IAN hosts climate change workshops

Climate change report mockupMaryland is a national leader in planning for climate change, and IAN is helping the adaptation planning effort. The Adaptation & Response and Scientific & Technical Working Groups of the Maryland Commission on Climate Change have been charged with taking state adaptation planning beyond coastal vulnerability (addressed in the Climate Action Plan in 2008). Kate Boicourt (UMCES) and Zoe Johnson (DNR) have been looking at impacts, strategy, and information gaps by establishing six sector-based subgroups: agriculture, water resources, bay & aquatic ecosystems, forests & terrestrial ecosystems, human health, and growth & infrastructure. Bill Dennison and Dave Nemazie have facilitated the first meetings. Common themes have been maintaining connections between sectors, managing for flexibility in the face of uncertainty, invasive species and pests, and concern about the capacity of current and future infrastructure to handle rapid change. Groups will meet again in the new year to hone the first comprehensive adaptation recommendations.