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Loizidou XI, L. Orthodoxou D, I. Loizides M, Petsa D, Anzidei M. Adapting to sea level rise: participatory, solution-oriented policy tools in vulnerable Mediterranean areas. Environ Syst Decis 2023:1-19. [PMID: 37363065 PMCID: PMC10234231 DOI: 10.1007/s10669-023-09910-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/25/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023]
Abstract
The coasts of the Mediterranean basin are exposed to the ongoing effects of climate change and anthropogenic pressure. Low elevated coastal plains, river deltas, lagoons and reclamation areas are experiencing beach retreat, coastal erosion and marine flooding. This makes them particularly vulnerable to sea level rise (SLR), which is expected to increase up to 1 m by 2100 AD, according to the projections of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In this study, selected stakeholders from four Mediterranean coastal areas that are highly vulnerable to the impacts of SLR have been engaged through a structured participatory process for the development of solution-oriented, case-specific and site-specific Policy Tools to address SLR. The developed Policy Tools for the Venice Lagoon, the Metaponto reclamation area and the Basento river mouth, in Italy, the Ebro River Delta in Spain, and the coastal plain of Chalastra, near the Axios River Delta, in Greece, contain relevant, effective and implementable actions stemming from stakeholder interaction and consensus building. The interconnected stakeholder engagement steps employed in this study identified relevant issues that should be considered when defining SLR adaptation policies to bridge knowledge and perception gaps, facilitate knowledge exchange and foster social learning through structured science communication on SLR. This participatory stakeholder process can lay the foundations for more extensive participation in public processes through which the resulting Policy Tools can materialise into collectively accepted, concrete actions to help vulnerable areas adapt to the expected SLR and consequent coastal hazards by the end of this century. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10669-023-09910-5.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Demetra Petsa
- Isotech Ltd Environmental Research and Consultancy, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Marco Anzidei
- Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Rome, Italy
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Monsour M, Clarke-Rubright E, Lieberman-Cribbin W, Timmins C, Taioli E, Schwartz RM, Corley SS, Laucis AM, Morey RA. The impact of climate change on the prevalence of mental illness symptoms. J Affect Disord 2022; 300:430-440. [PMID: 34986372 DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.12.124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2021] [Revised: 12/20/2021] [Accepted: 12/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The repercussions of climate change threaten the population with an increased prevalence of extreme climate events. We explored the impact of climate change induced sea level rise (SLR) and tropical cyclone (TC) exposure on mental illness symptom prevalence. METHODS Using three datasets, TC exposure scores were calculated for each subject to determine how exposure affects posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and major depressive disorder (MDD) symptom prevalence. Inundation mapping of various SLR and storm surge (SS) scenarios were performed for the susceptible region of Miami-Dade and Broward counties to determine the population impact of flooding. RESULTS We found an elevated risk of mental illness symptoms from exposure to more high- intensity TCs and identified demographic variables that may contribute to this risk. Furthermore, inundation mapping demonstrated severe and widespread impact of SLR and SS on the mental health of communities. LIMITATIONS This study did not include data directly measuring comorbidity, resilience, preparedness, or ability to adapt to climate change. Also, multiple imputation using chained equations may have been imperfect. Furthermore, there is uncertainty in predicting and mapping SLR and TC intensity, which limits complete confidence in our SS predictions. CONCLUSION The impacts of climate change have been frequently studied in terms of physical health, natural disaster prevalence, and economic impacts, but rarely on mental health burden. However, it is vital that national, state, and local governments develop and deploy plans to address mental health needs along with expenditures for protecting infrastructure, the economy, and physical health from the combined effects of SLR and climate change-induced natural disasters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Molly Monsour
- Neuroscience Department, Duke University, Durham NC USA.
| | | | - Wil Lieberman-Cribbin
- Institute for Translational Epidemiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, NY USA
| | | | - Emanuela Taioli
- Institute for Translational Epidemiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, NY USA
| | - Rebecca M Schwartz
- Department of Occupational Medicine, Epidemiology and Prevention, Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra-Northwell, Great Neck, NY USA
| | - Samantha S Corley
- Department of Occupational Medicine, Epidemiology and Prevention, Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra-Northwell, Great Neck, NY USA
| | - Anna M Laucis
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Michigan Rogel Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Rajendra A Morey
- VA Mid-Atlantic Mental Health Education and Clinical Center, Durham NC USA; Department of Psychiatry, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham NC USA
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Loftis D, Forrest D, Katragadda S, Spencer K, Organski T, Nguyen C, Rhee S. StormSense: A New Integrated Network of IoT Water Level Sensors in the Smart Cities of Hampton Roads, VA. Mar Technol Soc J 2018; 52:10.4031/MTSJ.52.2.7. [PMID: 31092957 PMCID: PMC6512834 DOI: 10.4031/mtsj.52.2.7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Propagation of cost-effective water level sensors powered through the Internet of Things (IoT) has expanded the available offerings of ingestible data streams at the disposal of modern smart cities. StormSense is an IoT-enabled inundation forecasting research initiative and an active participant in the Global City Teams Challenge seeking to enhance flood preparedness in the smart cities of Hampton Roads, VA for flooding resulting from storm surge, rain, and tides. In this study, we present the results of the new StormSense water level sensors to help establish the "regional resilience monitoring network" noted as a key recommendation from the Intergovernmental Pilot Project. To accomplish this, the Commonwealth Center for Recurrent Flooding Resiliency's Tidewatch tidal forecast system is being used as a starting point to integrate the extant (NOAA) and new (USGS and StormSense) water level sensors throughout the region, and demonstrate replicability of the solution across the cities of Newport News, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach within Hampton Roads, VA. StormSense's network employs a mix of ultrasonic and radar remote sensing technologies to record water levels during 2017 Hurricanes Jose and Maria. These data were used to validate the inundation predictions of a street-level hydrodynamic model (5-m resolution), while the water levels from the sensors and the model were concomitantly validated by a temporary water level sensor deployed by the USGS in the Hague, and crowd-sourced GPS maximum flooding extent observations from the Sea Level Rise app, developed in Norfolk, VA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Derek Loftis
