Solutions

FILE PHOTO: An aerial view of the Shell Deer Park Manufacturing Complex is seen in Deer Park, Texas, U.S. August 31, 2017. REUTERS/Adrees Latif/File Photo

CLICK HERE - REPORT - Preparing for the Next Storm (33 page .PDF report)

reuters.com - by Timothy Gardner - August 16, 2018

Texas environment regulators should coordinate shutdowns of oil refineries and other petrochemical plants during major storms to avoid big releases of air pollution like during last year’s Hurricane Harvey, a report said on Thursday.

A year ago Harvey dumped more than 60 inches (1.5 meters) of rain on southeastern Texas, halting refineries that produce a quarter of U.S. fuel and damaging infrastructure.

Texas industry, including refineries and petrochemical plants, released an extra 8.3 million pounds (3.8 million kg) of air pollutants including cancer-causing benzene, during Harvey, said the report . . . 

Shorebirds feed in the shallows of Estero Bay State Preserve.  In the background are black mangroves, which are part of a salt marsh, which absorbs large amounts of carbon dioxide.  (Photo: File photo by Andrew West)

CLICK HERE - RESEARCH - PLOS One - Living Shorelines: Coastal Resilience with a Blue Carbon Benefit

news-press.com - by Chad Gillis - December 24, 2015

Natural, living shorelines in areas like the Gulf of Mexico absorb a lot of carbon dioxide and will help blunt the effects of climate change.

And coastal wetlands store several times the amount that can be absorbed by mature tropical forests, the research shows.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration studied wetlands in North Carolina and reports that plants, sand and rocks are better for the environment than man-made features like concrete sea walls and high-rise condominiums.

The report, published earlier this month in the journal PLOS One, shows that natural features in coastal areas help keep atmospheric carbon dioxide levels lower.

First, there is great value in a systems approach as a heuristic for understanding interlocked social-ecological-technological processes, and in analysis across multiple scales. Yet we need to move beyond both systems as portrayed in resilience thinking, and the focus on actors in work on vulnerability, to analyse networks and relationships, as well as to attend to the diverse framings, narratives, imaginations and discourses that different actors bring to bear.

For More:

http://resilienturbanism.tumblr.com/post/7573475902/reframing-resilience