FEMA and its partners launched the Climate Risk and Resilience Portal (ClimRR), a free access, climate science modeling portal designed for community leaders offering localized data about future climate risks to conduct climate risk-informed analyses in order to support decision-making and adaptation efforts. Initial hazards included in ClimRR are temperature, precipitation, wind and drought conditions. …
NOAA and its partners just released Implementing the Steps to Resilience: A Practitioner’s Guide, a free, practical guide to help communities and local governments incorporate climate risk and equity into their decision-making processes as they work on local climate resilience issues. This handbook offers a significant new resource for those implementing the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit’s Steps…
As of October 2022, the U.S. experienced 15 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters well above the historical average of seven events per year. The 15 weather-related events amounted to $29.3B but this does not reflect the full toll on the communities impacted – significant indirect costs due to public health complications, scarcity of food and…
On Monday September 5, 2022, Rhode Island was stunned by the flash floods following nearly 11 inches of excessive rainfall over much of southern New England. The City of Providence received around 8 inches of rain, which led to the collapse of a building, closure of an interstate highway, displacement of residents, and an undetermined…
By: Richard Asinof PROVIDENCE –Do you pay heed to any of the natural weather signs around you?Are you apt to give providence [pun intended] to when you see dark cloud formations gathering on the horizon with your own eyes?Do you roll down the windows in your car when approaching a dangerous intersection, to hear the threat of…
As we write this, we are now on day 6 of heat exceeding 90 degrees in Providence. If you can relax in air-conditioned spaces or get to our beautiful Rhode Island beaches, you are among the lucky ones. Not everyone enjoys those options. For many, heat like this can cause severe discomfort and exacerbate illness….
NOAA’s recently released Global and Regional Sea Level Rise Scenarios for the United States highlighted the increasing risk from “sunny day” flooding, and other consequences of relentless sea level rise. Like other coastal communities across the U.S., New England continues to experience more frequent high-tide flooding, forcing residents and visitors to deal with flooded shorelines,…
PROVIDENCE once led the nation in hurricane protection. But in the half-century since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier, the $14 million project has lost its luster. The metal has corroded, the steel scratched and beaten down. But the gates, pipes and valves of the structure itself aren’t the biggest…
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) just released its projections for 14-21 named storms during this year’s hurricane season. The Atlantic will see up to 10 hurricanes – above-average activity this year — which would make it the seventh consecutive above-average hurricane season. Some 3-6 of these hurricanes are likely to be classified as…