Agriculture Commissioner Nicole "Nikki" Fried has announced the launch of the new Florida Advisory Council on Climate & Energy (FACCE). This committee of energy and climate professionals will advise the Commissioner and the Office of Energy in the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services on modernizing energy and climate policies, diversifying energy sources, increasing energy efficiency, and creating solutions for Florida's energy and climate future. Read the news release.

The U.S. Department of State seeks expert comment on the second-order draft of the Working Group I contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). The Government and Expert Review runs 2 March - 26 April 2020.

General information such as the outline, development milestones, and deadlines can be found at the USGCRP Open Notices page; more detailed information - i.e., background, instructions, supplementary materials, and the draft report itself (including the first draft of the Summary for Policymakers) - can be found on the USGCRP Review and Comment System. You must register to access the dedicated landing page, agreeing to the posted terms before being granted access.

This is an Open Call. Comments are solicited from the U.S. scientific expert community and interested stakeholders. All comments must be input via the USGCRP Review and Comment System by 11:59 p.m. ET, Thursday, 2 April 2020, if they are to be considered by the Federal expert panel tasked with preparing the U.S. transmittal to IPCC.

Since the IPCC is an intergovernmental body, review of IPCC documents involves both peer review by experts and review by governments. Experts are advised that they have the option to submit comments direct to the IPCC rather than participate in the U.S. Government Review. To register for the concurrent Expert Review of the second-order draft, click here.

Expert registrations will be accepted by the IPCC until 19 April 2020. To contribute to the USGCRP-managed process, comments must be received by 2 April 2020.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will appoint a planning committee to organize a workshop on improving understanding and forecasting of air quality impacts from wildland fires. The workshop will convene experts in wildfires, atmospheric chemistry, climate, meteorology, and health together with key decision makers from public health, emergency management, air quality management, and other relevant areas. This includes state and federal stakeholders. Workshop discussions will likely consider the following topics:

• Characterizing fire activity and their emissions
• Atmospheric transport and chemical transformation of fire emissions
• Monitoring and modeling wildfire emissions
• Subseasonal-to-seasonal forecasting for fire seasons
• Communicating wildfire forecasts, health impacts, and mitigation options

Please visit the study website to view the workshop scope and planning committee membership. More details to come.

The National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society have produced an update to their popular climate Q&A resource: Climate Change: Evidence and Causes with the most recent climate data and scientific analyses. This booklet, originally published in 2014, answers 20 questions about the evidence for and causes of climate change. New data indicate that climate change trends have continued. Global average surface temperature has increased 1 °C since 1900, and atmospheric CO ₂ concentrations have surpassed 400 ppm. The period of slower warming in the 2000s has ended with a dramatic jump to warmer temperatures, with the most recent decade (2010-2019) being the warmest decade on instrumental record, and Antarctic sea ice extent is now decreasing. This update provides more context about the importance of the speed at which climate changes are happening and what that means for adaptation efforts. Printed copies will be available shortly but you can download the pdf here.

The Florida Keys Coastal Storm Risk Management Study is investigating solutions that will improve resiliency by reducing damage and risk from impacts of coastal storms taking into account sea level rise. The study area includes the entire Florida Keys including all municipalities. A recent presentation by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provided details on the Tentatively Selected Plan for the Florida Keys Coastal Storm Risk Management Study. The study just recently passed the Tentatively Selected Plan milestone and a Draft Feasibility Report with Integrated Environmental Impact Statement is currently scheduled for release in late May 2020.

• Produce a strategic tool with standards, data, analyses, andthresholds for use in planning, decision-making, setting research agendas, and use in public policy and legislation
• Ensure resiliency decisions are informed by the best available science through an iterative, stakeholder driven process that is easily updated and user-focused
• Use the best science in a manner that is responsive, supportive, and critical focusing on systems and not separate sectors
• Improve relationships between knowledge producers and users and yield better decisions and outcomes to build capacity and overcome barriers

Ten Across Water Summit | March 23-25 | Houston, TX

Regional Climate Action Plan (RCAP) Implementation Workshop: Social Equity | April 2 | Hollywood, FL

Human Adaptation to Climate Change in Urban Environments | April 9 | Webinar

Climate Response: Costs and Financing | May 3 | Online Course offered by the Antioch Center for Climate Preparedness and Community Resilience

2020 Local Solutions: Easter Climate Preparedness Conference | May 11-12 | Portland, Maine

Climate Scientist, Climate Central, Princeton, NJ (partial time remote possible)

Sea Level Rise Scientist, Climate Central, Princeton, NJ (some remote work possible)

Summer Intern, Palm Beach Office of Resilience, West Palm Beach, FL

 

Faculty Position in Climate and Health, University of Chicago | Applications due March 31

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VoLo's Vision Innovation Sustainability Technology Adaptation (VISTA) Award | March 31, 2020

NatGeo | Enduring Impacts: Archaeology of Sustainability | April 22, 2020

NatGeo: Equity and the Natural World | April 22, 2020

Charles, S. P., Charles SP, Kominoski, J. S., Kominoski JS, Armitage, A. R., Armitage AR, et al. (2020). Quantifying how changing mangrove cover affects ecosystem carbon storage in coastal wetlands. Ecology, 101(2), e02916.

Mazzei, V., Mazzei V, Wilson, B. J., Wilson BJ, Servais, S., Servais S, et al. (2019). Periphyton as an indicator of saltwater intrusion into freshwater wetlands: insights from experimental manipulations. Ecol Appl, , e02067.

McDonough, L. K., McDonough LK, O'Carroll, D. M., O'Carroll DM, Meredith, K., Meredith K, et al. (2020). Changes in groundwater dissolved organic matter character in a coastal sand aquifer due to rainfall recharge. Water Res, 169.

Meyers, S. D., & Luther, M. E. The impact of sea level rise on maritime navigation within a large, channelized estuary. Maritime Policy and Management, .

Sikder, A. H. M. K., & Mozumder, P. (2020). Risk Perceptions and Adaptation to Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise: Insights from General Public Opinion Survey in Florida. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 146(3).

Volkov, D. L., Lee, S. K., Domingues, R., Zhang, H., & Goes, M. (2019). Interannual Sea Level Variability Along the Southeastern Seaboard of the United States in Relation to the GyreScale Heat Divergence in the North Atlantic. Geophys. Res. Lett., 46(3), 7481-7490.

Wyatt, A. S. J., Leichter, J. J., Toth, L. T., Miyajima, T., Aronson, R. B., & Nagata, T. (2020). Heat accumulation on coral reefs mitigated by internal waves. Nat. Geosci., 13(1), 28+.

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Florida's Climate: Changes, Variations, & Impacts provides a thorough review of the current state of research on Florida's climate, including physical climate benchmarks; climate prediction, projection, and attribution; and the impacts of climate and climate change on the people and natural resources in the state. The book is available for purchase in paperback and Kindle format at Amazon.com.

Individual chapters may be accessed on the FCI website.

The Florida Climate Institute (FCI) is a multi-disciplinary network of national and international research and public organizations, scientists, and individuals concerned with achieving a better understanding of climate variability and change.     

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