This graph was created using the Urban Adaptation // Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative city matrix feature. Reading the city matrix: the top left quadrant represents high risk and low readiness, the top right is high risk and high readiness, the bottom left is low risk and low readiness, and the bottom right is low risk and high readiness. The study examines risk and readiness indicators for flooding, extreme heat, extreme cold, sea level rise, and severe drought events. Risk is determined by a city’s overall vulnerability to climate change, whereas readiness is determined by a city’s preparedness for adverse climate events. The ND-GAIN Urban Adaptation Assessment is a program that emcompasses data from 270 cities within the United States and allows the user to explore the connections between a city’s vulnerabilities, adaptive capacities, and distributed effects of climate change.Ĭity assessments are guided by two factors: risk and readiness. Using public data provided by the Notre Dame Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), we’ll explore the six cities in Texas most prepared to face future climate challenges-as well as three cities currently lacking a plan. The Miami Neighborhoods That Sit Highest Above Sea Level.10 Cities That Could Grow as Climate Change Worsens.In spite of this, there are a growing number of cities in Texas putting in the work to address vulnerabilities and prepare their communities for climate change. to the effects of climate change, and yet-despite the state’s numerous encounters with natural disaster-remains largely unprepared. Scientists warn that these extreme weather events are in line with climate change projections-rapidly shifting temperatures and rates of precipitation are expected to increase the variability and impact of hazardous storms. In case anyone was on the fence about the severity of what we as a society face, the UN’s IPCC report is a major wake up call.ĭue to its unique geography, Texas is one of the most vulnerable states in the U.S. In 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Southern Texas and decimated the Houston metropolitan area. Nearly a decade ago, Texas suffered a crippling four year drought which led to wide-spread soil erosion and nearly toppled the state’s acclaimed cattle industry. The unprecedented freezing temperatures would leave 4 million residents without power, cost an estimated $155 billion in damage, and claim the lives of at least 210 people.Īlthough this record-breaking storm caught public officials off guard, the Lone Star State is not unfamiliar with extreme weather. In the winter of 2021, extreme weather caused by the polar vortex brought rolling power outages and water shortages to Texas, America’s second most populous state.
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