Publication Abstracts

Horton et al. 2016

Horton, R.M., C. Rosenzweig, W. Solecki, D.A. Bader, and L. Sohl, 2016: Climate science for decision-making in the New York metropolitan region. In Climate in Context: Science and Society Partnering for Adaptation. A.S. Parris, G.M. Garfin, K. Dow, R. Meyer, and S.L. Close, Eds., John Wiley & Sons, pp. 51-74.

New York City is one of the world's most vulnerable cities to coastal flooding, due to a high concentration of population and assets near a coastline exposed to warm-season tropical storms and cold-season Nor'easter storms. Among U.S. cigties, New York City is second only to New Orleans in population living less than 4 ft above the local high tide. By the 2050s, average annual losses due to coastal flooding alone could exceed $2 billion for the combined New York City-Newark region. Perhaps the most iconic example of a vulnerable New York City asset is the financial district located at the southern tip of Manhattan, however low-lying coastal assets include the full complment of major highways, subways and tunnels, hospitals, schools, wastewater treatment plants, food distribution centers, and people's homes. Given the magnitude of the assets at risk, a compelling case can be made that long-term adaptation makes economic sense for New York City. Given New York's access to economic, human, and technological resources for resilience measures, the City may be able to achieve this resilience. The city's political envirnoment — New York City is a place where climate science is generally not a partisan issue — and the city's experience with uncertainty and overall risk framing (e.g., financing of bond issues for multi-billion dollar infrastructure with multidecade expected lifetimes), encourage climate risk framing.

While New York City's size and economic resources currently make it nearly unique in some respects, it also epitomizes many of the hazards faced by other cities in the Northeast, the United States, and the world. Like many cities, New York City owes its location to the historical need to be situated near rivers and the coast. As teh world's population becomes increasingly urban and increasingly coastal, more and more cities are rivaling and surpassing New York in size and exposure to climate risk.

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BibTeX Citation

@inbook{ho05600n,
  author={Horton, R. M. and Rosenzweig, C. and Solecki, W. and Bader, D. A. and Sohl, L.},
  editor={Parris, A. S. and Garfin, G. M. and Dow, K. and Meyer, R. and Close, S. L.},
  title={Climate science for decision-making in the New York metropolitan region},
  booktitle={Climate in Context: Science and Society Partnering for Adaptation},
  year={2016},
  pages={51--74},
  publisher={John Wiley & Sons},
}

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RIS Citation

TY  - CHAP
ID  - ho05600n
AU  - Horton, R. M.
AU  - Rosenzweig, C.
AU  - Solecki, W.
AU  - Bader, D. A.
AU  - Sohl, L.
ED  - Parris, A. S.
ED  - Garfin, G. M.
ED  - Dow, K.
ED  - Meyer, R.
ED  - Close, S. L.
PY  - 2016
TI  - Climate science for decision-making in the New York metropolitan region
BT  - Climate in Context: Science and Society Partnering for Adaptation
SP  - 51
EP  - 74
PB  - John Wiley & Sons
ER  -

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