Climate Resilience Center

Space Coast RESCUE (REsilience Solutions for Climate, Urbanization, and Environment)

The Florida Space Coast faces climate resilience challenges and risks that are representative of many coastal communities. These hazards include heat stress, extreme precipitation, hurricanes (wind, surge, and flooding), and coastal erosion. Inland flooding events are increasing due to development, heavy precipitation and subsequent stormwater runoff, which also affects water quality and human health.

For those who live along Indian River Lagoon, a narrow 250 km long coastal estuary that is subject to many anthropogenic stressors including urban encroachment, the local flooding risks are increased. The combination of climate change and associated economic stresses is particularly acute in the marginalized areas of these coastal communities. In recent years, energy costs, and homeowners’ insurance rates have nearly doubled and are three times the national average. These challenges disproportionately impact the disadvantaged, creating roadblocks to clean energy solutions and climate resilience efforts in areas with the greatest needs.

To address these challenges, Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech) has partnered with Department of Energy (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) and a local grassroots organization on a climate resilience project that will:

1. Engage with local disadvantaged communities by collaborating with grassroots nonprofits and Title 1 schools on Florida’s Space Coast,
2. Use new and existing DOE Argonne datasets and model simulations to provide comprehensive information to stakeholders and community leaders on climate impacts and coastal resilience, and
3. Formulate practical adaptation strategies. In particular, we propose to:
   1. Identify weather patterns that impact the local sea-breeze, relate these to summer rainfall and, in the case of tropical storms and hurricanes, to extreme coastal and Lagoon related flooding from the combined effects of heavy rainfall and wind-driven water;
   2. Identify the impact of urban heat island and changes in precipitation on future heat stress;
   3. Conduct audits and drone-supported thermal mapping to assess current building energy use and efficiency in order to identify ways to reduce energy consumption;
   4. Perform model simulation of buildings in disadvantaged areas with the use of downscaled future climate data to evaluate the increased energy demands due to climate change and explore cost-effective solutions;
   5. Engage the underserved community in citizen science and crowd-sourcing projects related to flooding and heat island monitoring; and
   6. promote outreach and science translation by: supporting a liaison position between the project and underserved community, participating in a local summer educational camp, climate resilience forums, and the development of climate resilient community gardens.

An essential component of the project is to establish proactive and cost-effective strategies that effectively address local climate issues, enhance and inform urban infrastructure, and safeguard the environment. Our solutions will involve the development of evidence-based ‘best’ practices, maps of neighborhood heat stress and flooding and building energy tools that aid in urban planning in the underserved community in the Space Coast.