Helen Jackson @hjcksn@qoto.org

ClimateNode's recent Urban Flash Flooding in England project, using #NLP/geocoding to convert info in news reports into maps, is described in the most recent edition of the British Hydrological Society's 'Circulation' newsletter. You can read about it here:
https://www.hydrology.org.uk/assets/Circ%20156.pdf

I am working on using natural language processing to detect urban flash flood events in local newspaper reports and map impacts at street/building level. I'd be really interested to hear from anyone who might have uses for this data in their work. For more details see:
https://www.climatenode.org/maps/about_UFF_maps.html

#NLP #floodmapping

An interesting proposal for a climate service combining climate model outputs with #largelanguagemodels for localised decision-making.

Github repo of prototype is here:
https://github.com/koldunovn/climsight

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-023-01199-1

New York State announces extreme weather resiliency plan
https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-announces-comprehensive-resiliency-plan-protect-new-yorkers-extreme-weather

A handy overview of ClimateNode's current work using #NLP/#LLMs to extract and compile unstructured data on sectoral and company impacts of climate-related events is available in conference poster format on the website:
https://www.climatenode.org/projects.html

If we want to understand how climate change will affect economic activity then we need to be monitoring impacts through observation of actual events – not just relying on projections – and in particular monitoring complex and cascading impacts.

This is a fascinating new collaboration by the International Monetary Fund and Environmental Change Institute (ECI), University of Oxford to monitor how extreme weather events and other events disrupt port operations, trade and supply chains through satellite-based vessel data and big data analytics.

https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2023-11-15-imf-and-university-oxford-launch-portwatch-platform-monitor-and-simulate-trade

I explain on the New Ventures Podcast why I am working on use of natural language processing to enhance our understanding of how climate change is impacting/will impact economic welfare, sectors, companies and places. Many thanks for having me on.
https://www.regainparadise.org/podcast/finding-out-whats-going-on/

Why are countries worldwide being so slow at adapting to climate change?
It's 2023 and swathes of the Mexican coast have no building regs for hurricanes.
"As devastated Acapulco rebuilds, other Mexico resorts urged to heed its lessons" #climateadaptation
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/as-devastated-acapulco-rebuilds-other-mexico-resorts-urged-to-heed-its-lessons

People on the outskirts of Acapulco are protesting that they have no food, water, govt assistance. In the city, people have been taking what they need from damaged supermarkets with shops not open and ATMs down. 80% of hotels damaged. Municipal water system shut down. Not hard to see how a situation like this could lead to social breakdown. The lack of warning and preparation time really won't have helped. This new development of storms that can intensify this rapidly is really bad news.
https://apnews.com/article/mexico-acapulco-hurricane-otis-0b68a78aad5e0be0543c4013623f275b

Global water cycle is "spinning out of balance", says WMO's latest State of Global Water Resources
https://public.wmo.int/en/our-mandate/water/state-of-global-water-resources-2022

A hydrogeologist explains why seawater intrusion is a climate impact we will hear more about, and what can be done to address it
https://theconversation.com/what-is-seawater-intrusion-a-hydrogeologist-explains-the-shifting-balance-between-fresh-and-salt-water-at-the-coast-214620

Water shortage looming in La Paz – significant rainfall needed by February
https://www.fijitimes.com/water-supply-dwindling-bolivians-gather-at-dam-to-pray-for-rain-2/

39% of the Moroccan labour force works in agriculture, most of it rain-fed
"Morocco has never known five consecutive years of drought", says minister
Persistent drought strains Morocco’s economic prospects via FT
https://www.ft.com/content/99191aaa-8c70-45b1-ba17-dcbc471eadf8

“People are on a search for better lives and better jobs and then sort of get stuck in bad lands because that’s what they can afford”
https://apnews.com/article/flooding-population-development-climate-change-disaster-cfee396af85763e69c1527d4c95652f1

Water supply to Istanbul threatened by drought, population growth and failure to realise proposed reservoir
https://www.dailysabah.com/turkiye/istanbul/istanbul-to-extract-water-from-dams-bottoms-amid-drought-crisis

Currently putting together a talk on human welfare and economic impacts of climate change. Here's a slide with selected news stories I've noticed in recent months. Political parties which don't understand the moment of history we are in won't get my vote. #RishiSunak #NetZero

In "we can adapt" news:
• 1998: cracks reported in dams
• 2011: project to fix them halted
• budget allocated to fix them every year since but nothing done
• 2021: audit bureau criticises procrastination
• 2022: engineer warns of catastrophe

People who say that adaptation is cheap and easy and will somehow just happen automatically are wrong. It requires sustained political will to overcome the in-built tendency not to act to mitigate serious risks which haven't yet materialised.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/libya-burst-dams-had-decades-old-cracks-says-official

"Dams had not been maintained for 20 years, says Deputy Mayor
Another commentator: “The erosions in the dams in Derna are not new. They have been reported repeatedly, including in scientific journals from 2011 ... No official has paid attention to it"
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/12/infrastructure-in-libyas-derna-not-built-to-withstand-storm-deputy-mayor

Climate adaptation doesn't happen amidst political dysfunction.
"Years of war and lack of a central government have left it [Libya] with crumbling infrastructure that was vulnerable to the intense rains."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/09/12/libya-floods-disaster-what-to-know/5df9dc64-519e-11ee-accf-88c266213aac_story.html

Hot summer in Texas "has brought millions of dollars in damage to municipal plumbing and the loss of huge volumes of water during a severe drought" due to soil shrinkage -> pipes shifting
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/heat-texas-water-systems-damage-18355896.php

Study finds short-term marine heatwaves not impacting demersal fish species (e.g. cod, haddock); however, long-term temperature changes are shifting range
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06449-y

In Ft Myers "I heard horror stories about dropped insurance, folks out of money, price gouging, and no ability to rebuild"

One Florida Republican's response? To call insurance companies "woke" for pulling out of the state.
https://eu.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columns/2023/09/01/hurricanes-idalia-ian-costly-disasters-for-desantis-florida-insurers/70725745007/