Vulnerability

Let It Burn: Changing Firefighting Techniques for a Warming World

Mon, 2013-10-07 23:43 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The devastating Rim Fire threatened Yosemite in August. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

This year has been a bloody one for firefighters on the front lines against wildfires. With climate change intensifying fires, it may be time to change the way we fight them.

time.com - by Bryan Walsh - October 4, 2013

We usually measure wildfires in acres burnt or the number of homes destroyed. But there’s a human toll to fires as well. So far this year 32 people have lost their lives fighting fires, the highest number in nearly 20 years—and the fire season isn’t done yet. More than half of those deaths occurred in a single incident, when all but one of a 20-man firefighting crew were killed during the Yarnell Hill fire in Arizona in June.

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Defending an Open, Global, Secure, and Resilient Internet

Sun, 2013-10-06 21:26 — Kathy Gilbeaux

cfr.org - Council on Foreign Relations - June 2013

Overview

This CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force warns that "escalating attacks on countries, companies, and individuals, as well as pervasive criminal activity, threaten the security and safety of the Internet." The number of "state-backed operations continues to rise, and future attacks will become more sophisticated and disruptive," argues the Task Force report, Defending an Open, Global, Secure, and Resilient Internet.

With the ideal vision of an open and secure Internet increasingly at risk, the Task Force urges the United States, with its friends and allies, "to act quickly to encourage a global cyberspace that reflects shared values of free expression and free markets."

(CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, AND TO DOWNLOAD THE REPORT)

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E. Coli, Oil Spills and Airlifts: Fallout from Colorado Flooding Continues

Mon, 2013-09-23 17:46 — Kathy Gilbeaux

cnn.com - by Greg Botelho and Elwyn Lopez - September 20, 2013

(CNN) -- Efforts continued Friday to cope with fallout from flooding that''s rocked the Rocky Mountain state -- including more airlifts of stranded residents, discoveries of oil spills and a plea to one town's residents to stay away until E. coli is cleared from their tap water.

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Food stamps again a vivid symbol in poverty debate

Sun, 2013-09-22 00:39 — Gina Angiola

By CONNIE CASS and MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press

Updated 6:40 pm, Saturday, September 21, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) — Food stamps have figured in Americans' ideas about the poor for decades, from President Lyndon Johnson's vision of a Great Society to President Ronald Reagan's scorn for crooked "welfare queens" and President Bill Clinton's pledge to "end welfare as we know it."

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Atomic Bomb Nearly Exploded over North Carolina in 1961

Sun, 2013-09-22 00:29 — Gina Angiola

Published September 21, 2013, FoxNews.com

The U.S. Air Force nearly detonated an atomic bomb over North Carolina in 1961 that would have been 260 times more powerful than the device that destroyed Hiroshima, according to a declassified report published Friday in The Guardian.

The 1969 document, obtained by investigative journalist Eric Schlosser under the Freedom of Information Act, details the Jan. 23, 1961, B-52 crash near Goldsboro, North Carolina, that saw two Mark 39 hydrogen bombs break up in mid-air.

FULL STORY HERE

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Colorado Flooding: Did Climate Change Play A Role In Recent Disaster?

Sat, 2013-09-21 23:02 — Maeryn Obley

Image: Local residents look at the damage along Topaz Street September 13, 2013 in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Marc Piscotty/Getty Images)

huffingtonpost.com - September 14th, 2013

The Boulder, Colo. area is reeling after being inundated by record rainfall, with more than half a year’s worth of rain falling over the past three days. During those three days, 24-hour rainfall totals of between 8 and 10 inches across much of the Boulder area were enough to qualify this storm as a 1 in 1,000 year event, meaning that it has a 0.1 percent chance of occurring in a given year.

At least four people have been confirmed dead so far, and thousands have been evacuated from their homes and businesses.

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Lyons Flooded: Colorado Town Completely Isolated, With No Sewage, No Fresh Water

Fri, 2013-09-13 16:33 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Three vehicles crashed into a creek close after the road washed out from beneath them near Dillon Rd. and 287 in Broomfield, Colorado, September 12, 2013 in heavy flooding. Three people were rescued. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)

huffingtonpost.com - by Andrea Rael - September 12, 2013

Residents in Lyons, Colorado are "completely isolated" by floodwaters that have disrupted their sewer and fresh water.

Boulder County Sheriff Joseph Pelle told 7News that residents were being told to reach for higher ground.

"They're completely isolated at this point. There is no access in or out," Pelle said during a Thursday media briefing. "They've lost their sewer plant, they've lost their fresh water, lost their market."

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14 U.S. Cities That Could Disappear Over The Next Century, Thanks To Global Warming

Tue, 2013-08-27 23:05 — Kathy Gilbeaux

1. Miami, Fla.

There is really no way around it: Thanks to climate change, sea levels are rising. A huge question on the minds of many is, what does this mean for America? Will sea walls and city planning protect major metropolises, or are we bound to lose some national gems?

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Rim Fire - Fire Tracker

Mon, 2013-08-26 22:55 — Kathy Gilbeaux

View Rim Fire in a larger map

http://projects.scpr.org/firetracker/rim-fire/

Fire Tracker, KPCC's tool for following & researching California wildfires, contains fire information displayed by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection -- also known as CalFire -- which protects more than 31 million acres of California's privately-owned wildlands and provides emergency services in 36 of the State's 58 counties.

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Enormous Fire Threatens Water Supply for San Francisco and Parts of East Bay

Mon, 2013-08-26 17:10 — Kathy Gilbeaux

(TO ENLARGE - CLICK ON MAP IMAGE BELOW)

Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct

eastbayexpress.com - by Robert Gammon - August 23, 2013

The massive Rim Fire is closing in on Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park and is threatening the main water supply for the City of San Francisco and numerous other Bay Area communities. As of this morning, the fast-moving blaze was about 2.5 miles from Hetch Hetchy, according to a map created by the US Forest Service. If the enormous fire reaches the tinder-dry forests surrounding the reservoir, it could pollute the freshwater with huge amounts of ash. That’s bad news for San Franciscans and other communities that depend on Hetch Hetchy because the reservoir is not equipped with a water-filtration system.

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