Weather We Don't Recognize : How Midwestern Communities Are - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Weather We Don't Recognize: How Midwestern Communities Are Responding to a Changing Climate

Kara E. Reeve Manager, Climate-Smart Communities National Wildlife Federation June 25, 2014 Adaptation in the Great Lakes Region Conference

Richard Prosapio

Inspiring Americans to protect wildlife for our children’s future

Climate change is the greatest threat facing wildlife

Dual Approach for Responding to Climate Change

• Mitigation

– Addresses causes of global warming especially through reducing carbon pollution

• Adaptation

– Addresses impacts of climate change

• n people and wildlife

Dual—not dueling—approaches: Both are essential and complementary

Translating Climate Science for Locally Relevant Solutions

• Workshop: Michigan’s Natural Resources

Management Community & Climate Change: Finding Solutions

– Over a dozen natural resource professionals , including those

• Leading agency adaptation strategies or
• Responsible for assisting other organizations
• NEW Report: Weather We Don’t Recognize

– Synthesis of National Climate Assessment facts and figures into language and examples that can be used by a broader audience – Examples of nature-based approaches to urban resilience

Climate Change in the Midwest

Shorter, milder winters; longer, hotter summers

Increase in winter precipitation

Can lead to combined sewage system

• verflow and pollution
• f local waterways

More severe storms in northern Midwest Up to 25 more days/ year over 95˚ in southern Midwest Warmer temperatures and increased rainfall will increase humidity Source: www.globalchange.gov

The climate is changing.

• Summers are hotter and more humid
• More rain and less snow in the winter
• Spring and fall are generally warmer

and wetter

• More big storms, increasingly violent

weather of all kinds

In the Midwest

Skating on lakes that now rarely freeze? Sleeping comfortably during the summer months with the windows wide open? Going to the beach without worrying about whether the water was safe for swimming?

Do you remember…

The climate is changing..

How Will Climate Change Affect Us?

• Too much heat is dangerous
• Everything depends on water – not too

much and not too little

• Stormwater runoff and sewage overflows

threaten human health & aquatic ecosystems

• Climate change is going to be expensive

for all of us

Nature-Based Approaches

(Green Infrastructure)

Natural infrastructure

– Eg., coastal wetlands, inland wetlands, open space, trees, shrubs

Features that mimic natural processes

– Eg., rain gardens or green roofs that are used in low-impact development (LID)

Green roof, Washington DC

Enhance, Protect, Restore

Working With Nature

1) Prioritize non-structural, nature-based approaches 2) Use nature-based approaches instead of or in combination with grey infrastructure 3) Emphasize multiple benefits 4) Direct development & infrastructure away from environmentally sensitive and vulnerable areas; incentivize development in less vulnerable areas 5) Refrain from adaptation activities that are maladaptive for wildlife

Resilience, reduce carbon pollution, provide wildlife habitat, cost effective/ save money GREEN & GREY TOGETHER

Nature Based = Multiple Benefits

• Reduce flooding
• Reduce Urban Heat Island Effect
• GHG reductions

– energy savings in buildings (green roof) = lower cost – energy savings moving and treating less stormwater = lower cost

• Habitat for wildlife
• Human health benefits

– Air quality – Mental health – Faster recovery time

• Increase property value

“Building bigger pipes will not solve our

problem.”

• -Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Green Infrastructure Plan

While some risks can only be improved through new technology or traditional system upgrades… Yet constituents are not convinced about climate change…

“We are making the region a better place to live…”

Kevin Shafer, Exec. Director of Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District

Low Impact Development: Land development approach that works with nature to manage stormwater as close to its source as possible, aiming to conserve and restore natural landscape features

Rain Gardens: Shallow, vegetated basins that collect and

absorb runoff from rooftops, sidewalks, and streets

Bioswales: Vegetated or mulched channels that provide

treatment and retention as they move stormwater

Benefits:

• Stormwater infiltration/retention, decreases volume and

flow to SW system, which reduces pollutants

• Reduce Urban Heat Island Effect
• Wildlife habitat

Rain Garden Bioswale

Rain Garden in streetscape

Replacing impermeable pavement with surface that absorbs water Benefits:

• Minimize flood risks associated with increased

storm events, decreases volume and flow to SW system, which reduces pollutants

• Natural penetration of water into ground in

urban areas

Permeable Pavement

Aaron Volkening

Green Roof

Vegetated roof that insulates buildings and provides a cooling effect to the air through transpiration Benefits:

• Increases on-site retention of SW & decreases volume and

flow to SW system, which reduces pollutants

• Reduces Urban Heat Island Effect
• Reduces energy costs and subsequent GHG emissions

associated with heating and cooling buildings

• Wildlife habitat
• Visually appealing, can increase property value

Credit: EPA

Careful planting and maintenance of native or naturalized trees to improve the urban environment