- Center for Coastal Resources Management, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, 1208 Greate Road, Gloucester Point, VA 23062, U.S.A
| | - David Forrest
- Department of Physical Sciences, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, 1208 Greate Road, Gloucester Point, VA 23062, U.S.A
| | - Sridhar Katragadda
- City of Virginia Beach, Department of Communications and Information Technology, 2405 Courthouse Dr., Virginia Beach, VA 23456 U.S.A
| | - Kyle Spencer
- City of Norfolk, Department of Communications and Technology, 3661 E. Virginia Beach Blvd., Norfolk, VA 23502, U.S.A
| | - Tammie Organski
- City of Newport News, Department of Information Technology, 2400 Washington Ave., Newport News, VA 23607, U.S.A
| | - Cuong Nguyen
- Smart Grid and Cyber-Physical Systems Program Office, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Dr., Gaithersburg, MD 20899, U.S.A
| | - Sokwoo Rhee
- Smart Grid and Cyber-Physical Systems Program Office, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Dr., Gaithersburg, MD 20899, U.S.A
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Hudson SW. Insights in Public Health: Climate Change: A Public Health Challenge and Opportunity for Hawai'i. Hawaii J Med Public Health 2016; 75:245-250. [PMID: 27563502 PMCID: PMC4982331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Samantha W Hudson
- Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, 2016; New Haven, CT
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Burger J, Gochfeld M, Pittfield T, Jeitner C. Perceptions of Climate Change, Sea Level Rise, and Possible Consequences Relate Mainly to Self-Valuation of Science Knowledge. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2016; 8:250-262. [PMID: 29051798 PMCID: PMC5644352 DOI: 10.4236/epe.2016.85024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
This study examines perceptions of climate change and sea level rise in New Jersey residents in 2012 and 2014. Different surveys have shown declines in interest and concern about climate change and sea level rise. Climate change and increasing temperatures have an anthropogenic cause, which relates to energy use, making it important to examine whether people believe that it is occurring. In late 2012 New Jersey experienced Super storm Sandy, one of the worst hurricanes in its history, followed by public discussion and media coverage of stronger more frequent storms due to climate change. Using structured interviews, we tested the null hypotheses that there were no differences in perceptions of 1260 interviewees as a function of year of the survey, age, gender, years of education, and self-evaluation of science knowledge (on a scale of 1 to 5). In 2012 460 of 639 (72%) rated "global warming occurring" as "certain" (#4) or "very certain" (#5) compared with 453 of 621 (73%) in 2014. For "due to human activities" the numbers of "certain" or "very certain" were 71% in 2012, and 67% in 2014 and for sea level rise the numbers were 64% and 70%. There were some inconsistent between-year differences with higher ratings in 2012 for 3 outcomes and higher ratings in 2014 for 5 outcomes. However, for 25 questions relative to climate change, sea level rise, and the personal and ecological effects of sea level rise, self-evaluation of science knowledge, independent of years of education, was the factor that entered 23 of the models, accounting for the most variability in ratings. People who believed they had a "high knowledge" (#4) or "very high knowledge" (#5) of science rated all issues as more important than did those people who rated their own scientific knowledge as average or below average.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Burger
- Division of Life Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA.,Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA.,Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - Michael Gochfeld
- Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA.,Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA.,Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
| | - Taryn Pittfield
- Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA.,Ecology and Evolution Graduate Program, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
| | - Christian Jeitner
- Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, USA
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Abstract
Many have voiced concern about the long-term survival of coastal communities in the face of increasingly intense storms and sea level rise. In this study we select indicators of key theoretical concepts from the social-ecological resilience literature, aggregate those indicators into a resilience-capacity index, and calculate an index score for each of the 52 coastal counties of Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Building upon Cutter's Social Vulnerability Index work [1], we use Factor Analysis to combine 43 variables measuring demographics, social capital, economic resources, local government actions, and environmental conditions within the counties. Then, we map the counties' scores to show the spatial distribution of resilience capacities. The counties identified as having the highest resilience capacities include the suburban areas near New Orleans, Louisiana and Tampa, Florida, and the growing beach-tourist communities of Alabama and central Florida. Also, we examine whether those counties more active in oil and gas development and production, part of the region's "energy coast", have greater capacity for resilience than other counties in the region. Correlation analyses between the resilience-capacity index scores and two measures of oil and gas industry activity (total employment and number of business establishments within five industry categories) yielded no statistically significant associations. By aggregating a range of important contextual variables into a single index, the study demonstrates a useful approach for the more systematic examination and comparison of exposure, vulnerability and capacity for resilience among coastal communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margaret A Reams
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA
| | - Nina S N Lam
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA
| | - Ariele Baker
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA
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