Tag: <span>climate resilience</span>

Greening Communities: Water Management for Climate Resilience

An estimated 10 trillion gallons of untreated stormwater runoff, containing everything from raw sewage to trash to toxins, enters U.S. waterways from city sewer systems every year, polluting the environment and our drinking water supplies. The EPA describes stormwater runoff as one of the fastest growing sources of pollution in …

Does Resilience Include Retreat? Semantics of Climate Change for Coastal Communities

You’ve probably heard that climate change causes the oceans to rise. And maybe you’ve heard the follow-up statistic, which is that shorelines are rising 1 inch every 7-8 years. To most people this doesn’t seem like much, but this seemingly small figure translates to thousands of miles of coastlines being …

Stronger pH and Weaker Fish

We can see the effects of climate change in many ways: increased forest fires, more extreme seasonal temperatures, more dramatic weather events. But rarely do we think about the effect of a warming climate on ecosystems that aren’t as closely connected to our own world—like the ocean. The ocean plays …

Securing the Future: Taking the Lead on a Multi-faceted Issue

There is a never-ending list of things to worry about. We are faced with issues in our personal lives, national politics, and global threats—sometimes even all at once. This is particularly clear in moments like the spring of 2020, as a pandemic emergency disrupts how individuals interact, how governments serve …

Including Everyone in the Conversation about the Climate Crisis

Everyone can feel that the days are getting warmer.  Everyone can see that the rains are falling faster and the ocean is rising higher. We all see that the climate is changing, but we don’t all know how to prepare.  Even if you had the motivation to do so, where …

American Forests At Risk: Camille Stevens-Rumann joins the National Climate Seminar

American forests are at risk. Wildfires are becoming more frequent, fire season is lasting later into the year, and fires are burning for longer. And the costs of these fires continues to mount. The Forest Service spent $2 billion fighting forest fires last year. Wildfires in Northern California alone caused $65 …

Resilience Requires Leadership, and Leadership Requires Resilience

Driving forward change in the environmental field is a large and extremely important challenge. The issues that the field hopes to address—from climate change to food insecurity—are systemic, complex and long term. Creating meaningful change requires many things, perhaps the most important of which is leadership. Otis Rolley is one …

“Sea’s” the Day–In High Water

Attention all those “safe” from flooding . . . In the wake of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, New York City has proactively initiated several projects to enhance the city’s resilience and protect its citizens from coastal flooding in the event of another Sandy-like storm. However, recent research suggests that the City’s coastal …

Leading the Charge on Climate Resilience and Natural Resource Management Research in the Philippines

Being part of a graduate program that is so interdisciplinary in nature requires one to wear many hats. One has to be flexible and creative enough to be compelling, yet subtle, in order to provide thought provoking insights in a manner that is appropriate to your audience. These qualities are …

Learning to Adapt: Promoting Climate Change Adaptation at UNDP

From my workstation in a fourth-floor office of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, a 50-foot-long bank of windows offers sweeping views of the Old Bangkok district: Alongside oil-slicked canals and rain-stained shop houses, modern Buddhist temples adorned with glass-mosaic facades and horn-like golden …