• Infrastructure for a Changing Climate

    As the U.S. debates whether and how to invest in its infrastructure, a lot is at stake, said Mariette diChristina, dean of the College of Communication at Boston University. “Infrastructure is built to last for decades — sometimes even a hundred years or more — so what we decide to do today will have a large effect on how things go tomorrow, including how we adapt to or mitigate climate change in the future.”

  • Delivering Aid to Disaster Scenes with Hydrogen Fuel Cell-Powered Vehicles

    DHS S&T, along with other government agencies, is working on the design and creation of the “H2Rescue” emergency vehicle. The H2Rescue is an innovative new truck that can be a lifeline to responders and community members during times of chaos and uncertainty because the H2Rescue is fully powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.

  • Machine Learning Helps in Earthquake Risk Prediction

    When that solid ground turns to liquid — as sometimes happens during earthquakes — it can topple buildings and bridges. The phenomenon is known as liquefaction, and it was a major feature of the 2011 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. New framework applies big data, supercomputing to soil liquefaction.

  • Wildfires Threaten California’s Power Grid

    Wildfires blazed through California, Arizona, and Oregon, driven by winds and a lack of humidity.. Death Valley in California’s Mohave Desert hit 128 degrees Fahrenheit. Utility officials in Oregon were keeping a weary eye on the Bootleg Fire which is raging out of control in southern Oregon and threatening Path 66 — a vital electric line corridor linking California with the Oregon power grid. The blaze in Oregon threatens the power lines which carry power to California.

  • Most Buildings Were Designed for an Earlier Climate – Here’s What Will Happen as Global Warming Accelerates

    Architects and engineers design buildings and other structures, like bridges, to operate within the parameters of the local climate. The structures are built using materials and following design standards which can withstand the range of temperatures, rainfall, snow, and wind which are expected, plus any geological issues such as earthquakes, subsidence, and ground water levels. When any of these parameters are exceeded, chances are some aspects of the structure will fail.

  • Creating More Resilient Supply Chains Through Nature-Inspired Design

    Supply chains work a lot like food webs in natural ecosystems, in which biodiversity allows for adaptation during disruptions. The analogy turned out to be relevant particularly in looking at “black swan” events, which are unpredictable and hard to protect against—and for which adaptation, not prevention, is the main defense.

  • Detecting Floods from Space Using Artificial Intelligence

    Observing the Earth from space provides valuable information for flood-related decision-making on the ground.

  • Accurately Predicting Impact of Storms, Sea-Level Rise on Coasts

    The combination of extreme storms and rises in sea levels as a result of global climate change are posing serious threats to coastal communities. The Forecasting Coastal Evolution (ForCE) model has the potential to be a game-changing advance in coastal evolution science.

  • Producing Geothermal Energy Diminishes Earthquake Risk

    Researchers studying the 5 July 2019 magnitude-7.1 earthquake in Ridgecrest, California found that none of the thousands recorded aftershocks in the region were seen in the Coso geothermal field, an area only about ten kilometers away. Now they know why: The development of geothermal energy reduces underground stress and mitigates risks of large earthquakes.

  • Are Buyouts a Viable Tool for Climate Adaptation?

    Sea level rise, and the resulting storm surges and floods, have made managed coastal retreat – the purposeful movement of people, buildings, and other infrastructure away from the coast – an option which more and more communities are considering. The need for adaptive solutions to the growing coastal challenges is clear, but questions remain as to where buyouts by the government of vacated property can and should fit in.

  • More Than 100 Deaths Tied to Heat Wave in Pacific Northwest

    More than 100 deaths in Oregon, Washington, and y British Columbia may have been caused by hyperthermia, authorities say, as the region continues to experience record-shattering high temperatures.

  • An Expert on Search and Rescue Robots Explains the Technologies Used in Disasters Like the Florida Condo Collapse

    Different types of robots may be used to search and rescue victims of disasters, such as the condo collapse in Surfside, Florida. A robotics experts says that the current state of the practice for searching the interior of rubble is to use either a small tracked vehicle, such as an Inkutun VGTV Extreme, which is the most commonly used robot for such situations, or a snakelike robot, such as the Active Scope Camera developed in Japan. Teledyne FLIR is sending a couple of tracked robots and operators to the site in Surfside, Florida.

  • June Ends with Exceptional Heat

    As an exceptional and dangerous heatwave is baking the Northwestern U.S. and Western Canada, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says that so many records have been broken that it is difficult to keep track.

  • Disaster Response and Mitigation in an AI World

    Accurately forecasting the movement of natural disasters—wildfires, floods, hurricanes, windstorms, tornados, and earthquakes—gives first responders a jump, allowing them to take measures to reduce damage, conduct advanced resource planning, and increase infrastructure restoration time.

  • Using Intelligent Drones for Search and Rescue

    Finding people lost (or hiding) in the forest is difficult because of the tree cover. People in planes and helicopters have difficulty seeing through the canopy to the ground below, where people might be walking or even laying down. The same problem exists for thermal applications—heat sensors cannot pick up readings adequately through the canopy. New drone technology helps search and rescue teams locate missing persons - even in dense forests.