Climate Adaptation Center (CAC) TM
Right now, there exists a gaping hole that is preventing an effective response to the growing impacts of Climate Warming. While expertise is available and scientific knowledge is abundant, they are not available in a form that empowers coordinated adaptive/mitigation actions locally, regionally, across Florida and beyond. Adaptation and mitigation is not only necessary to protect our way of life until a permanent solution to the climate issue emerges, but they also represent one of the largest business opportunities of our lifetimes and promise to be a major driver of economic growth in the years and decades ahead. For this trend to emerge, it is time to integrate and curate climate data and knowledge so decision makers have confidence to move from thought to action by providing positive outcomes and results. While the pieces to understanding the climate puzzle are on the tabletop, one critical and necessary function is missing: Integration/Curation (IC). The so-called “debate on Climate Warming” has created uncertainty that is being exploited to the detriment of adaptation and mitigation strategies that are increasingly necessary in order to protect our way of life. Florida has deep expertise in climate related areas with more than a dozen institutes of higher learning. Our state has the financial means of being the 17th largest economic power in the world today. More importantly, however, Florida is experiencing major climate impacts now. More and more, acknowledgement of climate threats in our state and local area are becoming part of collective consciousness. No function exists currently to integrate and curate this knowledge and expertise in order to inform and advise government and private sectors so they can speed solutions to adapt and mitigate climate threats in our area and other areas. Every group is trying to grasp this issue, and because it is a multidisciplinary problem, it requires an integrated effort to create a “one picture, one vision” view of climate-impacted issues. In Florida these include Red Tide, human health (as it relates to a warming climate), changing hurricane characteristics and sea level rise. These missing IC (integration/curation) functions are going to be provided by the CACTM. Many groups and organizations are trying to develop a baseline understanding, and offering such a baseline would represent an enormous service to society so that this reliable baseline doesn’t have to be recreated over and over again endlessly. Without a common vision/picture/curated database, this difficulty arising out of a lack of a reliable baseline of data seen over the past 30 years will likely continue moving forward. Our team of experts is in the best position to solve this problem and help create real action to adapt to and mitigate the worst impacts from climate warming. It’s essential to note that almost every action to adapt and mitigate will also serve to create positive economic activity. As such, this effort will create a boom in entrepreneurial activity and spur existing companies to tailor their products and services to meet this significant need. With the help of CACTM the Climate Economy can emerge. The CAC’sTM purpose is to create a dynamic situational analysis (aka, picture) and to act as a credible broker, ensuring stakeholders concurrently see the entire climate picture. We know pictures are worth a thousand words! Today, that picture is loaded with clouds we intend to clear. Presently, multidisciplinary knowledge exists in silos around our state/world that have not been integrated into a complete view to inform and jump start actions that are increasingly necessary to mitigate the worst impacts of climate warming, while a more global solution emerges in the decades ahead. Noting that since 1990 the world’s knowledge base has doubled, there is reasonable certainty that given the time, a technical solution to the carbon caused global warming will be found. In the meantime, adaptation and mitigation strategies and their successful implementation give humankind TIME for a more global solution. Without the IC function, progress will be slow, fractured and less effective than it otherwise would be and would cost much more than coordinated action. IC is the critical unmet component to successfully completing the curated climate puzzle in a way that people can see it. The CACTM while providing this function also creates a forum to energize local, regional and statewide mitigation actions. The central role of the CACTM is to shine light upon the rich direct and indirect economic opportunities resulting from successful climate response. A host of companies, old and new, will develop new products and services once the common and dynamic situational analysis is shared and tailored for consumption by the many entities, enabling them to take action, not only to mitigate the worst impacts from the changing climate, but also to make money by doing so. While IC has not occurred on the Climate topic, it has been done elsewhere. In rare cancers, for example, a team of doctors, data specialists and support staff meets and treats patients as a team in order to produce better patient outcomes. This interdisciplinary approach yields the best results for patients and informs the knowledge advancement process. IC for Climate Warming should be no different! With respect to climate adaptation and mitigation, IC means completing the puzzle by combining the pieces including but not limited to:
• Science, technology & engineering expertise;
• Public policy development;
• New scientific and engineering initiatives;
• Governmental coordination on all levels;
• Academic response to providing more research to areas where new knowledge is critical for a “one picture” understanding;
• Private sector engagement catalyzing economic opportunities with an entrepreneurial burst of creativity. Creating a common vision of “what is,” and brokering the shared vision of “what can be” is the mission of the CACTM. Today there is too much conflicting information out there in cyberspace, much of it wrong and much of it intentionally placed there in order to confuse the situation. IC will provide a trusted actionable analysis. CACTM Sarasota is the first such venture in the world. Cutting through uncertainty though our process will jump start actions needed right now in order to mitigate the worst impacts from Climate Warming while also engaging the private sector leading to economic benefits. Bob Bunting, Atmospheric Scientist, CAC CEO