Benefits:

• Combat the Urban Heat Island Effect
• Store carbon, help reduce GHG emissions from energy use
• Improve air quality
• Provide wildlife habitat
• Intercept water, minimize flood risks
• Can help local economy

Cost Savings from Nature-based Flood Management

Green Roof – reduces energy consumption by 15-45%, reduces cooling costs by $250 annually Urban Forests – trees in New York City provide $5.60 in benefits for every dollar spent on tree planting and care Rain Garden – estimated to save $3,500-$4,500 per half-acre lot on new residential developments

Philadelphia: ¡managing ¡50% ¡of ¡all ¡impervious ¡surface ¡runoff ¡through ¡green ¡ infrastructure ¡would ¡provide ¡about ¡$2.8 ¡billion ¡in ¡benefits ¡through ¡2049 ¡ ¡

• Reduced ¡emissions, ¡improved ¡air ¡and ¡water ¡quality, ¡recreaGonal ¡space, ¡

reduced ¡urban ¡heat ¡island ¡effect, ¡etc. ¡(City ¡of ¡Philadelphia, ¡2009). ¡

Green Infrastructure: Chicago, IL

Community leaders emphasize links between locally produce & reduced GHG emissions

• Lower emissions than commercial agriculture, including transportation

Community gardens have been established as gathering places for activities that strengthen the community

• Vegan cooking demonstrations, communal meals, climate change education

programs, etc.

The City of Chicago is working with the Field Museum and community organizations to install neighborhood rain gardens with aquatic plants and native flowering perennials

Prinzessinnengarten – Berlin

Prinzessinnengarten – Berlin

Prinzessinnengarten – Berlin

Green Infrastructure Guidelines: Washtenaw County, MI

• Water Resource Commissioner developed

guidelines to handle new levels of rain in SE Michigan with use of green infrastructure

• Water Commissioner’s Design Criteria

(WCDC) aims to: – Stop increase in volume of runoff – Reduce frequency of floods – Slow velocity of stream flows – Limit wide fluctuations in stream flow, which destroy habitat – Increase water availability to recharge groundwater

• Decades of mismanagement and pollution have led to

degraded habitats

• Climate change impacts are already being felt in the

watershed

• Climate-Smart Conservation integrates climate

science into the design of restoration activities

– Fish shelves constructed at varying elevations – Planting native, climate-climate tree species appropriate for a changing climate

Climate-Smart Conservation in Lorain, OH

Climate-Smart Conservation in the Black River

Construct fish shelves at varying elevations

www.nwf.org/greenworks

• Overview of climate impacts in cities,

summary of recommendations

• Nature-based approaches 101
• Organized by climate impact
• Examples from communities
• Charts & illustrations
• Economic data
• Recommendations for implementation
• Additional resources by topic

Sources

• Green Roof

– Foster, J., A. Lowe, and S. Winkelman. (2011). The Value of Green Infrastructure for Urban Climate Adaptation. Center for Clean Air Policy

• Urban Forests:

– Foster, J., A. Lowe, and S. Winkelman. (2011). The Value of Green Infrastructure for Urban Climate Adaptation. Center for Clean Air Policy. – Million Trees NYC, http://www.milliontreesnyc.org/html/home/home.shtml

• Rain Garden:

– Foster, J., A. Lowe, and S. Winkelman. (2011). The Value of Green Infrastructure for Urban Climate Adaptation. Center for Clean Air Policy. – Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, (2011). Determining the potential of green infrastructure to reduce overflows in Milwaukee. Retrieved from 2020 Facilities Plan Team, Brown and Caldwell, HNTB, Tectra Tech Inc. website:

NEW REPORT AVAILABLE LATE SUMMER 2014

http://www.islandpress.org/midwest

SIGN UP TO BE NOTIFIED

Kara E. Reeve reevek@nwf.org

www.nwf.org/climate-smart-communities

• $10-$25 per square foot to establish, $0.75-

$1.50 to maintain

• Reduces energy consumption by 15-45%,

reduces cooling costs by $250 annually

Green Roof

Rain Garden

• $3-$6 per square foot to install,

about $1 per square foot per year in maintenance

• Estimated to save $3,500-$4,500 per

half-acre lot on new residential developments

Urban Forests

• Each tree $50-$500 to establish, $14-$65

in upkeep

• Trees in New York City provide $5.60 in

benefits for every dollar spent on tree planting and care

Credit: DC GreenWorks

• Updated Disaster Preparedness Project and Plan

– New floodplain regulations to protect against changes in hydrology and storm surge – Restoration of riparian areas and shorelines – Increased urban forestry management

Climate Planning in Baltimore