Climate Adaptation

Drought stricken Lake Travis, Texas. Note the water line in the...

Wed, 22 May 2013 18:58:02 -0400

Drought stricken Lake Travis, Texas. Note the water line in the background. Via

reuters: Roads into White Gold: stunning pictures from...

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:52:22 -0400

Roads into White Gold: stunning pictures from Ethiopia’s ancient salt trails

One of the hottest places on earth, northern Ethiopia holds long-used roads for caravans of camels to collect salt through a sun-blasted desert basin. In the “Danakil Depression”, the average temperature is 94 degrees Fahrenheit.

A paved road is being built to make it easier for industrialized companies to access the salt flats, which could put the ancient camel caravans out of business.

“Most of the people who live here are dependent on the salt caravans, so we are not happy with prospective salt companies that try to set up base here,” said Abdullah Ali Noor.

Read our in-depth report of the salt trails.

REUTERS/Siegfried Modola

newsweek: In this week’s Newsweek, a little something about...

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:15:00 -0400

newsweek:

In this week’s Newsweek, a little something about Yahoo & Tumblr’s marriage. And a request: “Please don’t mess with any of our favorite Tumblrs, like the beauties below.”

BEST TUMBLR FOR BREAKING NEWS: SHORTFORMBLOG

MOST LOL-WORTHY ANIMAL TUMBLR: CATS THAT LOOK LIKE RON SWANSON

BEST CROWDSOURCED TECH TUMBLR: THE INTERNET WISHLIST

MOST CHARMING VINTAGE-Y TUMBLR: QUESTIONABLE ADVICE AND ADVERTISEMENTS

MOST STIMULATING ART-AND-DESIGN TUMBLR: HELLO YOU CREATIVES

MOST GORGEOUS PHOTOGRAPHY TUMBLR: FOTOJOURNALISMUS

TRAVEL TUMBLR THAT’S ALMOST AS GOOD AS AN ACTUAL TRIP: THE TRAVEL NETWORK

MOST POP-CULTURE-SAVVY FASHION TUMBLR: TEXTBOOK

BEST BOYFRIEND TUMBLR: YOUR LL BEAN BOYFRIEND

Congrats everyone! Now go follow those tumblrs and get them up in yo’ dashboard. Sorry about the caps, btw, we copy/pasted straight from the website and did we feel like going through and rewriting these headlines? No we did not. We are too busy applauding. Click through though to see what we wrote about each winner.

Still no “Best Environment Tumblr” category…

kqedscience: Astronauts Snag Dramatic Photographs of Alaska’s...

Wed, 22 May 2013 12:40:39 -0400

kqedscience:

Astronauts Snag Dramatic Photographs of Alaska’s Erupting Volcano

“Astronauts living on board the International Space Station managed to get these dramatic pictures of the Pavlof Volcano as it erupted over the weekend. The volcano began acting up last Monday, the 13th, its first eruption since 2007.”

See more images at The Atlantic.

Definitely click through!

Whoa!! David Karp liked my Oklahoma safe room post! Is this real...

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:31:00 -0400

Whoa!! David Karp liked my Oklahoma safe room post! Is this real life?

Actually, yes. Karp and Mayer (very briefly) discussed the power of social media and the monster tornado disaster in OKC in this nice interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos yesterday. I think this shows they are listening, and I am humbled.

Thanks David!

How prepared are American cities for increased natural...

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:41:17 -0400

How prepared are American cities for increased natural disasters? Over the years, Americans have insisted on expanding and building cities and suburbs in locations that are clearly threatened by natural hazards. This week’s monster tornado in Oklahoma demonstrates this. Cities and states have encouraged people to live in these areas through city planning, architectural design, and the so-called need for “economic development.”

Thus, instead of encouraging people to not live in these hazard zones, city leaders have created methods to help people survive relatively normal lives there. Houses in California must meet specific earthquake design standards, buildings in Oklahoma have “safe rooms,” and countless structures must be stable enough to handle floods and erosion along American coastlines. These are adaptations. Not good adaptations (I believe people should not be encouraged to live in these areas), but there it is.

With the climate changing, the impacts on communities are likely to increase. Incidences of natural disasters are expected to rise, costing many lives and causing a need for an endless stream of disaster aid.

