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Europe's New Trick Against Wildfires: Let It Burn

Lauren Millan Lombraña

September 29, 2020 |

Bloomberg |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Portugal

Led by Portugal and Spain, European nations have shifted their responses to wildfires from a heavy emphasis on suppression to a more prevention-based approach. Climate change has increased fire risk greatly. By letting smaller fires burn, to reduce the fuel available to future megafires, and with other forest-management methods, Mediterranean countries have had no large blazes so far in 2020. Portugal, three years after a massive fire killed at least 120, registered its lowest number of fires in a decade. In Spain, prevention includes Fire Flocks, herds of sheep and goats whose grazing cleans up forests.

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'Money is worth nothing now': how Lebanon is finding a future in farming

Jenny Gustafsson

September 25, 2020 |

The Guardian |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Lebanon

Lebanon is going through an economic crisis. According to the UN, more than half of the population is experiencing poverty. Some people are finding that the solution to their economic problems is farming. Multiple initiatives to that would allow ordinary people to farm have surfaced; food banks offering seedlings, volunteers teaching sustainable farming, and even gardens in rooftops.

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The daring plan to save the Arctic ice with glass

Katarina Zimmer

September 23, 2020 |

BBC |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Minnesota

The nonprofit Arctic Ice Project is testing an unusual approach to combat climate change: by scattering a thin layer of reflective glass powder over parts of the Arctic. By putting this material on top of the ice, they’re studying if the powder can protect the ice during the summer months and rebuild it over time. In one pond in Minnesota, just a few layers of the material made young ice 20 percent more reflective and delayed the melting of the ice. Other scientists question the impact the material can have on the Arctic ecosystem, but the approach could be a way to counteract the effects of global warming.

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In Slumping Energy States, Plugging Abandoned Wells Could Provide an Economic Boost

Erika Bolstad

September 23, 2020 |

Stateline |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Watford City, North Dakota

North Dakota is using some of its COVID-19 pandemic relief funds to plug 239 abandoned oil wells and reclaim 2,000 acres of lands. Abandoned wells can contaminate groundwater and leak methane that is hazardous to human health and contributes to climate change. While not everyone agrees that the funds should be used to plug wells, state officials say the economic relief program is keeping about 600 oilfield workers employed.

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As Concerns Over Climate Change Rise, More Developers Turn to Wood

Keith Schneider

September 22, 2020 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Spokane, Washington

Eastern Washington University recently built the first tall wood office building in the state joining hundreds of other large “mass-timber” projects in the United States. This growing industry constructs panels, beams, and columns from trees that need to be thinned to curb wildfires in forests. While wood buildings can be more expensive to build than ones constructed from concrete and steel, environmentalists are on board because wood can store carbon, which can help offset greenhouse gas emissions.

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The art of fire: reviving the Indigenous craft of cultural burning

Kelly Boutsalis

September 20, 2020 |

The Narwhal |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Tsilhqot'in Nation, Canada

A 3-year pilot is developing a traditional fire management program for First Nation communities using cultural burns, a practice banned for over a century. Cultural burns are used to reinvigorate the landscape so that seeds and berries grow and animals return. The low intensity, slow burns also reduce wildfire risks and other issues linked to climate change, such as infestations. Stories about cultural burns are being recorded from tribal elders to preserve the rich cultural knowledge about traditional fire management techniques. First Nations hope to be able to use cultural burns on their tribal lands.

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University of Arizona researchers unveil new model for desert farming in warming world

Henry Brean

September 20, 2020 |

Arizona Daily Star |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Tucson, Arizona

In an experimental garden in Arizona, scientists are seeing how to produce sustainable and local food in a desert environment. They’re growing plants under a photovoltaic “canopy” of solar panels that provide necessary shade for the crops and, at the same time, generate cheap, renewable energy for irrigation systems and farm equipment. So far, they’ve been able to grow basil, Anasazi red beans, and a special bell pepper. While not all crops will work in this system and scaling the garden has its challenges, learning how to grow food in the desert is necessary to adapt to a future with climate change.

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Could 80,000 family woodlot owners be the key to saving the Acadian forest?

Lindsay Jones

September 19, 2020 |

The Narwhal |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, New Brunswick

Community Forests International created a carbon project to preserve Acadian forest. They measured and quantified carbon storage on small family-owned forest land, certified it by third-party standards, and sold the carbon offsets to an architecture and engineering firm. A conservation easement was also put on the land to ensure the forest’s longevity. The organization has stored enough carbon dioxide to equal the greenhouse gas emissions of 8,229 passenger vehicles driven for a year in three Wabanaki-Acadian forest preserves. The money raised helped buy some of the land to practice sustainable agriculture.

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California May Need More Fire to Fix its Wildfire Problem

Sophie Quinton Alex Brown

September 18, 2020 |

Stateline |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, California

Prescribed burns are considered the best way to contain catastrophic wildfires, and fires sparked by lightning or by Native Americans once burned more land in California than has burned in 2020's record-setting fires. But burning its way out of danger is hardly a simple matter for California now. Obstacles are many. Long-standing policies of aggressive fire suppression, plus climate-change-induced drought and pestilence, have amassed more fuel for fires. Dense populations in fire-prone areas, make for daunting logistical and financial obstacles.

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Can an Algorithm Help Solve Political Paralysis?

Julia Hotz

September 18, 2020 |

Scientific American |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United Kingdom

Citizen assemblies bring together residents for in-depth discussions about solutions to social issues. This alternative form of democracy led to policy changes in many countries, including legalizing abortion in Ireland. In the UK, an algorithm was applied to form a 110-person “climate assembly.” In a multistage process, the algorithm selected a representative sample of the U.K.’s population, sometimes oversampling harder to reach groups to ensure inclusion. A small stipend was also offered to offset costs for people with lower incomes. The group submitted a final report with climate policy recommendations.

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