• Politics

As Focus Shifts To NH, Climate Change and Clean Water Are Key Issues

• clean water
• climate change
• PFAS
• snow
• storm surge

Climate change and clean water are the two biggest environmental issues facing the Democratic Presidential candidates stumping in New Hampshire. 

Why This Matters:  Pollution and climate change were big issues in Iowa and they will be important in New Hampshire as well.  The recreation industry is poised to take a beating due to shortened ski seasons and PFAS contamination is pervasive and too expensive to clean up right now.

• People

Interview of the Week: Author Jeffrey Peterson

• climate change
• coastal communities
• Flooding
• sea level rise
• storm surge

Jeffrey Peterson has more than 40 years of experience in environmental policy both on the Hill and at EPA.  He recently wrote a book entitled “A New Coast” about the need for policies to respond to devastating storms and rising seas. ODP:  What motivated you to write about coastal adaptation after your long career in […]

• Ocean

NY Weighs Options For Defending Against the Next Superstorm

• Hudson River
• New York City
• New York Harbor
• sea level rise
• storm surge

After the environmental group American Rivers named the Hudson River the second-most endangered in the U.S., Yale Environment 360 took a look at why and found that the plans to protect the New York metro area from storms like Superstorm Sandy may be expensive and counterproductive, providing little protection from storm surge and at the […]

• Weather

Hurricane Dorian to Impact SC, NC, and VA – President is Focused on False Alabama Track

• climate change
• Flooding
• Hurricane Dorian
• storm surge
• storm track

The latest track of Hurricane Dorian is causing more disruption and dislocation as it moves up the East Coast today and tomorrow, with South and North Carolina and even Virginia in harm’s way as the storm re-strengthened to a strong Category 3, and its storm surge, torrential rains, and wind are expected to cause flooding […]

• Weather

Hurricane Dorian to Impact SC, NC, and VA – President is Focused on False Alabama Track

• climate change
• Flooding
• Hurricane Dorian
• storm surge
• storm track

The latest track of Hurricane Dorian is causing more disruption and dislocation as it moves up the East Coast today and tomorrow, with South and North Carolina and even Virginia in harm’s way as the storm re-strengthened to a strong Category 3, and its storm surge, torrential rains, and wind are expected to cause flooding and power outages in five states. 

• Weather

Stronger Hurricanes Ahead With More Damage Thanks to Climate Change

• climate change
• Flooding
• hurricane
• Hurricane Dorian
• storm surge

As Hurricane Dorian slowly makes its way up the U.S. Southeast coast coming dangerously close to the Carolinas, the storm is growing in sheer size, as is its toll on the people in affected areas, particularly residents of frontline communities, in parts of Florida, Georgia, and North and South Carolina that were battered in recent years by Hurricanes Florence, Michael, and Matthew. 

• Weather

Hurricane Dorian Slows to A Crawl, With Storm Surge Expected In Several States

• Flooding
• hurricane
• Hurricane Dorian
• National Hurricane Center
• storm surge

Hurricane Dorian blasted the Bahamas over the weekend as you all undoubtedly know, with a few deaths already confirmed. The storm is moving extremely slowly along the coast and thus will impact much of the Southeast U.S. coast this week, hundreds of thousands of people evacuated and five states expecting to see storm surge damage. The question is how much damage will it do and exactly where? 

• Weather

Hurricane Forecast Update: More Hurricanes Likely

• Climate Prediction Center
• El Nino
• hurricane
• National Hurricane Center
• NOAA
• severe storms
• storm surge

The Associated Press reported that as the “peak” of hurricane season begins they are now expecting 10 to 17 named storms, with five to nine hurricanes and two to four major ones, up from their May forecast of one or two fewer named storms and hurricanes.

• Weather

Barry May Hit NOLA, Poses An Unprecedented Threat

• Corps of Engineers
• flood
• hurricane
• levees
• New Orleans
• severe weather
• storm surge
• tropical storm

On Wednesday, New Orleans got a preview of coming disasters.  Severe thunderstorms that dumped between 6 and 7 inches of rain on the city in just 3 hours prompted tornado warnings and inundated the downtown area with water, causing transportation snarls and even forcing City Hall to close. Just as government forecasters announced that they expect 2019 to break annual flood records nationwide, the first real storm threat of the season “Barry” is lurking in the Gulf of Mexico setting its sights on the Louisiana coast (possibly New Orleans) but it is still not clear where it will make landfall.  

• Politics

Miami on Front Lines of Climate Emergency, But Will Dems Get the Chance to Address It?

• climate change
• debate
• Flooding
• Florida
• Miami
• storm surge

Given that the Democratic Party denies the need for a debate dedicated to the topic of climate change, the location of the first Democratic debate — Miami — is ironic, to say the least.  No other American city is feeling the brunt of climate change on a daily basis the way that Miami is — from fires in the Everglades (yes – you are reading that correctly) to record-breaking heat (this past Sunday) to daily flooding to hundreds of million dollars in upgrades to infrastructure, Miamians are already dealing with the climate crisis.  But will the candidates get to discuss this important issue beyond the basics of support or opposition for the Green New Deal and re-entry into the Paris Agreement?  That is THE question.

• Ocean

Wetlands Provide Better Defense to Coastal Flooding

• barrier islands
• coastal resilience
• damages
• living shorelines
• oyster reefs
• storm surge

As the U.S. must contend with more flooding events in areas like Houston and Miami, there is increasing evidence that wetlands and marshes are far more effective at protecting homes and other structures from flooding than concrete barriers.  Most recently, according to Scientific American, researchers studying the impact of 2011’s Hurricane Irene on the North Carolina coast where the storm had a 10-foot surge that destroyed roads and more than 1100 homes on the Outer Banks, a popular vacation spot. 

• Climate Change

New Orleans Levees Sinking, City Sues Oil Companies

• COE
• floods
• hurricane
• levees
• Mississippi River
• NOLA
• storm surge

According to E&E News, the $14 billion levee system, which was recently totally rebuilt to better defend the New Orleans in the event of another catastrophic storm like Hurricane Katrina, is subsiding and soon may not provide sufficient protection from a 100-year storm.