Let's prepare for our new climate
-
0:01 - 0:06This is the skyline
of my hometown, New Orleans. -
0:06 - 0:08It was a great place to grow up,
-
0:08 - 0:12but it's one of the most vulnerable
spots in the world. -
0:12 - 0:15Half the city is already below sea level.
-
0:15 - 0:18In 2005, the world watched as New Orleans
-
0:18 - 0:22and the Gulf Coast were
devastated by Hurricane Katrina. -
0:22 - 0:28One thousand, eight hundred and thirty-six
people died. Nearly 300,000 homes were lost. -
0:28 - 0:30These are my mother's, at the top --
-
0:30 - 0:32although that's not her car,
-
0:32 - 0:34it was carried there
by floodwaters up to the roof -- -
0:34 - 0:36and that's my sister's, below.
-
0:36 - 0:40Fortunately, they and other
family members got out in time, -
0:40 - 0:42but they lost their homes,
and as you can see, -
0:42 - 0:45just about everything in them.
-
0:45 - 0:48Other parts of the world
have been hit by storms -
0:48 - 0:50in even more devastating ways.
-
0:50 - 0:52In 2008, Cyclone Nargis and its aftermath
-
0:52 - 0:56killed 138,000 in Myanmar.
-
0:56 - 0:59Climate change is affecting
our homes, our communities, -
0:59 - 1:02our way of life. We should be preparing
-
1:02 - 1:05at every scale and at every opportunity.
-
1:05 - 1:09This talk is about being
prepared for, and resilient to -
1:09 - 1:12the changes that are coming
and that will affect our homes -
1:12 - 1:15and our collective home, the Earth.
-
1:15 - 1:19The changes in these times
won't affect us all equally. -
1:19 - 1:21There are important
distributional consequences, -
1:21 - 1:23and they're not what you
always might think. -
1:23 - 1:27In New Orleans, the elderly
and female-headed households -
1:27 - 1:29were among the most vulnerable.
-
1:29 - 1:31For those in vulnerable,
low-lying nations, -
1:31 - 1:34how do you put a dollar value
on losing your country -
1:34 - 1:38where you ancestors are buried?
And where will your people go? -
1:38 - 1:40And how will they cope in a foreign land?
-
1:40 - 1:43Will there be tensions over immigration,
-
1:43 - 1:46or conflicts over competition
for limited resources? -
1:46 - 1:51It's already fueled conflicts
in Chad and Darfur. -
1:51 - 1:56Like it or not, ready
or not, this is our future. -
1:56 - 1:59Sure, some are looking
for opportunities in this new world. -
1:59 - 2:02That's the Russians planting
a flag on the ocean bottom -
2:02 - 2:06to stake a claim for minerals
under the receding Arctic sea ice. -
2:06 - 2:09But while there might be
some short-term individual winners, -
2:09 - 2:13our collective losses
will far outweigh them. -
2:13 - 2:15Look no further than the insurance
industry as they struggle -
2:15 - 2:17to cope with mounting catastrophic losses
-
2:17 - 2:19from extreme weather events.
-
2:19 - 2:22The military gets it.
They call climate change -
2:22 - 2:25a threat multiplier that could
harm stability and security, -
2:25 - 2:28while governments
around the world are evaluating -
2:28 - 2:30how to respond.
-
2:30 - 2:35So what can we do? How can
we prepare and adapt? -
2:35 - 2:38I'd like to share three sets
of examples, starting with -
2:38 - 2:41adapting to violent storms and floods.
-
2:41 - 2:43In New Orleans, the I-10 Twin Spans,
-
2:43 - 2:46with sections knocked
out in Katrina, have been rebuilt -
2:46 - 2:5021 feet higher to allow
for greater storm surge. -
2:50 - 2:53And these raised
and energy-efficient homes -
2:53 - 2:56were developed by Brad
Pitt and Make It Right -
2:56 - 2:58for the hard-hit Ninth Ward.
-
2:58 - 3:01The devastated church
my mom attends has been -
3:01 - 3:04not only rebuilt higher,
it's poised to become -
3:04 - 3:07the first Energy Star
church in the country. -
3:07 - 3:09They're selling electricity
back to the grid -
3:09 - 3:13thanks to solar panels,
reflective paint and more. -
3:13 - 3:15Their March electricity
bill was only 48 dollars. -
3:15 - 3:19Now these are examples of New
Orleans rebuilding in this way, -
3:19 - 3:24but better if others act proactively
with these changes in mind. -
3:24 - 3:28For example, in Galveston,
here's a resilient home -
3:28 - 3:31that survived Hurricane Ike,
-
3:31 - 3:33when others on neighboring
lots clearly did not. -
3:33 - 3:36And around the world,
satellites and warning systems -
3:36 - 3:41are saving lives in flood-prone
areas such as Bangladesh. -
3:41 - 3:44But as important as technology
and infrastructure are, -
3:44 - 3:48perhaps the human element
is even more critical. -
3:48 - 3:51We need better planning
and systems for evacuation. -
3:51 - 3:54We need to better understand
how people make decisions -
3:54 - 3:56in times of crisis, and why.
