Speaker: Peter Gleick
Title: An update on the vulnerability of U.S. water resources to climate
change: From the Mississippi River floods to growing shortages in the
West
The scientific evidence supporting growing impacts of human-induced
climate change on U.S. water resources continues to strengthen. Dr.
Peter Gleick, one of the nation’s leading experts on climate and water,
will discuss recent reports on increased precipitation intensity in
North America, the Mississippi River flood events, the new Department of
Interior assessment of climate and western river basins, and efforts to
prepare for climate and water risks facing cities, farmers, and natural
systems. He will also explore some of the adverse implications of recent
budget decisions for emergency preparedness and warning systems, weather
forecasting, military preparedness, and national response to extreme
events.
American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Meteorological Society
1324 Longworth
09/05/2011 at 02:00PM
The United States is getting more heavy storms and major floods these
days. Global warming is partly to blame for these heavy rainfall events.
Warmer air simply can hold more moisture, so heavier precipitation is
expected in the years to come.
National Wildlife Federation will release “Increased Flooding Risk:
Global Warming’s Wake-Up Call for Riverfront Communities,” a mini-report
detailing:
- How global warming has caused more heavy rainfall events
- America’s over-reliance on levees and other strategies for taming
rivers
- Communities that are on the frontlines
- What must be done to confront the realities of global warming
Perspectives will be provided regarding the latest scientific research
on global warming and flooding, the national flood insurance program,
and recommendations for how to cope with projected changes and how to
avoid the worst impacts of global warming.
Call 1-800-944-8766 pin 39227# just before 11 a.m. (Eastern)
Speakers
- Dr. Amanda Staudt, climate scientist, National Wildlife Federation
- David Conrad, senior resource specialist, National Wildlife
Federation, Conservation Programs
- Dr. Will Gosnold, University of North Dakota, professor of Geophysics,
Chair of the Department of Geology and Geological Engineering
Dr. Staudt will talk about the latest science on heavy rainfall and
increased flooding risk.
Mr. Conrad will talk about what needs to be fixed in national flood
insurance program, so that we don’t make the situation even worse.
Dr. Gosnold will explain why flood protection plans should take the
implications of more frequent and extreme floods into account, based on
his more than 20 years of studying climate change.
Contact: Aileo Weinmann, National Wildlife Federation, 202-538-5038
cell, [email protected]
National Wildlife Federation
09/07/2009 at 11:00AM
Posted by on 08/05/2009 at 10:31AM
From the Wonk Room.
“Thousands more people have been forced to flee their homes as strong
winds drive fierce wildfires” fueled by “temperatures in the
90s,
dry air and wind gusts as high as 40 miles per hour” in California, now
in a state of
emergency.
“Climate change is the greatest strategic
risk
facing property and casualty insurers”: Studies conducted in the last
few years have demonstrated that “global warming is causing
wildfires
in the Western U.S. to occur more
frequently,
last longer, and cover more ground than they did in the past,” and “more
and more severe wildfires will raise insurance rates,
too.”
“An unusually warm spring thaw in
Alaska is
causing some of the state’s worst flooding in decades, with rising
rivers wiping out an entire village,” forcing Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) to
declare a disaster for the flooded areas and to cancel her attendance at
the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Posted by Brad Johnson on 07/07/2008 at 10:01PM
From the Wonk Room.
As the Wonk Room has reported in our Global
Boiling series,
scientists have warned for well over a decade that global warming will
make extreme weather
events like the Midwest
floods and California wildfires that are ravaging the nation
commonplace. However, the Bush administration has failed to mobilize the
nation, instead suppressing the research and letting polluters control
policymaking. Now,
spurred
by
activists, major
environmental organizations are calling for action. On June 19, Friends
of the Earth led the clarion
call:
The warming climate has made more extreme precipitation inevitable,
and in response, the U.S. must dramatically refashion its failed
flood control policies.
The world’s largest grassroots environmental
organization noted that U.S. flood control policy
has been misguided for decades, pointing to government panels from 1966
and 1973 that recommended “more attention be paid to relocation out of
flood zones and called for greater emphasis on non-engineering
solutions.” Instead, due to pork barrel spending “totally unnecessary
and often environmentally destructive
projects are
built while those of higher priority go unaddressed,” destroying up to
95% of the wetlands of Iowa and Illinois. With global warming, policies
that were once problematic are now disastrous.
On July 1, National Wildlife Federation head Larry Schweiger called on
Congress
to hold immediate hearings to revise the National Flood Insurance Reform
and Modernization Act. The accompanying report from the largest
environmental organization in the United States, “Heavy Rainfall and
Increased Flooding
Risk:
Global Warming’s Wake-Up Call for the Central United States,” recommends
the U.S. stop its levee-larded strategy for flood control and begin
aggressive reductions in global warming pollution. Offering her thoughts
and prayers to those grappling with the “catastrophic flooding in the
central United States,” NWF climate scientist
Amanda Staudt connected the
dots:
The big picture is that global warming is making tragedies like these
more frequent and more intense. Global warming is happening now.
Our dependency on fossil fuels like oil and coal is causing the
problem, and people and wildlife are witnessing the effects.
The We Campaign alerted its million-person
list about last
month’s U.S. Climate Change Science Program
report
on global warming’s effects on extreme weather.
Posted by Brad Johnson on 05/11/2007 at 01:12PM
In late September Congress sent the Water Resources Development Act (HR
1495) with veto-proof majorities in both chambers to the President’s
desk. On Friday he vetoed the bill, which would authorizing funding for
Army Corps of Engineers projects, including major projects for coastal
Louisiana, the Mississippi River, and the Florida Everglades. This is
Bush’s fifth veto of his presidency.
The House of Representatives is expected to vote tomorrow to override
the veto, and the Senate will follow suit this week. Top Republicans,
such as Rep. John L. Mica (Fla.), ranking member of the Transportation &
Infrastructure Committee (T&I), and Sen. James Inhofe (Ok.), ranking
member of the Environment & Public Works Committee, have vowed to help
override the veto.
Rep. James L. Oberstar (Minn.) and Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (Tex.)
issued this T&I
statement:
It is simply irresponsible for President Bush to veto the only
WRDA legislation that has made it to his
desk since he took office. Our country cannot afford more setbacks on
water resources issues and projects that are critical to our Nation’s
economy, as well as to our communities.
As the experiences of the last few months have demonstrated, America’s
infrastructure is in dire need. Whether the issue is bridges that
collapse in Minnesota or levees that fail in New Orleans, our nation’s
infrastructure has reached a critical juncture and may be on the verge
of failure. How many more failures do we need before this
administration understands the importance of investing in the repair,
replacement, and sustainability of our nation’s infrastructure? The
American people’s lives and livelihoods depend on safe, reliable, and
dependable roads, bridges, levees, and navigation corridors.
Continue reading for a review of HR 1495.