Porosity : Networking Cities for a Changing Climate

On October 28th 2013 Hurricane Sandy hit land on the East Coast of the United States. The deadliest storm to hit the country since 2005 it caused tens of billions of dollars in damage, destroyed thousands of homes, left millions without electric service, and caused 117 deaths in the United States, including 53 in New York, making Sandy the most life costly hurricane to hit the United States mainland since Hurricane Katrina. In all an estimated 186 people were killed across the United States, the Caribbean, and Canada. In the immediate aftermath of the storm not only did the emergency services, state and federal government implement emergency plans of action, including both direct intervention on the ground and massive financial support, so too did a number of charities, community and residents groups across the US. One of the most surprising of these groups was what became known as Occupy Sandy. As noted by the Homeland Security Studies and Analysis Institute: “Within hours of Sandy’s landfall, members from the Occupy Wall Street movement used social media to tap the wider Occupy network for volunteers and aid. Overnight, a volunteer army of young, educated, tech-savvy individuals with time and a desire to help others emerged. In the days, weeks, and months that followed, “Occupy Sandy” became one of the leading humanitarian groups providing relief to survivors across New York City and New Jersey. At its peak, it had grown to an estimated 60,000 volunteers—more than four times the number deployed by the American Red Cross.” What this phenomenon clearly demonstrates is the potential for digital networking to improve response to catastrophic storm events at a community level. Far from being solely a question of material support and logistics, the response to the disaster was one equally definable as digital. Pointing to the possible rethinking of issues around the extreme and localised consequences of climate change and responses to it in purely traditional infrastructural terms, the social media focused organisation of Occupy Sandy potentially offers us a new frame of reference to deal with these, and less catastrophic issues around climate change and our response to it. This paper provides a discussion of the projected impacts of global environmental change in urban environments in the United States, with a particular focus on their impact on existing storm and sanitary water infrastructure. However, it theorizes a new approach to this archaic system of infrastructure that exploits social networking tools and digital technologies to build greater networks for climate change resilience across the United States and, by extension, elsewhere.

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Return Migration after Natural Disasters

Journal of Asian Development ◽

10.5296/jad.v3i1.10742 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mikiyasu Nakayama ◽

Nicholas Nicholas Bryner ◽

Satoru Mimura

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Natural Disasters ◽

Hurricane Katrina ◽

Case Studies ◽

Return Migration ◽

The United States ◽

Hurricane Sandy ◽

Indian Ocean Tsunami ◽

Special Issue ◽

Post Disaster

This special issue features policy priorities, public perceptions, and policy options for addressing post-disaster return migration in the United States, Japan, and a couple of Asian countries. It includes a series of case studies in these countries, which are based on a sustained dialogue among scholars and policymakers about whether and how to incentivize the return of displaced persons, considering social, economic, and environmental concerns. The research team, composed of researchers from Indonesia, Japan, Sri Lanka, and the United States, undertook a collaborative and interdisciplinary research process to improve understanding about how to respond to the needs of those displaced by natural disasters and to develop policy approaches for addressing post-disaster return. The research focused on the following three key issues: objectives of return migration (whether to return, in what configuration, etc.), priorities and perceptions that influence evacuees’ decision-making regarding return, and policies and practices that are used to pursue return objectives. This special issue includes ten articles on the following disaster cases: the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the Great Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, and the Great Sumatra Island Earthquake in 2009. Important lessons for the future were secured out of these case studies, covering the entire phase of return, namely planning, implementation, and monitoring.

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GOVERNANCE OF THE FACEBOOK PRIVACY CRISIS

Pittsburgh Journal of Technology Law and Policy ◽

10.5195/tlp.2020.234 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Lawrence J. Trautman

