New York Times, the

Bush clearing regulations in place to protect Californian homes from wildfires have proven insufficient. Local fire departments in California have offered homeowners different services to clear the bush. To address the flammability of the structures, calls are being made for home fire prevention measures such as water sprinkling systems and fire-resistant roofs.

Researchers at insurance company FM Global work with hazard simulations in order to better understand the impacts of climate change. The research focuses on testing the outside of the building, with the aim of better protecting the inside. The testing includes recreated hailstorms, hurricanes, and burning.

The Texas city’s response to a powerful storm says much about polarized visions of the Unites States and diverging attitudes toward cities, race, liberty and science. The mayhem that Hurricane Harvey unleashed on Houston didn’t only come from the sky. For years, the local authorities turned a blind eye to runaway development.

After the recent earthquake events in Mexico, seismologic research projects are becoming more urgent in order to implement sensor networks as soon as possible. However, scientific opinions differ in terms of where the sensors should be placed, and a lack of funding hinders the country from establishing an extensive detection network.

When airports were initially built, the effects of climate change were not taken into consideration. Today, rising temperatures, sea levels, and storms present problems for the functionality of airports. There are possible solutions, such as longer runways and lighter loads, though they will also be an added expense for the whole aviation industry.

Interviews with scholars, officials and building inspectors after last week's earthquake indicate that Mexico's strict building codes are not enforced properly or evenly. Differences in loss and damages between the 1985 and 2017 quakes reflect differences in seismic activity, rather than the effective implementation of the new codes adopted in 2004.

Climate change has been considered a distant problem. This attitude could be changing in the United States following the recent extreme weather events. Voters take climate change more seriously following events such as hurricanes Harvey and Irma. As the general climate discourse changes, perhaps so will the political debate.

The disaster following Tropical Storm Harvey in Houston has left emergency disaster officials aware of their own emergency plans, with their own flaws. The main lesson from Houston is that even the best emergency plans might not be sufficient, and at a national level, people ask themselves if they are ready for when a disaster strikes.