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WEBVTT AS THE CLIMATE CHANGES... PEOPLE’S MINDS ARE TOO. A YALE UNIVERSITY POLL SHOWS 73 PERCENT OF AMERICANS NOW THINK CLIMATE CHANGE IS HAPPENING... AN INCREASE OF 10 PERCENTAGE POINTS FROM 4 YEARS AGO. 62 PERCENT BELIEVE IT’S MOSTLY HUMAN CAUSED. CLIP 4702, 1:36-1:41 JENNIFER JACOBS / UNH PROFESSOR OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING THE TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM IS VULNERABLE TO A CHANGING CLIMATE AND WEATHER EXTREMES. THE NATIONAL CLIMATE ASSESSMENT IS A CONGRESSIONALLY MANDATED REPORT... PUT OUT EVERY FOUR YEARS. IT WAS RELEASED A FEW MONTHS AGO BY 13 GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE PROFESSOR JENNIFER JACOBS LED THE TRANSPORTATION CHAPTER AND SAYS CLIMATE CHANGE IS ALREADY IMPACTING THE COUNTRY AND THE GRANITE STATE... PARTICULARILY ALONG THE COAST. CLIP 4702, 4:22-4:27 JENNIFER JACOBS / UNH PROFESSOR OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING WE’VE SEEN A DOUBLING OF THESE NUISANCE OR HIGH TIDE FLOODS OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS. CLIP 4702, 4:30-4:38 JENNIFER JACOBS / UNH PROFESSOR OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING AND WHAT WE’RE EXPECTING TO SEE IS AN EXPONENTIAL INCREASE IN THOSE. SO REALLY LARGE INCREASES, NOT JUST A DOUBLING THE NEXT 10 YEARS BUT MORE THAN THAT. THE REPORT FINDS ABOUT 25 HUNDRED TO 46 HUNDRED BRIDGES ACROSS THE UNITED STATES ARE AT RISK FROM FLOODING... RESULTING IN DAMAGE OF ABOUT 1 POINT 2 TO 1 POINT 4 BILLION DOLLARS EACH YEAR BY 2050. CLIP 4702, 2:23-2:36 JENNIFER JACOBS / UNH PROFESSOR OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING THE CHALLENGE WITH A RURAL AREA IS THAT IF YOU HAVE A STORM, IT WASHES OUT A BRIDGE AND YOU HAVE A BRIDGE THAT’S OUT FOR MONTHS AT A TIME, PEOPLE CAN’T GET FROM POINT A TO POINT B. SMALL BUSINESSES DEPEND UPON PEOPLE BEING ABLE TO GET TO THEIR AREAS. THE NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION USES THE NATIONAL CLIMATE ASSESSMENT TO HELP DETERMINE WHERE AND HOW TO BUILD. CLIP 4724, 22:10-22:22 ANN SCHOLZ / NH DOT RESEARCH ENGINEER WE’RE GREATLY CONCERNED TO A FACT WE’VE DONE AN EVALUATION OF OUR ASSETS AND SOME OF THE CLIMATE VARIABLES THAT THE DEPARTMENT’S CONCERNED ABOUT BE IT PRECIPITATION, SEA LEVEL RISE, STORM SURGE. RESEARCH ENGINEER ANN SCHOLZ SAYS CLIMATE CHANGE IS EVIDENT BY NEW HAMPSHIRE’S MAJOR DISASTER DECLARATIONS. FROM 1980 TO 2000... THE STATE FILED FOR 10 DISASTERS. IN THE 18 YEARS SINCE... THERE WERE 22 DECLARATIONS. CLIP 4724, 24:08-24:14 ANN SCHOLZ / NH DOT RESEARCH ENGINEER AND THAT’S NOT EVEN COUNTING THE EMERGENCY RESPONSE APPLICATIONS THAT WE PUT INTO FEDERAL HIGHWAY FOR REIMBURSEMENT FOR THESE REPAIRS. ***COULD SHOOT THIS AS A STANDUP IF I’M IN THE SEACOAST SOON*** LONG TERM... SCHOLZ SAYS ROADS AND BRIDGES MIGHT NEED TO BE BUILT HIGHER... AND RELOCATING MAY BECOME NECESSARY FOR THOSE BY THE OCEAN. CLIP 4724, 23:21-23:40 ANN SCHOLZ / NH DOT RESEARCH ENGINEER WE’RE ON A BAD TRACK RIGHT NOW FOR CLIMATE CHANGE. WE’RE ON ONE OF THE HIGH EMISSION SCENARIOS. SO IN THE FUTURE, IF SEA LEVEL RISE DOES OCCUR, IT’S NOT ONLY SEA LEVEL RISE, BUT IT’S ALSO RAISING OUR GROUND WATER ELEVATION WHICH CAN SOFTEN OUR SUB BASE FOR OUR ROADWAYS, HAVE IMPACT TO DRINKING WATER WELLS AND SEPTIC SYSTEMS THAT ARE IN THAT AREA. JACOBS SAYS IT’S TIME FOR POLICY MAKERS TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE WARNING SIGNS... TO PROTECT OUR PROPERTIES AND INFRASTRUCTURE. CLIP 4702, 10:10-10:18 JENNIFER JACOBS / UNH PROFESSOR OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING WHETHER YOU TAKE IT TO YOUR COMMUNITY, WHETHER YOU TAKE IT TO THE STATE TO START MAKING SOME OF THE CHANGES THAT WE NEED TO MAKE AS A STATE. MC, WMUR NEWS9.

