Climate Change

In the year since Superstorm Sandy and the more than two since Tropical Storm Irene, the focus of many Connecticut shoreline communities has been rebuilding. But one town - Guilford – has a second focus.  The Connecticut Mirror's Jan Ellen Spiegel reports it peers far, far into the future.

A year after Superstorm Sandy crashed into Connecticut's coastline, homeowners are still rebuilding and replanting. A new project is helping them make better choices about landscaping. A website, developed by Connecticut Sea Grant with the University of Connecticut can now help those owners figure out how best to protect their homes from storms and flooding.  It’s called the Coastal Riparian Landscaping Guide of Long Island Sound.

U.S. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut says municipalities need to encourage stricter zoning in coastal communities. That's so they can avoid the extensive property damage associated with extreme weather events like the recent Hurricane Sandy. Murphy was speaking at a forum he organized on Friday at the Yale Climate and Energy Institute.  Murphy said it will be difficult to accomplish such zoning changes.

A new joint effort by Connecticut and New York is aimed at identifying the signals, or sentinels, of climate change in and around Long Island Sound. The goal is to help the coastal areas of both states prepare for the effects of a changing climate. But as the CT Mirror's Jan Ellen Spiegel reports, for one key sentinel, time may already be running out.

Visit CT mirror for more photos