[GWSG] CA cap & trade; trapped refugees; 3-6" in S FL; slr in NE FL; chances slipping; ASLA LID list; Rubber Dodo award

[Tilley, Al]

1.  California is the first state to adopt a cap and trade program to control greenhouse gas emissions.  The initial goal is to achieve 1990 emissions levels by 2020.  http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cap-trade-20111021,0,1125437.story

2.  As people flee from the effects of climate change, such as sea level rise, they may enter other endangered areas.  A UK report anticipates over 100 million people trapped in flood plains in Africa and Asia by 2060.  http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/20/climate-change-millions-disaster-report

3.  A study by FL Atlantic U finds that 3-6 inches of sea level rise could cause severe water salination and flooding problems in South Florida by 2030.  http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/fl-water-climate-20111020,0,402482.story

4.  Northeast Florida will have a major study of the impact of sea level rise.  From Emily Montgomery of the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve, centered on the coast a few miles north of St. Augustine:  “The University of Florida and Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (GTM NERR) have received a NERRS Science Collaborative Grant to pilot a sea level rise adaptive planning process in the Matanzas Basin. The Matanzas Basin is one of the most valued and threatened coastal areas in Florida, with sixty percent in public ownership for the protection of high-quality natural areas, and only eleven percent developed. The project will be funded $618,377 over the course of three years.
                “The project will deliver a habitat vulnerability assessment for the Matanzas Basin; identify opportunities, obstacles, and tools for protecting coastal to inland ecological connectivity; interpret results through web based map guided technology; and conduct a collaborative planning process with community stakeholders and coastal decision makers. The products, methodologies, and best practices will be carefully designed and evaluated to ensure robustness and transferability to the NERRs System staff, local and state planning and natural resource management agencies, and other coastal areas.”
                The study begins Nov. 15 and will have implications for the region generally.  Thanks to Margo Moehring for the news.

5.  Two studies published in Nature Climate Change suggest that the possibility of keeping warming below 2° C is slipping out of reach.  (Beyond that point we stand to lose the ability to control warming.)  At our current greenhouse gas emissions rate we will pass the danger point between 2040 and 2060.  http://www.watoday.com.au/breaking-news-world/climate-change-mitigation-out-of-reach-20111023-1me87.html

6.  The American Society of Landscape Architects have assembled a data base of 479 projects which avoid discharging storm runoff into waterways.  They find that Low Impact Development lowers development costs by avoiding the standard runoff treatment options.  http://e360.yale.edu/digest/database_highlights_projects_that_convert_runoff_into_public_resources/3172/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29

7.  The Center for Biological Diversity has awarded this year’s Rubber Dodo to the US Chamber of Commerce for actions driving species toward extinction.  http://e360.yale.edu/digest/database_highlights_projects_that_convert_runoff_into_public_resources/3172/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+YaleEnvironment360+%28Yale+Environment+360%29
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