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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Zones of Shared Risk Map Dataset
“Zones of Shared Risk” are regions that face common challenges currently or expected as a result of climate change. These risks are shared among or between groups of people that may have different perspectives and priorities for coastal resilience. UConn Plant Science and Landscape Architecture Department's Professor Peter Miniutti and his team prepared Zones of Shared Risk maps for the 14 towns in the Resilient Connecticut region. The maps include built infrastructure, hydrological, ecological, social, and institutional elements that contribute to the functioning of a place. Explore the dataset at our website: https://resilientconnecticut.uconn.edu/zones-of-shared-risk-dataset/
Identifying Heat Vulnerability and Land-use Influence
CIRCA partner and UConn Plant Science and Landscape Architecture department's Assistant Professor Mariana Fragomeni and her team are advancing climate change research. The objective of their study will be to map and identify areas vulnerable to heat and cold, areas of extreme climate conditions, and the contribution of the changes in heat to vulnerability. For this purpose, CIRCA deployed 20 temperature and humidity sensors in various landscape and demographic typologies in the city of New Haven. CIRCA would like to thank the City of New Haven for their collaboration and help in selecting the locations for the sensors. The information on this project will be updated at our website: https://resilientconnecticut.uconn.edu/research/sensorinfo
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Climate Change & Public Health
Mini-Webinar Series
This mini-webinar series on Climate Change & Public Health started on Tuesday with a great overview of the intersections of climate change and public health for the state of Connecticut. We welcome you to join in on the series as we explore more in depth on this topic. Next up are presentations on heat (September 10 at 4pm) and equity (September 15 at 3pm). Each presentation is about 30 minutes with up to 15 minutes of questions. If you can’t make the live events, subscribe to our YouTube channel to get updates whenever we post the video.
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Connecticut Valley Geo-Institute Virtual Mini-Series: Coastal Resiliency, Climate Change, and Geotechnical Engineering |
Due to the ongoing pandemic, the Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers decided to make the Connecticut Valley Geo-Institute Fall Geotechnical Seminar completely virtual. The new Mini-Series will now be held in separate 2-hour sessions on September 9 and 11th from 10am - 12pm. During the September 11 session, CIRCA's James O'Donnell will be giving a talk titled "Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding: A Strategy for Adaptation in Connecticut."
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Exploring Climate Solutions Webinar Series Equity and Environmental Justice in Climate Solutions
The purpose of this webinar series is to help members of the Governor’s Council on Climate Change (GC3) and the public understand how climate change affects low-income people, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, people of color and others who are at increased risk from climate change. Presenters will offer suggestions to prevent illness, disability and death from climate change related conditions among these and other Connecticut residents. These webinars will run Sept – November. This month’s dates include Sept. 10, 17, and 24 from noon – 1:00.
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Enhancing Opportunities for Socially Vulnerable Populations to have “A Seat at the Table” in Climate Resilience Planning - Webinar Series
September 17, 2020 - 12:00pm - 1:15pm
While all people living in the United States are affected by climate change, some communities and populations are more vulnerable to changing climate conditions than others. Extensive research here in the United States and across the world points to populations of concern including those that are low-income, people of color, immigrant populations, people with limited English proficiency, Indigenous people, older adults and children, people with disabilities and compromised health and mental health conditions, and others.
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September 22, 2020, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
This EBC Connecticut Offshore Wind Webinar will discuss how recent renewable energy procurements by the State of Connecticut act as the catalyst for creating jobs, infrastructure improvements, a growing workforce, and a new supply chain for offshore wind services and equipment manufacturing in Connecticut.
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Driving Sustainability Solutions: A Conversation with Women Leading the Climate Response Webinar
Sep 24, 2020 1:15 PM - 2:30 PM
The private sector has a key role to play in advancing sustainable development globally. Many companies are looking to achieve climate and sustainability goals . Join this webinar to hear a panel discussion exploring the approaches that successful sustainability leaders take to integrate climate solutions into business strategy and overcome barriers to their sustainability plans.
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How We Decide to Get Serious about Climate Solutions: Politics, Communication, and Framing Webinar |
September 25, 2020, 10:00am - 1:15pm
Climate change has evolved into a hot-button, politically charged issue whether you are on the right or left. Communicating messages across audiences is challenging not only because the threat has been politicized but because climate change is often not seen as the emergency it is. Join the Climate Adaptation Forum and their panel of national leaders to explore climate change communication and framing efforts across the political spectrum.
