Water scarcity crises are most often a result of mismanagement rather than of absolute declines in physical water supplies. Countries must enhance demand management and buffers, such as temporary agricultural transfers and the installation of grey-water systems and boreholes, to avoid the same drought experienced by Cape Town.
CSU
Disaster-mitigation experts want to bring attention to the complexity of the so-called wildland-urban interface of fires. They've developed a model that attempts to quantify the vulnerability of a community of homes to the spread of a fire. They hope their model could add to the strategic toolbox that protects lives and livelihoods from destructive fires.
The Interpreter
Japan's extreme weather events are likely to become increasingly common as a result of climate change and the continued warming of the planet. The media's reluctance to talk about climate change, particularly when linking a specific weather event to climate change is complex, must change by shifting from debating the existence of climate change to preparedness.
