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 Updates |
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DEEP and CIRCA Partner to Develop Mapping Tool
for Environmental Justice Communities
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and CIRCA are partnering on the development of an “Environmental Justice Mapping Tool” to identify vulnerable populations that may be disproportionately impacted by programs, policies, or projects and to inform initiatives for creating healthy communities. This initiative follows a recommendation made by the Equity and Environmental Justice Working Group of the Governor’s Council on Climate Change (GC3). To build the EJ Mapping tool, the work will be divided into three parts: 1) preparation of the initial environmental justice map viewer, 2) a community feedback process, and 3) creation of an EJ map viewer 2.0. To learn more about this exciting initiative, read last week's DEEP Press Release.
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CIRCA is Hiring - Join Our Climate Team!
Community Resilience Planner:
CIRCA is hiring a Community Resilience Planner to provide support to the Resilient Connecticut project. The position will work with the CIRCA team and partners to advance climate planning through mapping, technical analysis, planning document development, and sustained engagement. Activities will include the use of geographic information systems (GIS) in the collaborative development of plans and reports and participation in and coordination of meetings with municipalities and COGs. Qualifications include: a B.S./B.A in Planning, Geography, Environmental Science, or a closely related field; three years of post degree experience in (GIS) and community or environmental planning; and experience with public engagement. Applications close 11/21/21.
Environmental Justice Community Coordinator:
CIRCA's EJ Community Coordinator will provide support for and contribute to the development of an environmental justice mapping tool, as well as a pilot grants program for community partners to engage in local planning for the impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities. Qualifications include five years experience in community engagement and/or community organizing, preferably in communities historically underserved and overburdened by environmental pollution; or one-year experience after earning a B.S./B.A. in Public Health, Public Policy, Planning, Geography, Sociology, Environmental Studies, or another relevant discipline. Applications close 11/17/21.
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FEMA Non-Disaster Hazard Mitigation Grants Closes November 29th
The Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS) announced that the FEMA Non-Disaster Hazard Mitigation Grants - Building Resilient Infrastructure (BRIC) and Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA) will close on November 29. The BRIC Program makes federal funds available to states, U.S territories, Indian tribal governments, and local communities for pre-disaster mitigation activities while the FMA program provides funds for projects to reduce or eliminate risk of flood damage to buildings that are insured under the National Flood Insurance Program.
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Urban Forestry Equity through Capacity Building Grant Program
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is requesting proposals for the Urban Forestry Equity through Capacity Building Grant Program. This program is designed to help build capacity in municipalities and non-profit organizations to complete urban forestry projects that address issues of environmental justice, aligning with GC3 recommendations. These grants can serve as a steppingstone for organizations and municipalities that are not ready to apply for larger grants, but that are interested in growing their programs to be competitive for such grants in the future. Applications will be accepted until November 8, 2021.
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The Urban Forestry Climate Change Grant Program
The Connecticut Urban Forest Council plans to award grants up to $37,000 to increase tree canopy in the state's urban areas. Grants address effects of climate change and include equity and environmental justice considerations. Grantees must provide a 25% match. The first set of applications is due on Wednesday, November 3 and the second set on Tuesday, February 1, 2022.
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Connecticut DPH Receives Centers For Disease Control And Prevention Five-Year Climate And Health Program Grant
The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) has been awarded a five-year cooperative agreement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to focus on the many ways climate change impacts health. DPH is one of two new recipients, with a total of 11 recipients nationwide supported by this award. Working with partners throughout the state, including the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health, DPH will implement actions that enhance health equity, increase resiliency, and ensure CT communities are prepared for the health impacts of climate change by forming a Climate Change and Health Program.
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UN Climate Change Conference - COP26
Now - November 12
The United Nations’ climate change conference, the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), is taking place in Glasgow Scotland now through November 12. This is an important annual conference where countries around the world come together to update their plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and address global warming with coordinated climate action. Learn more about COP26 and the dozens of associated talks and announcements on the event website. CIRCA's Executive Director, Jim O’Donnell is traveling to Glasgow next week! Visit CIRCA’s Announcements page next week to read short blog posts from Jim and catch the latest news.
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NOAA Listening Session: Shaping the Future of Coastal Flooding Tools for Long Term Decision Making
November 8, 3:30 - 4:30 p.m.
The purpose of this session is to hear from the planning community to understand needs for coastal flood resilience planning for the seasonal, annual, decadal and longer time horizons. In addition, attendees will learn about several existing NOAA products for coastal hazards reduction and resilience planning. Your participation will help NOAA understand gaps and needs to improve our products and tools to build coastal resilience.
