I just listened to a news report, an in depth one, I guess, about California's heavy rains and flooding. The in depth label comes from the story's attempt to get into what or anything would mitigate some of the damage. It was all about drainage systems and flood control structures and water diversion projects. None of it spoke to the truth that any attempt to deal with severe climate disruptions must always start with land use.
When huge amounts of water are running off a surface it matters what the surface is. Is it flat and somewhat impervious or more sponge like in consistency? It matters very much how whatever water was in the system at the outset of the event existed in the land. Was it very much tied up in soil particles? Are there parts of the landscape that will always be wet and that have been deliberately not meddled with by capitalism? Is the entire surface in the area tied up with economic production or are there a significant number of acres in a closer to natural state?
We humans are not helpless unless we make ourselves so by failure to think and reluctance to act upon what we have thought.
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