MORE HURRICANES LIKELY THIS YEAR, EXPERTS SAY
Looks like a busy hurricane season coming up, government experts are warning. The Star Ledger had this report (see: “Warning: ‘Extremely active’ hurricane season ahead,” by Jeff Goldman). “Forecasters are warning that an Atlantic hurricane season already off to a fast start could continue to be ‘extremely active,’” the paper reported. “The National Oceanic Administration’s Climate Prediction Center sounded that ominous tone on Wednesday when it said there’s a 60 percent chance of 14 to 19 named storms forming in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico this season.”
The Weather Channel also reported on the story (see: “NOAA Says Hurricane Season Will Be Worse Than First Predicted”). “Numbers increased slightly in Colorado State University’s final forecast issued late last week, too,” reported the Weather Channel. “Warm water temperatures in the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Ocean along with the dwindling chance of El Niño’s development later this summer are reasons why the forecast has steadily nudged upward.”
Read more:
- “Early-season storms one indicator of active Atlantic hurricane season ahead,” NOAA
- “Forecast of 2017 Atlantic Seasonal Hurricane Activity,” by Philip J. Klotzbach and Michael M. Bell (Colorado State University)
SHOULD WE LET FOREST FIRES BURN?
In the past few decades, wildfires have taken an increasing toll on American homes in or near the wilderness. A National Academy of Sciences report on the 2012 Waldo Canyon fire, which destroyed 344 homes in a matter of hours in Colorado Springs, Colo., notes this background fact: “Destruction of homes and businesses from Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) fires has been steadily escalating, as have the fire suppression costs associated with them. Since 2000, in the U.S., over 3,000 homes on average per year have been lost to WUI fires. This is compared to about 900 homes per year in the 1990s, and 400 homes per year in the 1970s” (see: “A Case Study of a Community Affected by the Waldo Fire Event Timeline and Defensive Actions,” by Alexander Maranghides, Derek McNamara, Robert Vihnanek, Joseph Restaino, and Carrie Leland).
One reason for the increased damage toll is that Americans keep building more houses in places where wildfire is a common occurrence. But another reason is that the fires themselves are getting more intense—in part, because after decades of government efforts to suppress and extinguish wilderness fires, fuel in the wildlands has built up, leading, paradoxically, to more severe and catastrophic fires.
An August 8 report in The New York Times makes the case for ending this policy of fire suppression—or at least modifying it (see: “Let Forest Fires Burn? What the Black-Backed Woodpecker Knows,” by Justin Gillis). “Scientists at the cutting edge of ecological research … argue that the century-old American practice of suppressing wildfires has been nothing less than a calamity. They are calling for a new approach that basically involves letting backcountry fires burn across millions of acres,” the Times reported. “In principle, the federal government accepted a version of this argument years ago, but in practice, fires are still routinely stamped out across much of the country. To the biologists, that has imperiled the plants and animals—hundreds of them, it turns out—that prefer to live in recently burned forests.”
“Human lives are at stake, too,” the Times noted. “Firefighters die, more than a dozen in some years, putting out fires that many scientists think should be allowed to burn. Conversely, a shift toward letting more fires rage is certain to raise fears about public safety in communities bordering forests.”
STATE BY STATE
Virginia: The Virginia Beach planning department will be riding herd on development drainage from now on, reported the Virginian-Pilot (see: “After years of relying on developers’ drainage plans, Virginia Beach engineers will now get final say,” by Mechelle Hankerson). “For a long time, Virginia Beach has relied heavily on engineers hired by developers to create stormwater systems in new neighborhoods,” the paper explained. “But after severe flooding in two developments west of Sandbridge, that will change. City engineers will make the final call on what drainage systems work best when swaths of new homes are built …. In 2014, the state created stricter stormwater requirements, and the city’s most recent growth policies call for developers to pay for drainage studies before a plan is approved for projects in the southern watershed.”
Florida: Changes in the way Florida’s building codes are routinely updated have led to some controversy in the Sunshine State. This story from USA Today takes a look at the issues, with a review of Florida code history from Hurricane Andrew in 1992 up to the present day (see: “Florida cuts into building codes as Hurricane Andrew legacy dims,” by Alan Gomez).
Louisiana: Governor John Bel Edwards has signed a declaration of emergency for New Orleans following heavy rains, local flooding, an equipment fire, and failures in the city’s pumping system (as well as in the administrative agency tasked with managing the pumps). The New Orleans Advocate has continuing coverage here (see: “Governor signs declaration of emergency for New Orleans area after flooding, turbine fire,” by Jessica Williams). The Times-Picayune is also on the story with continuing coverage and this overview (see: “Here’s why New Orleans flooding was so bad, and why people are being fired over it,” by Katherine Sayre).