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

New York ◽

Social Media ◽

Audit Committee ◽

New York Times ◽

The United States ◽

Front Page ◽

Select Committee ◽

The New York Times ◽

Social Media Platforms

In November 2018, The New York Times ran a front-page story describing how Facebook concealed knowledge and disclosure of Russian-linked activity and exploitation resulting in Kremlin led disruption of the 2016 and 2018 U.S. elections, through the use of global hate campaigns and propaganda warfare. By mid-December 2018, it became clear that the Russian efforts leading up to the 2016 U.S. elections were much more extensive than previously thought. Two studies conducted for the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), by: (1) Oxford University’s Computational Propaganda Project and Graphika; and (2) New Knowledge, provide considerable new information and analysis about the Russian Internet Research Agency (IRA) influence operations targeting American citizens.By early 2019 it became apparent that a number of influential and successful high growth social media platforms had been used by nation states for propaganda purposes. Over two years earlier, Russia was called out by the U.S. intelligence community for their meddling with the 2016 American presidential elections. The extent to which prominent social media platforms have been used, either willingly or without their knowledge, by foreign powers continues to be investigated as this Article goes to press. Reporting by The New York Times suggests that it wasn’t until the Facebook board meeting held September 6, 2017 that board audit committee chairman, Erskin Bowles, became aware of Facebook’s internal awareness of the extent to which Russian operatives had utilized the Facebook and Instagram platforms for influence campaigns in the United States. As this Article goes to press, the degree to which the allure of advertising revenues blinded Facebook to their complicit role in offering the highest bidder access to Facebook users is not yet fully known. This Article can not be a complete chapter in the corporate governance challenge of managing, monitoring, and oversight of individual privacy issues and content integrity on prominent social media platforms. The full extent of Facebook’s experience is just now becoming known, with new revelations yet to come. All interested parties: Facebook users; shareholders; the board of directors at Facebook; government regulatory agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); and Congress must now figure out what has transpired and what to do about it. These and other revelations have resulted in a crisis for Facebook. American democracy has been and continues to be under attack. This article contributes to the literature by providing background and an account of what is known to date and posits recommendations for corrective action.

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"Hurricane" Sandy

10.37419/jpl.v5.i2.3 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 157-192

Author(s):

Cheryl L. Pollak

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

New York ◽

Local Governments ◽

The United States ◽

Hurricane Sandy ◽

Small Business Administration ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

District Court ◽

Flood Insurance ◽

Recent Experience

On the evening of October 29, 2012, “Hurricane” Sandy made land- fall on the New York coastline, battering the land with strong winds, torrential rain, and record-breaking storm surges. Homes and commercial structures were destroyed; roads and tunnels were flooded; and more than 23,000 people sought refuge in temporary shelters, with many others facing weeks without power and electricity. At the time, Sandy was heralded as one of the costliest hurricanes in the his- tory of the United States; the second costliest hurricane only to Katrina, which hit New Orleans in 2005. Unfortunately, recent experience with Hurricanes Florence, Maria, Harvey, and Irma suggest that this pattern of devastating superstorms may become the new norm as climate change produces more extreme and unpredictable weather events. In Sandy’s aftermath, as individuals returned to their homes, or what remained of them, and communities began to rebuild, the true cost of the storm became apparent. A year after the storm, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”) estimated that over $1.4 billion in assistance was provided to 182,000 survivors of the dis- aster; another $3.2 billion was provided to state and local governments for debris removal, infrastructure repair, and emergency protective measures. More than $2.4 billion was provided to individuals and businesses in the form of low-interest loans through the Small Business Administration (“SBA”), and millions more were spent on grants de- signed to implement mitigation measures in the future and to provide unemployment assistance to survivors. Before the storm, homeowners paid premiums for flood insurance provided through the National Flood Insurance Program (“NFIP”), and for homeowner’s insurance provided by dozens of private insurers. In the months following the storm, they began to file claims for assistance in rebuilding their homes. While many such claims were re- solved successfully, many homeowners were unhappy with the settlement amounts offered by their insurance carriers and felt compelled to file lawsuits in the surrounding state and federal courts. Many of those lawsuits were filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (“EDNY”). This case study describes the EDNY’s specifically crafted, unique approach to handling the mass litigation that ensued from Sandy’s devastation, documents some of the problems that the Court faced during that mass litigation, and describes some of the lessons learned from the Court’s experience.

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Contemporary Practice of the United States Relating to International Law

The American Journal of International Law ◽

10.2307/2203855 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 87 (1) ◽

pp. 103-111

Author(s):

Marian Nash

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

United States ◽

New York ◽

United Nations ◽

International Law ◽

The United States ◽

George Bush ◽

Environment And Development ◽

The United Nations ◽

Contemporary Practice

On September 8, 1992, President George Bush transmitted to the Senate for advice and consent to ratification the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, adopted at New York on May 9, 1992, by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Framework Convention on Climate Change and signed on behalf of the United States at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro on June 12, 1992.

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Hurricanes and their Environmental Effects in the United States

International Supply Chain Technology Journal ◽

10.20545/isctj.v3i11.127 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 3 (11) ◽

Author(s):

Telisa Fears ◽

Katrina Walls ◽

Jeffalyn Johnson ◽

Courtney Boston

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

United States ◽

Environmental Factors ◽

Hurricane Katrina ◽

Well Being ◽

The United States ◽

Ecological Systems ◽

Ecological Effects ◽

Human Understanding ◽

The U.S

Previous research concerning climate change in the United States clearly illustrates the necessity for observing how ecological systems are influenced by natural disasters (Staudinger et. al. 2013; Nelson et. al. 2013). Traditionally, ecology is concerned with the relationships between organisms (human and other living beings) and their environment (Tyler & Spoolman, 2013). Human understanding of how organisms are affected by, how they adapt to, and how they work to sustain their environment has become even more diverse in recent years (Staudinger et. al. 2013). This may be due to a number of environmental factors that have occurred in recent years. However, this paper seeks to examine the ecological effects of the wind factor. In particular, we address the ecological effects of hurricanes as it relates to (1) environmental outcomes and alterations among organisms in the United States, (2) the well-being and adaptation of human and organismic life (i.e. animals, plants, etc.) post Hurricane Katrina and Camille (3) and how hurricanes alter and transform health and restoration patterns in the U.S.

