Two words: Be prepared. Extreme weather events will keep happening, with frequency, intensity, predictability and severity. This week is the tip of the iceberg (or the firestorm) here. The amount of dust being blown across the landscape has increased over the last 17 years in large swaths of the West, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder. Other related problems are kicking up, as well.
The escalation in dust emissions — which may be due to the interplay of several factors, including increased windstorm frequency, drought cycles and changing land-use patterns — has implications both for the areas where the dust is first picked up by the winds and for the places where the dust is put back down. Among implications are quicker snowpack melt in the Rockies, poor air quality, low visibility and impoverished soil. Parts of the West are beginning to experience "Dust Bowl-like conditions," according to scientists at the University of Colorado-Boulder, who have noticed an uptick in the amount of dust being blown across the Great Plains and "large swaths of the West." Not good news.
So, it's obvious we're going to experience some increasing unpleasantness. The only way to counteract disaster is to be prepared for it, as prepared as possible. We've courted it with our insistent behavior; why not counteract it the same way?
In minutes, big winds — and lives — can blow up. In the digital age, everything seems to be happening at whirlwind speed. We've got speeding fires, tornadoes, floods, windstorms, duststorms, blizzards, rock-sized hailstorms, electrical storms that breathe lightning-fire, anything Mother Nature can throw at us.
Be prepared. So, what to do?
Designate a disaster center in your home/car. Stock it with the 10-minute, grab-and-run essentials of your life. After ensuring the safety of family members and pets, include the following items (placed in plastic trash bags, plastic bins, camping storage and duffel bags): prescription medications; glasses; false teeth, if needed; oxygen, if needed; walkers, wheelchairs or canes, if needed; wallet/purse; IDs; cash money; checkbook; insurance papers; one change of underwear for each family member, as well as the following items of clothing — a robe, shoes, sweatshirt, t-shirt, pants, light jacket — toothpaste and toothbrush; hairbrush/comb; pen and notepad; family photos; irreplaceable jewelry — wedding rings, etc.; computer; cell phone; map; flashlight; first-aid kit; blanket; sleeping bags; water bottles; important financial records; last tear's tax return; pet food, water, leashes, traveling cases and toys; toilet paper and hygiene necessities; and camping utensils.
That is how we prevail, in lieu of change, staying one step ahead, literally. Be prepared. Perhaps our homes, our lands, are just on loan to us, not only from the banks, but also from a higher source. We still need to provide safe, smart stewardship. That demands being prepared. It is, perhaps, a civic duty, in this time of weather warfare.