As communities close to home and around the globe experience increasingly severe and frequent weather impacts, climate change is top of mind for individuals and countries alike. One of the greatest culprits in a warming Earth is the increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Heavy summer rainfall is common in the hot and humid subtropical climate of the Southeast. What happens to all that water? Until communities flood or their water sources become contaminated, most of us don’t think about it. In fact, excess stormwater runoff can damage land and buildings, parks, playgrounds and more. As stormwater flows over land, it picks up contaminants including debris, oils, grease, metals and excess nutrients from fertilizers. If not mitigated, it can contaminate habitats and waterways.

During times of natural disaster, an entire network of resources and people must come together to repair and rebuild essential infrastructure that allows for provision of critical services—including medical care, clean water and fresh food—all of which require a reliable and steady source of electricity. Individual entities might provide for their own backup power with generators or microgrids that continue working when shared electrical infrastructure is down. But how can communities ensure more equitable access to electricity during emergencies? Resilience hubs are one way.