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CT DEEP Climate Solutions Webinar:
Connecticut's Zero Carbon Electric Supply by 2040
November 9, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Julia Dumaine from DEEP's Bureau of Energy, Technology and Policy will present on the newly released Final Integrated Resources Plan (IRP). The 2020 IRP marks Connecticut’s first assessment of pathways to achieve a 100 percent zero-carbon electric sector by 2040, as directed by Governor Ned Lamont through E.O. 3. The IRP focuses in the near term on areas of reform essential to facilitating the transition to a zero-carbon electric sector, to ready the grid with modernized transmission systems, to reform the regional wholesale market, and to implement policies and programs that promote affordability and equity.
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National Adaptation Forum:
Tribal & Indigenous Climate Adaptation Series
This four-part National Adaptation Forum series focuses on advancing discussions about climate adaptation in Tribal and Indigenous communities, highlights promising adaptation practices, and showcases diverse approaches to adaptation. The series will touch on themes including Tribal climate and health, community-led adaptation, and Indigenous sustainability practices. The sessions will include panels, individual speakers, and a documentary film.
Session One
October 27, 11:00 a.m. -12:30 p.m.
Session Two
November 10, 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Session Three
November 17, 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Session Four
December 1, 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
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NY Sea Grant Webinars:
Environmental Justice Mapping Tools for NYS Communities
November 12, 1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
Learn how the Neighborhoods at Risk tool uses climate indicators to inform community planning efforts through a tool demo, hands-on exercise, and examples from across New York State.
December 3, 1:00 - 2:30
Learn about recent updates to a regional sea-level rise visualization tool and how it incorporates demographic information from a Social Vulnerability Index.
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EBC Webinar: Climate Disruptions and Dinner -
How is Climate Change Impacting Our Food Systems?
November 19, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Food is a basic human need that is not equitably accessed across the United States and globally. As a threat multiplier, Climate Change will touch every aspect of the way we feed ourselves and our families, from challenges in food production, to supply chain disruptions, to exacerbating our existing food inequalities. This means our food system–from soil and seed to table–needs to become more resilient. Join EBC to learn more about current threats and solutions at different scales and intervention points.
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CAFM December Meeting - Call for Abstracts
The Connecticut Association of Flood Managers (CAFM) will convene its eighth Annual Conference and Meeting. Similar to last year, the conference will be held virtually in three 2-1/2 hour sessions over three days: December 7, 8, and 9, featuring approximately four 30-minute presentations per day. CAFM seeks a broad range of professionals to submit abstracts about problems and solutions associated with managing flood risk, making communities more sustainable, disaster recovery, and protecting floodplain and fragile natural resources.
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DEEP Integrated Resources Plan
DEEP recently released the final Integrated Resources Plan (IRP) to achieve 100% zero-carbon electric supply by 2040 called for by Governor Lamont in Executive Order 3. This plan reflects observations in the greenhouse gas inventory, that Connecticut has made progress towards lowering emissions in the electric sector and will continue to do so with 91% of electricity consumed by Connecticut coming from zero-carbon sources by 2025 as new off-shore and grid-scale solar projects come online.
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What is Cop26 and Why Does it Matter? - The Complete Guide
Read this Guardian guide for everything you need to know about the Glasgow conference seeking to forge a global response to the climate emergency including "Who's Who at the Climate Summit" and a "Cop26 Jargon Buster". For almost three decades, world governments have met nearly every year to forge a global response to the climate emergency. This year is the 26th meeting, postponed by a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and hosted by the UK.
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Biden Administration Releases Roadmap
to Build a Climate Resilient Economy
Climate change poses serious risks to the U.S. economy and financial system. The country must work with urgency to reduce the risks of climate change by addressing its drivers and creating a stronger, more resilient economy. This report lays out a roadmap for measuring, disclosing, managing, and mitigating climate-related financial risk across the economy, including to the Federal Government, while also catalyzing public and private investment to seize the opportunity of a net-zero, clean energy future.
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EPA Social Vulnerability Report
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released Climate Change and Social Vulnerability in the United States: A Focus on Six Impacts. This new report describes how four vulnerable populations—based on income, education, race and ethnicity, and age—may be subject to the highest impacts of climate change. The six categories of impacts covered are: air quality and health, extreme temperature and health, extreme temperature and labor, coastal flooding and traffic, coastal flooding and property, and inland flooding and property.
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NOAA Climate.gov Redesign
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Study: Long-Term Sea Level Rise Requires
a Worldwide Commitment to Adaptation
Without adaptation, sea-level rise will put millions more people at risk of flooding, scientists have warned. This requires a timely and adequate commitment to adaptation. Using a novel "scenario-neutral" approach researchers, assess when, where, and how fast coastal areas need to adapt as far ahead as 2150. Published in the journal Climate Risk Management, this new study highlights that for some coastal locations it is a matter of time.
