Sustainable Conservation’s Post

This Vox article explains how extreme weather events are interconnected, with past droughts and wildfires amplifying subsequent floods and landslides. It also highlights the increasing frequency and intensity of such events, emphasizing the need for better data and forecasting models to mitigate these compounded disasters

The climate crisis and rising sea levels have intensified flood risks worldwide, endangering more people than ever. The Netherlands stands out as the most vulnerable country, even compared to flood-prone regions in Asia. Nearly 60% of the Dutch population faces high flood risk, which is more than double the proportion in Austria, the second most affected country in Europe. Fortunately, the Netherlands is home to the world's most advanced flood defence system, the Delta Works, developed after a 1953 storm tide breached dikes in over 90 places, claiming over 1,800 lives. But complete protection is impossible, and flooding remains one of the nation's greatest challenges. Created by Mandy Spaltman. Source: World Population Review, 2024 https://lnkd.in/gUwy3gXt #Netherlands #Flood #EuropeanCorrespondent

Temperature records were shattered last month, marking it the #hottest #March the #world has experienced. It was also the 10th consecutive month of extremely #hotweather, with #ElNino weather phenomena partly to blame. #HottestMarch #ClimateChange #globalwarming #heat #temperature #earth #fossilfuel https://lnkd.in/gBnFMEtz

What I find in this dialogue about drought and scarcity is that it is never realized universally, and that is never talked about. Cape Town, South Africa never ran out of water,. In reality its poorest have always struggled with water scarcity, and its wealthy, never gave it a passing thought. Let that sink in for a moment. Mexico City's wealthy will never experience water shortages. One can always buy water from elsewhere and truck it in, and our societies illustrate that by picking up single bottled water in so many forms available from around the world. I thought the Fiji Water craze was just so illustrative and mind-bendingly absurd to bottle springs in Fiji and sell them around the world. BTW, shipping water in little bottles has to be the most expensive thing you can do. Yet it's amazing that the bottled water industry shows no signs of letting up on its carbon intensive march to madness under the guise of providing water security for all... which brings us back to Mexico City and the doom. The city was once a haven of lakes and springs - which is why it was settled in the first place. urbanization hacked away at that paradise and the wealthy lived near water, and the poor didn't. Then came the absurdity of the linear drainage industry piping rainfall as wastewater, and destroying the shallow aquifer recharge that fed the lakes, and the springs that fed the water supply. So what would you propose we do to help Mexico City and other "drought" ravaged cities? Bigger pipes and pumps from far away, or a return to the sanity that we transition, heck flee with abandon, the existing structure that ruined the watersheds and absorbed billions in funding trying to replicate the vision of an urban landscape with paved roads, catch-basins, stormwater sewers and piped drinking water. For most Day- Zero cities, drought isn't natural, it's manufactured. We can build #RainGridCities of circular rain, restructure the linear drainage and water systems to account for decarbonization, and imbue a democratized water society that doesn't see the impoverish slaked thirsty while the wealthy cavort in their swimming pools. https://lnkd.in/gZ6HcsCN

"A top scientist has predicted that Gauteng could experience a Day Zero drought in the next five years. A Day Zero drought occurs when there is no supply in the system. The term came out of the 2015-2017 threat that taps would run dry in Cape Town after a multi-year drought reduced rainfall in the Theewaterskloof catchment. Francois Engelbrecht, professor of climatology at Wits University, predicted a total water outage within five years because of the storage capacity of the dams supplying Gauteng, poor water infrastructure, and climate change. "Even if all the dams are full in eastern South Africa, at the current water allocations and demand for water from households, cities and businesses [in Gauteng], the mega dams give us water security for only five years. But the reality is that the dams aren't full all the time. In the past, we've only had two or three years capacity because of [El Niño]," he said. ... Gauteng is supported by the Integrated Vaal River System (IVRS), a series of 14 dams from Lesotho to South Africa, which support 19 million people in Gauteng, the Free State, Mpumalanga, and the North West. "The point of water extraction [from the IVRS in Gauteng] is the Vaal Dam. If the dam cannot supply water, we would refer to this as a 'Gauteng Day Zero drought'," Engelbrecht said. He added that water losses at municipal level, infrastructure failure, and electrical outages would enhance the likelihood of a Day Zero. "We need to have a perfectly functioning water system and state to build resilience and delay Day Zero for as long as possible," he added."

