More Climate Change Science & Updates
Friday, June 19th, 2009 – Miami Dade County Video: Florida Sea Level Rise & Storm Effects
S. Jeffress Williams, Senior Coastal Marine Geologist and co-author of the newest US Climate Change Science Program Report, presented to the Miami-Dade Climate Change Task Force about US Climate Change Science Program, past sea-level history, human effects on coasts, effects of storms, coastal vulnerability and planning for the future under global climate change to manage and protect coastal infrastructure and resources.
Thursday, June 18th, 2009 – Monroe County hosts presentations about local Sea Level Rise Effects
The average elevation of the Florida Keys is about 3 feet, and sea level rise reduces this elevation incrementally each year. Whether inches or feet, the threat of sea level rise will inevitably affect all the low-lying Florida Keys through flooding, greater storm impacts, infrastructure ramifications, etc. To provide “food for thought” and a foundation for future mitigation/adaptation discussions and decisions, Mayor Neugent, and County Administrator Roman Gastesi hosted the following 3 presentations on Sea Level Rise, including detailed schenarios for Big Pine Key and a recent survey of Keys leaders on the impact of climate change on the Florida Keys.
All three presentations can be re-watched on County’s Sea Level Rise Video
Executive Summary & Recommendations
Adaptation Behavior on the Frontline of Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise
Florida Keys Sea-Level Rise 2100
Sea Level Rise Projection
Thursday, June 18th 2009: Report: International Alliance of Research Universities Climate Synthesis
Results from the March scientific congress of the Australian National University and the International Alliance of Research Universities, the 36 page conference Climate Change: Global Risks, Challenges & Decisions Synthesis Report provides unequivocal evidence indicating that many climate change risk factors are reaching the upper limits of earlier projections. The report describes a number of “tipping points” that if triggered, could lead to societal disruption for large numbers of people. Examples of significant tipping points include the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, changes to the Asian Monsoon and loss of water storage capacity in the Himalayan glaciers.
Tuesday, June 16th – Report Released: Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States
Findings from the 190-page report confirm that climate change due to heat-trapping pollution is already occurring and is visible throughout the United States, and the choices we make now will determine the severity of its impacts in the future. Authored by a team of 31 leading climate scientists from the U.S. Global Change Research Program (a consortium of government agencies, major universities and research institutions) and reviewed by hundreds of scientists and extensive public and peer review, the report provides an authoritative assessment of the most up-to-date climate change science available, and outlines climate-related trends and projections for the nation, as well as for specific regions and sectors of the United States.
April 2009 - Resilient Coasts: Blueprint for Action
An increasing number of studies underscore the value and wisdom of reducing our coastal vulnerabilities. The Heinz Center and Ceres prepared this report for three fundamental reasons: our coasts are threatened, there are reasonable steps to counter those threats, and we as a nation are not yet taking them. A recent assessment by the Wharton School’s Risk Center revealed a dramatic surge in global economic losses from natural disasters, increasing from just over $50 billion in the 1950s to almost $800 billion in the 1990s. Lloyd’s of London and Risk Management Solutions predict that flood losses along tropical Atlantic coastlines would increase 80 percent by 2030 with about one foot of sea level rise. Wharton has demonstrated that homeowners in Florida could reduce losses from a severe hurricane by 61 percent, resulting in $51 billion in savings, simply by building to strong construction codes. Similarly, the National Institute of Building Sciences showed that every dollar spent on mitigation saves society about four dollars on recovery costs.
March 2009 - NOAA's Climate Literacy Brochure - For Individuals and Communities
As part of a community effort to promote climate literacy, current climate scientists, formal and informal educators, and representatives of a range of U.S. agencies participated in developing and vetting a list of the most important concepts in climate science. Written for all ages, Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science — reflects a broad and current effort to define climate literacy.
November 2007 – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: 4th Assessment Report
This Report is based on the assessment carried out by the three Working Groups of the IPCC: "The Physical Science Basis", "Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability" and "Mitigation of Climate Change"
The IPCC is a scientific intergovernmental body set up by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). It was established to provide the decision-makers and others interested in climate change with an objective source of information about climate change. Its role is to assess on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis the latest scientific, technical and socio-economic literature produced worldwide relevant to the understanding of the risk of human-induced climate change, its observed and projected impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation.
Sept 2007: Sea Levels in South Florida by the Miami Dade County Climate Change Task Force,
Significant sea level rise is a very real threat to the near future for Miami-Dade County. Over the past 2,500 years south Florida has experienced an average rate of relative sea level rise1 of about 1.5 inches per century. The broad coastal wetlands and historically stable sandy coastlines of south Florida are a product of this prolonged period of very gradual sea level rise. Since 1932, south Florida has had about a 9 inch relative rise of sea level. This is a rate of one foot per century and is about 8 times the average rate over the past 2,500 years. Much of this accelerated rise is the result of warming (and expansion) of water in the western North Atlantic Ocean in response to global warming.