This is a guide to help councils across New Zealand assess the likely effects of projected climate change during the 21st century and plan appropriate responses where necessary. It is designed to summarise the main elements of a comprehensive technical report 'Climate Change Effects and Impacts Assessment'. A key message in the guide is that climate change effects can be broken down into manageable parts and dealt with as part of existing council planning and operational processes.
Post Carbon Cities: Planning for Energy and Climate Uncertainty is a guidebook on peak oil and global warming for people who work with and for local governments in the United States and Canada. It provides a sober look at how these phenomena are quickly creating new uncertainties and vulnerabilities for cities of all sizes, and explains what local decision-makers can do to address these challenges.
A new report led by Urban Land Institute and Smart Growth America shows that urban development is both a key contributor to climate change and an essential factor in combating it. "The research shows that one of the best ways to reduce vehicle travel is to build places where people can accomplish more with less driving," said Reid Ewing, the report's lead author and a research professor at the University of Maryland.
In this comprehensive review of dozens of studies, published by the Urban Land Institute, the researchers conclude that urban development is both a key contributor to climate change and an essential factor in combating it. Meeting the growing demand for conveniently located homes in walkable neighborhoods could significantly reduce the growth in the number of miles Americans drive, shrinking the nation’s carbon footprint while giving people more housing choices.
Preparing for Climate Change is the first major local government guidebook on planning for the impacts of climate change. Produced by ICLEI (best known for their widely-implemented Cities for Climate Protection local GHG tracking and mitigation framework, King County (home of Seattle, Washington, and one of the leaders of the new Cool Counties initiative) and the University of Washington.
A chilling set of three-dimensional images of climate-triggered sea rise flooding into coastal U.S. cities is due to be released this week by the environmental nonprofit group Architecture 2030. A sea level rise as little as 1 meter could have catastrophic impact along the country's 12,000 miles of coastline, where 53 percent of Americans live, according to the group's analysis.
In what is arguably the most important environmental bill in California since last year's Global Warming Solutions Act, SB 375 attempts to reduce global warming by addressing land use and transportation through better regional planning.
"I believe there is pressure on scientists to be conservative. Caveats are essential to science," James Hansen, head of NASA's Goddard Institute, wrote in New Scientist magazine last month. "However, in a case such as ice-sheet instability and sea-level rise, excessive caution also holds dangers...We may rue reticence if it means no action is taken until it is too late to prevent future disasters."
As the U.S. Southwest grapples with historic drought, water supply depletion and the creeping sense that things can only get worse, concerns are rising that long-term climatic shifts may eventually force major regional population shifts across North America. This may be good news, however, for older Rust Belt cities in more temperate climes, like Cleveland, Buffalo and Toronto.
As attitudes towards global warming change in the US, grassroots ventures are pushing both personal and government solutions. Mayor Sam Pierce of Sebastopol, California sees a clear connection: "Our community is very tuned in, very well informed on climate change, and wants to take action. So, as a result, the policy-makers are very aggressive, and find ways to satisfy that demand in the public."