In the Heat of the Moment

Check out my newest post at the WWF Climate Prep blog: In the Heat of the Moment, discussing recently released evidence on the connection between heat and violence, and implications for society and security under climate change.

Shout out to UC Berkeley professors Sol Hsiang - now teaching at my alma mater the Goldman School of Public Policy - and CEGA's Ted Miguel for their great research on these topics!

CEGA is the Center for Effective Global Action, which focuses on using quantitative impact evaluation methods to improve results of poverty alleviation programs in the international development field. When I was at GSPP I took a student-led course on impact evaluation, taught by students working at CEGA, and the problems we addressed were along the lines of how to ethically roll out an experimental vaccination or disease testing program. It's great to see those big brains being bent to the task of assessing possible disparate climate change impacts on CEGA's constituency-- the world's poorest communities.

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Update: WWF's ClimatePrep blog apparently went defunct in 2018 and may not be revived.  I'm updating this blog's links to ClimatePrep to snapshots on Archive.org (where available). Some articles look OK there, some not so OK. For a readable version with images intact, see my ClimatePrep articles as reconstructed on this blog:

• Head in the Clouds: The Dream of Harvesting Water from Fog
June 08, 2017

• Story Maps: A Rising Star of Climate Change Communication
April 10, 2017

• The Sea Level Rise Solution that is as Charismatic as Mud
February 17, 2017

• The Internet of Water - October 31, 2016

• Sea Level Rise Seen with New Eyes: the OWLs of San Mateo
August 30, 2016

• California: The Rebeavering
May 22, 2015

• Government Folly in the Face of Climate Change
March 19, 2015

• In the Heat of the Moment
December 02, 2014

• California’s Adaptation Clarion Call
September 02, 2014

• Farmland in Flux
July 8, 2014

• Honest Conversations: Climate Change and Uncertainty
December 12, 2013

New U.S. EPA video: "Anticipate, Prepare, Adapt."

Yesterday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a 3 min. 25 sec. YouTube video titled "Climate Change: The Cost of Inaction" featuring EPA Senior Advisor for Climate Adaptation Joel D. Scheraga (an economist by training). He ends the video by calling for viewers to reduce GHGs and  to "anticipate, prepare, adapt." The viewer is then directed to "epa.gov/climatechange/wycd" - "What you can do."

The video gives a quick overview of climate change impacts and examples of climate events in recent years that had large price tags for communities-- with price tag estimates captioning the photos and slo-mo videos of devastation from Sandy and Katrina, floods and droughts. Two of the highlights (well, lowlights) are in the U.S. west -- Lake Mead's current historic low behind the Hoover Dam and California's drought-driven wildfire season, priced here at "$260 million and rising in federal fire suppression" for the year thus far (wish there was a citation... is this just the U.S. Forest Service price tag,  is it actual or estimated?).

"What you can do" according to the EPA is do-able but not likely to change our adaptation outcomes, not even if every single one of us did them to our utmost extent at a household level. We are coached:

You can reduce emissions through simple actions like changing a light bulb, powering down electronics, using less water, and recycling. 

It's great to give people a list of 25 things "you can do" to reduce GHGs. Reducing GHGs today are crucial to the adaptation potential of coming generations.

But this problem requires industry-wide, government-wide, world-wide action. Eventually people will catch on that this household to-do list is the equivalent of asking "Do you think your leg is broken?" and suggesting "Make sure your grandchildren take calcium!" instead of "Call 911!"

EPA, where is your guidance on the video's closing commands, "anticipate, prepare, adapt"? 

The EPA "what you can do" page says NOTHING to the person who wants to prepare for today's impacts, addresses NONE of the factors that studies have shown lead to better outcomes after disasters (such as being socially connected to your community, having access to health care, having access to transportation, etc.). They could easily kick the reader over to a page about the importance of community gardens to food security and local environmental awareness-- starting or joining a garden is something "you can do" that might actually help people cope with the current and ongoing climate impacts. Or go to a climate march, like the one in NYC planned for tomorrow. Let the political powers-that-be know we care.

EPA, I like your video, but if you are worried about our communities dealing with climate impacts don't just tell us to change a light bulb and fix a dripping faucet. You can do better.

