Scrutable

As the planet continues to warm up and dry out, it's interesting to see what a mere 1.1°C looks like. Tens of thousands of people currently displaced by a big fire in Colorado.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-59834897

I'm sure we're all hugely reassured that our leaders are responding to this emergency by urgently coming up with a plan to eventually get round to tackling some of the problem as long as it doesn't inconvenience vested interests, while criminalising protest.

And anyway, it's not my home.

If Dr Laura Scherer makes a prediction about this week's lottery numbers, I will be paying close attention.

When I heard this about Colorado fire I assumed it was in the Rockies somewhere, where wildfires rage and few houses burn.

I was a bit shocked when I realised it was between Denver and Boulder, closing the 36 highway. It's on the edge of Broomfield, which is a suburb of Denver. It's literally 15 miles from Union Station in the city centre.

sTeamTraen wrote: Fri Dec 31, 2021 2:47 pm If Dr Laura Scherer makes a prediction about this week's lottery numbers, I will be paying close attention.


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From that photo, it appears trees are more fire resistant than houses. Maybe her house was better built than the usual wood and cardboard construction of most American homes.

The houses don't seem very proof against wildfires given that suburbs with well separated houses burned down. Though I don't suppose they were designed to be proof against wildfires. The Australian in me is somewhat horrified, but if the built environment isn't designed for the new climate, more of these horrors are going to happen.

I suspect firebreaks around cities and home masks/ventilation equipment will become important in a decade or two, once it sinks in that this is the new normal.

bjn wrote: Fri Dec 31, 2021 7:02 pm The houses don't seem very proof against wildfires given that suburbs with well separated houses burned down. Though I don't suppose they were designed to be proof against wildfires. The Australian in me is somewhat horrified, but if the built environment isn't designed for the new climate, more of these horrors are going to happen.

Problem is that construction uses sh.t loads of carbon, so we need to see more timber building and less concrete blocks.

plodder wrote: Fri Dec 31, 2021 10:29 pm

bjn wrote: Fri Dec 31, 2021 7:02 pm The houses don't seem very proof against wildfires given that suburbs with well separated houses burned down. Though I don't suppose they were designed to be proof against wildfires. The Australian in me is somewhat horrified, but if the built environment isn't designed for the new climate, more of these horrors are going to happen.

Problem is that construction uses sh.t loads of carbon, so we need to see more timber building and less concrete blocks.

My brother and his wife own a timber framed house brick veneer house. The 2019 fires in Australia burnt through the forest behind their property to within a few metres of their house, but the fire suppression systems stopped it burning it down.

It can be done.

bjn wrote: Fri Dec 31, 2021 11:28 pm

plodder wrote: Fri Dec 31, 2021 10:29 pm

bjn wrote: Fri Dec 31, 2021 7:02 pm The houses don't seem very proof against wildfires given that suburbs with well separated houses burned down. Though I don't suppose they were designed to be proof against wildfires. The Australian in me is somewhat horrified, but if the built environment isn't designed for the new climate, more of these horrors are going to happen.

Problem is that construction uses sh.t loads of carbon, so we need to see more timber building and less concrete blocks.

My brother and his wife own a timber framed house brick veneer house. The 2019 fires in Australia burnt through the forest behind their property to within a few metres of their house, but the fire suppression systems stopped it burning it down.

It can be done.

Yeah, there's a few This Old House episodes from the site of California wildfires showing how US standard buildings can be adapted for fire suppression/resilience. IIRC, making roofs more fire resistant and careful choice of landscaping around the houses were two key things. The structure of the house had less to do with it.

Quoted instead of edited.

People living in the suburbs don't expect to have to deal with wildfires. Occasional houses standing when every other house is burnt can come down to luck. The building materials of many Denver houses are not suited to withstand wildfires znd they don't have any fire fighting equipment. If you lived in the Rockies, you would do things differently. Just like my house in suburban Australia 2 suburbs from the bush is not really designed to withstand a bushfire, but if I chose to live in the bush, I would do things differently (mostly about the roof). Fires generally enter through the roof and the danger is ember attack.

On this particular fire, Mrs P's niece and her family were evacuated. They were fortunate, their house was unaffected except some damage to the asphalt tiles on the roof caused by embers.

La Nina conditions lead to less rain and snow in the Rockies, but more rain in eastern Australia. The lack of winter moisture played a large role in the fire occurring in January, allowing with high winds. However, it is a signal for what we are in for. Climate change is going to exacerbate all the underlying severe weather.

Saw daffodils today. In full bloom. First of the year.

Though if I'd seen them yesterday they'd have been the last of the year.

In 2022 we should stop restricting freedoms for a disease and start restricting freedoms for climate.

Saw a butterfly fluttering around Worcester City Centre today.

Absolutely no sign of any bulbs flowering yet here though.