Dec 18, 2023 04:48 PM
You can't hear it, but this sound can reveal that a tornado is on its way
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20231...-is-coming
EXCERPT: . . . There's another sound, however, that accompanies tornadoes that we can't hear. It is so low in frequency it is beyond the realms of human hearing, but it could offer a way of providing earlier, more accurate warnings of these destructive storms. With winds that can reach up to 483km/h (300 mph), the storms that produce tornadoes generate low frequency sound waves – or infrasound – that can travel for hundreds of miles. Eavesdropping on these infrasound signals may not be able to prevent tornadoes from flattening towns and tossing cars into the air like toys, but it could lead to a new type of early warning system that might save lives... (MORE - missing details)
Wildland-urban fire disasters aren’t actually a wildfire problem
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2315797120
EXCERPT: . . . All such projects and reforms must recognize an important truth: The current wildfire management approach has inverted the wildfire problem. wildland fires do not, per se, encroach on communities. Rather, it’s communities that have impinged on wildlands, where fires play an important ecological role.
Predominant strategies continue to apply limited, risk-averse reactions that emphasize community protection at the expense of both resilient landscapes and safe, effective wildfire responses. Forward-looking ecological and practical thinking would help move communities away from continually degrading fire-adapted ecosystems and underinvesting in community resilience. Instead, this change in thinking will move toward a sustainable approach that consistently promotes ecological and human ecosystem benefits.
Communities and governments need to accept living with wildland fire. They must recognize that fire in the wildlands is ecologically appropriate and inevitable—and it does not significantly influence community fire destruction. To do this, we must communicate differently on the nature of the WU fire problem and the ecological necessity of wildland fire. We must empower our public land managers and tribal partners to utilize fire appropriately to sustain resilient ecosystems and adapt our communities to this natural reality.
Inasmuch as people and communities are implicated in the wildfire problem, so, too, are they part of the solution. Federal land-management agencies cannot resolve this crisis alone; we all have a role to play in reducing wildfire risk in the places we live. Stronger collaboration in public and private partnerships, such as those that increase alignment between insurance providers, residents, and local and state governments, could further encourage and incentivize risk-reduction measures at the individual parcel and neighborhood scale.
The Wildfire Partners Program in Boulder County, Colorado, offers a model for an integrated approach to wildfire mitigation. It supports homeowners in reducing risk on their property by local government providing technical and financial support, including individual home assessments, vulnerability reports, and grants to subsidize necessary work, while offering a platform where insurance providers actively engage with homeowners to retain coverage on mitigated homes. This interdisciplinary approach builds wildfire resiliency from the bottom up and helps temper the expectation that the federal government is exclusively responsible for community protection.
Wildfire risk is complex, and local context matters. The ability to adapt reflects the realities, resources, and diverse needs of any one community. Effective solutions must account for localized nuance (18). Federal and state administrations can help direct funding, assistance, and technical expertise for wildfire mitigation. Communities with high social vulnerability will likely need additional support.
[...] We have to live with wildland fire. We don’t have to live with fire in our communities... (MORE - missing details)
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20231...-is-coming
EXCERPT: . . . There's another sound, however, that accompanies tornadoes that we can't hear. It is so low in frequency it is beyond the realms of human hearing, but it could offer a way of providing earlier, more accurate warnings of these destructive storms. With winds that can reach up to 483km/h (300 mph), the storms that produce tornadoes generate low frequency sound waves – or infrasound – that can travel for hundreds of miles. Eavesdropping on these infrasound signals may not be able to prevent tornadoes from flattening towns and tossing cars into the air like toys, but it could lead to a new type of early warning system that might save lives... (MORE - missing details)
Wildland-urban fire disasters aren’t actually a wildfire problem
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2315797120
EXCERPT: . . . All such projects and reforms must recognize an important truth: The current wildfire management approach has inverted the wildfire problem. wildland fires do not, per se, encroach on communities. Rather, it’s communities that have impinged on wildlands, where fires play an important ecological role.
Predominant strategies continue to apply limited, risk-averse reactions that emphasize community protection at the expense of both resilient landscapes and safe, effective wildfire responses. Forward-looking ecological and practical thinking would help move communities away from continually degrading fire-adapted ecosystems and underinvesting in community resilience. Instead, this change in thinking will move toward a sustainable approach that consistently promotes ecological and human ecosystem benefits.
Communities and governments need to accept living with wildland fire. They must recognize that fire in the wildlands is ecologically appropriate and inevitable—and it does not significantly influence community fire destruction. To do this, we must communicate differently on the nature of the WU fire problem and the ecological necessity of wildland fire. We must empower our public land managers and tribal partners to utilize fire appropriately to sustain resilient ecosystems and adapt our communities to this natural reality.
Inasmuch as people and communities are implicated in the wildfire problem, so, too, are they part of the solution. Federal land-management agencies cannot resolve this crisis alone; we all have a role to play in reducing wildfire risk in the places we live. Stronger collaboration in public and private partnerships, such as those that increase alignment between insurance providers, residents, and local and state governments, could further encourage and incentivize risk-reduction measures at the individual parcel and neighborhood scale.
The Wildfire Partners Program in Boulder County, Colorado, offers a model for an integrated approach to wildfire mitigation. It supports homeowners in reducing risk on their property by local government providing technical and financial support, including individual home assessments, vulnerability reports, and grants to subsidize necessary work, while offering a platform where insurance providers actively engage with homeowners to retain coverage on mitigated homes. This interdisciplinary approach builds wildfire resiliency from the bottom up and helps temper the expectation that the federal government is exclusively responsible for community protection.
Wildfire risk is complex, and local context matters. The ability to adapt reflects the realities, resources, and diverse needs of any one community. Effective solutions must account for localized nuance (18). Federal and state administrations can help direct funding, assistance, and technical expertise for wildfire mitigation. Communities with high social vulnerability will likely need additional support.
[...] We have to live with wildland fire. We don’t have to live with fire in our communities... (MORE - missing details)