Guy Carpenter’s Post

🔥#FNWEPtip: Check out this Opinion Column in The Province where Byron Spinks, former chief of the Lytton First Nation, calls for integrating Indigenous knowledge with Western science to better address climate change and wildfires. Spinks highlights the historical role of Indigenous fire-keepers and their traditional practices like cultural burns. He argues that the loss of these practices led to inadequate wildfire prevention by provincial managers. He proposes establishing an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area, managed by Indigenous guardians, to develop fire management plans, conduct cultural burns, and use traditional knowledge for better wildfire management. Read the full article for more about the importance of Indigenous land management in tackling climate-induced disasters: https://lnkd.in/dRYM7K8Q #WildfireManagement #WildfirePreparedness #IndigenousKnowledge #IndigenousStewardship

🌊 The first-ever interagency Sea Level Rise website is now live, thanks to a joint effort by multiple U.S. agencies, including #NOAA. 🌍 As I watched the sea levels rise due to hurricane Milton in the Florida peninsula, I was reminded of this newly released tool for centralized, reliable information for planning and adapting. NOAA's site is designed to provide data, projections, and resources—empowering local governments, businesses, and citizens to make informed decisions about their coastal futures. 🔍 It showcases: - The latest sea level rise data and trends 📈 - Region-specific projections 🌍 - Tools for risk assessment and planning 🛠️ 👉 More here: https://lnkd.in/d4yWDYGU

“We are really not quite yet grappling with how much our risk is changing and what that requires," says Environmental Defense Fund’s Carolyn Kousky, in an Axios article that highlights concern about hurricanes and the U.S. disaster-response system.  While recently updated laws allow families to receive some immediate support after a disaster, provide increased funding to climate resilience projects and make distribution more equitable, some experts say that more action is needed to tackle increasing climate impacts on communities. For instance, there is increasing bipartisan congressional interest in changing how we think about climate-fueled disasters in the long term. Recent proposals, like the National Coordination on Adaptation and Resilience for Security Act, would create a national climate adaptation strategy and coordinate disaster recovery and preparedness efforts across federal agencies. Read more about potential solutions in the full article here 👉 https://bit.ly/4hho7pR  

The weather in Denver the past 5 years is different, reports show this is happening all over the West which makes fighting wildfires more difficult https://risk-mgmt.co/8kc #ClimateChange #SaveOurEarth #SaveEnvironment @RecreationLaw #RecLaw #RecreationLaw

Check out the latest from the Public Policy Institute of California: Californians have been facing a record heat wave and wildfires across the state this summer. The state’s multibillion-dollar budget deficit prompted spending cuts for climate and energy programs. In response, the legislature approved a $10 billion state bond for the November ballot that asks voters to approve more funding for drought, floods, wildfires, coastal resilience, and extreme heat mitigation. The deep partisan divide on climate and energy policies surfaced in the presidential debate on June 27. Key findings of the Californians and the Environment survey on local, state, and national issues and coastal and inland topics that was conducted June 24–July 2, 2024 are at the link below: https://lnkd.in/d89ixXSY

I have a new chapter out introducing the concept of fault attribution as a framework for understanding and analyzing current federal policy evolution towards disaster response, with particular focus on coastal zone planning. As a quick summary. The federal government has, for a very long time, assisted areas of the country that experience "natural disasters" (a political term). These are events that cause a good deal of damage and are considered "acts of god" or "natural": essentially outside of human cause and control. Climate change is changing the kinds of events that are considered "normal" versus "abnormal." A Category 1 or 2 hurricane in Florida may be considered normal in the past. But that may now be changing to a Category 2 or 3, maybe even 4. The same can be said for storm surge inundation and other things that were historically abnormal but are becoming more normal. The point is federal policy is changing in ways where a certain storm today may not be considered sufficient for federal disaster assistance when it would have been a decade or two ago. A historical review of how policy evolution in this field points to how responsibility is apportioned based on the "foreseeability" of the risk. The more foreseeable the risk, the less likely it will be deemed outside of human cause and control. Fault attribution is a way of seeing how this policy evolution is playing out, and also a way to envision how it continues to evolve in the future.

