Towns Like New Milford Urgently Need to Prepare for More Flooding

While most associate the inundation forecast for our warming world with encroaching seas, what's equally concerning are the kinds of floods climate change could bring to cities and towns inland.

Of all the regions of the United States, the Northeast is the fastest warming in the lower 48 states. It's also vulnerable to many types of extreme weather events, events made only more intense and likely to occur by global warming.

In an August 2016 report on climate change in Connecticut, issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, it is noted that "Throughout the northeastern United States, spring is arriving earlier and bringing more precipitation, heavy rainstorms are more frequent... and severe storms increasingly
cause floods that damage property and infrastructure."

"During the next century," the report goes on, "average annual precipitation and the frequency of heavy downpours are likely to keep rising" in Connecticut. The report notes that, while average precipitation is unlikely to change significantly during the state's summer and fall seasons, winter and spring precipitation is quite likely to increase as the climate warms.

Some changes have already occurred: The report notes that "precipitation from extremely heavy storms... increased 70 percent" between 1958 and 2016, and that, "Average annual precipitation in the Northeast increased 10 percent from 1895 to 2011."

But the EPA is not the only organization concerned about the effects of climate change on Connecticut.

The Connecticut Institute for Resilience & Climate Adaptation (CIRCA), based out of the University of Connecticut, notes that "as the climate continues to change and heavy rainfall events continue, it is expected that riverine flooding will also become more frequent." CIRCA's website also notes that "research... indicates that riverine and coastal flooding events are occurring simultaneously much more frequently than they were half a century ago, contributing to a compound impact of coastal communities with rivers."

This warning obviously implies trouble for towns like New Milford and Danbury, which border the Housatonic River.

Additionally, States at Risk, a website maintained by nonprofit news organization Climate Central which tracks the effects of climate change in the U.S. on a state-by-state basis, explains that, in Connecticut, there are more than 130,000 people living in areas at risk of inland flooding. It also maintains that the heaviest downpours in Connecticut have increased in frequency and intensity since 1950, more extreme runoff is to come, and that Connecticut is one of the states most at risk from inland flooding.

However, increased flooding is not the only effect climate change will have on Connecticut and its towns.

"Climate change may also pose challenges for agriculture: Warmer temperatures cause cows to eat less and produce less milk," the EPA's 2016 report notes. "That could reduce the output of Connecticut’s $70-million

dairy industry, which provides 13 percent of the state’s farm revenue."

Climate change is a clear and present danger to the people of Connecticut. It is therefore urgent that we act to both adapt to and mitigate global warming.

[Photo credit: Pixabay.]