by admin | Mar 5, 2017 | Disaster, Environment, Floodplain management, Floodplain management, Geography, Infrastructure, Natural Hazards, Resilience, Urban Planning
It has taken a long while in our modern society for the notion to take hold that some of the best solutions to reduce the impact of natural hazards can be found in nature itself. Perhaps it is the high cost of continuing to use highly engineered solutions to protect...
by admin | Feb 26, 2017 | Books, Civil rights, Economic development, Geography, Government, History, Movies
The Republic of Botswana, a paragon of progress in today’s Africa, did not start life with any apparent advantages. In fact, the former British protectorate of Bechuanaland, which became independent Botswana, appeared in the 1950s to have bleak prospects, in no small...
by admin | Feb 13, 2017 | Careers, Government, Information technology, Personal history, Recreation, Restaurants, Technology
Warmth is a concept with many dimensions. In the realm of physics, it is a relative measure of temperature. In reference to weather, perhaps the most common subject of human conversation, it is a measure of the kinetic energy of the atmosphere around us, which is...
by admin | Feb 4, 2017 | Activism, Books, Climate, Disaster, Drought, Industry, Natural Hazards, Resilience, Science, Water, Wildfire
In times of political hostility to scientific truth, knowledgeable people sometimes wonder how we can progress without federal support for important initiatives such as adaptation to climate change. The answer, in a vibrant democracy, is that the truth often bubbles...
by admin | Jan 29, 2017 | Government, Healthcare, Public policy
Just two weeks ago, I posted a story on this blog about public rallies against repeal of the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, including one I attended and observed here in Chicago that day. That article discussed patients’ reactions to the prospect of ACA repeal...