8 charts that show the toll climate change will take on Boston
Post date: Dec 15, 2016 1:35:08 AM
By Matt Rocheleau GLOBE STAFF DECEMBER 08, 2016
City officials this week released a report that included updated projections of how climate change is expected to impact Boston and outlined ways the city can prevent and brace for the potentially devastating effects.
“Boston residents are already impacted by extreme heat, rain, snow and flooding,” Austin Blackmon, the city’s chief of environment, energy and open space said in a statement. The report “shows that these trends are expected to continue, and now we have a better understanding of what we need to do to prepare.”
Mayor Martin J. Walsh said in a statement, “We have the knowledge, talent and resources to prepare our neighborhoods and businesses for climate change and will continue to cut carbon emissions, tackling climate change head on.”
The following charts highlight some of the key projected impacts detailed in the report.
1. The number of very hot days will increase.
2. Sea levels in Boston will continue to rise.
3. Rainfall from storms will increase.
4. The number of heat-related deaths each year in Boston will triple.
5. Stormwater flooding will inundate thousands of structures.
6. Increasingly large sums of money will be lost each year due to flooding damage, interruption of business activity, and other climate change impacts.
CITY OF BOSTON
Above is a breakdown of annualized losses based on a 36-inch rise in sea level.
CITY OF BOSTON
Above is a map showing yearly financial loses per building, based on a 36-inch rise in sea level.
7. Thousands of city residents will be affected.
8. Some city neighborhoods will be hit harder than others. The city report proposed that flood-protection interventions be taken at the nine spots identified in the map below:
