If climate change is behind the horrific brush fires in Australia, then North Americans should be concerned about climatic changes killing off their own forests.
"[Australia's] fires should be regarded as the face of climate change, and...we can expect similar events to happen [in the United States]. Victoria (in Southeastern Australia) has been facing a severe drought for years. There's also recently been a heat-wave, with the temperature briefly hitting 115 degrees F last week. Extraordinarily dry conditions and heat led to massive fires, which as of this writing have killed at least 135 people and possibly over 200.
[A]s Global Warming intensifies, the tropics expand. As the tropics expand...that dry area where all the world's deserts are located moves a bit closer to the poles. Lots of other changes in precipitation happen, too.
Our turn is coming. Across the American west, trees are dying due to climate change. A few weeks ago, a study found 'Old-growth forests once studded with pine, hemlock and fir trees are dying across the western U.S. and Canada at double the rate of a half-century ago in what scientists are blaming on climate change.'
Droughts, warming and dead trees- these are the necessary ingredients for massive fires. How many canaries do we need?"
FULL STORY: Hell Comes to Australia: The Face of Climate Change
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Denver Transit Board Approves $1.2 Billion Budget
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
Village of Glen Ellyn
City of Laramie
American Planning Association, Sustainable Communities Division
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Cambridge, Maryland
Newport County Development Council: Connect Greater Newport
Rockdale County Board of Commissioners