The damaging effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic have left policy makers everywhere with the task to determine the best way to rebuild their economies. In an effort to provide information to assist in this decision making process ClimateXchange and Low Carbon Prosperity Institute partnered (along with several other contributors, including Earth Economics) to conduct an analysis of possible recovery plans.
Earth Economics attends ASFpm Annual National virtual Conference
Earth Economics attended the ASFPM Annual National Conference, which took place virtually this year for the first time due to COVID-19. During the 3-day event, floodplain managers and subject-matter experts presented on a wide-variety of topics.
The virtual event brought together over 5,000 attendees to learn about flood risk mitigation, modeling, and building resilience in the face of mounting flood hazards. Featuring presentations from state, local, and federal agencies, non-profits, and technical partners, the conference covered all things flooding, both coastal and riverine. Themes included understanding risk, planning for the future, strategies for minimizing impacts, and connecting mitigation projects to technical expertise and funding sources. Of particular interest to Earth Economics were the multiple presentations highlighting the environmental co-benefits offered by green infrastructure projects, and how green and gray infrastructure solutions work together to build more resilient communities.
Connect with Us to learn more about our service offerings and expertise in green infrastructure and nature-based solutions.
The benefits of green infrastructure to a community can be profound and critical to public health - from increased biodiversity, opportunity for recreation, and improved water and air quality. Urban heat island effect is devestating our neighborhoods, town, and cities and as global temperatures continue to rise so will the dangers of extreme heat. We have developed methods to model urban heat islands on the census block level across the U.S, which works to provide the ability to estimate health risk and the impact of green infrastructure interventions.
Earth Economics Report
Cited in Massive Science Article
“Louisiana is losing about a football field’s worth of wetlands every 100 minutes.”
The article, It will take over one billion dollars to protect one small Louisiana town from climate change, takes a deeper look at the increasing regularity of flood risk in Southeastern Louisiana and the threat it poses to homes and property.
“The land erodes away into open water because the levees preventing the Mississippi River from flooding its banks have also channeled all of the river’s sediment out into the Gulf of Mexico. Soil that used to fan out slowly over inland marshes and help build land in the delta during regular flooding is now spit out to sea in deeper channels. A 2010 report by Earth Economics found that these wetlands provide ecosystem services worth between $12 and $47 billion annually.”
The 2010 Earth Economics report, Gaining Ground: Wetlands, Hurricanes, and the Economy: The Value of Restoring the Mississippi River Delta is a comprehensive measure of the economic value of Mississippi River Delta natural systems.
Earth Economics contribution
to farmland LP 2017 Impact Report
cited in Conservation Finance Network
“The results from this work illustrate the profound impact of our management practices on the ecosystem service value provided by our farms. ”
In the article, So you’re thinking about regenerative agriculture…, Conservation Finance Network produced a series of articles that take a comprehensive look at the hurdles that challenge financing for regenerative agriculture in the United States. The USDA-funded study, produced by Earth Economics and Delta Institute, is cited in the section that looks at farmland investment companies.
The study summarizes the social and environmental impacts of two farmed land investments acquired by Farmland LP. The study, which focused on the ecosystem impact of management practices, found that the property generates $21.4 million in ecosystem service value benefits from the restoration of critical ecosystem services including water quality, pollination, habitat, and soil quality.
Earth Economics SRKW Report Cited by KOMO News Meteorologist, Abby Acone
“The Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) is a flagship species, a cultural icon, and an economic driver for Washington State. ”
In early March a committee working to license whale watching companies to ensure orcas are protected will meet. The committee is designed in an effort to better regulate the industry and ensure that orcas are protected. The Southern Resident Killer Whale population has struggled to recover due to depleted Chinook salmon stocks, vessel-related noise and disturbance, and increasingly polluted waters put the orca population at risk of extinction, according to our report, The Whales in Our Waters.
“With a goal of preserving these killer whales, the state has directed the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to create rules for a new commercial whale-watching license,” according to the article. The Washington Fish and Wildlife is teaming up with other researchers, advocates and representatives of the whale-watching industry to develop the rules for this license. To see all the members of the Commercial Whale-Watching Licensing Program Advisory Committee, click here.
"The idea of this licensing program is to really make the industry a partner in conservation," said Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's Killer Whale Policy Lead Julie Watson.
Polluted Rivers and Streams are a Growing Problem
Over half of all rivers and streams in the United States have poor water quality, as rated by the EPA, with high levels of phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediment. High levels of nitrogen and phosphorus harm aquatic ecosystems promote algal blooms, which reduce oxygen levels in the water necessary for fish to survive.
with a Nature-Based Solution
A cost-effective methods of improving water quality, nature-based solutions can remove nutrient runoff from agricultural lands, and reduce stormwater loading to mitigate overflows from urban sewer systems.
Riparian Stream Buffers
Wetlands
Detention Ponds
Bioretention Ponds
Installing vegetated buffer strips around streams and restoring wetlands can dramatically reduce nutrient pollutants in waterways near farms and ranches.
How We Help
In the face of more extreme weather events, building resilient, sustainable infrastructure is critical to improving water quality and adapting to a changing climate. Earth Economics has conducted multiple studies of the benefits and costs of nature-based solutions for communities throughout the country, including:
Urban Heat Islands: An Introduction
High density urban areas are causing a complex localized heat trap called Urban Heat Islands (UHI). Dense urban areas absorb and trap heat due to impervious surfaces — like pavement and rooftops — that absorb solar radiation, buildings that block wind flow, pollution and smog that trap solar radiation, and low levels of vegetation and tree cover that restrict evapotransporation — which functions as natural air conditioning.
UHI has immense effects on urban health, and heightens risks of such illnesses as heat stroke and increases in respiratory illness. In New York City alone extreme heat is responsible for approximately 300 deaths a year, and that number is expected to rise in the coming decades. However there are solutions that can mitigate UHI, such as building urban greenspaces and constructing green roofs.
Our heat island research aims to quantify the monetary costs of urban heat islands, and identify the impact of green solutions — such as urban tree canopy and green roofs — in mitigating these costs. This work is part of ongoing research conducted by Earth Economics.