1. William Solecki City University of New York – Hunter College
Climate Change, Extreme Events, and Hurricane Sandy: From Non-Stationary Climate to Non-Stationary Policy
William Solecki
City University of New York – Hunter College

2. Hurricane Sandy, 28 October 2012
Source: NOAA

4. 2013

5. Source: PlaNYC 2013

6. NYC Panel on climate change

7. Storm Surge – Now and Future

8. Source: PlaNYC 2013

9. Source: PlaNYC 2013

10. Source: PlaNYC 2013

11. Source: PlaNYC 2013

12.  Source: New York City Panel on Climate Change (2014)

13. New York City Climate Adaptation Process
Mayor or City Official
High-Level
Buy-In
Critical Infrastructure
Coordinating Role
City-wide Sustainability Office
Stakeholders
City Agencies
Regional Authorities
Private Corporations
Expert Knowledge Providers
University scholars and private sector experts
Social, biological, and physical scientists
Legal and insurance experts
Risk management professionals E
Stakeholder Task Force T
Expert Panel P W C
Climate Risk Information
Adaptation Assessment Guidelines
Climate Protection Levels
Integration across Sector-specific Working Groups
Energy (E) Transportation (T)
Policy (P) -Water & Waste (WW)
- Communications (C)
Source: NPCC, 2010

14. PlaNYC 2013 – Released 11 June 2013

15. NYC Special Initiative for Rebuilding and Resiliency
Addresses how to rebuild New York City to be more resilient in the wake of Sandy but with a long‐term focus on:
1) how to rebuild locally; and
2) how to improve citywide infrastructure and building resilience
A comprehensive report in June 2013 addresses these challenges by investigating three key questions:
What happened during and after Sandy and why?
What is the likely risk to NYC as the climate changes and the threat of future storms and severe weather increases?
What to do in the coastal neighborhoods and citywide infrastructure

16. Freeboard
 “Freeboard” is the practice of elevating a building’s lowest floor above the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) by a small additional height, typically 1 to 2 feet above FEMA minimum height requirements, depending on building type (2 feet for single and two- family residences and 1 foot for most other buildings). The benefits of freeboard include an additional margin of safety to protect against more severe storms and increased future flood risks from rising sea levels. Additionally, FEMA recognizes that freeboard significantly reduces flood risk and provides substantial reductions in flood insurance premiums.
Freeboard

17. Disaster Response and How Might Hurricane Sandy Points to Wider Transitions and Transformations
After a disaster, response typically is focused on addressing failures and cost-benefit calculations in the context of future risk probability
Hurricane Sandy response also is often discussed in the context of climate change
Movement from disaster recovery to disaster rebuilding and resilience
Change in conceptualization of extreme events
From discrete acute events to events as part of a chronic process
Looking into future dynamics as much as the present and past
The question is being asked whether climate change impacts will be like other urban environment-related crises

18. Final Considerations Tying policy directly to changing climate science
Extreme Rain Event – Long Island NY August 2014
Tying policy directly to changing climate science
Building flexible adaption directly into the legal and regulatory framework
Opportunities for transformation – extreme events
Solution space – policy, regulation, and codes; translation into the realm of engineering and equity…next steps
Intense rainfall – panhandle Florida April 2014

19. Thank You Recent References
Solecki, W. and Rosenzweig, C. (2014). Climate change, extreme events, and Hurricane Sandy: From Non-Stationary Climate to Non-Stationary Policy. Journal of Extreme Events. 1(1): 5-25.
Rosenzweig, C. & Solecki, W. (2014). Hurricane Sandy and adaptation pathways in New York: Lessons from a first-responder city. Global Environmental Change 28: