by admin | May 1, 2016 | Climate, Disaster, Drought, Government, Public policy, Resilience, Science, Water
Drought has historically been the disaster that fails to focus our attention on its consequences until it is too late to take effective action. While other disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and most floods have a quick onset that signals trouble, and...
by admin | Mar 30, 2016 | Climate, Government, Infrastructure, Public policy, Resilience, Science, Urban Planning
Recently, the American Planning Association’s Hazards Planning Center, which I manage, and the Association of State Floodplain Managers, began work on a new project funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office for Coastal...
by admin | Mar 29, 2016 | Blogging, Blogging, Climate, Disaster, Drought, Water
Occasionally, I have used this blog to link to American Planning Association blog posts that I think some readers may find important. That is the case here: At the APA blog, I provide a brief introduction to a wonderful new resource for communities on a variety of...
by admin | Dec 12, 2015 | Climate, Disaster, Resilience, Urban Planning
As I write this today, representatives of 190 nations are in Paris apparently have reached a historic consensus on a new climate agreement. Because I am not there and you will read about it in the news soon enough, this article is not about that agreement, but about...
by admin | Oct 4, 2015 | Climate, Disaster, Environment, Wildfire
Although plenty of other issues have competed for our attention in recent weeks, astute observers of the news, in the U.S. at least, have probably noticed that wildfires have been charring much of the landscape in western states, most notably along the Pacific Coast....
by admin | Sep 23, 2015 | Climate, Drought, Urban Planning, Water
Drought is just different from other kinds of disasters. It has a very slow onset, so slow that affected regions often do not realize they are ensnared in a prolonged drought until months or even years have passed and water supplies are severely depleted. How do we...