting - Climate Policy in Connecticut
June 2, 8:30 - 10:00 am
Join CEF for a robust discussion of Connecticut Climate Policy. CEF has assembled a panel of people from some of the most critical perspectives on this issue including representatives from CTDEEP, CIRCA, and others for a discussion of climate challenges. No registration is required for attending CEF meetings. CEF meetings are free to members. Non-members are invited to attend one meeting at no charge to experience how CEF membership can benefit your company.
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EBC - Climate Migration webinar:
International Pressures, Local Realities
June 4, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Global migration in response to climate impacts is beginning to accelerate. According to a recent model by the New York Times and ProPublica, migration increases substantially with climate change. Join the Climate Adaptation Forum for a conversation about migration. Hear from municipalities that are building infrastructure to welcome new residents and from experts at the international scale who are grappling with broad issues of displacement and migration.
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Transportation and Climate Initiative Program Webinar
June 10, 1:00 pm
Officials from jurisdictions participating in the Transportation and Climate Initiative Program (TCI-P) will host a public webinar to discuss implementation of TCI-P and will share additional materials for public review and feedback. TCI started as a regional initiative of 13 Northeast, Mid-Atlantic states and Washington, DC to craft and implement transportation policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and encourage clean transportation.
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The Connecticut legislature now has the opportunity to enact the TCI_P by passing Senate Bill 884, An Act Reducing Transportation-Related Carbon Emissions. To learn more about this bill and how you can support it, see the
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2021 NEP Coastal Watersheds Grant RFP
Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE) announced the availability of the 2021 National Estuary Program Coastal Watersheds Grant (NEP CWG) Request for Proposals (RFP), available here. Now in its second year, the NEP CWG Program is a nationally competitive grant program designed to support projects that address urgent and challenging issues (including climate change) threatening the well-being of coastal and estuarine areas within determined estuaries of national significance. RAE will select grantees through a 2 step process: 1) Letters of Intent (LOI); and 2) full proposals by invitation only. LOIs are due June 7, 2021.
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A new report from Antioch University examines peer-reviewed literature on community resilience interventions and metrics that may apply to the Northeastern region of the United States. The overarching goal of this document is to inform local public health practitioners and planners about the availability of evidence-based strategies to strengthen and measure community resilience to climate change-related disasters.
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Growing Kelp Farming Industry Boosts Economies, Captures Carbon
CBS This Morning released a video covering a new climate fund supporting kelp/seaweed farming project in Maine. While helping Maine fishermen, the project is also improving water quality and capturing carbon emissions that cause climate change. Seaweed has long been a delicacy in Asia, but now scientists see nutritional, economic, environmental, and climate benefits to building a robust kelp farming industry here in the United States.
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State and Regional News Clips |
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New Research Shows Rising Sea Level in CT is Worse than Expected
WTNH - May 17, 2021
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — New research is now out about rising sea levels and it’s much worse than expected. So what does that mean for the folks living along the coast? The world is warming, storms are becoming more severe, but the steady constant issue now is the rising ocean waters, which inundate our Connecticut coastline, and it’s happening faster than you might think.
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Sea Level Rise: How Well is Connecticut Preparing?
NBC - May 17, 2021
Making what’s beyond our control, somehow controllable. That’s the near impossible task coastal Connecticut towns and cities face when it comes to sea level rise. We’ve been experiencing the impact of sea level rise for years, in the form of flooding, more frequent storms, and rising tides. Scientists say it will likely accelerate. Communities are planning for this, but even with preparation, the situation could become serious.
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MAPC Awards $400,000 in ‘Accelerating Climate Resiliency’ Grants
Lynn Journal - May 20, 2021
Twelve Boston-area projects are the recipients to soon receive state funds for work advancing local climate change resilience. The grants are part of a new MAPC round of “Accelerating Climate Resiliency” funding. Grants range in size from $12,000 to $50,000 per project and are designed to drive long-term transformative change by investing in impactful, short-term local projects.
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Local Farmers Are Adapting Amid Climate Change
NBCCT - May 20, 2021
As our climate continues to change, local farmers are seeing firsthand the need to adapt. The effects of climate change are causing CT farmers to adjust their traditional workflow. "Irrigation is one of the biggest lessons that I learned from last year," said Rodger Phillips, who owns Sub Edge Farm in Farmington with his wife. The extreme drought through much of last summer forced Phillips to invest in new equipment.
