 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Climate Change Will Stress Stormwater Drainage Systems
Keene NH (SPX) Oct 12, 2005 The storm that dropped over 10 inches of rain on the Keene, NH area this past weekend will be a more frequent phenomenon due to climate change, according to two New Hampshire researchers. Michael Simpson and Latham Stack headed a research team within the Environmental Studies Department at Antioch New England Graduate School in Keene, NH. Their recently completed study is groundbreaking because it is the first to identify the specific costs required to prepare for the more intense storms induced by climate change. According to lead scientist Latham Stack, studies of this kind are crucial to helping communities prepare for the impacts of climate change: "Because of the persistence of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the impacts of climate change are now unavoidable. We may have a window of opportunity to prepare civil infrastructures. While expensive, these preparations can be affordable if undertaken far enough in advance." Just days before the storm that hit the City this weekend, the research team reported their findings to Keene's Cities for Climate Protection Steering Committee. The researchers' analysis found that current engineering design specifications for culvert sizing are inadequate to handle the rainfall intensities predicted under climate change. The team's model projected substantial culvert failure in their study area of the White and Black Brook watersheds in the northwest sector of the city. These culverts will fail because they have insufficient capacity for the increased flow of water coming down the watershed. Undersized culverts act as a dam, causing water to backup and overrun roads. The results are both flooding of neighboring properties and undercutting and erosion damage to culverts and roads. The research team's rain gauge on Dunbar Street recorded 11.5 inches falling on Keene in 24 hours during this weekend's storm. This amount of rain is almost triple the design standard currently used by engineers to size culverts. The resulting damage and flooding, not only in the study's watersheds but throughout Keene, will have a substantial fiscal impact on the City's budget. The Antioch study estimated the cost of upgrading culverts and found this to be expensive, but comparatively small in relation to costs incurred by the private and public sectors in the wake of the current storm. Project leader Michael Simpson noted that "Our research focused only on a small section of Keene, NH, but the model we developed to project climate change induced culvert failures could be applied to any region of the world." Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters A world of storm and tempest When the Earth Quakes
ISRO Developing Ocean Bottom Warning Sensors
Bangalore, India (SPX) Jan 11, 2006Indian Space Research Organisation is developing ocean bottom sensors that will help warn tsunami strikes in advance, the Press Trust Of India reports. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