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With scientists warning that the global climate is changing at a rapid rate, researchers are saying that New Hampshire must be ready to make changes to its infrastructure in the years ahead.Climate change is increasingly on people's minds. A Yale University poll shows that 73 percent of Americans now think climate change is happening, an increase from four years ago of 10 percentage points. The poll shows that 62 percent believe it's mostly human-caused.>> Download the FREE WMUR appScientists agree that climate change will have broad effects on the planet, including on infrastructure."The transportation system is vulnerable to a changing climate and weather extremes," said University of New Hampshire professor Jennifer Jacobs.The National Climate Assessment is a congressionally mandated report put out every four years. It was released a few months ago by 13 government agencies, and Jacobs, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, led the transportation chapter. Jacobs said climate change is already affecting the country and the Granite State, particularly along the coast."We've seen a doubling of these nuisance or high-tide floods over the past 10 years," she said. "What we're expecting to see is an exponential increase in those. So, really large increases, not just a doubling the next 10 years but more than that."The report found that about 2,500 to 4,600 bridges across the United States are at risk from flooding, which would result in damage of about $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion each year by 2050."The challenge with a rural area is that if you have a storm, it washes out a bridge, and you have a bridge that's out for months at a time," Jacobs said. "People can't get from point A to point B. Small businesses depend upon people being able to get to their areas."It's a concern that state Department of Transportation officials said they're taking seriously. The DOT uses the National Climate Assessment to help determine where and how to build. "We're greatly concerned to a fact that we've done an evaluation of our assets and some of the climate variables that the department's concerned about, be it precipitation, sea-level rise, storm surge," said DOT research engineer Ann Scholz.Scholz said the effects of climate change are apparent based on New Hampshire's major disaster declarations. From 1980 to 2000, the state filed for assistance for 10 disasters. In the 18 years since, there have been 22 declarations."And that's not even counting the emergency response applications that we put into the federal Highway Department for reimbursement for these repairs," Schulz said.Over the long term, Scholz said roads and bridges might need to be built higher, and relocating might become necessary for those by the ocean."We're on a bad track right now for climate change," she said. "We're on one of the high-emission scenarios. So, in the future, if sea-level rise does occur, it's not only sea-level rise, but it's also raising our groundwater elevation, which can soften our sub base for our roadways, have impact to drinking water wells and septic systems that are in that area."Jacobs said it's time for policymakers to pay attention to the warning signs and to work to protect properties and infrastructure."Whether you take it to your community, whether you take it to the state to start making some of the changes that we need to make as a state," she said.