NOAA Helps Communities Cope with Climate Change
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Posted by Alexandra Matiella Novak Mar 9, 2009 |
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has published a report titled "Local Strategies for Addressing Climate Change." This report offers members of communities with recent scientific analysis on mitigating hazards that may be associated with climate change.
The communities and risks listed in this document are:
- Massachusetts - risk due to flooding and storms
- Florida - hurricane mitigation
- Texas - coastal erosion and sea-level rise
- Georgia - Using "green" growth planning principles for adapting to climate change
- Rhode Island - sea-level rise mitigation
- Maryland - coastal hazards, including sea-level rise
- Florida Keys' Reefs - the impact of rising sea temperatures
- Minnesota - monitoring Lake Superior's watershed and pollution problems
- Mississippi - risks from increasing hurricane intensity and impact on oyster harvesters
As director Margaret A. Davidson states in the opening letter of the report, "The time to address the impact of climate change is now."
This report offers the states listed above with information and strategies on how to cope with climate change. The release of a document of this type should convey a message that scientists are not in disagreement over whether or not climate change will happen - the consensus among the Earth science community is that it will definitely happen and is in fact already happening. Now we need to figure out ways to deal with the many hazards that will be a result of climate change.
Resources for more information about the hazards associated with climate change and the communities most vulnerable are listed in the report. There is also contact information for the scientists who conducted the studies on hazard mitigation.