Trump Leaves Science Jobs Vacant, Troubling Critics.
On the fourth floor of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, the staff of the White House chief technology officer has been virtually deleted, down from 24 members before the election to, by Friday, only one.
Scores of departures by scientists and Silicon Valley technology experts who advised Mr. Trump’s predecessor have all but wiped out the larger White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
A few months ago, I posted an article about applying CERT characteristics in a business setting. Here is an interesting example of the secondary benefits of training for disaster response: Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians jointly train to provide emergency aid during earthquakes.
Working together is the name of the game in a project now underway in Israeli, Palestinian Authority and Jordanian communities. The joint project, Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), aims to train local residents as first responders in case of an earthquake.
New web-based training initiative from FEMA: You Are the Help Until Help Arrives.. Source of this information is the Homeland Security Digital Library.
The Diva did a quick review of the videos in this program and found them rather elementary. They might be helpful for use by a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) chapter or and other local preparedness organizations in they they help start conversations and thoughts about preparedness. But more specific skills and techniques. such as a first aid course, should be offered.
From an exhibit in Israel, see: After the deluge: Smart designs offer relief for disaster victims. A new exhibit at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art shows off creative solutions to earthquakes and tsunamis, floods and tornados
Managed retreat: Relocating communities to get them out of harm’s way.
More frequent extreme weather events put certain regions in the cross hairs of risks such as coastal flooding, heavy rain, and erosion. There is an obvious, but controversial, solution: relocating communities from vulnerable to safer areas. Based on examples from around the world, researchers chart the landscape for whether and how to implement the strategy of managed retreat – and how, with the minimum disruption possible, relocate or abandon development in the face of extreme weather risk.
Update on March 31: See comments section for some recommended citations on relocation efforts in Australia.
See this explanation of SCIRT and its learning legacy.
The Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT) was a virtual organisation created in 2011 to rebuild Christchurch’s earthquake damaged horizontal infrastructure. SCIRT’s job was to provide a cost-effective and efficient vehicle to quickly get the city’s civil infrastructure back on its feet.
SCIRT’s $2.2 billion five-and-a-half year programme was funded by the New Zealand Government and Christchurch City Council. It involved more than 700 individual projects across the city repairing and rebuilding underground sewage, storm water and fresh water pipes, rebuilding wastewater pump stations as well as roads, bridges and retaining walls.
According to Bloomberg News, On March 28th, Trump is expected to take these actions: Trump to Toss Obama’s Orders to Prepare for Extreme Weather. New order said to reverse policies for climate adaptation; Military bases, coastal towns were protected under planning
On Tuesday, Trump is set to sign an executive order that will in part reverse two main planks of federal efforts under President Barack Obama to adapt to climate change, according to details of the order shared with Bloomberg News. The White House is expected to rescind Obama’s order to federal agencies to plan for climate change and another to have the military plan for the national security implications.
Updates: Fortunately, the federal government is not the only game in town. See this particle from the WashPost today: As Trump halts federal action on climate change, cities and states push on
Trump maintains that Obama-era regulations have unnecessarily hampered businesses and that freeing companies from such burdensome requirements will provide an economic boost. Some mayors, governors and business leaders plan to press ahead with plans to clamp down on carbon emissions, saying it makes sense for the economy as well as the climate.
March 28: One more take on why these moves will leave communities more vulnerable to disasters.
March 31: Pushback from Michael Bloomberg. And this take from Huffington Post.
From the Washington Post: Obama’s science diaspora prepares for a fight
Science, more than many fields, feeds on a collaborative spirit. Former staffers from President Barack Obama’s science office have taken this to heart: They are fanning out, finding jobs in academia, at nonprofits and elsewhere, but they continue to work together, largely behind the scenes. This science diaspora, as one former staffer called it, is ready to both push forward on the ambitious science-related agendas of the previous administration, and to defend against the attacks on science emanating from the new White House.
From The Atlantic Magazine, article titled Trump’s Unbalanced Homeland Security Budget; The president prioritized border security and immigration enforcement in his blueprint, but it risks coming at the expense of other equally important priorities.
Among the authors is former DHS Secretary Chertoff. Here is one excerpt:
Indeed, paying for border security and interior enforcement by cutting funds to the Transportation Security Administration and Federal Emergency Management Agency, and capping investments in agencies like the United States Secret Service and the United States Coast Guard is akin to double-locking your front door, but leaving your side door open—and your windows, and your garage door, and turning off your alarm.
Women respond to the effects of climate change and natural disasters
Women generally suffer more than men do from the effects of climate change and natural disasters. This observation leads the SDC to develop a targeted strategy of supporting projects in which women play an important role in their own social and economic emancipation.
On the slopes of the Bolivian Altiplano, in Haiti and in rural India, women tend to bear the brunt of climate change and natural disasters. Because they attend to household duties, they depend on access to natural resources more than men do. When these resources become scarce, an entire way of life – and means of survival – collapses. Some women also lose the little financial independence they had gained.
Recovery Diva 