Adapting to change

The STORIA team has become increasingly focused on topics related to climate change and the impacts of sea level rise from melting polar ice sheets, wind shifts, and other causes. Scientists across the globe continue to measure and estimate the rate of ice loss in the Antarctic, Greenland, and the Arctic, droughts in the Amazon and other climate-related events, and our team monitors this with great interest.

Our combined passions for climate science and business have resulted in a new start-up venture: Carbon Observatory, which we anticipate will have an important role to play in helping monitor and audit global forest preservation efforts and help auditors attest to carbon value. Watch for more as this develops.

This week we attended an excellent panel discussion on sustainability organized by the French American Chamber of Commerce San Francisco (FACCSF). The event featured talks by Silicon Valley companies like Adobe and NetApp that have not only proven to be great places to work, but have also demonstrated substantial ROI by reducing energy consumption. While often portrayed as the foe of conservation efforts, the business community is much less frequently acknowledged for its efforts to lower energy use.

Speaking of which, a tip of the hat goes to Adam Grant Building owners and managers GRE Sansome LLC and Seagate Properties, who are pursuing LEED Gold Certification for the building that we call home, along with several other San Francisco businesses and organizations. Greening the building is no small feat considering the structure originally opened in 1908. Coolest new addition: An urban rooftop beehive managed by the Marin Bee Company. Bzzzz!
 
Our reading list this month includes “Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do about It” by Anna Lapp?. Author Lapp? offers hope, humor, and practical solutions we can all employ, beginning with choices in what and how we eat. And you don’t have to resort to ink-on-paper and fossil fuel delivery trucks to enjoy the read—a podcast is available through the iTunes store, and e-books are available for both Kindle and Nook.

Adaptation has become the watchword of many in the scientific community and beyond, and we are happy to have recently discovered the San Francisco Planning + Urban Research Association’s efforts in this area. SPUR has published a report entitled, “Climate Change Hits Home,” which discusses the potential threats to the San Francisco Bay Area and presents both mitigation and adaptation strategies for each. We found this to be an exceptionally well written report with a view of what needs to happen in and around our local coastal cities to protect life, livelihoods, valuable infrastructure, and biodiversity.

Another group with local ties we greatly admire is 350.org, which seeks to build a global movement to resolve the climate crisis by encouraging development of renewable energy sources and eliminating the extraction and use of fossil fuels. A recent blog post from the 350 team offered links to a newly released energy report from the WWF, whose goal is “100% renewable energy by 2050.” For those who want hands on involvement, check out Moving Planet, a global rally to be held September 24, 2011.