How will rising sea levels impact coastal Virginia? 🌊
@drjesswhitehead.bsky.social of the Institute for Coastal Adaptation & Resilience elaborates on findings from the First Virginia Climate Assessment in this interview with WAVY News in Norfolk.
www.wavy.com/news/local-n...
We're losing on resilience: building back to higher standards costs $ and takes longer. Politicians are reaping ROI now on saying they did it fast & cheap assuming they'll be long gone before the next storm's bad news coverage of how much federal & state tax $$$ wasted on places that flooded again.
In 2017, I and all members of the Sustained National Climate Assessment Federal Advisory Committee were dismissed when the committee was allowed to sunset after 1 of 2 planned terms.
Today I and all the #NCA6 authors were released from the #NationalClimateAssessment. Not unexpected but still hurts.
Our new paper is out and named after your favorite Bananarama (Taylor Swift) song!
Tl;dr: ERA5-Land shows humid heat has gotten more intense, frequent, and longer in the Southeast US (even in Fall!), especially at night, and in the Florida Peninsula and Louisiana.
Also, blame dewpoint.
The outlines of a White House plan to produce a government science report that highlights the "benefits" of climate change is coming together. The intent is to expand presidential power, target regulations and fight litigation filed against fossil fuel companies. www.eenews.net/articles/tru...
Calling our round 1 total 10" as of 9:15am 2/20. Still have about 9" sitting on the brick patio but that reflects some ice melt we put down on the walkway before we started accumulating. #vawx
How long does it take to rebuild housing after a wildfire? We analyzed property-level data from four recent disasters to illustrate the speed at which communities rebuild (and some of the reasons why):
with @sara-mctarnaghan.bsky.social, @aleszu.bsky.social and Kameron Lloyd.
shorturl.at/Iyvky
9:15 pm: 8" Norfolk, VA. Didn't put out a snow board but took 3 measurements to average on elevated lawn furniture. #vawx
SCOOP @bloomberg.com: Top officials at the US Department of Homeland Security received a memo from Sec. Kristi Noem on Friday ordering an immediate stop to work connected to climate change and the elimination of climate-related terms across the agency.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
NEW: @noaa.gov offices have been asked to search their grants for climate-related keywords, among other executive order-related terms. This could put climate grant-funding in the crosshairs if/once the judicial order holding the funding freeze back is lifted. www.axios.com/2025/02/09/n...
Nicotine Dolls! Just saw them live for the first time last week. Incredible. Perfect cold rainy day listen too.
A large black and white tuxedo cat lounges on a chair in a sunbeam.
I wasn't sure about posting this amidst the dumpster 🔥, but I'm missing the days when you could do fun things with public info on social media and have it be effective. And of course missing Sully. Here he was on his last day - it was a relatively good one and we absolutely spoiled him.
A black and white tuxedo kitten plays among items from an emergency kit: pet food, bottled water, NOAA Weather Radio, canned goods, flashlight, and candles. Find out what to put in your kit at ready.gov/kit.
A coda for those of y'all who knew me from my account Over There: if any of you remember Sully, our #WeatherReadyCat from my Sea Grant days, I'm sorry to say we lost him three weeks ago today to cancer. He was only 8 - wait, that was 8 years ago? - and we miss him. Hug your fur babies!
This isn't just a beach house rental property problem. Helene was latest example that lots of folks nationwide live in floodplains for lots of reasons. Historically water was transportation. Floodplain land is cheaper so it's more affordable. Land use & precip changes mean changing floodplains.
Also drawing attention to proposed NFIP subsidy elimination. All flood insurance bills immediately increase to actuarial rates. Homeowners w/ mortgages inside the 100yr floodplain will have to absorb cost immediately (rather than path Risk Rating 2.0 provided) or go on the market.
Wait we do fun things on social media again here?
Show me your pet and what they were named for
#caturday
I wonder how this avoids challenges of SoVI & other vulnerability indices that aggregation to Metro area or even census block washes out A LOT. Resilience for whom, to what, is SO important. If your kids walk to school through tidal flooding in a food desert, Norfolk doesn't feel that resilient.
Things continue to be complicated, though, for the many, many people in the region who rely on wells that were contaminated during the storm www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Asheville, a city of 95,000 people, has been without drinkable water for 53 days after getting hit by a hurricane. It's finally back wlos.com/news/local/b...
I'm doing ok and hope you are too! Running a research institute is different for sure.
You and me both. I'd basically quit all but personal social media because it was too much to sort through for limited benefits reaching partners and end users. Still feel like I need a goal here to justify the time on it.
This is one of my favorite #NCA5 resources. It's a great tool if your local gov't, agency, or org is exploring the basics of what climate stressors you're facing and how to do more. For some adaptation purposes that's enough, for others it helps point you towards what additional analysis you need.
Well, I'm here. This is going to take me a minute to figure this thing out. Guess it's my fault for joining the exodus when all the grant applications were also due?
Jess's tablet balanced on a suitcase at an airport gate
1 year ago today I was in DC for the release of #NCA5. Somehow that experience didn't keep me from signing up for #NCA6... Continuing my record of managing to make meetings in odd places - this time the gate at BDL. Happy to be an co-author on the Coasts chapter!
*taps mic* is this thing on?
*squelch*
Climate change is still real.
*sits back to see if negativity descends like a mound of swarming fire ants*
