Author: Isaac Gendler

Medical Responders for Heat Waves

Medical Responders for Heat Waves

01/28/23

“Why are medical responders critical during heat waves?”

Heat waves are public health emergencies. The intense strain they put on human bodies can lead to dehydration, stroke, and even death. Medical Responders for Heat Waves play a critical role in responding to such events. They can perform actions such as placing people on I.V systems, setting up cooling centers, and rushing large numbers of people to hospitals. As the climate warms with each passing minute, these medical professionals are only going to become more important.

Why Community Resiliency Assessment Metrics Need to Be Co-Developed With the Communities Being Assessed

Why Community Resiliency Assessment Metrics Need to Be Co-Developed With the Communities Being Assessed

01/27/23

“Why do community resiliency assessment metrics need to be co-developed with the communities being assessed?”

Urban Planners develop community resiliency assessment metrics to determine the adaptive capacity of a place. However, if these planners do not have any connection with the communities, the methodology they develop may miss important nuances and give an inaccurate portrayal. For example, an economic evaluation of a low-income neighborhood may make it sound like it has no hope when a disaster strikes. But the community may be tight-knit and well-organized, positioning itself to be self-reliant during climate impacts. To capture these elements, the communities will need to be a part of the metrics development process. This is Why Community Resiliency Assessment Metrics Need to Be Co-Developed With the Communities Being Assessed

Why Building Codes Should Incorporate Future Temperature Projections

Why Building Codes Should Incorporate Future Temperature Projections

01/26/23

“Why should building codes incorporate future temperature projections?”

Building codes often take into account local temperatures in their guidance. For example, California’s Title 24 building energy efficiency codes require residential units to have minimum ceiling and wall insulation values corresponding to their local climate zone. With the advent of climate change, the temperatures in such climate zones will shift, and the buildings built today must withstand this new paradigm. To illustrate, the Californian city of Fresno is projected to experience 10 times as many heat days per year between 2050 and 2099 than what it experienced from 1961 to 2005. Policymakers should start considering Why Building Codes Should Incorporate Future Temperature Projections to protect their citizens.

Why Public Utility Commissions Will Need to Integrate Climate Adaptation into Utility Regulations

Why Public Utility Commissions Will Need to Integrate Climate Adaptation into Utility Regulations

01/25/23

“Why will public utility commissions need to integrate climate adaptation into utility regulations?”

Climate change has arrived. Vast swaths of California are burning. Bangladesh is flooding. The Sahel is turning more and more into a desert. Utilities are going to have to adapt to this new paradigm. However, if there are no regulations to govern them, they might propose solutions that don’t benefit their customers. For example, they could harden their infrastructure to climate pathways that are considered too extreme by most scientists, just so they can extract as much money as possible. To solve this, public utility commissions will have to step in and enforce regulations on these organizations. Actions to undertake this range from bringing climate adaptation matters into rate case proceedings to forcing adherence to particular standards. This is Why Public Utility Commissions Will Need to Integrate Climate Adaptation into Utility Regulations

Why Floods Can Disrupt Telecommunications Infrastructure

Why Floods Can Disrupt Telecommunications Infrastructure

01/24/23

“Why can floods disrupt telecommunications infrastructure?”

Telecommunications infrastructure comes in the forms of wires, wi-fi units, radio/cell towers, and much more. However, their physical nature puts them at risk during floods. Water can seep into underground cables and damage them. Strong winds can knock down communications towers, disrupting service in the surrounding neighborhood. Power shut offs can sap the energy from internet providers. Heavy rains can muddle satellite communications. With all of this in mind, it’s easy to see Why Floods Can Disrupt Telecommunications Infrastructure.

Why Climate Disasters Exacerbate Domestic Violence

Why Climate Disasters Exacerbate Domestic Violence

01/23/23

“Why do climate disasters exacerbate domestic violence?”

When climate disasters occur, people lose their resources and are forced to shelter in places for long periods of time. This can lead people to being entrapped with domestic abusers without the ability to escape. Worse, the immediate chaos surrounding the disaster makes it more difficult to report and get assistance from authorities. This is Why Climate Disaster Exacerbates Domestic Violence. Disaster professionals will need to consider ways to mitigate these risks and ensure the protection of victims.

Why Emergency Management Professionals Need to Consider the Effects of Contaminated Rainwater on Residents’ Teeth

Why Emergency Management Professionals Need to Consider the Effects of Contaminated Rainwater on Residents’ Teeth

01/22/23

“Why will emergency management professionals need to consider the effects of contaminated rainwater on residents’ health?”

During disasters, people may need to become reliant on stored rainwater. However, if it is not properly kept, the water may become contaminated. This could lead to a myriad of health effects, including dental hygiene issues. Bacteria and chemicals in the water can rot teeth and harm gums. Preventive measures include issuing boil water notices, providing residents with adequate dental supplies, and having dentists available on call. This is Why Emergency Management Professionals Need to Consider the Effects of Contaminated Storage Water on Residents’ Teeth.

Railroad Infrastructure Reassessment in Face of Climate Change

Railroad Infrastructure Reassessment in Face of Climate Change

01/21/23

“Why will railroad companies have to reassess their infrastructure in the face of climate change?”

Railroad companies often perform assessments of their infrastructure. However, climate change will vastly impact their systems, whether it be heat waves causing roads to buckle or sea-level rise swallowing entire transit paths. To ensure the safety of the public, these organizations will have to perform Railroad Infrastructure Reassessment in Face of Climate Change.

How Digitization Can Help Preserve Historical Records

How Digitization Can Help Preserve Historical Records

01/20/23

“How can digitization help preserve historical records?”

Historical records are one of the foundations of human culture. Whether it be ancient Babylonian clay tablets or 19th-century Bengali love letters, these items hold a preserve of what life was like in the past. But like all objects in the universe, they are subject to decay. Harsh weather can run ink out of documents, wars can lead to the burning of libraries, and entropy can naturally wear down materials. So what can we do to prevent their loss? Well, one solution comes through the use of digitization. By digitizing historical records, or uploading images of them to computer systems, we can have copies free of physical constraints. Not only can we create backups of this to last long periods of time, but we can pass them around databases so the entire world has them This is How Digitization Can Help Preserve Historical Records.