Author Archives: Daniel Brown

About Daniel Brown

Daniel is Mass Audubon's Climate Change Program Coordinator. He has worked as a climatologist with states, local leaders, and educators across the country.

Yes, There Are More Storms. Here’s Why

Posted on July 13, 2017 by Daniel Brown

Eastern Massachusetts has been getting a serious dose of rain.

© Alison Borrelli

On July 12, Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, recorded about an inch of rain in a mere 7 minutes, and 2.44″ in 35 minutes. The average total precipitation for July is usually around 2.5 inches.

For Bedford, the 200-year storm is 2.33 inches in 30 minutes. (A 200-year storm is a storm so big it only has a 0.5% chance of occurring in a given year.) But, we may see more of them in the future.

Very heavy precipitation events like this are becoming more severe and more frequent, especially in the Northeast. From 1958 through 2012, the amount of precipitation falling in the heaviest 1% of precipitation events increased by 71% in the Northeast.

It may be counter intuitive, but as our climate becomes warmer, we face a greater risk from stronger storms. With more heat, we have more evaporation and more energy to carry the moisture aloft where it can power big thunderstorms.

So, it’s not our imagination.

We are seeing more heavy downpours than in the past, and that trend is likely to continue into the future. That could have serious implications for how we prepare for storms.

The infrastructure we have in place to deal with all that stormwater is based on the general idea that the sizes of storms we see over time doesn’t change. Climate change has blown up that idea.

We may see 200-year storms roll around every 50 years or so, and our infrastructure will need to handle multiple storms larger than it’s currently designed to manage. But simply replacing infrastructure with newer versions designed for larger storms may also become obsolete in the future as the climate continues to change.

We need to prepare for things to keep changing. We need to be dynamic and adaptable.

That’s a difficult challenge to solve, but one the best ways to make the landscape as resilient and flexible as possible is to preserve open space and let nature take care of itself. Low-impact Development (LID) is one green infrastructure approach to do just do that.

Green infrastructure can also help deal with droughts like the one we went through last year. Natural spaces not only soak up excess water, but also allow water to makes its way back into the ground. That keeps streams and waterways in a healthy balance for both habitat and drinking water supplies.

Encourage your own community to follow LID practices and prepare for a constantly changing future. Learn more >

Unexpected Optimism on the Paris Agreement

Posted on July 6, 2017 by Daniel Brown

Many that work on climate change issues, including myself, are finding themselves bizarrely optimistic after President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement. Just to be clear, it’s a terrible decision. There’s no practical benefit. It will cost the U.S. jobs in the renewable energy sector, and it sends a horrible message to the world that the U.S. doesn’t care about responsibly managing our planet for future generations.

But that being said, the overwhelming, unified backlash has been incredibly encouraging. Representatives from both major political parties, including Governor Baker, have voiced support for the Paris Agreement, and every commercial sector you can think of, from oil companies to investment banks to coffee shops, is opting to follow the accord of their own initiative.

By getting out, we may have gotten farther in

The very day that Trump made his announcement, 12 states and Puerto Rico began joining the United States Climate Alliance, a group of states and territories vowing to uphold the Paris Agreement. Proudly, Massachusetts became a member of the Alliance after Governor Baker saw an undeniable surge of public interest. (Thanks to all who called his office!) Ten additional states and D.C. have pledged follow the Paris Agreement without formally joining the Alliance, and more than 300 U.S. cities representing more than 61 million Americans will honor the accord.

In parallel, the “We Are Still In” (#WeAreStillin) coalition of government officials, mayors, investors, universities, represents 120 million Americans and $6.2 trillion of the U.S. economy, all pledging to follow the agreement.

In some critical ways, this local, state, and public phalanx of support for the Paris Agreement is a far stronger, bolder step toward progress than what any U.S. President could recommend. We are witnessing an inspiring movement of local and state officials taking ownership of their own jurisdictions’ carbon emissions. These are people that have real agency to reduce emissions expeditiously for an enormous percentage of the U.S. population, and they have actively decided to make a difference. They’ll protect the planet of their own will, rather than let a president tell them to.

What’s more, people from all walks of life are discussing what we should do about climate change and why reducing emissions is so important to limit future warming. The science is clear and more people are now paying attention to the consequences of burning fossil fuels.

It’s up to us now

It is often said that climate change is a global problem with local solutions. That’s true, and President Trump’s move to surrender U.S. leadership has put the rest of us in the driver’s seat. We have the power to reduce our carbon emissions as individuals, as communities, as states, and as people on one planet. It’s up to us now. It’s more important than ever to protect nature for people and wildlife in face of climate change.

What we can do

There a few things we can do as individuals and active citizens that really make a difference and honor the spirit of the Paris Agreement.

As individuals, we can Make the Switch and choose to get our electricity from renewable sources.

As citizens we can tell our community leaders to get energy from sustainable sources at the municipal scale. The town of Arlington recently became a leader as other towns can, by taking advantage of Community Choice Aggregation (CCA). Essentially, CCA is a way for communities to source their own energy and lower electric bills at the same time.

There are many options for keeping carbon out of the atmosphere and keeping the places we live healthy. Talk to your own community leaders and see how you can help make your community a green community!