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House Bill 6441 Gives Municipalities New and Better Tools to Address Climate Change
CT Mirror - May 25, 2021
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Climate Grant Universities Could Mobilize Community Climate Action
EOS - May 6, 2021
With cues from the successful land grant model, the United States should establish a system of universities to democratize access to climate knowledge and aid efforts to tackle the climate crisis. American democracy is in crisis. So too is the planetary climate. These crises are connected: America’s political dysfunction has both delayed the adoption of popular climate policies and fed a widespread sense that government is out of tune with the people. But lessons from the country’s past indicate how higher education can address both crises.
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The Science of Climate Change Explained: Facts, Evidence and Proof
New York Times - May 12, 2021
The science of climate change is more solid and widely agreed upon than you might think. But the scope of the topic, as well as rampant disinformation, can make it hard to separate fact from fiction. This article presents not only the most accurate scientific information, but also an explanation of how we know it. Climate change is often cast as a prediction made by complicated computer models. But the scientific basis for climate change is much broader, and models are only one part (and, for what it’s worth, they’re surprisingly accurate).
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CSU Researchers Award $1.1 Million in Sea-Level Rise Research Funding to Assist California
Newswise - May 18, 2021
Newswise — Together, the California State University Council on Ocean Affairs, Science, and Technology and California Sea Grant, have awarded $1.1 million to support sea-level rise research. Three selected projects cover a range of issues including: 1) assessment of nature-based adaptation approaches to protect shoreline erosion, 2) sea-level rise affects on coastal access for underserved populations, and 3) identification of areas where sea-level rise is causing groundwater to rise and mobilize toxic substances from contaminated sites.
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Amid Climate Pressures, a Call for a Plan to Move Endangered Species
Yale 360 - May 19, 2021
Conservationists, ecologist Mark Schwartz wrote nearly three decades ago, faced a looming conundrum: Many species would likely be unable to keep up with the projected pace of climate change and could face extinction as a result. This didn’t pose “an insurmountable conservation problem,” he wrote — people could help species reach places with suitable physical and biological conditions.
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As Hurricane Season Looms, Biden Doubles Funding to Prepare for Extreme Weather
The Washington Post - May 24, 2021
President Biden announced Monday that he was doubling the amount of money the U.S. government will spend helping communities get set for extreme weather events, including doubling FEMA funding available to help cities and states prepare for extreme weather disasters. In announcing $1 billion in spending, Biden also emphasized his administration’s attempts to steer the country toward confronting the looming effects of climate change, which scientists say will make severe weather events more frequent and less predictable. He also announced a new NASA-led effort to collect more sophisticated climate data.
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Biden Admin, Calif. Agree on Offshore Wind Plan
E&E News - May 25, 2021
The Biden administration expanded its offshore wind ambitions to include the potential for massive wind farms off the Pacific coast. Senior administration officials said waters roughly 20 miles off the coast of Northern and central California have been designated for the possible first offshore wind sales in the West. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said, more than 300 turbines could stand up in the central coast wind area, representing an enormous amount of wind energy. In comparison, the Vineyard Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts anticipates raising 62 turbines.
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In A Landmark Case, A Dutch Court Orders Shell To Cut Its Carbon Emissions Faster
NPR - May 26, 2021
Climate change activists have won a big legal victory against oil giant Royal Dutch Shell. A Dutch court ruled Wednesday that the company must reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 45% by 2030, based on 2019 levels. The case could set a precedent for similar lawsuits against huge oil companies that operate across the globe. Shell argues the 2050 goal is in line with the Paris climate accord. But The Hague District Court determined Shell's plans were not adequate.
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Marine Photographer Captures Haunting Images of California’s Beautiful, but Vanishing, Kelp Forests
Yale Climate Connections - May 26, 2021
With the decline of sea stars as a result of a wasting disease fueled by warming ocean temperatures, gorgeous but voracious purple sea urchin populations have grown rapidly … and largely unchecked. Given a penchant for cool, nutrient-rich waters, even those kelp plants surviving the onslaught of hungry sea urchins are struggling as a result of climate change.
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Biden’s Budget Proposal Calls for More than $36 Billion to Fight Climate Change
CNBC - May 28, 2021
President Biden's 2022 budget proposal calls for more than $36 billion to fight global climate change, an increase of more than $14 billion compared with 2021, with major new investments focused on clean energy, climate and sustainability research and improved water infrastructure. The widespread funding for climate issues would move forward the president’s vow to slash U.S. carbon emissions in half by 2030 and put the economy on a path to carbon neutrality by mid-century.
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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).
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State and Regional News Clips |
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