Kristy Dahl

Climate scientist

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Kristina Dahl is a climate scientist who designs, executes, and communicates scientific analyses that make climate change more tangible to the general public and policy makers. Her research focuses on the impacts of climate change--particularly sea level rise--on people and the places and institutions they care about. Dr. Dahl holds a Ph.D. in paleoclimate from the MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Cambridge and Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

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Photo: WClarke/Wikimedia Commons

How Do Big Oil Companies Talk about Climate Science? Four Takeaways from a Day in Court

March 22, 2018 2:09 PM EDT

In front of a standing room only courtroom audience, the case of The People of California vs. B.P. P.L.C. et al. took an important step forward yesterday. In this case, the cities of San Francisco and Oakland, CA, are aiming to hold five major fossil fuel companies responsible for climate damages, particularly with respect to sea level rise. So how did the big oil company defendants present their version of climate science? And how did it compare to the scientific consensus? Together with my UCS colleague Deborah Moore, Western States Senior Campaign Manager, I was lucky enough to get a seat in the courtroom. Here are four of our takeaways from the day: Read more >

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Sea Level Rise Will Make Oregon’s Existing Flooding Problems Worse

January 31, 2018 9:23 AM EDT

In 2013 Annie Pollard opened her pub, the 7 Devils Brewing Co., in Coos Bay, Oregon. Less than two years later, the pub flooded during a heavy rain that coincided with a high tide, and Pollard found herself stacking sandbags and mopping up floodwaters. While high tide flooding is relatively infrequent in Coos Bay, when it does occur, businesses like Pollard’s are at risk, and inundated roads cause traffic in town to snarl. Pollard and other business owners are acutely aware that such floods could become a much bigger problem for Coos Bay in the future. Read more >

JXBauer/Flickr
Rob More for the Oregon King Tides Photo Project
Oregon Global Warming Commission
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Three Ways Fox News Misleads its Readers on Sea Level Rise

December 20, 2017 3:18 PM EDT

Last week I was quoted in a Fox News article with the headline of “’Arbitrary’ adjustments exaggerate sea level rise, study finds.” Out of the dozens of news pieces I’ve contributed quotes to this year, this one stands out as one of the few–if not the only–written with a climate denial stance. I want to highlight three ways that this particular Fox News piece misleads its audience on the science of sea level rise. Read more >

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Fast and Getting Faster: The Verdict on Sea Level Rise from the Latest National Climate Assessment

November 3, 2017 1:51 PM EDT

Sea level rose more rapidly during the 20th century than during any of the previous 27 centuries, and humans bear the lion’s share of the responsibility for that rise. That’s just one of the sobering takeaways from the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s Climate Science Special Report (CSSR), released today, but leaked to the New York Times in August. Billed as Volume 1 of the Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA), the CSSR captures the state of sea level rise science and its implications for the coasts of our country.

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Sweet et al. 2017
NASA
Simran Paintlia for mycoast.org
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This is the extent of flooding from Hurricane Sandy in Cape May, NJ (left) vs. the area that would flood twice monthly by 2100 due to sea level rise (right)

This Is Your Planet on Sea Level Rise. Any Questions?

October 27, 2017 11:02 AM EDT

There are moments when your own data stops you dead in your tracks. I had one of those moments a few months ago. Read more >

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