Page 22 - Mapping the Nation: Taking Climate Action

21 The Climate Risk Map is designed to help New Mexico communities and residents learn more about factors that contribute to their climate change risk. To help communities tackle the challenges of climate change, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham issued Executive Order 2019-003 on Addressing Climate Change and Energy Waste Prevention in January 2019, which created the state's Interagency Climate Change Task Force. This group of state experts is focused on issues that need quick attention in each of the nine focus areas ranging from delivering clean energy to creating sustainable infrastructure. "The strength of this map is its ability to run different scenarios because everybody has a different focus," Lohmann said. "Users—whether an agency, a community group, or a local government—can relate it to what's most important to them. They can On May 2, 2022, thousands of residents were evacuated from Las Vegas in northern New Mexico as high winds blew embers ahead of the Calf Canyon Fire. The Calf Canyon Fire merged with the Hermits Peak Fire on April 22 after a significant wind event. The combined fire reached megafire status quickly, and became the largest fire in state history. "Fires can harm habitat and create conditions that cause major floods that impact drinking water quality," said Maria Lohmann, who coordinates the New Mexico Climate Change Task Force, cochaired by EMNRD Cabinet Secretary Sarah Cottrell-Propst and Environment Department Cabinet Secretary James Kenney. "It's really important that we start to talk about these repercussions because New Mexico has some really special and unique landscapes that are already struggling." In addition to the loss of habitat, fire damage poses an immediate threat when rainstorms carry away soil no longer held back by vegetation. This debris can clog channels and culverts, fill up reservoirs and retention ponds, and destroy fields and crops. see where the risks are and examine the issues." More Heat, Less Rain, and a Need for Cooling New Mexico recently conducted its yearly climate strategy report, which includes details about the state's transition to renewable energy and the goals to reduce energy costs. "With extreme heat coming, energy has to be reliable and affordable so people can cool themselves," said Robert Gomez, resilience coordinator for EMNRD's Sustainability and Resilience program. "Those kinds of connected factors have to be built into our ongoing resilience and adaptation plans." The changes in climate and high fuel loads create the conditions for catastrophic fires. "We have really set ourselves up for some potentially serious situations there," Gomez said. In New Mexico, and across the greater southwest, fuel conditions coupled with projected increases in seasonal temperatures and decreases in annual precipitation increase the potential for more frequent, intense, and extended wildfires.