-
3:56 - 4:00While it's true that many who died in Katrina
did not have access to transportation, -
4:00 - 4:03others who did refused to leave
as the storm approached, -
4:03 - 4:07often because available
transportation and shelters -
4:07 - 4:10refused to allow them to take their pets.
-
4:10 - 4:15Imagine leaving behind your own pet
in an evacuation or a rescue. -
4:15 - 4:18Fortunately in 2006, Congress passed
-
4:18 - 4:21the Pet Evacuation and Transportation
Standards Act (Laughter) -
4:21 - 4:26— it spells "PETS" — to change that.
-
4:26 - 4:29Second, preparing for heat and drought.
-
4:29 - 4:31Farmers are facing challenges
of drought from Asia -
4:31 - 4:34to Africa, from Australia to Oklahoma,
-
4:34 - 4:36while heat waves linked
with climate change -
4:36 - 4:39have killed tens of thousands of people
-
4:39 - 4:45in Western Europe in 2003,
and again in Russia in 2010. -
4:45 - 4:50In Ethiopia, 70 percent, that's 7-0
percent of the population, -
4:50 - 4:53depends on rainfall for its livelihood.
-
4:53 - 4:56Oxfam and Swiss Re, together
with Rockefeller Foundation, -
4:56 - 5:00are helping farmers like this
one build hillside terraces -
5:00 - 5:03and find other ways to conserve water,
-
5:03 - 5:07but they're also providing for insurance
when the droughts do come. -
5:07 - 5:09The stability this provides
is giving the farmers -
5:09 - 5:11the confidence to invest.
-
5:11 - 5:13It's giving them access
to affordable credit. -
5:13 - 5:15It's allowing them to become
more productive so that -
5:15 - 5:19they can afford their own insurance
over time, without assistance. -
5:19 - 5:22It's a virtuous cycle,
and one that could be replicated -
5:22 - 5:24throughout the developing world.
-
5:24 - 5:27After a lethal 1995 heat wave
-
5:27 - 5:29turned refrigerator
trucks from the popular -
5:29 - 5:33Taste of Chicago festival
into makeshift morgues, -
5:33 - 5:35Chicago became a recognized leader,
-
5:35 - 5:38tamping down on the urban
heat island impact -
5:38 - 5:40through opening cooling centers,
-
5:40 - 5:43outreach to vulnerable
neighborhoods, planting trees, -
5:43 - 5:46creating cool white
or vegetated green roofs. -
5:46 - 5:49This is City Hall's green roof, next to Cook
County's [portion of the] roof, -
5:49 - 5:53which is 77 degrees Fahrenheit
hotter at the surface. -
5:53 - 5:57Washington, D.C., last year,
actually led the nation -
5:57 - 6:00in new green roofs installed,
and they're funding this in part -
6:00 - 6:04thanks to a five-cent tax on plastic bags.
-
6:04 - 6:07They're splitting the cost
of installing these green roofs -
6:07 - 6:08with home and building owners.
-
6:08 - 6:11The roofs not only temper
urban heat island impact -
6:11 - 6:13but they save energy, and therefore money,
-
6:13 - 6:15the emissions that cause climate change,
-
6:15 - 6:18and they also reduce stormwater runoff.
-
6:18 - 6:23So some solutions to heat can
provide for win-win-wins. -
6:23 - 6:26Third, adapting to rising seas.
-
6:26 - 6:30Sea level rise threatens coastal
ecosystems, agriculture, -
6:30 - 6:33even major cities. This
is what one to two meters -
6:33 - 6:36of sea level rise looks
like in the Mekong Delta. -
6:36 - 6:39That's where half
of Vietnam's rice is grown. -
6:39 - 6:42Infrastructure is going to be affected.
-
6:42 - 6:45Airports around the world
are located on the coast. -
6:45 - 6:47It makes sense, right? There's open space,
-
6:47 - 6:49the planes can take off and land
without worrying about -
6:49 - 6:52creating noise or avoiding tall buildings.
-
6:52 - 6:55Here's just one example,
San Francisco Airport, -
6:55 - 6:57with 16 inches or more of flooding.
-
6:57 - 7:00Imagine the staggering cost of protecting
-
7:00 - 7:04this vital infrastructure with levees.
