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Archive for the ‘Climate Change’ Category

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Chesapeake Bay: Sea Level Rise Over the Next Century

Monday, August 10th, 2015
Figure 1. Map showing Atlantic coast of the United States with population density by county (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010) placed alongside Late Holocene and twentieth-century relative sea-level rise (RSL)

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
Today, relative sea-level rise (3.4 mm/yr) is faster in the Chesapeake Bay region than any other location on the Atlantic coast of North America, and twice the global average eustatic rate (1.7 mm/yr). Dated interglacial deposits suggest that relative sea levels in the Chesapeake Bay region deviate from global trends over a range of timescales…The sea level for any location at a given point in time represents a sum of factors, including the volume of ocean water, steric (thermal) effects, tectonic activity, and crustal deformation in response to glacio-hydro-isostatic adjustment (GIA) from loading and unloading of continental ice and water masses (Church et al., 2010).

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Low-Carbon Electricity Pathways for the U.S. and the South

Monday, August 3rd, 2015
Figure 1. The Proposed Emissions Rate Reduction Targets

GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
Power plants are one of the largest sources of carbon pollution in the U.S., accounting for nearly 39% of annual CO2 emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels (EIA, 2014, Table A.18). On June 2, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed state-specific limits on CO2 emissions from existing fossil fuel-fired electric generating units (EGUs) as part of its Clean Power Plan (CPP).

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Come Heat and High Water: Climate Risk in the Southeastern U.S. and Texas

Friday, July 31st, 2015
ALABAMA: AVERAGE SUMMER TEMPERATURE

RISKY BUSINESS
The Southeast U.S. and Texas are experiencing an economic boom, mostly due to manufacturing and energy industry growth. But that boom is at risk from unchecked climate change, which could render this region—already one of the hottest and most weather-vulnerable of the country—at significant economic risk. However, if policymakers and business leaders act aggressively to adapt to the changing climate and to mitigate future impacts by reducing their carbon emissions, this region can lead in responding to climate risk. The Southeast can demonstrate to national and global political leaders the kind of strong response necessary to ensure a strong economic future.

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Army Corps of Engineers: Efforts to Assess the Impact of Extreme Weather Events

Tuesday, July 28th, 2015
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Systematic, National Infrastructure Risk Assessments, 2006- June 2015

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE
The Corps plans, designs, and constructs water resources infrastructure, such as dams and levees. According to the U.S. Global Change Research Program, the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events are increasing. Much of the Corps’ infrastructure was built over 50 years ago and may not be designed to operate within current climate patterns, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

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Northeast & Mid-Atlantic: Economic Impacts of a Greenhouse Gas Initiative

Friday, July 17th, 2015
Figure ES-1 Actual CO2 Emissions in the RGGI States, Relative to the Emissions Caps in Different Periods

ANALYSIS GROUP
This Report analyzes the economic impacts of RGGI’s most recent three years, covering the years 2012 through 2014. This analysis follows on our prior November 2011 Report (hereafter “AG 2011 Report”) that assessed the economic impacts of RGGI’s first three years (2009-2011). Since the time of our last economic review, the electric industry has experienced changes in power plant economics, emission-control requirements, and wholesale market structures in the RGGI region. In addition, the RGGI states completed a comprehensive program review during 2012, and modified elements of the program including, most importantly, adopting a significantly lower overall cap on CO2 emissions in the RGGI region.

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Seizing the Global Opportunity: Emissions Reduction & Economic Prosperity

Tuesday, July 14th, 2015

Stronger cooperation between governments, businesses, investors, cities and communities can drive economic growth in the emerging low-carbon economy.

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2015 U.S. Clean Tech Leadership Index

Thursday, July 9th, 2015
2015 TOP 10 STATES (INCLUDING HISTORICAL RANKINGS)

CLEAN EDGE
The United States has seen a significant shift in its energy landscape since Clean Edge began publishing its clean-tech leadership index five years ago. The transition to a clean tech and energy efficiency-based economy, based on the many indicators we track, is well underway. Solar and wind power, along with natural gas and energy efficiency, are now the mainstream choices for meeting the nation’s electricity needs; coal-fired and nuclear power, the dominant choices of the 20th century, have become the marginalized “alternatives.”

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Climate Change in the United States: Benefits of Global Action

Monday, July 6th, 2015
GHG Mitigation: Estimated Benefits to the U.S. in 2100

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Actions can be taken now to reduce GHG emissions and avoid many of the adverse impacts of climate change. Quantifying the benefits of reducing GHG emissions (i.e., how GHG mitigation reduces or avoids impacts) requires comparing projections of climate change impacts and damages in a future with policy actions and a future without policy actions. Looking across a large number of sectors, this report communicates estimates of these benefits to the U.S. associated with global action on climate change.

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Adapting To Climate Change in Coastal Parks

Tuesday, June 30th, 2015
2 Figure 1. Location of all 40 NPS units analyzed as part of the WCU/NPS sea-level rise study.

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Over the next century, warming global temperatures will present many challenges for the National Park Service (NPS) and public land managers. Rising sea level will be one of the most obvious and most challenging impacts of this warming. Even a minor increase in sea level will have significant effects on coastal hazards, natural resources and assets within national parks. To begin addressing these issues, the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines (PSDS) at Western Carolina University (WCU) has partnered with NPS to begin an assessment of the level of exposure that park owned assets will face during a period of rising sea level.

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Transitioning to Low-Carbon Trucks

Tuesday, June 16th, 2015
Figure ES-1. Required ZEV sales share to hit 80-in-50 target with no biofuels v. scenario with 60% biofuels blends by2050

NATIONAL CENTER FOR SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION
UC DAVIS INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORTATION STUDIES
The United States and California have both made commitments to an 80% reduction in energy-related greenhouse gases (GHGs) from 1990 levels by 2050 in order to help stabilize atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. These commitments do not specifically target transportation or an individual transport mode.

This white paper reviews previous studies and provides a new investigation into the feasibility of achieving an 80% reduction in CO2-equivalent (CO2e) GHG emissions in the United States and California from trucks in the 2050 time frame (“80-in-50”). We assess the technological and economic potential of achieving deep market penetrations of low-carbon vehicles and fuels, including vehicles operating on electricity, hydrogen, and biofuels.

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