Recently published scientific studies have verified a gradual shift in the Earth’s climate over the last century. The studies indicate that the warming trends are causing the polar ice caps to melt, sea levels to rise and extreme weather events to occur more frequently, which will become even more common as early as this decade.
Weather extremes affect all sectors of the economy and environment, including human health and well-being. Recent events have shown the impact on the U.S. economy is substantial. Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, for example, may cost more than $125 billion in federal, state and local funds.
Although we can’t stop crippling events from happening, we can pre-emptively mitigate their effects by implementing adaptation measures. The challenge in doing so lies in understanding what hazards may be exacerbated by global warming, identifying which sectors of the population and infrastructure are most vulnerable to these changes and then taking steps to manage these risks. As one county in the National Capital Region found, the most sensible way to do this is to incorporate climate change adaptation concepts into its local hazard mitigation plan.
Frederick County, Md., sought to be at the forefront of the hazard mitigation planning process by including these concepts into its plan update cycle.
“As we reviewed the reports developed for Maryland and the National Capital Region, it became increasingly apparent that climate change should be included in our mitigation plan,” said Seamus Mooney, director of Frederick County's Department of Emergency Preparedness.
The following is an account of how the county, in consultation with professional services firm Dewberry, merged climate change adaptation concepts into its plan by using existing processes and funding mechanisms.
Hazard mitigation planning starts with establishing a community profile, so Dewberry’s climate change and hazard mitigation experts began by researching and compiling data on all sectors of the county including: physiology, hydrology, climate, population, business and labor statistics, government agencies, fiscal capabilities, agriculture, transportation infrastructure and water resources. In addition, we reviewed reports, such as the Maryland Climate Change Commission’s Climate Action Plan and the National Capital Region Climate Change Report to extrapolate county-specific data. Research results gave us knowledge of the county’s potential vulnerabilities that could be exposed by the effects of climate change.
Following the initial research phase, the county engaged in a routine hazard identification exercise in which Dewberry presented historical trends of various hazards and asked the county to rank its overall impact on citizens and infrastructure.
Dewberry concluded that adaptation measures and mitigation strategies must be developed for drought and extreme heat events. Not doing so, as strong evidence suggests, would harm the county’s large agriculture community and devastate the local economy.
“Incorporating climate change in the update of the hazard mitigation plan was the first step in developing an understanding of the long-term evolution of the hazards that could impact Frederick County," Mooney said.
Another conclusion was that the county should develop adaptation measures for its transportation infrastructure and water resources, because as temperatures rise and storm events increase, stormwater runoff can overwhelm local culverts and bridges, making roads impassable. These insights wouldn’t have been gleaned had climate change been omitted from the research and hazard identification phases, and an opportunity to incorporate adaptation measures to avoid future losses would have been missed entirely.
Speranza is an emergency management specialist for Dewberry, a planning, design and management services firm in Fairfax, Va.
