In the Northern Hemisphere in 2017 and 2018 brought several destructive hurricanes to the shores of North America, the Caribbean, and throughout the Pacific rim. Such extreme weather events are predicted to get more common and more severe with increasing climate change.
Several participating classes in the ISCFC were or are in the path of these storms and we hope for the best for them, their families and communities.
We would love to hear from students affected directly and indirectly by extreme weather events, and also any students who have been following the news this summer.
What are your thoughts about the connection between climate change and extreme weather events? Has this hurricane season increased your concern about climate change or not? Do you think that US citizens and residents (and others in the region) will take climate change more seriously now?
Extreme Weather >
How could we prevent the California forest fires?
The California wildfires are caused by buildup of organic matter such as dead trees and other plants, that dries out in the sun and becomes very flammable.
What are some ways that we can prevent this buildup?
I think that if you got enough people on board you could create a cleaning crew. Many people for example recent high-school graduates who want to take a gap year but still want to do something in the meantime. They could be in this program. It would be for a good cause and give people something to do.
Well, a possible way to slow down or maybe even stop forest fire buildup during a fire is to maybe put a gap every 100-200 yards so it will take longer to spread and it can't transfer the fire between the gap because theres no trees or other objects it can spread to. it might be able to continue spreading if it somehow connects through a fallen tree, but it will at least slow down the spread so we have a higher chance to stop the spread and put it out.This is one out of the multiple ways to stop them if you research yu can probably be able to find better and more efficient options.
interesting approach. Would that mean planting less trees or cutting trees down?
Prescribed burns could potentially help prevent huge forest fires from happening in California. A prescribed burn is a fire that is small and lit on purpose to burn extra organic matter on the forest floor. It takes away a lot of fuel for wild fires and makes them less dangerous. This technique was used my Native Americans for thousands of years, it outlawed by the government, but more recently more people have realized the many benefits of prescribed burns.