On June 15, 3.3 inches of rain fell within 40 minutes in the Ontario County town of Richmond. The “gully washer,” as Supervisor Ralph Angelo calls it, busted out 22 culverts along town roads, with East Lake Road taking the worst hit.
If that sounds familiar, there’s good reason. On one July day last year, downpours dumped 6 inches of rain on Richmond in three hours, and a section of East Lake Road was entirely washed out. The town subsequently spent $400,000 to repair the damages; the bill equaled the entire town highway budget.
“What we put back, it washed it all out,” Angelo says of this year’s flood.
Richmond and the neighboring town of Canadice, which suffered flood damages from the same June 2015 storm, will receive some state funding to aid in their recovery efforts. State Senator Rich Funke announced last week that Richmond will get $300,000 and Canadice will get $100,000.
But the flood damage, and the cost of related repairs, show the importance of planning for and adapting to climate change. The federal government’s National Climate Assessment says that across the Northeast, heavy downpours are happening more often, and they’re becoming more intense. Between 1958 and 2012, the amount of precipitation attributed to the heaviest 1 percent of storms grew by 71 percent.
That trend is expected to continue, especially if man-made carbon emissions aren’t substantially decreased, and soon.
Richmond officials want to avoid replacing the same culverts every year, so they’re looking ahead. As the town repairs the washed-out conduits – 10 of the 22 culverts washed out in June have already been fixed – it’s making them wider, Angelo says. More water will be able to pass through, and the channels will be less likely to clog with debris.
This article appears in Aug 19-25, 2015.
Great to once again see Mr. Moule connecting the dots between climate change and local issues. However it’s notable that Mr. Moule must quote the National Climate Assessment, not Senator Funke or Supervisor Angelo, to make this link. Neither of these officials will dare to demonstrate leadership in helping the public understand what’s actually happening to us.
This article gets at the heart of Climate Change at the local level. Along with increasing instances of raw sewage overflowing into our rivers and lakes (10 million gallons into the Genesee River on June 2nd), this dramatic increase of heavy rainfall in our region due to Climate Change is but one of the consequences of this worldwide crisis we cannot avoid.
No matter how much we deny Climate Change or dismiss the plight of others because of it, when disasters strike us we have to act. This is the part of Climate Change that many don’t understand, thinking perhaps that this crisis is just something we have to deal with like anything else.
However, if we don’t plan for all the consequences of Climate Change, we and our ability to react to these disasters (to public health, to our infrastructures, to our insurance rates, and much more) will be quickly overwhelmed.
Our leader must not just react to Climate Change; they must plan and educate the public so we as a community are ready for the worst.
More on Climate Change in our area: http://rochesterenvironment.com/weather&cl…
Why not get it over with,…build an ark.
I get a little annoyed with the “sky is falling” regarding the climate change and the change in climate. This “change” has been going on for hundreds of thousands of years. If you think that we have something to do with that,…well you’re giving yourself a bit more credit than you deserve.
When the “sky is falling” personalities (and I mean the rich ones) begin to live the life they propose we should embrace,….I’ll begin the process of believing. Until those individuals, who have amassed millions of dollars for their personal bank account and travel around laving carbon footprints the size of towns,….well, call me. Until then I will live a life by example when it comes to preserving and not wasting all that we have. I will also do my best to influence my “kids” and grandkids to do the same.
There are those who view every announcement of indicators that Climate Change is happenings as merely the rantings of alarmists.
Despite all the research from scientist from all over the world, research that is challenged and reviewed by scientists all over the world, that proves there has been a dramatic increase in warming since the mid-1800’s, those who cannot and will not let go of their climate denial persist.
They persist because Climate Change denial and Climate Silence (where those who understand the science and appreciate the consequences don’t speak up) is still fashionable in our country. (Climate denial isn’t so fashionable around the rest of the world.)
This article (see below) about the very fast Climate Change changes happening to the boreal forests (one of the largest ecosystems on Earth) comes from Canada, where “because of restrictions placed on public servants during the federal election” is the result of courageous scientists still struggling to inform the public about what is happening and why planning for Climate Change is so important.
If we are still so steeped in denial that we won’t recognize clear signals that the worldwide crisis is upon us, what do we tell our grandchildren when they ask why we refused to see the evidence of Climate Change and not do anything about?
Evidence of Climate Change is pouring in from all over the world and the public must choose soon what they are going to believe: evidence of Climate Change, or the scorn from those who haven’t done their homework and continue to sew the dangerous delusion of doubt that will keep the rest of us from acting?
Time passes.
Read: “Boreal forest being driven to tipping point by climate change, study finds”
(August 21, 2015) CBC News http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/boreal-f…
Yup, climate change is a reality. (the sky is indeed falling) So what do you do about it? How do you turn this around? How do you stop the trend? Well first of all every nation needs to be on the same page. This effort cannot be successful with these United States going it alone. So much for turning down the temperature on this planet. If you believe that we could, through dramatic implementation, alter this climate change,…..think again. Not going to happen because you’re not going to get the rest of the world to get on board that train. That is of course if you buy into the crisis.
But my point of why the “big guns”, the hard core “mukety mucks”, appear to be making millions with their “sky is falling” message,…..why? Why do they leave these giant carbon foot prints every where they go to spread thee message? Why don’t they set an example? Why don’t they live the life that they propose? Does their wealth give them the right to walk the planet with outrageous carbon steps?
They sicken me. It’s that pious stand on the issue, that hypocritical attitude that makes my stomach turn. I will continue to do my best to do my part, but I will not become a “donor” to their cause. I will not waste and I pass that on to my kids and grandkids.
Gore is at the top of that list. He obviously doesn’t realize or care about the damage he inflicts to the planet, because he, PERSONALLY, is one of the biggest offenders in his climate change cause. He doesn’t, no absolutely shouldn’t get a pass because he believes himself to be the savior of planet earth.