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DEEP: Chemical Management and Climate Resilience Training
Connecticut was hit with at least 5 major storms plus lesser weather events since 2010. Given this storm frequency, it is important to make your business and property resilient to natural hazards and reduce the risk of on-site chemicals causing pollution. Storm events can result in property damage, loss of inventory, and environmental contamination and liability. Accidental releases of toxic chemicals have also put communities and emergency responders at risk. Working together, businesses and local emergency officials can increase awareness and take steps to reduce risk and protect human health and safety. CT DEEP has new online training for practitioners interested in this topic.
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ASFPM Publishes Flood Risk Guide for Elected Officials
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First Street Foundation Develops New Flood Factor Model
First Street Foundation has recently released a model that calculates the flood risk for homes in the contiguous 48 states. The tool also allows users to find a property's current and future risk of flooding, learn if it has flooded in the past, and understand how flood risks may be affected by climate change.
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Notice of Funding Opportunity for FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grants
On September 30th the application period will begin for the FEMA FY2020 Flood Mitigation Assistance grant program and the new Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) pre-disaster mitigation grant programs. FEMA’s two competitive mitigation grant programs provide states, local communities, tribes and territories funding for eligible mitigation activities to strengthen our nation’s ability to build a culture of preparedness by reducing disaster losses and protecting life and property from future disaster damages.
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Grant Will Fund Effort to Address Flooding in Watch Hill
Westerly Sun - August 11, 2020
A $250,000 grant from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management will be used to address tidal flooding that impedes access to Napatree Point in Watch Hill. The grant award follows an initiative of the Watch Hill Conservancy to assess sea level rise mitigation options.
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Where Connecticut, COVID-19, Climate Change, and Critters Intersect
The Day - August 21, 2020
Connecticut has recently seen an abundance of critters appearing in their local areas, from mosquitoes to bears. This change seems to be the product of Connecticut's warming temperatures and repetitive weather events. With many insects carrying diseases, as well as COVID-19 remaining a concern, it is unknown how these may interact and what this may mean for Connecticut residents.
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A Wrongful Conviction Overturned, Bears Getting Uncomfortably Close, our Environmental Future and Briefs From Around the State
CT Magazine - August 24, 2020
This CT Magazine article highlights two recent reports investigating Connecticut's future climate. A study published in Nature co-authored by UConn researchers suggests climate change will start to do significant damage to ecosystems sooner than previously thought, and may have already begun. And a CIRCA funded reporting effort looks ahead to climate impacts expected here in Connecticut with a particular focus on temperature and precipitation.
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Use FEMA Dollars to Prepare East Lyme for Future Storms
The Day - August 25, 2020
FEMA has given the town of East Lyme a reimbursement of $1.73 million from Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy. A resident writes urging town officials to use these funds to undertake adaptation and resiliency projects to protect East Lyme from the next storm.
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A Climate Migration Pilot Program Could Enhance the Nation’s Resilience and Reduce Federal Fiscal Exposure
Homeland Security Today - August 5, 2020
A recent report by the Government Accounting Office found that rising sea levels due to climate change threatens areas where millions of Americans live. Because relocation of communities from coastal areas is virtually unavoidable, climate migration is one way to improve climate resilience.
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Durbin Introduces Bill to Fund a Clean Climate Future
Market Screener - August 7, 2020
As of August 7th, Senator Dick Durbin announced the introduction of America's Clean Future Fund Act, a bill that would spur job creation by investing in a clean energy economy, achieve critical reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, facilitate a fair transition for workers from declining energy sectors, and renew America's commitment to remain a world leader in technology, innovation, and a sustainable future.
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Toxic Waste Sites Aren't Prepared for Hurricane Season
MSN News - August 12, 2020
As climate change spurs worsening hurricanes, it comes with an increased potential for toxic waste to be unleashed on nearby communities. The danger is worsened by the fact that the Trump-led Environmental Protection Agency has moved significantly slower than other administrations in cleaning up Superfund sites, some of the most contaminated land in the United States.
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Santa Barbara Unveils Draft Sea-Level Rise Adaptation Plan
Santa Barbara Independent - August 12, 2020
The Santa Barbara City Council recently revealed their sea-level rise adaptation plan for public review. The plan will identify actions the city can take to mitigate sea-level rise impacts, including recommendations for actions in the near-, mid- and long-term.
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Climate Change is Causing More Rapid Intensification of Atlantic Hurricanes
Yale Climate Connections - August 27, 2020
Unfortunately, not only is human-caused climate change making the strongest hurricanes stronger, it is also making dangerous rapidly intensifying hurricanes like Laura and Michael and Harvey more common.
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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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