Conference: CAS Climate: Synthesizing and assessing wholistic urban climate solutions in Texas

Texas A&M University, College Station TX

Investigators

Abstract

Urban populations and associated infrastructure continue to grow globally amidst the increasing risk of extreme heat, rainfall, and flooding, especially in high hazard regions and vulnerable areas. A wholistic understanding and assessment of our current state of knowledge on urban climate is thus greatly needed. A multi-day workshop will be conducted in Summer 2023 at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. The main theme of the workshop is to develop a research agenda for holistic urban solutions in response to climate change, using the fast-growing Texas as the case. A synthesis report on Texas urban climate will be produced and distributed to stakeholders to catalyze interdisciplinary efforts and facilitate real-world actions. The strong synthesis of knowledge and practices is crucial to guide future urban development strategies, environmental regulation, and adaptation recommendations to advance climate and environmental justice in both large cities and small towns. Developing resilient human settlements responding to climate change needs an integrated framework and interdisciplinary actions. The workshop will discuss the high-impact urban climate solutions in Texas, including adaptation and mitigation measures, and to plot a course forward for further research and application. The enhanced communication and collaboration among different research fields such as atmospheric sciences, urban planning, geography, public health, economics, civil engineering, computer science, etc., will enable the research community to efficiently and ethically tackle pressing climate and sustainability challenges facing people and urban system in coming decades. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.