California's Adaptation Clarion Call - the California Adaptation Forum

Check out my new contribution to the WWF ClimatePrep blog:
California's Adaptation Clarion Call - about my experience at the California Adaptation Forum (CAF), held Aug. 19-20, 2014, in Sacramento.

For more vicarious enjoyment of the CAF:

Check out the PowerPoint presentations from the Forum.

You can also buy the audio recordings of all the Forum sessions - $200 for all the recordings, otherwise $10 a pop. Audio clip #CAF14-204 will get you the recording of the session I moderated,
"California Coastal Fog: An Untapped and Little-Known Water Resource?" although it can't be fully appreciated by audio - we had fog special effects and fog collectors. But you can see our 124-slide fog presentation here.

Here are the video recordings of the four plenary sessions (free!):

Aug. 19 Morning Welcome - various state officials and representatives
Kate Meis - Local Government Commission and state government representatives Mike McCormick and Ken Alex - Office of Planning and Research, Mary Nichols - Air Resources Board, Ken Pimlott - CalFire, and Fran Spivy-Weber - State Water Board.

Aug. 19 Lunch - the role of the for-profit private sector in climate change
Kish Rajan - Office of Business Development, John Makower - GreenBiz Group, Christopher Benjamin - PG&E, Kathy Gerwig - Kaiser Permanente, Stephanie Rico - Wells Fargo.

Aug. 20 Morning  (the best of the bunch) - on partnerships
The inimitable Jack Mackenzie from the City Council of Rohnert Park moderating a discussion including: Salud Carbajal - Santa Barbara County Supervisor, Rick Cole - City of Los Angeles Deputy Mayor for Budget and Innovation, Nicola Hedge - Alliance of Regional Collaboratives for Climate Adaptation (ARCCA) Vice Chair and Director of the San Diego Foundation's Climate Initiative, Alice Hill - Senior Advisor for Preparedness and Resilience to the President's Assistant for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism (White House National Security Council). John Laird, the head of the state's Natural Resources Agency, finished off the morning plenary with a moving speech about the lessons he's learned on making the right - if unpopular - decision in a position of political leadership.

This is the one plenary I would like to re-watch, especially for the contributions of Rick Cole, Alice Hill, and John Laird. And the antics of Jack Mackenzie, with his warm Scottish humor.

Aug. 20 Closing - Keynote by Mayor Rex Parris
Featuring Wade Crowfoot - Deputy Cabinet Secretary and Senior Advisor to the Governor introducing the keynote speaker R. Rex Parris, the Mayor of the City of Lancaster, a Republican who believes in climate change preparedness.

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Update: WWF's ClimatePrep blog apparently went defunct in 2018 and may not be revived.  I'm updating this blog's links to ClimatePrep to snapshots on Archive.org (where available). Some articles look OK there, some not so OK. For a readable version with images intact, see my ClimatePrep articles as reconstructed on this blog:

• Head in the Clouds: The Dream of Harvesting Water from Fog
June 08, 2017

• Story Maps: A Rising Star of Climate Change Communication
April 10, 2017

• The Sea Level Rise Solution that is as Charismatic as Mud
February 17, 2017

• The Internet of Water - October 31, 2016

• Sea Level Rise Seen with New Eyes: the OWLs of San Mateo
August 30, 2016

• California: The Rebeavering
May 22, 2015

• Government Folly in the Face of Climate Change
March 19, 2015

• In the Heat of the Moment
December 02, 2014

• California’s Adaptation Clarion Call
September 02, 2014

• Farmland in Flux
July 8, 2014

• Honest Conversations: Climate Change and Uncertainty
December 12, 2013

Are farmers responding to the right signals? - WWF Climate Prep Blog feature

I've been remiss in updating this little blog o' mine lately, but I do have something to show for it-- a guest-author article on the WWF Climate Prep blog! I decided to write about some recent research done in California and Europe on the choices farmers are making around climate change adaptation. Read my article here:

Farmland in Flux - July 8, 2014 - WWF Climate Prep blog

I promise my readers I will get back in the groove with this blog now that the summer doldrums are upon us.