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State and Regional News Clips |
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Grant Helps URI, Penn State Researchers Study Sea-Level Rise
Associated Press - October 3, 2021
SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) — Researchers at the University of Rhode Island and their colleagues at Penn State have been awarded a four-year, $1.5 million grant to study the effects of sea level rise and how it may worsen the impact of extreme weather, URI said in a statement. The goal is to help communities, the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service adapt and improve their resilience as the climate continues to change and hurricanes and nor’easters continue to increase in frequency and severity.
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To Tackle Heat, Boston Turns to Locals Who Know it Best
E&E News - October 4, 2021
CLIMATEWIRE | When it comes to the heat island effect, Boston suffers more than most cities. But it's also leading the charge on dealing with the heat, with a big boost from local volunteers. A Climate Central study released in July ranked Boston sixth on a list of the top 20 cities for urban heat intensity. Both population density and building height contributed to its high score. In search of solutions, the people working on the problem are turning to locals who know their communities best.
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New Jersey’s Tidal Wetlands Could Disappear Because of Sea Rise, Study Says
Press of Atlantic City - October 8, 2021
PHILADELPHIA — Sea level rise is happening so fast that some of New Jersey’s key tidal marshes could be swallowed whole by next century, eliminating critical wetlands that serve as wildlife habitat and storm barriers, according to a recently published Rutgers-led study. The study’s authors lay out four potential ways to save the marshes: buying out homeowners who live at the edge of wetlands, allowing an invasive reed to spread, pumping layers of new sediment atop the marshes, or building experimental “living shorelines.”
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Murphy Administration Releases Climate Change Resiliency Strategy
New Jersey Business - October 13, 2021
Gov. Phil Murphy’s Interagency Council on Climate Resilience released its final version of the state’s first Climate Change Resiliency Strategy, which it calls a science-based blueprint for protecting New Jersey’s vulnerable communities, environment, economy and infrastructure from the impacts of climate change. The strategy outlines six priorities to guide state and local government climate action and includes over 100 recommendations to strengthen New Jersey against climate impacts, including sea-level rise, chronic flooding, rising temperatures, and more frequent and intense storm events.
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ecoRI - October 22, 2021
The future of Aquidneck Island may be underwater, and community leaders are asking how to protect the three-municipality island and the rest of Rhode Island’s East Bay from sea-level rise. The remnants of late-summer’s Hurricane Ida and other more frequent and severe storms are causing increased flooding in the nine low-lying communities on the east side of Narragansett Bay.
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CT Experts Say Climate Change is the Greatest Threat to Public Health
CT Mirror - October 25, 2021
According to scientists and environmental experts, hurricanes and other events will happen with more frequency or greater intensity if major steps aren’t taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and a warming planet. What’s clear is that human health and safety are increasingly at risk. A 2020 report by the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health found there were 422 emergency department visits and 45 hospitalizations per year for heat stress in Connecticut from 2007 to 2016. The after-effects of hurricanes have sparked mental health trauma in survivors, disruptions to routine medical services and waterborne diseases.
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Climate Change Is Stalling the Process That Makes Leaves Change Color in the Fall
NBC CT - October 27, 2021
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City pumping $110M into Climate Change Resiliency Project for Seaport District
The Villager - October 27, 2021
The de Blasio administration is allocating $110 million protect the South Street Seaport District from the effects of climate change by increasing the height of the bulkhead, pending public review. The city Economic Development Corporation will oversee the project which, like the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project will protect vulnerable neighborhoods from sea level rise – which the government says could be subject to flooding every month in the next 25 years.
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New Jersey issues $161M in Municipal Aid grants
Transportation Today - October 28, 2021
The New Jersey Department of Transportation recently awarded $161.25 million to 541 cities and towns statewide through the Municipal Aid grant program for fiscal year 2022.The department provides 75 percent of a grant amount when a municipality awards a contract and provides the remaining 25 percent upon completion of the project.
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Coastal Resilience Plan Price Tag: Nearly $1 Billion
Nantucket Magazine - October 29, 2021
As a fall nor’easter flooded parts of downtown Nantucket at high tide on Wednesday, the town’s final Coastal Resilience Plan was released. The document provides a roadmap for the island to mitigate the impacts of sea level rise and erosion in the decades ahead with dozens of potential projects around the island proposed to mitigate the impacts of sea level rise, including strategic retreat, raising roads, dune restoration, sand pumping, and a downtown flood barrier.
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Risk of Oil Spills May Rise as Climate Change
Creates More Monster Storms
ABC News - September 29, 2021
Hurricane Ida left a trail of destruction after slamming into the Gulf Coast, but offshore the Category 4 storm left something else in its wake: oil spills. Oil spills aren't uncommon with strong storms, but as climate change pushes up sea levels and creates stronger storms with more moisture, offshore refineries are going to need greater and greater protections.
