Protection and Resiliency
Educating Engineers in Coastal Resilency with a Global Perspective on Climate Change
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Corinna Fleischmann, Hudson Jackson
From the assessment of the resiliency of coastal infrastructure due to rising sea level to an understanding of the future impacts of forces of nature on our built environment, the importance of educating future generations of engineers with respect to coastal resiliency is becoming increasingly obvious. At the United States Coast Guard Academy (CGA), the engineering faculty recognize the need to educate the future of our Service and have developed a Coastal Resiliency Course that provides exposure into the science of climate change, its impact on civil engineering infrastructure and on the planning and design of resilient structures. This course provides preparation for the real world practice of engineering by exposing students to the importance of risk and vulnerability assessment within the context of changing climatic conditions. As a sea-going service, the majority of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG)’s assets are along the coastline. As the USCG’s primary accession point for civil engineers, ensuring future engineers are exposed to the potential challenges that will likely occur due to rising sea level is an issue of readiness and therefore of the utmost importance. This paper will specifically address the manner in which CGA has incorporated climate science into engineering education and provides exposure to best practices used in civil engineering to promote infrastructure resiliency in a changing environment. The future demands that civil engineering graduates have an appreciation for the challenges that lie ahead and that they are exposed to current solutions or, at least, means of mitigation for these anticipated dilemmas.
Bacterial Contamination in Long Island Sound: Improving Beach Closure Policy and Assessing the Impact of Climate Change
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Michael A Pascucilla
The regulations and policies concerning beach closure set forth by the Environmental Protection Agency and Connecticut Department of Public Health are inadequate in protecting public health. Under current conditions, contaminated beaches are left open to the public for extended periods of time. Current laboratory testing procedures take approximately 24 hours to be returned after the sample reaches the lab and the assay is set up. However, studies show that establishing beach closure on previous-day bacteria tests is accurate only 33% of the time—worse than at random (Morrison, 2003). Moreover, local CT health departments test water quality only once a week—most often on Mondays. This suggests that local health departments do not have the necessary information to determine whether their beaches are contaminated closer to the weekend, the most popular beach bathing days. Though these procedures are useful in evaluating the overall trend of a beach’s water quality or detecting a significant contamination event, they are unhelpful for day to day safety. Therefore, new policies and procedures are needed to better protect public health and better determine when beaches are contaminated. This is especially true given recent climate change trends. The increased likelihood of changing and more severe weather patterns have raised the possibility that this threat will be magnified in the future.It is expected that climate change will likely increase the presence of bacterial contamination due to changing environmental factors such as increases in temperature, sea level, extreme precipitation, and other extreme weather events.
The Prevalence of Energy Poverty among Rural Households in Botswana
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Sinah Kgosietsile
Even though Botswana has experienced exceptional economic growth in recent years, there is still limited access to modern energy services in rural areas. For instance, electrification rate in rural areas is standing at only 54% in Botswana. Rural communities rely mostly biomass fuels whose availability has reduced due to deforestation as a result of population growth. The problem is further compounded by climate change related issues in the energy sector. However, there is still lack of scholarly research on energy poverty among rural communities where climate change is already posing serious challenges. The study seeks to analyze determinants of energy poverty, household responses as well as willingness to use energy efficient measures. This study employs a household survey to assess 100 households in the Kweneng West District of Botswana among the Bakgalagadi. Data is obtained from 15 households per village in four villages in the district. Results are expected to show household’s energy uses and how they are obtained, challenges on energy supply, coping strategies and their effectiveness as well as willingness to adopt energy efficient measures. The study is expected to provide a better understanding of the covert impacts of climate change on fuel scarcity directly or as a stress multiplier. It will also bring to light the needs of rural communities with regard to household energy needs to recommend improved measures that can strengthen the capacity of rural communities to adapt to energy poverty and mitigate climate change impacts
