New York City Panel on Climate Change 2015 Report. Executive summary.

The climate of the New York metropolitan region is changing—annual temperatures are hotter, heavy downpours are increasingly frequent, and the sea is rising. These trends, which are also occurring in many parts of the world, are projected to continue and even worsen in the coming decades due to higher concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere caused by burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forests for agriculture. These changing climate hazards increase the risks for the people, economy, and infrastructure of New York City. As was demonstrated byHurricane Sandy, populations living in coastal and low-lying areas, the elderly and very young, and lower-income neighborhoods are highly vulnerable. In response to these climate challenges, New York City is developing a broad range of climate resiliency policies and programs as well as the knowledge base to support them. Initially formed as a scientific panel in 2008, the first New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC) was comprised of academic and private sector experts in climate science, infrastructure, social science, and risk management. It established a risk-management framework for the city’s critical infrastructure throughout the extended metropolitan region under climate change (NPCC, 2010). Following Hurricane Sandy, the City convened the Second New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC2) in January 2013 to provide up-to-date scientific information and analyses on climate risks for the creation of A Stronger, More Resilient New York (City of New York, 2013). This report (NPCC, 2015) presents the work of the New York City Panel on Climate Change from January 2013 to January 2015. The report documents recently observed climate trends and climate projections for the New York metropolitan region up to 2100. It compares the NPCC2 methods and projections for the local scale to those done at the global scale by the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2013). The report presents new maps that show increasing flood risks due to climate change defined for the 100and 500-year coastal flood eventa in the 2020s, 2050s, 2080s and 2100. It compares future coastal flooding simulated by static and dynamic modeling that include the effects of sea level rise. The report reviews key issues related to climate change and health relevant to the citizens of New York City and sets forth a process for developing a system of indicators and monitoring to track data related to climate change hazards, risks, impacts, and adaptation strategies. Research needs and recommendations for climate resiliency are provided.