Scope Note
Communities can work to develop resilience to hazards and threats such as
- Climate change and its impacts
- Earthquakes
- Epidemics
- Severe weather
- Terrorism
Books
Climate Change, Disaster Risk, and the Urban Poor by
Poor people living in slums are at particularly high risk from the impacts of climate change and natural hazards. They live on the most vulnerable lands within cities, typically areas that are deemed undesirable by others and are thus affordable. Residents are exposed to the impacts of landslides, sea-level rise, flooding, and other hazards. Exposure to risk is exacerbated by overcrowded living conditions, lack of adequate infrastructure and services, unsafe housing, inadequate nutrition, and poor health. These conditions can turn a natural hazard or change in climate into a disaster, and result in the loss of basic services, damage or destruction to homes, loss of livelihoods, malnutrition, disease, disability, and loss of life. This study analyzes the key challenges facing the urban poor given the risks associated with climate change and disasters, particularly with regard to the delivery of basic services, and identifies strategies and financing opportunities for addressing these risks.
Call Number: 304.25 C6136ISBN: 9780821388457Publication Date: 2012-04-17
Climate Change and Cities by
Urban areas are home to over half the world's people and are at the forefront of the climate change issue. The need for a global research effort to establish the current understanding of climate change adaptation and mitigation at the city level is urgent. To meet this goal a coalition of international researchers - the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN) - was formed at the time of the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit in New York in 2007. This book is the First UCCRN Assessment Report on Climate Change and Cities. The authors are all international experts from a diverse range of cities with varying socio-economic conditions, from both the developing and developed world. It is invaluable for mayors, city officials and policymakers; urban sustainability officers and urban planners; and researchers, professors and advanced students.
Call Number: 363.349217 C613ISBN: 9781107004207Publication Date: 2011-04-28
Adapting Cities to Climate Change by
This volume brings together a wide-ranging and detailed body of information identifying and assessing risk, vulnerability and adaptation to climate change in urban centres in low- and middle-income countries. Framed by an overview of the main possibilities and constraints for adaptation, the contributors examine the implications of climate change for cities in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and propose innovative agendas for adaptation. The book should be of interest to policy makers, practitioners and academics who face the challenge of addressing climate change vulnerability and adaptation in urban centres throughout the global South.Published with E&U and International Institute for Environment and Development
Call Number: 363.70091732 Ad198ISBN: 9781844077458Publication Date: 2009-05-29
Reports & Web Sites
- Better Together: Regional Capacity Building for National Disaster Risk Management This short review, based on desk research, surveys literature on the work of regional organizations and NDMOs in disaster risk management and draws out some of the themes that may be useful for further examination of the relationship between regional bodies and national organizations in disaster risk management.
- Chemical Safety and Climate Change Preparedness This project brings businesses and municipalities together to provide resources and models for incorporating toxics use reduction into emergency preparedness to reduce the risk of industrial accidents.
- Cities and Climate Change The effects of urbanization and climate change are converging in dangerous ways. Cities are major contributors to climate change: although they cover less than 2 per cent of the earth’s surface, cities consume 78 per cent of the world’s energy and produce more than 60% of all carbon dioxide and significant amounts of other greenhouse gas emissions, mainly through energy generation, vehicles, industry, and biomass use. At the same time, cities and towns are heavily vulnerable to climate change. Hundreds of millions of people in urban areas across the world will be affected by rising sea levels, increased precipitation, inland floods, more frequent and stronger cyclones and storms, and periods of more extreme heat and cold. In fact, many major coastal cities with populations of more than 10 million people are already under threat. Climate change may also negatively impact infrastructure and worsen access to basic urban services and quality of life in cities.
- Cities and Climate Change: An Urgent Agenda Climate change is affecting cities and their residents, especially the poor, and more severe impacts are expected as climate extremes and variability increase. Cities are often already overwhelmed by the number and complexity of services they need to provide. Adding climate change mitigation and adaptation to the other challenges facing cities is an enormous burden; and at the same time cities must accommodate another three million new residents every week. Cities and Climate Change: An Urgent Agenda discusses the link between climate change and cities, why cities should be concerned about climate change and adopt early preventative policies, and how the World Bank and other organizations can provide further support to cities on climate change issues.
- Climate-Ready States & Cities Initiative (Centers for Disease Control) CDC is using its prevention expertise to help state and city health departments investigate, prepare for, and respond to the health effects that climate change may have on people.
- Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation Climate Mapping for Resilience and Adaptation (CMRA) integrates information from across the federal government to help people consider their local exposure to climate-related hazards. People working in community organizations or for local, Tribal, state, or Federal governments can use the site to help them develop equitable climate resilience plans to protect people, property, and infrastructure. The site also points users to Federal grant funds for climate resilience projects, including those available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
- Cool Policies for Cool Cities: Best Practices for Mitigating Urban Heat Islands in North American Cities The urban heat island (UHI) effect is a global phenomenon in which dark, impermeable surfaces and concentrated human activity cause urban temperatures to be several degrees hotter than those in surrounding areas. Urban heat islands impose negative effects on local and global public health, air quality, energy consumption, resilience, quality of life, stormwater management, and environmental justice. Cities across North America experience and mitigate the impacts of UHIs. We conducted a review of the UHI mitigation activities of 26 North American cities and distributed a questionnaire to local government contacts to gather information. This report profiles the causes, impacts, strategies, and social and institutional context of city action in the sampled cities.
- Cool Science: Urban Heat Islands Provides information about the causes and consequences of heat islands, as well as a list of relevant reports and research papers.
- Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) - Centers for Disease Control EIS officers are on the public health frontlines, conducting epidemiologic investigations, research, and public health surveillance both nationally and internationally.
- Flood Resilience Checklist Is your community prepared for a possible flood? Completing this flood resilience checklist can help you begin to answer that question.
- Heat Island Effect The term "heat island" describes built up areas that are hotter than nearby rural areas. The annual mean air temperature of a city with 1 million people or more can be 1.8–5.4°F (1–3°C) warmer than its surroundings. In the evening, the difference can be as high as 22°F (12°C). Heat islands can affect communities by increasing summertime peak energy demand, air conditioning costs, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, heat-related illness and mortality, and water quality. Communities can take a number of common-sense measures to reduce the effects of summertime heat islands. This website provides information on the heat island effect, its impacts, and the strategies that communities can take to reduce urban temperatures. Of the information available to communities, key EPA resources include a compendium of mitigation strategies, a community action database, and regularly scheduled webcasts.
- Illinois Cool Cities Resources (Illinois EPA) Information about developing and implementing local greenhouse gas reduction plans; includes links to climate action plans from U.S. Cities.
- Lights Out: Climate Change Risk to Internet Infrastructure In this paper we consider the risks to Internet infrastructure in the US due to sea level rise. Our study is based on sea level incursion projections from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Internet infrastructure deployment data from Internet Atlas. We align the data formats and assess risks in terms of the amount and type of infrastructure that will be under water in different time intervals over the next 100 years. We find that 4,067 miles of fiber conduit will be under water and 1,101 nodes (e.g., points of presence and colocation centers) will be surrounded by water in the next 15 years. We further quantify the risks of sea level rise by defining a metric that considers the combination of geographic scope and Internet infrastructure density. We use this metric to examine different regions and find that the New York, Miami, and Seattle metropolitan areas are at highest risk. We also quantify the risks to individual service provider infrastructures and find that CenturyLink, Inteliquent, and AT&T are at highest risk. While it is difficult to project the impact of countermeasures such as sea walls, our results suggest the urgency of developing mitigation strategies and alternative infrastructure deployments.
- National Climate Assessment Input Reports The National Climate Assessment is conducted under the Global Change Research Act of 1990, which requires reports to the President and Congress every four years on the status of climate change science and impacts. Links to reports by region are given.
- PAH Pollution from Coal Tar Sealants Asphalt sealants are used to improve the appearance and prolong the life of driveways and parking lots. Some of these sealants contain coal tar, a byproduct of coke manufacturing. This brief guide describes the environmental and health impacts of these products and efforts to encourage the use of alternative sealants in the Great Lakes region.
- Planning for Flood Recovery and Long-Term Resilience in Vermont: Smart Growth Approaches for Disaster-Resilient Communities Flooding from extreme storm events has affected many communities across the country, causing billions of dollars of damage annually. Moreover, climate change projections suggest that storms will likely become more powerful in many regions of the country in the future. In light of these trends, many communities are recognizing the need to improve disaster recovery and long-term flood resilience planning.
- Smart Growth Strategies for Disaster Recovery and Resilience How and where growth occurs, both in the short and long terms, can have a major impact on how well communities can prepare for and recover from natural disasters. But communities have not always used development planning as a strategy to become more resilient to hazards. Integrating smart growth approaches into preparedness and recovery can change this dynamic. Smart growth strategies like creating flexible land use policies, targeting public investment to catalyze private investment, and engaging the entire community in making decisions about the future can help communities recover from a disaster, rebuild according to a shared community vision, and be better prepared for the next natural disaster.
- Socioeconomics and Climate Change in the Great Lakes Region This tool, developed collaboratively by GLAA-C and Headwaters Economics, is an interactive look at how the social and economic characteristics of the Great Lakes Region are impacted by regionally specific changes in climate. The map features statistical information on over 225 counties throughout the Great Lakes region.
- United States Drought Monitor The U.S. Drought Monitor is a map released every Thursday, showing parts of the U.S. that are in drought. The map uses five classifications: abnormally dry (D0), showing areas that may be going into or are coming out of drought, and four levels of drought: moderate (D1), severe (D2), extreme (D3) and exceptional (D4).