Ready for flooding: Boston analyzes how to tackle climate change

Ready for flooding: Boston analyzes how to tackle climate change

Report lays out plan for addressing increasing flood risk.

SCOTT K. JOHNSON - 12/19/2016, 1:05 PM

The more you follow government down to the local level, the harder it is for decision-makers to pretend climate change isn’t real. Coastal cities in particular can see what’s coming, and their officials understand that people can’t just sit on their hands. When you’ve cleaned up after storm surge flooding before, the risk of more severe flooding feeds a concrete urgency. One of the first cities to get the ball rolling was Boston, which recently released a new report laying out a roadmap for a “Climate Ready Boston.”

The report was prepared by a team of city officials, planning consultants, non-profits, utilities, and climate scientists. The scientists provided climate projections for the Boston area, and the others analyzed the city for vulnerabilities to those expected changes.

For several scenarios of future greenhouse gas emissions, the report summarizes the possible range of increases in hot summer days, extreme precipitation, and sea level and flooding events along the coast or in areas with poor drainage.

The number of heat-related deaths, for example, is expected to grow as the frequency of heat waves increases. Damage from flooding, too, will increase as the climate warms. Around the middle of the century, the report projects that about seven percent of the city could be under water during one-in-10-year rainstorms unless the storm water system is improved. That includes portions of the subways and major highways, some of which are designated evacuation routes...


Read more:
http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/12/ready-for-flooding-boston-analyzes-how-to-tackle-climate-change/