Check out this great Huffpost article about the area that SAGE looked at last June.  Changes in the climate have terrible impacts on this neighborhood in San Juan.  Clearly, mitigation is necessary and it is imperative that new policies and infrastructure are put in place quickly and carefully.


​https://secure.weebly.com/editor/resetPassword2.php?v=9084cbe29ca0fb21&ac=1

SAGE team member, Mona Webber, recently gave a lecture on ‘Clean Kingston Harbour: pipe dream or pot of gold?’ The lecture was a Grace Kennedy Annual Lecture which is one of the highest profile public / academic crossover events in Jamaica.

Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jC3z8mJcuw

If you're interested in how coastal cities are thinking about they should plan ahead for rising seas, Boston will be a city to watch.  More parkland?  Changing the zoning to require buildings to plan for flooding?  Moving people out of vulnerable neighborhoods?  It is complicated and the problem has many known and unknown variables. 

Here's a link to an interesting letter by Erika Spanger-Siegfried (Lead climate analyst,Climate and energy program, Union of Concerned Scientists) to the editor in response to Mayor Walsh's plan for public parks serving as the first defense for flooding. 


http://epaper.bostonglobe.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=c3499ce7-b7c5-4e4c-856d-bc97ae3a166c

SAGE authors Hamin, Abunnasr and Ryan are published and the book is beautiful.  Order your copy today.

Planning for Climate Change - A Reader in Green Infrastructure and Sustainable Design for Resilient Cities

Try googling "resiliency," "rebuild after storm," etc. and you will come up with millions of hits.  Today I searched to see if North Carolina is talking about the pros and cons of rebuilding and I found an article in Insurance Journal.  It was interesting for multiple reasons, but the take away - it's complicated!  At this point the politicians, policy makers, home owners, scientists and businesses are having trouble getting through today, let alone planning for the next thirty years.  At the end of the article someone who works on a pier that is consistently damaged in coastal storms is quoted as saying, “One day I hope people understand the power of water. … It don’t play.” 

Check out the article here.

Our SAGE article is published!  Check it out and let us know what you think.  Thank you to the Sustainability and to special editors Prof. Steven Scyphers and
Prof. Dr. Michael W. Beck

Hamin, E.M.; Abunnasr, Y.; Roman Dilthey, M.; Judge, P.K.; Kenney, M.A.; Kirshen, P.; Sheahan, T.C.; DeGroot, D.J.; Ryan, R.L.; McAdoo, B.G.; Nurse, L.; Buxton, J.A.; Sutton-Grier, A.E.; Albright, E.A.; Marin, M.A.; Fricke, R. Pathways to Coastal Resiliency: The Adaptive Gradients Framework. Sustainability 2018, 10, 2629.

http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/8/2629

Every now and then I like to type in the words "coastal resilience" to see what comes up.  This time I found the US Climate Resilience Toolkit.  SAGE has come up with 8 different factors to consider when approaching a project: exposure reduction, cost efficiency, institutional capacity, ecological enhancement, adaptation over time, greenhouse gas reduction, participatory process and social benefits.  The US Climate Toolkit has five steps, one of which includes prioritizing and planning and this step includes looking at  resilience, economic impacts, environmental impacts and implementation.  However, this step does not guide groups in how to best look at their project as comprehensively as SAGE.  SAGE has a lot to offer - time to get the word out!

Here is the link to the Toolkit: https://toolkit.climate.gov/#steps

This is an interesting article by Shannon Cunniff, Director, Coastal Resilience, with contributions from Kate Zerrenner.  The article was posted this past April on the Environmental Defense Fund website and its about how Texas can better prepare for the next storm including buying out areas prone to flooding and designing more resilient natural parks able to take the brunt of the storm.

SAGE is all about using a multifaceted approach and our gradient scoring can help communities best evaluate the possible plans.  SAGE members and friends - please pass on our gradient scoring process described in our Practical Guide. 

Need a basic introduction to Green Infrastructure?  Check out the EPA's webpage on Coastal Resiliency.  It includes an introduction, basic definitions and a list of resources.  It also has a link to a NOAA animation of how green infrastructure helps to protect coastlines during flooding events. 

https://www.epa.gov/green-infrastructure/coastal-resiliency

A new website that lets people delve into data on the world's cities has been launched.
Dr Robert Muggah from the think-tank Instituto Igarapé showed the BBC some of his favourite maps from EarthTime.
Producer: Jane Wakefield
Video journalist: Chris Foxx

Rising Sea Levels is at minute 1:08.

https://www.bbc.com/news/av/technology-44575392/maps-reveal-hidden-truths-of-the-world-s-cities