31/10/2024
Valencia-Fluten erklärt!
Would you believe me if I told you that the floods happening in Valencia right now were forecast to happen nearly 30 years ago?
In the 1990s, Millán Millán discovered something troubling in his homeland: The traditional weather patterns of the Western Mediterranean were becoming unhinged.
The summer storms that farmers had relied on for generations were vanishing, and he needed to understand why.
His research revealed a cascade of destruction that was leading to the loss of the summer storms:
→ Coastal wetlands vanishing under concrete
→ Mountain forests reduced to scrubland
→ Ancient water cycles breaking down
He predicted these changes would lead to catastrophic floods, the reasons being:
• Damaged landscapes can't hold water
• Lost vegetation can't cool air
• Warm air piles up over the Mediterranean
• Sea temperatures rise
• Storms become supercharged
• Devastating floods follow
Safe to say he hit the nail on the head there.
The solution he proposed was equally clear:
1. Restore coastal wetlands
2. Rebuild mountain forests
3. Fix local water cycles
4. Let nature do its job
We didn’t listen.
Many called his findings "incommodious".
Too “inconvenient” for development plans.
It got in the way of "progress".
When will we take action on the fact that climate isn't just about what's up in the atmosphere.
It's just as much about what's happening on the ground.
The best flood protection?
Healthy watersheds.
The best time to restore them was 30 years ago.
The second best time is now.
To learn more about the work of Millan Millan, I implore you to:
• watch this podcast interview done by Alpha Lo: https://lnkd.in/d7b-2pdY
(this deserves WAY more views than it has)
• read the 3 part series written by Rob Lewis. Part 1 can be found here: https://lnkd.in/dh7WnYsq
_
Want to explore more nature based solutions to the meta crisis?
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