Climate change, adaptation, resilience, mitigation—from the oceans to the Arctic—we are facing a whole new world in the 21st century. Center for the Blue Economy staff, Research Fellows, and Advisory Council members playing an important part of that critical conversation.
| by David Helvarg & Daniel Hayden in the Hill
Ten billion dollars in funding to restore beach dunes and dune grass, salt marshes and estuaries, oyster and coral reefs may seem unrelated to the rebuilding of America’s crumbling roads, bridges and sewer plants. But restoring and expanding natural coastal barriers — or living infrastructure — is actually a practical cost-effective way of reducing the growing impacts of sea-level rise, intensified storms and “sunny-day flooding” associated with the rapidly worsening climate emergency. And those impacts will be devastating to the U.S. economy if we don’t act now. While vulnerable coastal counties comprise less than 10 percent of the nation’s landmass, they generate 46 percent of its GDP.
| by David Helvarg in the Progressive
Human-induced climate change has gotten so bad that our only hope isn’t to reverse it, but to simply save what we can.
| by Jason Warburg
Bryce Bray MAIEP ’18 has been awarded a Boren, a Fulbright, and most recently an Institute of Current World Affairs fellowship, all of which are helping him continue to develop expertise and expand his professional network in his chosen field of climate policy.
| by Ramin Skibba and Hakai Magazine
Researchers in Southern California are using lidar to improve scientists’ understanding of the erosional forces that cause bluffs to collapse. Dr. Charles Colgan, Director of Research at the Center for the Blue Economy, weighs in with research findings from a 2018 CBE study.
| by Jason Scorse & David Helvarg in the Nation
In 2008 the United Nations designated June 8 as World Oceans Day, “a day for humanity to celebrate the ocean.” Since then, it’s had about as much to do with the ecological economic and human rights disasters affecting our seas as Arbor Day has to do with global deforestation. Because it’s so vast and poorly regulated, the ocean sector of the global economy has been largely out of sight and out of mind.
The 5th International Symposium was hosted by National University of Ireland, Galway, and Dr. Charles Colgan, the Director of Research at the Center for the Blue Economy (and the individual who instituted the methodology to measure the blue economy now used worldwide) gave a notable presentation.
