Category: Policy

Using Rainwater Harvesting Systems for Resilience

Using Rainwater Harvesting Systems for Resilience

Using Rainwater Harvesting Systems for Resilience

11/13/19

“How can we use rainwater harvesting systems for resilience?”

 

Water parched areas of the world are going to experience more droughts with climate change. To solve this, resilience will need to get built to ensure that communities at risk will not face disaster. Part of this solution will include Using Rainwater Harvesting Systems for Resilience by capturing and storing water that falls from the air.

 

Image credit https://toolkit.climate.gov/

Why Battery Energy Storage Needs to Be Strategically Placed to Build Flood Resilience

Why Battery Energy Storage Needs to Be Strategically Placed to Build Flood Resilience

Why Battery Energy Storage Needs to Be Strategically Placed to Build Flood Resilience

11/11/19

“Why do we need to strategize battery placement to ensure flood resilience?”

 

Energy storage from batteries is critical for building resilience against blackouts. However, due to its delicate chemistry, even a minor flood could have devastating effects on it. As a result, batteries will need to have strategic placement to stay safe during floods. A few ways to accomplish these include keeping batteries at elevated heights and in floodproof containers. This is Why Battery Energy Storage Needs to Be Strategically Placed to Build Flood Resilience.

 

Image credit thedriven.io

Facility Hazard Communications

Facility Hazard Communications

Facility Hazard Communications

11/10/19

“How can we communicate the hazards that a facility may contain?”

 

Facilities have all sorts of hazards, whether it be flammability in a home or the presence of toxic chemicals in a scientific lab. To ensure the safety of everyone who works in and inhabits the building, these dangers must be communicated to them. As a result, facility operators need to set up Facility Hazard Communications that make this information clear to everyone. This can come in the form of the chemical hazard diamond, written warnings, or anything useful that can be thought of!

Resilience Assessment Reports

Resilience Assessment Reports

Resilience Assessment Reports

11/09/19

“How do we write reports assessing the resilience of a particular project?”

 

Governments, municipalities, businesses, and institutions of all kinds have worked on creating climate action plans of all kinds. However, given that resilience requires different focuses than mitigation, is there any way to write plans with this in mind? Well, what if we were to develop assessments that take into account all of the potential threats to an area and prescribes their solutions in a clear and understandable format? This so happens to be the main idea behind the Resilience Assessment Reports that are used as the basis for adaptation plans by institutions all over the world.

How Planting Trees in Urban Areas Improves Air Quality

How Planting Trees in Urban Areas Improves Air Quality

How Planting Trees in Urban Areas Improves Air Quality

11/08/19

“How does planting trees in cities improve air quality?”

 

Many cities are suffering from two simultaneous issues: horrendous air pollution and a lack of greenery. Both of these can be solved by planting trees in urban areas. Trees are able to absorb CO2 and release oxygen, making local areas fresher and better to breathe. Cities around from all over the world, from Jakarta to Atlanta, are taking this logical, sustainable course of action.

The Resilience-Mitigation Nexus

The Resilience-Mitigation Nexus

The Resilience-Mitigation Nexus

11/07/19

“How are climate resilience and mitigation related?”

 

Although usually siloed into two different categories, climate resilience and mitigation need to be studied jointly. For example, while committing to a sustainable solution such as installing solar panels, the decision of whether or not to couple it with a battery will affect the system’s resilience. Just like water and energy affect each other in a water-energy nexus, sustainability and mitigation affect each other in The Resilience-Mitigation Nexus.

Defensible Spaces for Wildfires

Defensible Spaces for Wildfires

Defensible Spaces for Wildfires

11/06/19

“How can we create a defensible space to protect buildings from wildfires?”

 

Wildfires are becoming a larger and larger problem with the advent of climate change. To prevent further destruction, resilience techniques are being developed for buildings. However, many of these techniques rely upon technical solutions such as solar plus storage which might be expensive or unavailable in the case of a power outage. So how can we think of new, more natural ways to prevent widescale destruction? Well, what if we were to make the area around the building less burnable? We can accomplish this by making trees far apart from each other, using rock and water landscape space, and planting flame-resistant grass and plants. This Defensible Spaces for Wildfires is an excellent passive resilience strategy that can be implemented in a simple and affordable manner.

Image credit firesafemarin.org

Why Climate-Exacerbated Wildfires Are Causing an Insurance Crisis

Why Climate-Exacerbated Wildfires Are Causing an Insurance Crisis

Why Climate-Exacerbated Wildfires Are Causing an Insurance Crisis

11/05/19

“What are climate-exacerbated wildfires doing to the home insurance market?”

 

How would you feel if your home no longer had any financial security?

 

Home insurance is vital for providing families a financial safety net in case of a disaster. Usually, the cost and availability of insurance will vary by how prone a certain area is to external disasters. But with the advent of climate change, zones once considered safe to live in are now a precipitous liability. And one has to look no further than simple wildfires to see an illustration of this.

 

With no doubt, climate change is exacerbating rain-parched forested area’s wildfire problem. The increasing heat and dryness are causing wildfire season to grow longer and flammable areas to extend beyond their historic boundary. As a result, insurance companies are reevaluating homes all over such places, increasing resident’s premiums and even sometimes removing coverage altogether! This is leading to an insurance crisis, where a multitude of homeowners can either no longer pay for their insurance or are unable to sell their homes, turning it into a sunken financial asset. Only through smart policy, economics, and wildfire prevention protocol can this ever have any hopes of being solved. This is Why Climate-Exacerbated Wildfires Are Causing an Insurance Crisis.

Climate Action Plans

Climate Action Plans

Climate Action Plans

11/04/19

“How can governments design roadmaps to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions?”

 

Climate change is going to affect every part of human society, whether it be how transportation infrastructure will buckle under extreme heat or how strengthened floods will harm coastal power generation. To help make sure climate conditions will not become too exacerbated, governments are looking to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of their communities. Central to this will involve creating plans and frameworks to organize all actors of their institutions to reduce their carbon footprint. The prescribed actions can vary, from designing new energy efficiency programs for buildings to replacing carbon emitting power plants with solar and wind. These Climate Action Plans will be vital to ensuring that humanity has a safe and sustainable future ahead of it.