It may seem like a logical conclusion to reach, given the future potential for sea level rise and more frequent and strong storms, but the study considered more than just what the physical impacts might be from a changing climate, said one of its authors, UGA professor J. Marshall Shepherd.
The study was published May 18 in Applied Geography.
Shepherd is an Athletic Association Distinguished Professor in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences at UGA and worked with a former student of his to develop a way to measure climate change vulnerability that considers the social aspects of a community’s ability to adapt to the changes.
“This study blended physical science and data on social vulnerability to provide insight for stakeholders and policymakers,” Shepherd said. “Irrespective of what you believe causation to be, our Georgia cities are becoming more vulnerable to heat and flooding, our coastal areas experience nuisance flooding on rain-free days because of sea level and some of our agricultural regions experience more frequent drought.”
Those things alone can be overcome, but not every community in Georgia has the capacity to do so, he said. That is where the social vulnerability part of the study comes in.
Binita KC, Shepherd’s co-author on the study, said socioeconomic aspects of a community are major factors in a community’s ability to adapt.
“The social vulnerability index comprises socioeconomic indicators, including the elderly population, the infant population, racial/ethnic minorities, average educational attainment and the unemployment rate,” KC said. “The index might say that a community in Coastal Georgia is not socially vulnerable, but it is vulnerable by itself because of its geographic location.
“Overall climate vulnerability is an indicator of all of these components together — social, climatic, geographic.”
Along the coast, Shepherd said there is often a more affluent population that may have the money to take steps socially and economically toward mitigating climate change threats.
Farther inland, things might be different. The research finds that climate vulnerability is highest in some metropolitan Atlanta and coastal counties and in the southwestern region of Georgia and rural parts of inland Georgia.
According to the study, Glynn, Camden and McIntosh counties have not seen an increase in their vulnerability since the 1980s.
That is not the case in parts of Metro Atlanta and parts of Southwest Georgia where dealing with drought and poorer demographics have made the areas more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change over the past four decades.
Shana Jones, planning and environmental services unit program manager for UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government, said her organization has been helping some Georgia communities identify climate change risks and measures that can help mitigate them.
Measures include improving stormwater drainage and keeping flood plains as open and undeveloped as possible.
Those can help with improving an area’s community rating system and flood insurance costs through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Jones said.
A good rating, between 1 and 10 with 1 being the best, means there is lower risk of damage to insurable properties and a more comprehensive approach to floodplain management.
©2015 The Brunswick News (Brunswick, Ga.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
