COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA RELEASES CLIMATE ADAPTATION PLAN PUBLIC SURVEY
By the County of Santa Barbara
The Santa Barbara County Planning and Development Department has released a Climate Adaptation Plan Survey and is seeking community input. Adapting to the changing climate and the associated hazards is more critical than ever, particularly as Santa Barbara County began the new year with flooding and damage from storms.
The County is seeking to learn about lived experiences of local residents in dealing with climate hazards. The community is asked to share by taking a short survey atwww.bit.ly/SBCAdapts. The results of this survey will help the County to develop a stronger, community-informed Climate Adaptation Plan.
The County continues to be focused on addressing how to support every region to be more resilient in the face of changing climate. This process began with the development of a Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment that was completed in November 2021. The Assessment is being used as a foundation to advance a Climate Adaptation Plan focused on unincorporated areas of the county.
“Our local communities are continuously being faced with new and more intense weather conditions and time and again they have demonstrated how resilient they can be,” shared Board Chair and First District Supervisor Das Williams. “We highly encourage all residents to take this opportunity to share their thoughts, concerns, and experiences as we look to implement strategies that will benefit community members countywide.”
Climate hazards like extreme heat, drought, flooding, and wildfire are ever present throughout Santa Barbara county. To increase resilience to these hazards, the Adaptation Plan process will establish key strategies and priority actions to address the greatest risks, reduce vulnerabilities, and protect people, places, and critical infrastructure.
Learn more about this project at www.countyofsb.org/adaptationplan. For any direct questions, please contact Whitney Wilkinson, Adaptation Plan Project Manager, atwwilkinson@countyofsb.org.
4 Comments
-
-
1
-
Mar 03, 2023 03:47 PMUncomfortable fact: fossil fuels are the number 1 thing that has helped humans survive climate hazards. It has literally saved billions of lives.
-
1
-
-
Mar 03, 2023 04:51 PMYour comedy schtick needs updating for the modern world.
-
1
-
1
-
Mar 03, 2023 03:19 PMClimate change has caused unprecedented wildfires, except for that fire that burned through Santa Barbara in the early 1830s leading Richard Henry Dana to describe Santa Barbara as being covered in grass with absolutely no trees in 1835. Climate change has also caused unprecedented drought, except for that time around 1850 when such a severe drought occurred that it wiped out livestock and caused the demise and subdivision of the old Spanish ranches throughout this area. In addition to drought, climate change has also caused unprecedented rain and snow (a bit of a contradiction to cause both of those things, but they’re working on a way to spin it), except for that time in the winter of 1862-1863 when massive atmospheric river rains lasting over a month followed and melted a tremendous snowpack and caused flooding that turned the Central Valley into an inland sea. This rain also transformed the area around mescalitan island and many other parts of california. Hmmm, history seems to suggest recent fires, droughts, and floods might not be as extreme or unprecedented as they are made out to be. In any case, it would be wise to prepare for these kinds of events since the historical record shows they have happened before.
-
2
-
-
Mar 03, 2023 11:50 AMThis was a helpful survey. It got me really thinking about how well my family and home are prepared for a natural disaster/emergency. Definitely going to stock up on some solar battery chargers and other gear! I encourage people to take this and let the County know what needs you have.
Believe in climate change or not, wildfires, flood, mudslides, are all real threats to our City. Put the politics aside for a while and be sure you are prepared!