Flooding and Heat Due to Climate Change
The Board of Alders City Services and Environmental Policy Committee held a workshop last month on how flooding and heat due to climate change will impact our community and what we can do to prepare. You can read more about the workshop here https://www.newhavenindependent.org/article/how_climate_change_will_affect_your_neighborhood and view presentations from Dr. Rebecca French of CT DEEP here, John Truscinski of CIRCA here, and Dr. Mark Mitchell from the CT Coalition for Environmental Justice here. Fair Haven will bear the brunt of these impacts, which by 2050 are projected to include sea level rise up to 20 inches, air warming up to 5 degrees fahrenheit, and increases in average annual and extreme precipitation. What we experience today as a 1% annual chance or “100-year storm” surge will begin to occur much more frequently, rising to a 20% annual chance or “5-year storm.” CIRCA is planning a comprehensive “Resilient Fair Haven” project to include analysis of existing and future conditions, adaptation options, and concept design. Options to be explored include road elevations for dry egress, flood protection systems, flood protection and accommodation strategies for critical community lifelines, green infrastructure for stormwater management, increased tree canopy, reduced impervious cover for heat and flood mitigation, building retrofits for heat mitigation, and community resilience hubs. More to come on how our community can participate in this critical process.
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