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Update: WWF's ClimatePrep blog apparently went defunct in 2018 and may not be revived.  I'm updating this blog's links to ClimatePrep to snapshots on Archive.org (where available). Some articles look OK there, some not so OK. For a readable version with images intact, see my ClimatePrep articles as reconstructed on this blog:

• Head in the Clouds: The Dream of Harvesting Water from Fog
June 08, 2017

• Story Maps: A Rising Star of Climate Change Communication
April 10, 2017

• The Sea Level Rise Solution that is as Charismatic as Mud
February 17, 2017

• The Internet of Water - October 31, 2016

• Sea Level Rise Seen with New Eyes: the OWLs of San Mateo
August 30, 2016

• California: The Rebeavering
May 22, 2015

• Government Folly in the Face of Climate Change
March 19, 2015

• In the Heat of the Moment
December 02, 2014

• California’s Adaptation Clarion Call
September 02, 2014

• Farmland in Flux
July 8, 2014

• Honest Conversations: Climate Change and Uncertainty
December 12, 2013

Stanford Researcher: Windmills Slow Hurricanes

This blows my mind, no pun intended.

From the March 1, 2014, Economist: Hurricane protection: The windmills of your mind: A madcap idea to protect America's coasts from storms

Here's a hyperlinked Feb. 26 Stanford newsletter item about Dr. Mark Jacobson's computer simulations of wind farms lessening hurricane strength:  Offshore wind farms could tame hurricanes before they reach land, Stanford-led study says

Read Dr. Jacobson's paper (with C. Archer and W. Kempton) as published in Nature Climate Change (online Feb. 26, 2014):

Taming Hurricanes With Arrays of Offshore Wind Turbines

 I think I'm going to have to read all of these articles several times to wrap my brain around this.

Climate Readiness Institute launch at UC Berkeley today

I am tweeting as @stripeygirlcat at the launch of the Climate Readiness Institute at the Brower Center at UC Berkeley today-- follow me! (I only use that account for climate change-related posts, no live-tweeting the Oscars will ever occur there.)

There is quite a brain trust here today. Inspiring.

It was Peaceful on Zero Allocation Day - California Water Law Symposium Report-Back

I've been in and out of one climate change-related stakeholder meeting, conference, workshop, symposium, training or another since mid-January, it seems-- I haven't had time to catch my breath and update this blog. There's been much afoot, with the new iteration of the California Climate Adaptation Strategy out in draft format for comment,and the official onset of drought in California Jan. 17, and the related gnashing of teeth and rending of clothes. Not to make light of it, but the fact that California has a water problem is not very new news. We haven't had serious precip here since December 2012. In fact, one scientist says it may be the driest water year in 500 years (per a Jan. 21 article based on an interview with paleoclimatologist B. Lynn Ingram at UC Berkeley).

Yesterday was a highlight of the recent onslaught of climate change-related gatherings-- the California Water Law Symposium. 

Some notes:

ZERO ALLOCATION DAY, a Friday, was a quiet day. Fish and farms have nothing to fight over. Finally these interests have something (no water) in common.

John Leshy: Looking back, California used to have 150 yr-long droughts; it was settled in an unusually wet period; all our distribution systems were designed for a larger volume of water than we can expect in the future.

Forrest Melton: NASA Ames is using satellites (2 landsats, 2 MODIS) and ground data (CIMIS -- the California Irrigation Management Information System) to calculate how much to irrigate given evapotranspiration-- super efficient use of water!

Jay Lund: Everyone thinks the solution to drought is to build reservoirs. But it's not Field of Dreams-- build a basin and it will fill with water-- we are losing snowmelt as a source, we shouldn't invest in new infrastructure that is dependent on historical conditions. Repurpose old, smaller reservoirs? Manage groundwater better!

Cliff Lee: The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is potentially going to be rendered irrelevant by climate change (which will make many historic salmon streams too shallow/warm for spawning--> some populations are doomed, ESA can't save them) 

Lester Snow: GROUNDWATER GROUNDWATER GROUNDWATER; innovation; diversification; learn to manage resources as well as we manage crises (reacting to symptoms, not problem); need to reach out to find new leadership among Latinos, Millennials-- demographic shift is salient to water planning

Desalination-- Carlsbad Project-- desal is either a totally reasonable, do-able thing or the devil's work, bound to poison the ocean at brine discharge site and tie ratepayers to high-priced, energy-intensive water

Fresh water flow into the San Francisco Bay Delta is either critical to estuary health or not, apparently evidence is disputed; a good source on the Delta is Aquafornia

That's all, pray for rain