Researchers at MIT teamed up with the non-profit ICLEI to survey cities around the world. The goal was to compare how they were adapting to climate change impacts, or preparing for future impacts. Progress, the researchers found, is very slow in the US, while cities around the world are far more advanced.

It’s a great read, very visual so if you don’t have time you can skim it.

Survey: U.S. Cities Report Increase in Climate Change Impacts, Lag Global Cities in Planning

Early warning, communication, training, and “safe...

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:15:00 -0400

Early warning, communication, training, and “safe rooms” combined to save thousands of lives from the Okla. monster tornado. It is a very clear example of how cities have designed adaptation systems to respond to local weather conditions.

How could so many have survived the Okla. tornado?

Viewers glued to TV following Monday’s tornado that hit here with the destructive force of an atomic bomb very likely expected to wake up Tuesday to a death and injury toll in the thousands.

How could anyone have survived the apocalyptic destruction of a worst-of-the-worst EF5 category storm? Miraculously, most did, despite an official warning coming just 16 minutes before the twister cut a 17-mile war-zone-like path through this city of 56,000.

Local, state and federal officials credit luck, happenstance, timing, faith, heroics, preparation and the seasoned experience that comes with living in the heart of Tornado Alley for the relatively low victim count.

“If they say there’s a chance of severe tornadoes, people take it really seriously,” said Tyler Porter, who lives in Oklahoma City, 10 miles north of Moore. “They pretty much know when it’s time to take cover.”

Excellent coverage by USA Today

Drop in U.S. underground water levels has accelerated - USGS

Tue, 21 May 2013 19:57:00 -0400

Drop in U.S. underground water levels has accelerated - USGS: WASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) - Water...

Sponsor shout-out: New, nonprofit, open-access scientific journal Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene is now accepting submissions online

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:42:16 -0400

Sponsor shout-out: New, nonprofit, open-access scientific journal Elementa: Science of the...

nationalgeographicdaily: Photo: Sergey Gorshkov It’s It...

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:41:00 -0400

nationalgeographicdaily:

Photo: Sergey Gorshkov

~~It’s~~ It was a walrus.

The IRS has a tumblr. Here a rep discusses how they can help in...

Tue, 21 May 2013 14:22:28 -0400

The IRS has a tumblr. Here a rep discusses how they can help in times of natural disasters.

"Be of service. You are taking your degree into a society dominated by concentrated poverty and a..."

Tue, 21 May 2013 13:21:27 -0400

“Be of service. You are taking your degree into a society dominated by concentrated poverty...

kqedscience: A humbling map of real-time wind patterns in...

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:40:00 -0400

kqedscience:

A humbling map of real-time wind patterns in Tornado Alley

“Wind Map” is a stunning interactive datavisualization that presents wind patterns across the continental U.S. in real time. Picture above is what it looked like last night at 10:59 CDT, in the aftermath of yesterday’s devastating Oklahoma tornado.”

Read more here from io9.

accuweather: Dallas to Memphis at Greatest Risk for...

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:50:41 -0400

accuweather:

Dallas to Memphis at Greatest Risk for Tornadoes Tuesday

More severe weather is on the way for the southern Plains on Tuesday as well as parts of the Midwest and the Northeast.

tyleroakley: Oklahoma Tornado Survivor Finds Missing Dog...

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:42:02 -0400

tyleroakley:

Oklahoma Tornado Survivor Finds Missing Dog Mid-Interview

Wow. Pretty amazing. (Can’t believe the cameramen didn’t help her).

Glacier melt causes third of sea-level rise › News in Science (ABC Science)

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:29:28 -0400

Glacier melt causes third of sea-level rise › News in Science (ABC Science): Water from the...

New report: Public Support for Climate and Energy Policies

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:58:20 -0400

New report: Public Support for Climate and Energy Policies: Summary findings: A large majority of...

"Just because you’re offended, that doesn’t make you right…"

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:52:38 -0400

“Just because you’re offended, that doesn’t make you right…” - Ricky...

NOAA NWS Storm Prediction Center Another day of active severe...

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:39:00 -0400

NOAA NWS Storm Prediction Center
Another day of active severe weather is expected across parts of the Southern Plains into the Arklatex. Tornadoes (possibly strong), large hail and damaging winds are all possible.

I think we all need a break right now, so here’s the...

Mon, 20 May 2013 23:30:31 -0400

I think we all need a break right now, so here’s the world’s smallest monkey eating a noodle.