CH2M Hill, CLIMsystems Team Up to Provide Impact Modeling
CH2M HILL of Denver, Colo., has teamed with CLIMsystems Ltd, a New Zealand-based company that provides state-of-the-art climate change impact and adaptation software tools. Under the alliance, the consulting firm will work with the software company to apply its SimCLIM computer modeling system for North American clients.
The SimCLIM modeling system contains climate and sea-level scenario generators that are compatible with the latest assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). CLIMsystems Chairman of the Board and Director Richard Warrick shared in the Nobel Peace Prize along with other key individuals in the IPCC in 2007. He also recently won the 2009 Bayer Innovators award in New Zealand for the development of the SimCLIM system.
The model allows users to understand current and potential future climate patterns, assess related risks to facilities and infrastructure, and test climate change adaptation measures for present-day conditions and future scenarios of climate change.
The companies currently are applying the modeling system to several projects in North America. These include multiple assessments of sea level rise and storm surge and resulting impacts in coastal zones, as well as the potential impact of increased extreme storm events and risk of flooding. The software also is being applied to an assessment for the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) and the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) to develop an estimate of the costs associated with climate change adaptation for U.S. water and wastewater utilities through the year 2050.