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GROUP INVESTIGATES CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS ON EVERYDAY LIFE Tufts Meeting with Boston Area Leaders and Scientists Will Pave The Way for National Model

Release Date: 03/10/2000
Contact Information: Amy Miller, EPA Press Office (617-918-1042) Christen Graham, Tufts Public Affairs office (617-627-5906)

BOSTON - Local and state officials will meet with university researchers and private industry leaders at Tufts University on March 24 to launch a groundbreaking study of how global climate change may affect roads, water supplies, public health and other critical services in Greater Boston. The study will lead to a report on what responses may be necessary to deal with potential impacts of climate change now and 50 to 100 years from today.

Tufts University, which received a $900,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to undertake the study, planned the meeting in Medford to study how change in the Earth's climate is likely to affect the many critical services and systems that make up the infrastructure in Boston and 100 other surrounding communities. The Tufts Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is working closely with the Boston University Department of Geography on all aspects of the project. The Metropolitan Area Planning Council will help engage policy-makers in the study and in the project's findings.

The three-year study will serve as a national model for helping urban areas address the impact of climate change. Participants will look at what policy and planning changes could best prepare the area's infrastructure for a future with higher sea levels and more extreme weather events, including more frequent and intense winter storms and warmer summers, all results of climate change.

"The warming of the earth's atmosphere could have a profound effect on every aspect of life in the metropolitan Boston area," said Mindy S. Lubber, acting regional administrator of EPA New England. "Tunnels, communications lines, power plants, buildings, sewers, water systems and every possible physical structure in the region could be affected. This project will begin the work of finding out what these impacts might be and how we can plan accordingly to minimize the risks and possible damage."

Key agencies and planners have been invited to the March 24 conference at Tufts to begin gathering information that will help the region understand how global climate change could affect this area's economy, environment, social structures and physical framework. For many participants, this will be the first time they have considered the possible effects of climate change on their communities and infrastructure.

"Roads, buildings, water supply, wastewater and energy systems all contribute to the region's economy and quality of life," said Dr. Paul Kirshen, a research professor at Tufts University who is overseeing the project. "The reliability of these systems depend upon the climate. My colleagues and I at Tufts plan to examine how well these systems may function under a changed climate. It is important to consider what the impacts might be so appropriate actions can be taken."

"Most of the worlds's reputable scientists believe the Earth's climate is changing because of human activities emitting so-called greenhouse gases," said Dr. Matthias Ruth, associate professor at BU and the other lead research scientist on the project. "While we must lower our emissions to minimize the change, we must realize that because these gases last a long time in the atmosphere, it is not possible to reverse within our lifetime the current trend of changes. Therefore we must consider how we can adjust or adapt to the changes."

The grant from EPA's Office of Research and Development will fund a team of about 10 scientists and other experts who will collect data, inventory facilities, analyze data. It will also fund the creation of a computer model that will help to integrate the research. The project begins with the premise that a community lives with its infrastructure decisions for decades, or even longer. The sewer lines, roads and buildings constructed today in many ways determine the framework of our communities tomorrow.

"If we don't address these issues, the price we pay may be huge," said Lubber. "Disruptions to infrastructure can be costly, as we in the Boston area learned during the flood of 1996. This extreme weather caused $70 million in property damage and disrupted transportation for thousands of people. The Central Artery project has also shown us that the costs of modifying and repairing our infrastructure can be exorbitant."

The grant was one of five projects funded nationally through EPA's Science To Achieve Results (STAR) program. The agency awarded a total of $4.5 million this year to STAR projects that will look at the effects of global climate change in a specific geographical region. Other projects will study the effect of climate change on Florida's ecosystems, at Rocky Mt. National Park in Colorado, at California's San Joaquin Watershed and in Illinois's Mackinaw Watershed.