Category: Earth/Climate science

Why Landscape Architects Will Need to Consider How Any Planned Vegetation Will Respond to Future Climate Conditions

Why Landscape Architects Will Need to Consider How Any Planned Vegetation Will Respond to Future Climate Conditions

01/15/20

“Why will landscape architects need to think about how the future climate will affect their plans?”

Climate change is affecting everything, Even the plants that are used by landscape architects! Although people from this profession tend to think that using native plants is the best for landscape climate adaptation, the fact is that in a few decades climate change will completely change the biomes of the local area. This is Why Landscape Architects Will Need to Consider How Any Planned Vegetation Will Respond to Future Climate Conditions.

Black Saturday Bushfires, Australia

Black Saturday Bushfires, Australia

01/13/20

“What bushfires changed Australia’s fire-resistance paradigm forever?”

On 7 February 2009, an event transpires that would leave shock Australia to its foundation. Early that morning, the state of Victoria had been experiencing extremely high winds in excess of 100 km/h (62 mph), bringing a torrent of dry air from Central Australia. Concurrently, a near record-breaking heatwave had engulfed the state, making conditions perfectly ripe for a disaster. These winds brought down powerlines around the Kinglake/Whittlesea area, birthing a fire. This fire steadily but surely increased in size, and the ember from them spread during the night-time winds, creating more fires. The next day, many of these fires began to merge, uplifting them to a whole new level of carnage. In the ensuing weeks 173 people lost their lives 414 were injured and 7,562 displaced, 450,000 ha (1,100,000 acres) of land burnt, and over a million animals were lost. These events would go on to be named the Black Saturday Bushfires and were the most deadly recorded in Australia up to then. It soon resulted in a range of new policy guidelines and codes to be implemented.

Image credit http://www.abc.net.au

Pyrocumulonimbus Clouds

Pyrocumulonimbus Clouds

01/09/20

“What are the clouds that form from wildfires?”

Wildfires can are immense damage to communities, with the power to bring entire nations to their knees! Not only this, but they can develop their own weather. Pyrocumulonimbus Clouds can form after disasters, causing lightning strikes and dense skies which can make air-based firefighting even harder.

Image credit dynaimage.cdn.cnn.com

How Bushfires Can Develop Their Own Weather

How Bushfires Can Develop Their Own Weather

01/08/20

“How is it that Australia’s bushfires can seemingly make their own weather conditions?”

Australia is going through unparalleled carnage from bushfires right now. But one of their most devastating effects is from a source that is entirely unexpected. The bush fires Heat up the air around them, causing it to rise. This brings the heated air in contact with cooler air by means of turbulence, making it cooler and spread. run this air becomes high and cool enough low atmospheric pressure makes clouds form. These clouds can mix with the polluted atmosphere to become unstable and eventually form lightning. If this lightning strikes the ground then more fires can occur, creating a positive feedback loop. This is How Bushfires Can Develop Their Own Weather.

Image credit mages.theconversation.com

Why Are Australia’s Current Bushfires so Intense?

Why Are Australia’s Current Bushfires so Intense?

01/07/20

“Why is Australia going through such an intense Bushfire season right now?”

In the beginning in 2020 one country is all over the news when it comes to climate change, Australia. As of writing, the ongoing Australian bushfire (the Ozzy way of saying wildfire) has already ravaged more than 12.35 million acres of land (larger than the entirety of the Netherlands) and taken the lives of over two dozen humans and half a billion animals! But what exactly is the cause behind such carnage? Well, like California, Much of Australia has a dry and hot climate, creating ample conditions for fires to break out. With the advent of climate change, Australia has seen its average temperatures grow and droughts and heatwaves become more frequent. This has culminated in a bushfire season starting earlier with greater strength, which is Why Australia’s Current Bushfires are so Intense.

Image credit images.theconversation.com

How Single-Family Zoning Is Driving Wildfire Vulnerabilities in Northern California

How Single-Family Zoning Is Driving Wildfire Vulnerabilities in Northern California

01/05/20

“Why is extremely single-family zoning in Northern California a resilience threat?”

When the city of San Francisco becomes a topic of conversation, images of the Golden Gate Bridge, sourdough bread, and brightly-colored Victorians often pop into people’s heads. However, the policies that allow for the last part is also strangling Northern California itself. Strict single-family zoning in urban areas forces municipalities to become much less dense. If these towns or cities become economic hotspots such as in the Bay Area, then prices near job centers will rise and people have to build outwards and further away to find a place to live. This phenomenon has pushed people into the wildland-urban interface, making it more likely for fires to start and more difficult for people to cope with the effects of climate change. This is How Single-Family Zoning Is Driving Wildfire Vulnerabilities in Northern California.

Why Do Transmission Line Failure Cause a Disproportionate Amount of the Wildfires in California

Why Do Transmission Line Failure Cause a Disproportionate Amount of the Wildfires in California

12/30/19

“Why is it that transmission line failures cause ten times more wildfires than they should in California?”

Transmission line failures have the ability to start wildfires, as in the case of Paradise. However, In California, while these accidents are responsible for starting only around 1% of fires they cause 10% of all damage (Mitchell, 2013)! This is because these transmission lines failures are more likely to occur during periods of high winds and low humidity, which are ripe for wildfires. So when they do occur, they’re much more likely to spin out of control. This is Why Transmission Line Failure Cause a Disproportionate Amount of the Wildfires in California.

Image credit https://cdn.theatlantic.com/

References:

Mitchell, J. W. (2013). Power line failures and catastrophic wildfires under extreme weather conditions. Engineering Failure Analysis, 35, 726–735. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2013.07.006

Why Wildfires Move From Treetop to Treetop

Why Wildfires Move From Treetop to Treetop

12/27/19

“Why is it that wildfires will move from treetop to treetop?”

Wildfires are some of the most powerful dangerous in areas with Mediterranean climates. However, How exactly do they physically spread? Well, Let’s think about this like an engineer would. We know that fire can spread very quickly when one object touches an inflamed object. And we also know that the parts of an object that protrude the most are the most likely to come into contact with others. So when it comes to trees spreading fire, it would be logical for the treetop to spread fire to other treetops as those are the parts that bend the most outward. This is Why Wildfires Move From Treetop to Treetop.

Image credit ichef.bbci.co.uk

Atmospheric Rivers

Atmospheric Rivers

12/24/19

“How can there be flying rivers of water?”

Rain is usually delivered through means of water vapor held in clouds dissipating. By coastal areas, water can build up in the atmosphere from evaporation from the ocean and then move landside where it can hit elevation, become colder, and then burst and create serious downpours. These Atmospheric Rivers can give up words of over 50% of California’s annual rainwater.

Image credit http://www.frontiersin.org