How will global warming-induced climate disruption affect your hometown?

Analyses of worldwide effects aren't terribly hard to come by, but analyses that look at the results of increased temperatures, rising sea levels, and more energetic storms in particular locations are actually few and far between. The first one of any detail I've found is one coordinated by the Center for International Earth Science Information Network at Columbia University -- the Climate Change Information Resource for the New York Metropolitan Region, or CCIR-NYC. (If any of you have found similar sites for other locations, please post links in the comments.)

The CCIR-NYC covers pretty much what you'd hope it might: an overview of climate change; how to adapt to a changing environment; strategies for mitigating climate disruption; and, of course, regional impacts. Each of these sections go into greater detail, but since the last is the unique aspect of the CCIR-NYC site, it's worth looking at in particular.

The Regional Impacts category is split into five sections: projected changes; major consequences; coastal impacts; transportation effects; and economic impacts. Each section is filled with charts and graphs, laying out the sobering details about what the New York metropolitan region can expect to face over the next century. Special attention is paid to the effects of flooding, unsurprising given the rising sea level projections (potentially over 11 inches by 2020). Storms -- so-called "Nor'easters" and hurricanes -- are anticipated to become more common, with corresponding damage to beaches, coastal wetlands, and fresh water supplies.

The CCIR-NYC site includes a moderately extensive bibliography and link list, as well as a mailing list for people wishing to "discuss items related to climate change and variability impacts on urban environments" (yes, I've signed up). The one downside of the site is that it appears to be updated only sporadically; the last update was in late March, reflected by the "Upcoming Events" page listing (what sound to have been quite interesting) meetings in April...

Good post, and I believe we will be seeing more such profiles of local impact because the resolution of climate models at the regional level is improving fast.

One effort that may be of interest is in Oregon, where a group at Oregon State University convened a gathering of scientists last year to issue a "Scientists' Consensus Statement on the Likely Impacts of Climate Change in the Pacific Northwest." More about their gathering, and a PDF of their statement, resides at:

http://inr.oregonstate.edu/climate-change.html

Their findings are not yet widely known beyond academic and activist circles in the Northwest, but they offer some solid new handles for just plain folks. More, please!

Posted by: Ted Wolf on May 20, 2005 3:21 PM

Here's another report: an assessment of climate-change effects on New England, done by researchers at the University of New Hampshire:

http://www.necci.sr.unh.edu/

Posted by: David Foley on May 21, 2005 6:49 AM

Heat and the Heartbeat of the City by Andrea Polli
http://turbulence.org/Works/heat/index.html

According to the Metropolitan East Coast Assessment, average temperatures in New York could increase by one to four degrees fahrenheit by 2030, and up to ten degrees by 2100. Heat and the Heartbeat of the City is a series of sonifications that illustrate the dramatic impact these changes will have on Central Park, the heart of New York City and one of the first climate monitoring locations. As you listen to the compositions, you will travel forward in time at an accelerated pace and experience an intensification of heat in sound.

Posted by: Jo on May 21, 2005 7:50 AM

I just posted on New York City's considerable influence on global warming a few days ago:

http://complexcities.blogspot.com/2005/05/can-cities-affect-global-warming-and.html

Posted by: David Hsu on May 21, 2005 8:20 AM