-
7:04 - 7:06But there might be some changes in store
-
7:06 - 7:08that you might not imagine. For example,
-
7:08 - 7:10planes require more runway for takeoff
-
7:10 - 7:14because the heated, less dense
air, provides for less lift. -
7:14 - 7:18San Francisco is also
spending 40 million dollars -
7:18 - 7:21to rethink and redesign its
water and sewage treatment, -
7:21 - 7:24as water outfall pipes like this
one can be flooded with seawater, -
7:24 - 7:27causing backups at the plant,
harming the bacteria -
7:27 - 7:29that are needed to treat the waste.
-
7:29 - 7:31So these outfall pipes
have been retrofitted -
7:31 - 7:34to shut seawater
off from entering the system. -
7:34 - 7:37Beyond these technical solutions, our work
-
7:37 - 7:39at the Georgetown Climate
Center with communities -
7:39 - 7:43encourages them to look at what existing
legal and policy tools are available -
7:43 - 7:46and to consider how they can
accommodate change. -
7:46 - 7:49For example, in land use,
which areas do you want -
7:49 - 7:52to protect, through adding
a seawall, for example, -
7:52 - 7:56alter, by raising
buildings, or retreat from, -
7:56 - 7:59to allow the migration
of important natural systems, -
7:59 - 8:01such as wetlands or beaches?
-
8:01 - 8:04Other examples to consider. In the U.K.,
-
8:04 - 8:07the Thames Barrier protects
London from storm surge. -
8:07 - 8:10The Asian Cities Climate
[Change] Resilience Network -
8:10 - 8:13is restoring vital ecosystems
like forest mangroves. -
8:13 - 8:16These are not only important
ecosystems in their own right, -
8:16 - 8:20but they also serve as a buffer
to protect inland communities. -
8:20 - 8:24New York City is incredibly
vulnerable to storms, -
8:24 - 8:28as you can see from this clever
sign, and to sea level rise, -
8:28 - 8:31and to storm surge, as you can
see from the subway flooding. -
8:31 - 8:34But back above ground, these
raised ventilation grates -
8:34 - 8:37for the subway system show
that solutions can be both -
8:37 - 8:39functional and attractive.
In fact, in New York, -
8:39 - 8:43San Francisco and London,
designers have envisioned -
8:43 - 8:45ways to better integrate
the natural and built environments -
8:46 - 8:48with climate change in mind.
-
8:48 - 8:51I think these are inspiring
examples of what's possible -
8:51 - 8:54when we feel empowered to plan
for a world that will be different. -
8:54 - 8:57But now, a word of caution.
-
8:57 - 9:00Adaptation's too important
to be left to the experts. -
9:00 - 9:03Why? Well, there are no experts.
-
9:03 - 9:07We're entering uncharted
territory, and yet -
9:07 - 9:10our expertise and our systems
are based on the past. -
9:10 - 9:13"Stationarity" is the notion
that we can anticipate the future -
9:13 - 9:16based on the past, and plan accordingly,
-
9:16 - 9:19and this principle governs
much of our engineering, -
9:19 - 9:22our design of critical
infrastructure, city water systems, -
9:22 - 9:26building codes, even water rights
and other legal precedents. -
9:26 - 9:29But we can simply no longer
rely on established norms. -
9:29 - 9:33We're operating outside the bounds
of CO2 concentrations -
9:33 - 9:38that the planet has seen
for hundreds of thousands of years. -
9:38 - 9:41The larger point I'm
trying to make is this. -
9:41 - 9:45It's up to us to look
at our homes and our communities, -
9:45 - 9:48our vulnerabilities
and our exposures to risk, -
9:48 - 9:51and to find ways to not just
survive, but to thrive, -
9:51 - 9:54and it's up to us to plan and to prepare
-
9:54 - 9:56and to call on our government
leaders and require them -
9:56 - 9:59to do the same, even while they address
-
9:59 - 10:02the underlying causes of climate change.
-
10:02 - 10:03There are no quick fixes.
-
10:03 - 10:07There are no one-size-fits-all solutions.
-
10:07 - 10:09We're all learning by doing.
-
10:09 - 10:13But the operative word is doing.
-
10:13 - 10:14Thank you.
-
10:14 - 10:18(Applause)
- Title:
- Let's prepare for our new climate
- Speaker:
- Vicki Arroyo
- Description:
-
Set aside the politics: Data shows that climate change is happening, measurably, now. And as Vicki Arroyo says, it's time to prepare our homes and cities for the new climate, with its increased risk of flooding, drought and uncertainty. She illustrates this inspiring talk with bold projects from cities all over the world -- local examples of thinking ahead.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 14:36
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for Let's prepare for our new climate | ||
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Morton Bast edited English subtitles for Let's prepare for our new climate |