Category: Policy

Wildland-Urban Interface

Wildland-Urban Interface

Wildland-Urban Interface

11/26/19

“What is the border region between the wilderness and urban areas and why is it a resilience risk?”

 

In the human imagination, urban areas and wilderness are two distinct areas. However, in reality, there is a transition zone known as the Wildland-Urban Interface, where human populations mix with forests. Because these areas usually contain copious amounts of burnable fuel, living inside them creates a risk for wildfires to occur. As such urban planners, civil engineers, and policymakers will need to work together to minimize human presence in these areas.

 

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Why Too Much Wildfire Suppression Can Lead to More Fires

Why Too Much Wildfire Suppression Can Lead to More Fires

Why Too Much Wildfire Suppression Can Lead to More Fires

11/24/19

“Why should we calm down on wildfire suppression so more fires can be prevented?”

 

Wildfires can be quite scary. Their uncontrollable, deadly nature makes it inconvenient for municipal governments and damaging to nearby communities. For this reason, the wildfire emergency management programs in the United States, Canada, and Australia usually put out such disasters at first notice. However, this leads to a large amount of flammable material being present, making future wildfires bolder and even more deadly. To prevent this, controlled burns need to be instituted to ensure that regenerative processes can occur. This is Why Too Much Wildfire Suppression Can Lead to More Fires.

Wildfire Evacuations

Wildfire Evacuations

Wildfire Evacuations

11/23/19

“Why might people need to temporarily evacuate from wildfires?”

 

Wildfires are incredibly dangerous natural disasters. When a single tree sparks, it can cascade into threatening the livelihood of entire communities. When this happens, people may need to evacuate from their homes to safer areas further away from these damages. These Wildfire Evacuations are an important tool for wildfire emergency management.

 

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Community Resilience Workshops

Community Resilience Workshops

Community Resilience Workshops

11/22/19

“How can we inform communities about build resilience to climate change?”

 

Everyone from all sectors is talking about building resilience to climate change, whether it be large-scale industrial projects or small technologies. However, it will be communities that will experience the front lines of climate change. As such, people from any part of society will need to learn how to cope with these changes. By holding Community Resilience Workshops inspired by infrastructure resilience workshops, people can learn from experts and each other on the best way to thrive in the new climate paradigm. These can be held as community meetings, door-to-door discussions, or even invited events to religious centers.

Climate-Induced Infrastructure Insurance Divestment

Climate-Induced Infrastructure Insurance Divestment

Climate-Induced Infrastructure Insurance Divestment

11/21/19

“Why are some insurance companies divesting from carbon-intensive projects?”

 

Major infrastructure projects often need insurance to ensure stakeholders that their money is safe. However, some of these activities such as new power plants or gas pipelines are making the planet less safe due to their carbon-intensive nature. As a result, some insurance companies such as Chubb are limiting the amount of non-sustainable projects that they invest in. This Climate-Induced Infrastructure Insurance Divestment is growing exponentially at both the grassroots and systematic level. If you would like to help take action, check out what 350 Colorado has to say.

Wildfire Mitigation

Wildfire Mitigation

Wildfire Mitigation

11/19/19

“How can we mitigate wildfires before they happen?”

 

Wildfires are becoming the bane of every Mediterranean climate resident’s existence. And although emergency management is something necessary to develop, a milligram of prevention is worth a kilogram of cure. By practicing Wildfire Mitigation strategies, such as preventing flammable debris overgrowth, banning fire-inducing items such as cigarettes from dry areas, moving people out of burnable areas, and (in extreme cases) shutting down power lines. This has the potential to save dozens of lives and billions of dollars in property damage.

How to Build Resilience Against Fire-Inducing Winds

How to Build Resilience Against Fire-Inducing Winds

How to Build Resilience Against Fire-Inducing Winds

11/15/19

“How can we make our communities more resilient against fire-inducing winds?”

 

Strong winds have the potential to induce wildfires in hot dry climates. This threat will only be magnified by the transformed weather conditions induced by climate change. So how can we make our communities more resilient against these fire-inducing winds? Well, there are multiple ways of accomplishing this. First, more accurate weather prediction services can be developed so people can have a better sense of when strong winds are present. Another way is to develop microgrids connected to distributed energy resources to ensure a steady flow of electricity when the main grid has been shut down by the utility. Utilities can also underground transmission lines to insulate them against the effects of strong winds. These are only a few ways that we can think about How to Build Resilience Against Fire-Inducing Winds.

 

Image credit images.newscientist.com