Extreme precipitation trends in New England

Decision-makers require current data and analysis on extreme precipitation events and trends to facilitate effective adaptation. Here, multiple definitions of extreme precipitation (accumulations of one-inch, two-inch and four-inches, ten-, five- and one-yr. recurrence intervals, and the 99th percentile of events) are used to examine changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation events in New England over the past 60-100 years. Correlations of trends in extreme precipitation events with temperature and with indices of atmospheric circulation patterns are also investigated. Predominately positive trends were found for all extreme precipitation definitions. For example, increases of 1 events/decade in one-inch events were found across the region. Spatially, positive trends were strongest in southern and central New England. These findings should contribute to flood management efforts and increase awareness of the impacts of climate change in New England

Sustainable World Syllabus Fall 2013

<p>Syllabus for Sustainable World, Fall 2013</p

A service-based Approach to the Prioritization of Critical Infrastructure Resilience

PDF of presentation that Susan Clark gave at Sandia National Labs on Wednesday, August 9th

Assessing the Integration of Environmental Justice and Sustainability in Practice: A Review of the Literature

The environmental justice (EJ) movement has been a key factor in the United States’ struggle to provide a healthy environment for all to thrive. The origins of the movement date as far back as the 1960’s, led primarily by people of color and low economic status communities living in America’s most polluted environments. More recently, the just sustainability movement calls for the inclusion of EJ considerations, including social justice, equity, and human rights, into sustainability science and initiatives. Whereas previous work has elucidated synergies between both concepts, this paper provides a literature review of studies that apply the concepts of EJ and sustainability in the US to inform ways in which the concepts are merging (or not) for practical applications. The primary objectives of this review are (1) to identify the common themes in which EJ and sustainability are applied, (2) to qualitatively assess the progression of the integration of these important movements in practical applications, and (3) to inform research gaps that exist in this area. In general, we find that despite the increasing conceptual emphasis on the need to integrate these important concepts, the reviewed scholarship reveals that in practice, the integration of EJ and sustainability remains piecemeal

An Integrated Dynamical Modeling Perspective for Infrastructure Resilience

This paper considers a dynamical way to connect resilience outcomes and processes by nesting process-based approaches inside a controlled dynamical system under resource constraints. To illustrate this, we use a dynamical model of electric power generation to show the complementary aspects of outcome, resources, and process-based approaches for analyzing infrastructure resilience. The results of this stylized model show that adaptation is the most influential process and that for monitoring to be efficient it must account for associated costs. Beyond these specific results, we suggest that nesting outcome- and process-based approaches within a dynamical controlled framework can be very useful and complementary for infrastructure managers and designers tasked with effectively allocating resources for enhancing system resilience

A Development-Based Approach to Global Climate Policy

<p>Under current technology constraints, CO2 emissions are a pre-requisite to achievement of high levels of well-being in all countries. However, past a point of diminishing returns, additional CO2 does not improve measures of educational attainment, wealth, or life expectancy. While some climate change mitigation policies advocate a permit-trading scheme that would allow wealthy countries to purchase the right to CO2 emissions from poor countries, this paper questions whether equitable human development outcomes will result.</p