"Wisdom begins in wonder" – Socrates
Month: April 2020
Why a Complete Drought Might Stop Wildfires
04/30/20
“Why might a complete drought stop wildfires?”
Northern California’s wildfire potential is caused by the early rains creating a wildlife bloom and bone-dry Summer making it all brittle. However, if there was a complete drought with absolutely no rainfall all year round, then there would no vegetation, turning the area into a wildfire-free desert environment. This is Why a Complete Drought Might Stop Wildfires.
Wildfire Simulation
04/29/20
“How can we simulate wildfires?”
Wildfires can cause damage in often unpredictable ways. In order to add a deeper level of risk analysis to this, Wildfires Simulations can be done to compute what a possible wildfire would look like. Wildfire simulations can take in aspects such as Wind speed, wind direction, fuel moisture content, fuelscape, ignition location, ignition probability, containment probability, fire duration.
Image credit http://www.firelab.org
Why Affordable Housing Streamlining Would Help Build Climate Resilience
04/28/20
“How would affordable housing streamlining help build climate resilience?”
With more affordable housing built in safe areas, people of all income levels will be able to live away from the most horrendous effects of climate change. However, the pipeline process for building affordable housing can be extremely difficult. If this is reformed, then more climate-resilient housing will be available for use. This is Why Affordable Housing Streamlining Would Help Combat Climate Change.
Short Distance Climate Migration
04/27/20
“How will there be climate migration over small distances?”
When many people think of climate migration, they imagine massive waves of people crossing long distances to far-off countries. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Since people are tied to the places they inhabit, many will just move a small distance of around a few kilometers (if even!). Illustrations of this can be found in coastal Alaskan villages, where residents move to be as close as possible to their original sites. Short Distance Climate Migration will be a very visible feature in the future.
Planning for Different Levels of Sea-Level Rise
04/26/20
“How can we plan for different levels of sea-level rise?”
Sea-level rise is going to occur because of climate change. However, the level of rise depends on how much hotter the world is over pre-industrial levels. Since there are multiple possibilities contingent upon carbon emissions rate and time passed, urban areas are going to have to plan for different levels of sea-level rise. This can be accomplished by consulting local citizens and technical experts as well as performing risk and cost-benefit analysis. This is how Planning for Different Levels of Sea-Level Rise will work.
Why We Still Need to Focus on Climate Change Throughout the COVID Epidemic
04/25/20
“Why do we need to focus on climate change throughout the COVID epidemic?”
Governments and communities around the world are harnessing all of their focus on the (as of writing) current COVID epidemic. Although this is necessary given present circumstances, climate change is still occurring and will continue to grow given current consumption habits. If we forget about this problem, then we will be unprepared for the myriad of climate-induced effects coming our way. For example, fire season will start-up in Northern California around the time COVID begins to become under more control. If nothing is done about this, then a catastrophe will be waiting to happen. This is Why We Still Need to Focus on Climate Change Throughout the COVID Epidemic.
How Disasters Reveal Municipal Financial Weaknesses
04/24/20
“How do disasters reveal financial weaknesses?”
When a disaster strikes, municipalities have to use funds on hand to combat the crisis. Municipalities that are lower in funding will have more visible problems during and after the effects. This is How Disasters Reveal Municipal Financial Weaknesses.
Computational Demography for Climate Adaptation
04/23/20
“How can computational demographic methods be applied to climate adaptation?”
With the advent of climate change, human populations will be migrating in an unprecedented manner. To study this, advanced social science methods will need to be utilized. Computational Demography will be especially useful given its novel structure and ability to process vast amounts of complex data. Examples could range from analyzing safe spots in Bangladesh for people to move away from perpetual flooding or categorizing social vulnerability to wildfires in a population. This is how Computational Demography for Climate Adaptation will become especially useful.
Computational Demography
04/22/20
“How can we apply computational methods to demography?”
Demography is a centuries-old field of study relying upon time-honed methods. However, with the advent of computers, more advanced statistical processing in the form of Computational Demography. Computational demography uses computer resources to understand populational change and characteristic development.
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