UVM is part of a new regional collaboration to study the climate-related vulnerabilities of mobile home park communities. With funding announced this week from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA)s Climate Adaptation Partnerships program, the project brings together researchers from the Universities of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, as well as all three northern New England State Climatologists.
The project builds on previous research in Vermont led by Kelly Hamshaw and Dan Baker in the Dept. of Community Development and Applied Economics showing that mobile home communities are more likely to be impacted by risks posed by climate change such as high winds, flooding, and extreme temperatures. For example, during Tropical Storm Irene, mobile homes accounted for 15% of homes damaged during the storm, though mobile made up only 7% of the states housing stock.
Working with colleagues at UNH and UMaine, Hamshaw, Baker and Vermont State Climatologist Lesley-Ann Dupigny-Giroux will use the new funding from NOAA to create a database of mobile home park communities in the three states and convene meetings with mobile home residents to determine climate change impacts in different ecoregions across the Northeast. The meetings will also build relationships that will support climate resilience efforts with mobile home park frontline communities.
Read more in the UVM press release.