It's #WorldEnvironmentDay which means we’re celebrating the Florida Wildlife Corridor! 🥳 (But also we celebrate the corridor every day) From 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙬𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙨 to 𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙨, it’s no secret that we’re experiencing significant climate-related challenges, but #DYK the #FloridaWildlifeCorridor directly impacts climate resilience within our home state? 𝙃𝙤𝙬...𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙨𝙠? 𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 of 💲💲💲 of flood hazard protection. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• More than 𝟭𝟬 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 acres of Florida's floodplains are located within the corridor — and 3.5 million of them are still at risk. With more people moving to Florida than ever before, and precipitation rates on the rise, it's important to protect these storm surge superheroes. These critical acres absorb and store water, protecting communities and providing clean water to recharge the Floridan Aquifer. They're also home to species like the mangrove, which cushion extreme weather impact. Florida being a peninsula means climate changes may be slower to materialize but more long-lasting when they do. Check out the full climate resiliency report by Archbold Biological Station & Florida Atlantic University 📝 📸: stunning shot by @jasonmac7

"We are really not quite yet grappling with how much our risk is changing and what that requires," says Environmental Defense Fund's Carolyn Kousky, in an Axios article that highlights concern about hurricanes and the U.S. disaster-response system.     While recently updated laws allow families to receive some immediate support after a disaster, provide increased funding to climate resilience projects and make distribution more equitable, some experts say that more action is needed to tackle increasing climate impacts on communities. There is increasing bipartisan congressional interest in changing how we think about climate-fueled disasters in the long term. Recent proposals, like the National Coordination on Adaptation and Resilience for Security Act, would create a national climate adaptation strategy and coordinate disaster recovery and preparedness efforts across federal agencies. Read more about potential solutions in the full article here 👉 https://bit.ly/4hho7pR  

My newest paper is out! “The value of marsh restoration for flood risk reduction in an urban estuary” was recently published in Scientific Reports, and it is publicly available here: https://lnkd.in/eH-KXZKr We used two hydrodynamic models, #Delft3DFlexibleMesh and #SWAN, to assess how stakeholder-identified marsh restoration influences flood risk due to climate change in San Francisco Bay - specifically on the shores of San Mateo County, the county most vulnerable to future flooding in California. Results show that marsh restoration provides a present value (PV) of $21 million county-wide under current climate conditions and that PV increases to over $100 million with 0.5 m of sea level rise (SLR), and to about $500 million with 1 m of SLR. Today’s investments in nature and community resilience can result in increasing payoffs as climate change progresses and risk increases. This paper was a huge part of my PhD and I am so excited to see it published! The work was done collaboratively with #UCSC, #USGS, and #SFEI. Many thanks to Michael Beck, Borja Gonzalez Reguero, Chris Lowrie, Patrick Barnard, Li Erikson  Babak Tehranirad, and Jeremy Lowe for the support and guidance! #riskmanagement #climateadaptation #naturebasedsolutions

Hurricanes Helene and Milton impacted countless communities across the southeastern U.S., highlighting the need for climate resilience. In the wake of Hurricane Helene, NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) in Asheville, NC, experienced an unprecedented interruption in service to its constituents. By rapidly investing in fortifying access to climate data, NCEI ensures that vital environmental data, reports, and information remain accessible to the public, researchers, and industry partners.  Key U.S. industries—retail, re/insurance, architecture, and engineering—leverage NOAA’s climate data to prepare for future challenges. As communities and businesses recover and rebuild, NCEI climate data products and services are improving strategic planning for supply chain management, building codes, and disaster readiness. Through the Industry Proving Grounds initiative’s collaboration with industry leaders, NCEI is advancing its mission to serve as a steadfast provider of environmental data that our nation can rely on in times of stability and crisis. #Resilience #DataContinuity #EnvironmentalData #HurricanePreparedness #ClimateResilience #IPG #NCEI #NOAA For more information on the Industry Proving Grounds, visit: https://lnkd.in/ggxshMxQ