Behind-the-scenes moments you don't see! Reporting in floodwaters was challenging. Walking into the water for this report was nerve-wracking, but I did it for credibility. Even with boots on, I got soaked up to my thighs. These are the lengths we go to for accurate news coverage. What do you think? #Journalism #FieldReporting #BehindTheScenes #NewsReport

MUST WATCH AND SHARE LIKE A WILDFIRE Please write PBS NewsHour, one of the most trusted and fair news media, and ask them why they did not mention climate change in this piece. [email protected]. (Of course, most of the major media either never, or barely mention climate change. PBS does cover it, but to have stories like this, directly linked to climate change, get the two words mentioned is unacceptable.) Write or call any media you watch and tell them to do their job - you can use some of the language below to make it easy. Below is my updated email to them. PBS – I have been a regular viewer for years, as you are my preferred big media channel. Your Greece wildfire story, (https://lnkd.in/gyryuSEF) today was despicable, irresponsible journalism. (You do not mention climate change’s role in creating more frequent and dangerous wildfires worldwide in your news today! This is nothing short of criminal! The media – even PBS – should be ashamed in seeking to fuel an ignorant public, whose future is at stake. For the greatest threat to humanity, you are showing that you are complicit in your silence! To think that in 2019, major media networks averaged FOUR hours covering or even mentioning climate change is criminal. https://lnkd.in/gZmXmRTt https://lnkd.in/gN4-Udny It is the media’s role to educate – and in the case of climate change, to do so while underscoring the need for action and the consequences if we do not act boldly and fast. Given that climate change is the biggest existential threat to humanity, the media should be covering this wall to wall. An uneducated public does not act. Is pandering to your donors tied to big money worth current and future generations living in a climate hell worth your silence? I think not! Do your duty to be responsible and not criminal journalism! Time to get a conscience and some integrity!

Discover the threat of Zombie Fires lurking beneath Canada's snow. Learn how scientists are combating them to protect our environment. Take action now!

Hear Professor Richard Dawson FREng talking on the FIRM: Flood resilience simulation project at the DAFNI Conference on 10th September 2024 in Birmingham. Actions taken before, during and after the shock of flood infrastructure failure can lead to radically different outcomes. Poor warnings, slow evacuation, or failure to erect temporary flood defence infrastructure all reduce resilience, increase damages and threaten lives. The Flood Infrastructure Resilience Model (FIRM) is a coupled agent-based and hydrodynamic flood model built on a geospatial data architecture that is used to explore the impact of the flood infrastructure failure on flood resilience, and to test strategies to mitigate the impact of these shocks. FIRM integrates remotely sensed information on topography, buildings and road networks with empirical survey data to fit characteristics of specific communities. Simulation of individuals has been coupled with a hydrodynamic model to assess their response and their resilience in the event of flooding. The aim of this project is to re-code FIRM into Python for greater inter-operability, integrate FIRM onto DAFNI to make it more accessible to the community, to enhance FIRM by adding new functionality to test a wider set of flood resilience actions, and to provide virtual and in-person training to support the wider uptake of the model and DAFNI. Richard is Professor of Earth System Engineering and Director of Research in the School of Engineering, Newcastle University, theme lead Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and Adaptation Committee member of Climate Change Committee Book now: https://lnkd.in/efi7q8CX In the interview below highlighted by M. L. Dennis Wong you can hear Richard's expert comments about flooding and engineering to aid flood prevention #DAFNI #DAFNIconference EPSRC UK Research and Innovation STFC STFC Scientific Computing UKCRIC

Scientists are alarmed as #coralreefs around the world are turning white due to rising #ocean temperatures, which has triggered the fourth global mass #coralbleaching event, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (#NOAA). #greatbarrierreef #climatechange #elnino #lanina #warmoceans #oceanlife #corals #floridakeys https://lnkd.in/gPKhT6ja