Stevens Institute of Technology
A collaboration of more than a dozen organizations, the Climate VIA project seeks to inform public policy for protecting residents vulnerable to the socio-economic effects of climate change in this urban center.
Stevens Institute of Technology ocean engineering research associate professor Philip Orton wants to be clear: unlike what doomsaying predictions might suggest, New Yorkers can rest assured that the city as a whole won’t submerge underwater over the course of the next century.
But parts of it will.
“New York City has large swaths that are 50 to 150 feet high, so we're safer than people might think. When you hear New York City is going to be underwater by 2130, it's not true. Nobody's predicting that much sea-level rise in the next century,” Orton explained. “But a part of the city is really at risk, and it could be as much as 10%. That's a lot of people, especially when you have housing problems already.”
A New York City resident himself, Orton was recently awarded $214,717 as part of a $2.5-million study on climate change and its socio-economic impact on the city’s residents.
Titled “Climate Vulnerability, Impact and Adaptation Analysis (VIA),” the 18-month study will develop data and analyze past and present climate conditions around the five boroughs to develop recommendations for future public policy and programs. Key areas of the project include climate and weather projections for the region, including storm surge and extreme heavy rainfall risk analysis and updated coastal flood mapping. . . .
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