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Establishing Climate Change Resilience in the Great Lakes in Response to Flooding

Journal of Science Policy & Governance ◽

10.38126/jspg170105 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (01) ◽

Author(s):

Gwendolyn E Gallagher ◽

Ryan K Duncombe ◽

Timothy M Steeves

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

United States ◽

Water Quality ◽

Great Lakes ◽

Environmental Protection Agency ◽

High Water ◽

The United States ◽

Water Levels ◽

Storm Events ◽

Freshwater Resource

Over the past decade, both the average rainfall and the frequency of high precipitation storm events in the Great Lakes Basin have been steadily increasing as a consequence of climate change. In this same period, cities and communities along the coasts are experiencing record high water levels and severe flooding events (ECC Canada et al. 2018). When cities are unprepared for these floods, the safety of communities and the water quality of the Great Lakes are jeopardized. For example, coastal flooding increases runoff pollution and contaminates the freshwater resource that 40 million people rely on for drinking water (Lyandres and Welch 2012, Roth 2016). Since the Great Lakes are shared between two nations, the United States and Canada, the region is protected by several international treaties and national compacts, including the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). In order to increase climate change resiliency against flooding in the region, we recommend the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) work with Environment and Climate Change Canada to relocate the GLRI under the GLWQA in order to guarantee consistent funding and protection efforts. We additionally recommend expansion of both agreements in their scope and long-term commitments to engender cooperative efforts to protect the Great Lakes against climate change.

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Investigation of superstorm Sandy 2012 in a multi-disciplinary approach

Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/nhessd-1-625-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 625-679 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

M. Kunz ◽

B. Mühr ◽

T. Kunz-Plapp ◽

J.E. Daniell ◽

B. Khazai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Hurricane Katrina ◽

The United States ◽

Hurricane Sandy ◽

Economic Losses ◽

Weather System ◽

Cascading Effects ◽

The Us ◽

The Caribbean ◽

The Impact

Abstract. At the end of October 2012, Hurricane Sandy moved from the Caribbean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean and entered the United States not far from New York. Along its track, Sandy caused more than 200 fatalities and severe losses in Jamaica, Bahamas, Haiti, Cuba, and the US. This paper demonstrates the capability and potential for near-real time analysis of catastrophes. It is shown that the impact of Sandy was driven by the superposition of different extremes (high wind speeds, storm surge, heavy precipitation) and by cascading effects. In particular the interaction between Sandy and an extra-tropical weather system created a huge storm that affected large areas in the US. It is examined how Sandy compares to historic hurricane events, both from a hydro-meteorological and impact perspective. The distribution of losses to different sectors of the economy is calculated with simple input-output models as well as government estimates. Direct economic losses are estimated about 4.2 billion US$ in the Caribbean and between 78 and 97 billion US$ for the US. Indirect economic losses from power outages is estimated in the order of 16.3 billion US$. Modelling sector-specific dependencies, quantifies total business interruption losses between 10.8 and 15.5 billion US$. Thus, seven years after the record impact of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Hurricane Sandy is the second costliest hurricane in the history of the United States.

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MAKING MARKETS: INFORMATION AND PARODY IN VICTORIAN COMMERCIAL REPRESENTATION

Victorian Literature and Culture ◽

10.1017/s1060150317000377 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 46 (1) ◽

pp. 157-180

Author(s):

Aeron Hunt

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

New York ◽

Social Media ◽

Initial Public Offering ◽

New York Times ◽

The United States ◽

General Motors ◽

Public Offering ◽

Red Bull ◽

Media Company

In the early months of 2012 excitement built for the initial public offering of Facebook, the behemoth social media company with the boy-wonder CEO. Two days before shares began trading on May 18, the IPO was expected to generate $16 billion for the company, placing it third after General Motors and Visa in the list of largest IPOs in the United States to that date. In the “frenzy” leading up to the IPO, the New York Times reported waiting lists at events for potential investors and speculation about where “newly minted Facebook billionaires” would go for a drink, while the company revealed its plans to celebrate with a “hackathon” featuring employee DJs and Red Bull (Rusli and Eavis).

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