Petition Requesting That The Federal Emergency Management Agency Amend Its Regulations Implementing the National Flood Insurance Program
I. Introduction
Flooding poses a significant threat to life and property and is the most common natural hazard in the United States. Since 1973, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has paid more than $69 billion in flood insurance claims, half of which have occurred in the last 12 years. Further, the risk of flooding is increasing due to climate change impacts, like sea level rise and changing precipitation patterns, and increased development in the nation’s floodplains. As atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise, flood risk will continue to increase, presenting grave challenges to our nation’s cities, towns, and neighborhoods when floods strike.
NASA Science Briefs – The Great Ice Meltdown and Rising Seas: Lessons for Tomorrow
The Great Ice Meltdown and Rising Seas: Lessons for Tomorrow
As accumulating atmospheric greenhouse gases lead to further climate warming, sea level rise will accelerate, endangering coastal communities by more frequent flooding, exacerbated beach erosion, and saltwater penetration into streams and aquifers. Twentieth century global sea level rise has averaged 1.7 mm/yr, increasing to around 3 mm/yr since 1993, as measured by TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason satellite altimetry. Current trends exceed those of the last few millennia by 1 to 2 mm/yr, based on saltmarsh data from many localities.
Meltwater pulses (MWP) during deglaciation – a model for rapid sea level rise
Fake news and disinformation
The Bad News Game
This is a learning tool on how to build effective fake news. The objective is to teach critical thinking about fake news and disinformation.
The Bad News Primer on Dis/Misinformation
The Bad News Game (Click on Play the Game, then click on one of the responses to get started.)
National Security Issues
Drowned Worlds – Doggerland, the Neolithic Bridge between Britain and Europe
During the last glacial maximum, sea level was around 600 feet lower than today. Southeast Britain was connected to Europe by a land bridge called Doggerland, which is derived from the Dogger Banks which the name of the submerged area. Northern and western Britain was covered by an ice sheet at this time. Doggerland provided a habitat for neolithic tribes migrating from the ice sheet. It was covered with forests and wetlands and was likely a prime area for hunting and gathering. About 8,150 years ago, when most of Doggerland had been inundated by the melting of the ice cap, there was a massive tsunami caused by the collapses of parts of the continental shelf off the coast of Norway. The tsunami was estimated to be 25 meters (82 feet) high. It would have devastated British coastal areas and much of the remaining area of Doggerland. There is evidence that some areas of Doggerland, which would have been islands at the time, were high enough to be refuges for the neolithic peoples in the area. These refugees may have been critical in the resettlement of Britain as sea level stabilized and the ice sheet disappeared.
Restoring Environmental and Climate Regulations
Sabin Center Climate Deregulation Tracker
Harvard Regulatory Rollback Tracker
Berkeley website focused on strategies for reversing the nearly 200 federal rollbacks
Floodplain Buyouts – History
Siberian heatwave of 2020 almost impossible without climate change
Prolonged Siberian heat of 2020
A large, rapid multi-method attribution study, supported by observational and large ensemble model analyses, indicates with high confidence that extremely warm periods such as the 6 months of January – June 2020 over the Siberian region would have been at least 2 °C cooler in a world without human influence. Similar events have a best estimate return time in the current climate of around 130 years and are now more than 600 times as likely to occur as they would have been at the beginning of the 20th century; with the best estimate orders of magnitude larger. By 2050 we expect such a regional warm period in the first 6 months of the year to be at least another 0.5 °C warmer, and possibly up to 5 °C warmer, with similar 6-month regional temperatures becoming correspondingly more frequent. Statements regarding the very high June daily maximum temperatures (38 °C) such as were reported at Verkhoyansk can be made only with much lower confidence. Nevertheless, results also indicate a large increase in the likelihood of such temperatures and, with more confidence, an increase in extreme daily maxima of more than 1 °C when comparing the climate of 1900 to the present day.
Army Corps of Engineers, Federal Tort Claims Act, Flood Control Act of 1928, Flood Control Act of 1928, Geoengineering, Hurricane Katrina, Levee Construction, Levees, Levees, Litigation, MRGO, Preemption
Federal Circuit Rejects Court of Claims finding that MRGO Caused a Taking by Flooding
Updated
NOAA – 2019 State of U.S. High Tide Flooding with a 2020 Outlook
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Sea level rise flooding of U.S. coastlines is happening now, and it is becoming more frequent each year. This flooding typically occurs when ocean waters reach 0.5 meter (m) to 0.65 m above the daily average high tide and starts spilling onto streets or bubbling up from storm drains. Evidence of a rapid increase in sea level rise related flooding started to emerge about two decades ago, and it is now very clear. This type of coastal flooding will continue to grow in extent, frequency, and depth as sea levels continue to rise over the coming years and decades.
FloodFactor – Find your home’s Flood Factor – Tool for Determining Present and Future Flood Risk
Flood Factor™
Defining American’s past, present, and future flood risk.
Flood Factor is a free online tool created by the nonprofit First Street Foundation that makes it easy for Americans to finally find their property’s current and future risk of flooding, learn if it has flooded in the past, and understand how flood risks are changing because of the environment.
Flood Factor was created to make the most cutting edge flood science:
Accessible to all
Available at the property level
Easy to understand
SOLVING THE CLIMATE CRISIS: The Congressional Action Plan for a Clean Energy Economy and a Healthy, Resilient, and Just America
Executive Summary
American leadership and ingenuity are central to solving the climate crisis. With the devastating health and economic consequences of climate change growing at home and abroad, the United States must act urgently, guided by science, and in concert with the international community to provide a livable climate for today’s youth and future generations. We must harness the technological innovation of the moonshot, the creativity of our entrepreneurs, the strength of our workers, and the moral force of a nation endeavoring to establish justice for all. Working together, we will avert the worst impacts of the climate emergency and build a stronger, healthier, and fairer America for everyone. The Climate Crisis Action Plan outlined in this report provides a roadmap for Congress to build a prosperous, clean energy economy that values workers, advances environmental justice, and is prepared to meet the challenges of the climate crisis.