WEBSITE:
http://metroeast_climate.ciesin.columbia.edu/
DESCRIPTION:
This study of the Metropolitan East Coast (MEC) area is one of eighteen regional components of The U.S. National Assessment of the Potential Consequences of Climate Variability and Change, organized by the U.S. Global Change Research Program. The goal of each regional assessment is to understand the impacts of climate change and variability on the physical systems and human activities of a specific area of the United States.
The MEC Regional Assessment focuses on the issues of climate change in a major urban center. Understanding climate impacts in urban areas is becoming increasingly important, since human populations are more concentrated in cities, and the number and size of cities are growing. It is estimated that over half of the world’s population lives in cities or on coasts. MEC Regional Assessment examines how three interacting elements of global cities react and respond to climate variability and change. The three elements are: people (i.e., socio-demographic conditions), place (i.e., physical and ecological systemThes), and pulse (i.e., decision-making and economic activities).
