Preparing New England for climate change

PR Web: A symposium on preparing New England for climate change impacts will be held on Thursday, May 13th, in New London, New Hampshire. The keynote address will be given by Joel B. Smith, international authority on climate change adaptation and Lead Author of the Third and Fourth Assessment Reports of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Mr. Smith, of Stratus Consulting, Inc, will assess the status of national and international adaptation programs, and the role of state and local action. Additional presentations will review two recent and ongoing projects to adapt watersheds in New Hampshire, and a discussion period will follow. The symposium is free and open to the public.

Extreme February and March storms in New England continue an unusual and persistent change from historical patterns. In addition, numerous studies demonstrate that climate change is already occurring in the region. To prevent further loss of life and damage, civil infrastructures must be adapted, for which the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report called for decision-support information that manages uncertainty in climate change projections. The evening's program will present a local-scale process that manages uncertainty so that communities can adapt stormwater management systems, and will place this in the context of the national adaptation program.

The symposium is organized by Syntectic International LLC, Antioch University New England, and the Lake Sunapee Protective Association (LSPA). Funding is provided by a grant from the Climate Program Office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA), through the Sectoral Applications Research Program.…

A flooded stream in Methuen, Massachussetts,in 2006, from the FEMA photo library