After a disaster, wood is a large source of debris. Resilient design limits loss but recovery needs innovation too.
WoodChuck is one AI startup using image recognition to sort salvaged wood for biomass energy and biochar.
tinyurl.com/3fhh79de
#ClimateAdaptation #CircularEconomy
75% of bees live solo — no hives, no honey, just vital pollination. Climate change is shrinking their habitats.
Plant stems left through winter, hollow bamboo, bee bricks, sunny bare soil, and dead wood all make good nesting sites for solitary bee species.
tinyurl.com/2pn8922z
#savethebees
Would you stress a tree to save a forest?
Arborists have a surprising technique: damaging young trees to mimic ancient ones (veteranisation).
Creating hollows, cracks, + cavities invites biodiversity: birds, mosses, fungi, bats…
UK example: tinyurl.com/4h7st547
#Climate #Rewilding #Forests
Turning fog into water? In Morocco’s mountains, giant woven nets capture 37,000 liters a day bringing clean water to villages facing drought.
The ‘CloudFisher’ is a 3D mesh invention installed to align with local wind currents.
Image: FRANCE 24
tinyurl.com/4z6437pu
Absolutely - commercial white paints reflect around 80-90% of sun light 🤍
Over 60% of Paris roofs are that iconic zinc—historic, but heat-trapping.
Interior insulation solutions require air gaps and flexible materials. Startup Roofscapes is testing wooden decks + vegetation on the outside of roofs to create solar protection. www.roofscapes.studio
#UrbanHeat #Climate
A science fair project in Washington State tackled extreme heat and oyster die-offs by prototyping a cage with reflective insulation. 🦪
The sixth-grade students’ project lowered temps and might inspire more aquaculture invention for climate change.
tinyurl.com/4mspec42
#ClimateAdaptation
Centuries of tradition meet a changing climate.
The Omiya Bonsai Art Museum reopened with renovations for extreme heat, protecting visitors and its bonsai, including a 1,000-year-old Ezo spruce. Updates include misting systems, a new layout, & water features. #ClimateAdaptation tinyurl.com/7wjaxuku
Galicia’s wild horses have a perfect resume: they scale rugged terrain, selectively graze, and sport "moustaches" to eat prickly, combustible gorse plants.
Their job? Fire prevention. With herds declining, articles this week advocate for their protection.
Rapa das Bestas: tinyurl.com/mpzprzr5
Stories from UNEP: tinyurl.com/y7s78r49
Marine restores forests with beekeeping.
Louise plants climate-resilient cacao.
Ahumwire helps banana farmers access crop insurance.
Anti Rohey delivers life-saving weather alerts.
Vivienne weaves drought-resistant reeds.
Cool pavements can drop road surface temps by 8–14°F. Using porous or reflective materials, they cool air, boost air quality, and have the potential to reduce energy use.
An option for spots where trees can’t grow—but location matters. Cool streets = cooler cities.
MIT Hub: tinyurl.com/2umemd8w
Trees connect land and sky.
An older oak tree can evaporate 150+ gallons on a sunny day. Like natural water pumps, they move massive amounts of water from soil to atmosphere through their leaves.
Together, forests create “rivers in the air”.
#climate #nature #wonder
Yogurt is a low-cost adaptation ingredient.
Rolling it onto windows creates a white film that reflects sunlight. It’s temporary but accessible to everyone in a heatwave. Curtains, reflective film, trees, and better design are solutions.
A quick fix is at the grocery store: heatwavetoolkit.com.
Beavers are nature’s engineers. Their dams slow the flow of rivers and streams.
This slowdown helps reduce erosion along riverbanks, allows more water to seep into the ground, mitigates flooding, and creates wetlands that help during droughts.
Humans are taking note:
tinyurl.com/2s3kdfxa
Last week, the 23 campuses of the California State University system launched the Consortium on Climate Adaptation.
This initiative harnesses their collective strength to drive climate research, coursework, community engagement, and workforce preparedness. Excited to see the ripple effects unfold.
Biochar is made by heating organic material at high temps with low oxygen.
When added to soil, biochar's porous, sponge-like structure absorbs water, prevents compaction, and can reduce flooding from extreme rain. Downsides depend on sourcing and processing. #ClimateAdaptation
After a wildfire, should we step in with seeding?
It depends. Some landscapes will bounce back. Climate change is driving hotter fires that reduce soil’s ability to support plant regrowth. Erosion and invasive species also play a role.
The answer isn’t one-size-fits-all.
tinyurl.com/2bs225u2
ECOncrete is innovating concrete for coastal piers, jetties, and breakwaters.
The high-texture surface supports more oysters, barnacles, and marine life, boosting biodiversity and the material’s durability.
tinyurl.com/2s35tavs
#adaptation #biomimicry
Understanding fungi could be part of the equation for helping trees adapt to climate change.
There are key relationships between fungi and the world’s tree species, more than one-third of which are at risk of extinction.
tinyurl.com/3zmetan
#climatechange
Detecting fires early is vital in a drier and warmer world.
PanoAI is one startup using precision/infrared cameras and sensors to monitor smoke, blazes, and temperature changes. Data is combined with satellite and other sources by their AI platform for wildfire alerts.
tinyurl.com/ms83ca8e #fire
One LA home that survived the fires has claimed the spotlight for climate-adaptive design.
Designed by Greg Chasen, the home features tempered glass windows, a simple facade, airtight enclosure, concrete perimeter, and defensible landscaping—all factors that may have contributed. #LA #wildfires
The African giant pouched rat has “hero potential” for disaster response to climate-related events.
They are able to navigate debris and find trapped survivors. NGO, APOPO, is prototyping trained rats, equipped with "backpacks" and microphones. tinyurl.com/yerj9fjz
Traditional architecture is a teacher of climate-adaptive building design.
C. Irem Gencer explores examples from Turkey: tinyurl.com/26zena7j
She also notes the flip side: Permeable traditional materials can be vulnerable to climate extremes impacting rates of decay.
Top fossil fuel companies will pay $75 billion USD over 25 years to New York State for climate adaptation.
Payments will be based on emissions from 2000-2018, a period when “no reasonable corporate actor could have failed to anticipate regulatory changes.” #ClimateChange #Adaptation
Climate adaptation can be as small as another blade of grass on the beach.
Dune grasses slow wind and trap sand. Their roots also stabilize sand helping dunes grow and protect coasts from stronger storms.
#climatechange #climateadaptation
Could floating mangrove forests move the needle for climate adaptation? A UNESCO research project in Fiji is field-testing answers.
tinyurl.com/3dxensxr
#climatechange
Today Barbados made history by finalizing the world's first 'debt-for-climate' swap.
Water security is a significant aim of the agreement for Barbados, one of the world’s most water scarce countries. The deal total is US$125 million for adaptation investments.
On the rugged coast of California there are only 3,000 Torrey Pines. In intense drought and heat, this rare tree cannot produce enough sap as a defense against burrowing beetles.
The San Diego Zoo installed sculptural stacked traps to test a lab-derived pheromone that repels beetles.
In the heart of NSW's desert, two ecologists are rewriting history by reintroducing native species like bilbies after 100+ years of absence: shorturl.at/r0AN2
To live with change
____________
The times are always uncertain until we cease longing for certainty, and then they become truly interesting.
-Susan Murphy in A Fire Runs Through All Things