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The 7 Most Devastating Climate Disasters of Summer 2021
CNN - October 2, 2021
The climate crisis ravaged the United States this summer. As the West struggled with unrelenting drought and dozens of wildfires, a deadly heat wave seared the Northwest in June. Months later, back-to-back hurricanes -- Henri and Ida -- slammed the Northeast, breaking all-time rainfall records. Beyond the US, China and Germany experienced deadly flooding events in July, as Canada and southern Europe battled pernicious wildfires of their own.
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How to Adapt to Extreme Weather
Axios - October 2, 2021
With climate shock waves set to roil communities with increasing frequency and severity, an urgent task facing us all is to build up resilience measures to withstand these events. It's too late to stop extreme weather from increasing even as emissions are reduced, so all we can do is adapt to it. But there are strategies that you - and your community - can take to become better prepared.
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Nobel Prize in Physics Awarded for Study of Humanity’s Role in Changing Climate
New York Times - October 5, 2021
Three scientists received the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for work that is essential to understanding how the Earth’s climate is changing, pinpointing the effect of human behavior on those changes and ultimately predicting the impact of global warming. This year’s winners helped bring understanding to what seemed like chaos by describing systems and predicting their long-term behavior.
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Breaking Defense - October 8, 2021
WASHINGTON: A new Pentagon strategy calls for the military services and all defense-related organizations, including contractors to make changes to mitigate potential vulnerabilities from climate change and reduce emissions. The 32-page report, released Thursday, states that the Defense Department must adapt to a world where military operations, installations and even weapon systems can all be impacted by climate change.
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UN Declares Access to a Clean Environment a Human Right
Reuters - October 9, 2021
GENEVA, Oct 8 (Reuters) - The U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday recognized access to a clean and healthy environment as a fundamental right, formally adding its weight to the global fight against climate change and its devastating consequences. The vote passed with overwhelming support, despite criticism in the lead-up from some countries, notably the United States and Britain.
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25% of All Critical Infrastructure in the US is at Risk of Failure due to Flooding, New Report Finds
CNN - October 11, 2021
As a massive investment to repair roads and adapt to climate change faces an uncertain fate in Congress, a new report finds much of the country's infrastructure is already at risk of being shut down by flooding. And as the planet heats up, the threat is expected to grow. Today, one-in-four pieces of all critical infrastructure in the US — including police and fire stations, hospitals, airports and wastewater treatment facilities — face substantial risk of being rendered inoperable by flooding, according to a new report released.
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At Climate Summit, Can the World Move from Talk to Action?
Yale Environment 360 - October 12, 2021
Glasgow, once the second city of the British Empire and the biggest shipbuilder on the planet, next month hosts the 26th conference of nations aiming to halt dangerous climate change. The negotiators face the challenge of turning the aspiration of the 2015 Paris Agreement to achieve “net zero” emissions by mid-century into the detailed near-term action plans necessary to turn those hopes into reality in time to halt warming at or near 1.5 degrees Celsius.
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White House Targeting Economic Risks from Climate Change
AP News - October 15, 2021
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is taking steps to address the economic risks from climate change, issuing a 40-page report Friday on government-wide plans to protect the financial, insurance and housing markets and the savings of American families. The report lays out steps that could potentially alter the mortgage process, stock market disclosures, retirement plans, federal procurement and government budgeting.
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Kids’ Quality of Life Will Depend on Today’s Climate Choices
Yale Climate Connections - October 20, 2021
It’s the moral quandary of human-caused climate change: People least responsible for the problem will bear the brunt of its harmful consequences. As a substantial body of scientific research has established, this reality is true of developing countries. They generally are located in already-hot regions near the equator and lack needed financial resources to adapt to the changing climate. As a new study in the journal Science illustrates, this conundrum applies also to younger generations being born into a world undergoing rapid climate change.
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Greenhouse Gas Levels Reached Record Highs in 2020,
Even with Pandemic Lockdowns
NPR - October 25, 2021
Despite a world economy that slowed significantly because of COVID-19, the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a new record last year, putting the goal of slowing the rise of global temperatures "way off track," according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The United Nations body said Monday that carbon dioxide had risen by more than the 10-year average in 2020 to 413.2 parts per million, despite a slight decrease in emissions due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Nations Are Making New Pledges to Cut Climate Pollution.
They Aren't Enough
NPR - October 26, 2021
Many countries have agreed to stronger limits on greenhouse gas emissions in the lead-up to international climate talks next week, a crucial step in avoiding catastrophic storms, floods and droughts. But those pledges don't go nearly far enough to rein in the heat-trapping pollution destabilizing the climate, according to a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme. The shortfall is casting a shadow over negotiations that scientists say are pivotal for putting the brakes on warming.
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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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