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Pittsburgh Seemed Like a Virus Success Story. Now Cases Are Surging.

PITTSBURGH — A little more than three weeks ago, officials in Pittsburgh announced a milestone enviable for almost any major city in America: A day had gone by without a single new confirmed case of the coronavirus. It was good news for a city that had seen only a modest outbreak all along, even as the virus raged through places like Philadelphia and New York.

That was then.

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One Concern Uses AI to Streamline Disaster Relief Efforts

           

Image: One Concern

fastcompany.com - by Katharine Schwab - November 15, 2018

 . . . One Concern is launching a machine learning platform that provides cities with specialized maps to help emergency crews decide where to focus their efforts in a flood. The maps update in real-time based on data about where water is flowing to estimate where people need help the most. It’s the latest in a wave of AI-powered tools aimed at helping cities prepare for an era of severe, and increasingly frequent, disasters.

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Our platform provides unprecedented situational awareness and actionable insights for decision-makers.

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Climate Change Has Intensified Hurricane Rainfall, and Now We Know How Much

           

Houston residents Larry Koser Jr. and his son Matthew salvage possessions from their home after Hurricane Harvey. Photo by Erich Schlegel/Getty Images

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Anthropogenic influences on major tropical cyclone events

pbs.org - by Julia Griffin - November 14, 2018

Hurricane Harvey swamped Houston with seven days of pounding rain last August. When scientists went back to look at historical weather patterns, they reported Harvey dumped 20 percent more rain than it typically would have. The culprit: climate change.

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FEMA chief: 'Millions' could be without power from Irma

cnn.com - Miranda Green and Rene Marsh - September 9th 2017

As Hurricane Irma bears down on Florida's southern coast, the nation's emergency management chief is warning that 'millions' of residents could be without power, in some instances for weeks.

"We could see millions of people without power in Florida for multiple days in some areas, maybe weeks, and so I think it's very important to set the expectations of citizens," Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Brock Long told CNN's Rene Marsh at his agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C., Saturday. "This is why we ask and plead with people to be ready for multiple days, and unfortunately this is coming into reality,"

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Higher Seas to Flood Dozens of US Cities, Study Says; Is Yours One of Them?

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Union of Concerned Scientists - When Rising Seas Hit Home: Hard Choices Ahead for Hundreds of US Coastal Communities (2017)

cnn.com - by Jennifer Gray - July 12, 2017

For the past several years, scientists have been trying to get people to wake up to the dangers that lie ahead in rising seas due to climate change. A comprehensive list now names hundreds of US cities, large and small, that may not make it through the next 20, 50 or 80 years due to sea level rise . . .

 . . . If you live along the coast, your city could be one of them -- meaning you could be part of the last generation to call it home.

"This research hones in on exactly how sea level rise is hitting us first. The number of people experiencing chronic floods will grow much more quickly than sea level itself," Benjamin Strauss, Vice President for Sea Level and Climate Impacts at Climate Central said in reaction to this study.

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Atlantic City and Miami Beach: two takes on tackling the rising waters

Note: Average seasonal cycle removed from monthly mean sea level Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | Graphic: Jan Diehm/The Guardian

IMAGE: Note: Average seasonal cycle removed from monthly mean sea level Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | Graphic: Jan Diehm/The Guardian

theguardian.com - March 20th 2017 - Oliver Milman

The Irish Pub near Atlantic City’s famed boardwalk doesn’t have any locks on the doors as it is open 24 hours a day. So when Hurricane Sandy crunched into what was once known as the Las Vegas of the east coast in 2012, some improvisation was needed.

Regular drinkers helped slot a cork board through the frame of the door, wedging it shut and keeping out the surging seawater.

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Why we should care about the United Nations’ COP21


From Nov. 30 — Dec. 11, delegates from 194 countries throughout the world will convene in France for the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This conference on climate change is expected to culminate with a new international agreement to mitigate climate change. FIU Law Senior Scholar Ryan Stoa and Journalism and Broadcasting Professor Juliet Pinto will be in attendance at the conference. In this op-ed, Tiffany Troxler, director of the FIU Sea Level Solutions Center, explains the importance of the international gathering.

Tiffany Troxler, director of the FIU Sea Level Solutions Center

Tiffany Troxler, director of the FIU Sea Level Solutions Center

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People's Climate March - South Florida - Downtown Miami

Date: 
Wednesday, October 14, 2015 - 05:00 to 08:00

Location

United States
31° 43' 41.4012" N, 148° 32' 6.5616" W

Business Facilities: 2015 State Rankings Report

Posted by:  Albert Gomez

By Business Facilities Staff
from the July/August 2015 Issue annual-rankings-report

We’ve revamped our Metro and Global rankings this year to include some new technology oriented benchmarks. The new Metro category entries include Advanced Manufacturing (Specialization), Tech Jobs Leaders, Fastest Broadband and STEM Leaders. Our Global Rankings this year also include a new ranking for Leading ICT Hubs (European Cities).

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Flood and Drought Risk to Cities on Rise Even with No Climate Change

sciencedaily.com - March 5, 2015

Source:  Texas A&M University

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Changing global patterns of urban exposure to flood and drought hazards

Summary:  A heads-up to New York, Baltimore, Houston and Miami: a new study suggests that these metropolitan areas and others will increase their exposure to floods even in the absence of climate change.  Their work is published in Global Environmental Change. . . .

. . . "Through land change, bank protection, channelization, and other means, urbanization can also alter the geomorphology of river channels and floodplains, which in turn may contribute to increased risk of flooding."

"Our findings suggest that future urban expansion in flood and drought prone zones will at least be as important as population growth and economic development in increasing their exposure," the researchers add.

"With climatic changes, this exposure is only expected to increase in the future. Thus, proper planning and financing in fast growing cities today will be critical in mitigating future losses due to floods and droughts."

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