A Push for Resilience

Geologists have a keen interest in disasters, and not only because the geologic past is dense with floods, eruptions, greenhouse catastrophes, Strangelove oceans, cosmic impacts and mass extinctions. The natural disasters we have a growing knack for encountering today often have geologic origins and can be easily foreseen. Every election is an opportunity to bring up the issues around disaster resilience, which means running a civilization that won't break down when nature strikes.

Today a group of climate-science organizations, led by the academic climate coalition UCAR, is issuing a call for the next president and Congress to get on the stick. Their advice hasn't changed since the last major report on disaster resilience, the 1999 book Disasters by Design: serious efforts require more data, computing, research support, public education and expert leadership.

The tactical purpose of this set of recommendations becomes clear in its nickname, "the transition document." On the UCAR website is a link for you to submit suitable names "for key positions affecting science policy in the new administration." It will be interesting to see if it makes a difference instead of being a high-minded version of an Internet poll.