IE 11 Not Supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

Cape Planning Summit Addresses the Future and Climate Change

The Cape just experienced the hottest July on record, which followed the warmest June on record globally and the global temperature has been above average for 414 months, according to NOAA data that goes back to 1881.

(TNS) — With the rare occurrence of tornadoes touching down on Cape Cod still fresh in their minds, hundreds of local and regional planners, elected officials and town employees gathered Monday to discuss a future heavily influenced by climate change and to hear about ways to lessen the impact to the region's environment and economy.

WBZ chief meteorologist Eric Fisher, who was keynote speaker at the sixth annual OneCape Summit at Wequassett Resort and Golf Club, presented the case for global warming: more record heat, shorter winters, a northward trend in occurrence of tornadoes, heavier rains and a more rapid intensification of hurricanes as they approach the East Coast, leaving less time for decision-making.

"We just had the hottest July on record," Fisher said. That followed the warmest June on record globally, and the global temperature has been above average for 414 months straight, Fisher said, citing data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that goes back to 1881. A warmer atmosphere means a warmer ocean.

"Warmer ocean waters add more fuel. A hurricane develops faster and gets stronger faster," Fisher said. "When we get a strong hurricane in New England, a tornado will look like nothing."

With the buffer shrinking as the sea rises and the land sinks, the Cape is more vulnerable than ever to storms like last winter's nor'easters. Nearly a foot of sea rise since 1921 means that even a relatively small storm can breach natural and man-made barriers and cause flooding as occurred in January in Provincetown.

At the state and regional levels, planning and some efforts for coastal resiliency are underway, Cape Cod Commission Executive Director Kristy Senatori said. The commission, which is host of the summit, is updating regional plans for transportation and capital infrastructure, undertaking a regional greenhouse gas emissions inventory to set a baseline for emissions, and has developed a web-based tool, the Cape Cod Coastal Planner, to help educate the public and municipalities on the social and economic impacts of the problems and solutions. It also is working on analyses for siting electric vehicle charging stations and solar power arrays and energy storage facilities.

"It's at the forefront of every discussion we are having," Senatori said of climate change and coastal resiliency.

With 19% of Cape properties in federally designated special flood hazard areas, totaling $29 billion in assessed value, including 15,000 private residences and 30 percent of critical municipal facilities, there is a lot at stake. The two-day summit will look at how to balance the environment and the Cape's economy, given the realities of a changing world.

"As the impacts of climate change increase, there is an increase in emergency management events across the state," said Daniel Sieger, Massachusetts undersecretary of environmental affairs. He told those in attendance that the state has been working hard on the problem, including an executive order in 2016 establishing an integrated approach to climate change that included the requirement that state agencies and municipalities analyze their vulnerabilities and prepare a plan to address them. Sieger said the state is about to name regional coordinators to help towns complete their vulnerability planning.

A $2.4 billion environmental bond bill in 2018 set aside more than $200 million for climate change adaptation planning and projects, and a proposed excise tax on deed transfers also could create a funding source estimated at $137 million a year to address climate change issues, Sieger said.

All Cape towns, most with assistance from the Cape Cod Commission and grants from the state, have completed their initial Municipal Vulnerability Plan application, and all but a couple are into the enactment phase, where they could receive up to $2 million per project.

In reviewing municipal vulnerability assessments, Sieger said towns were worried about both inland and coastal flooding, severe winter storms and extreme temperatures.

Funding is critical. In Wareham, 29 wastewater pumping stations, a little more than half in the town, were found to be in the newly expanded Federal Emergency Management Agency flood zone. Coastal Zone Management grants helped identify vulnerabilities at the three most important pumping stations and perform relatively inexpensive fixes, such as spraying waterproof paint on the exterior, installing waterproof doors and bracing exterior walls to withstand the pressure of floodwaters.

"We needed to prevent loss of service," said Anastasia Rudenko, project engineer for GHD, a Hyannis-based engineering, architecture, environmental and construction services contractor.

— Follow Doug Fraser on Twitter: @dougfrasercct.

———

©2019 Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.

Visit Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass. at www.capecodtimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.