Latest news with #RobertMacKenzie
Hindustan Times
14-06-2025
- Science
- Hindustan Times
Wood omens: What will the forests of the future look like?
It's a bit like a dystopian forest fable. Some trees are quietly preparing for the climate crisis, with a little human help. They are doing this by leveraging networks with fungi and bacteria; they are entering into standoffs with certain kinds of microbes. Results are mixed but, in some cases, promising. In experiments underway around the world, trees are essentially being introduced to atmospheric conditions that are expected to prevail by 2050. After that point, researchers admit, the Amazon rainforest could be on its way to becoming a savannah or arid grassland. If that happens, it is hard to say what might become of the world's trees (or humans and other life forms). Alternately, we may have mended our ways and be on our way to mending our world by then. So the current experiments are conducted in a spirit of scientific inquiry, readiness, and hope. Here's how they are going. Old oak trees: The UK In a quiet forest on the outskirts of Birmingham is a patch of 180-year-old oak trees that have been transported to the future. Across six experimental plots, eight-storey-high pipes supported by metal towers release air infused with carbon-dioxide above the canopy, elevating local concentrations of CO2 by 40%, to match the levels this region is expected to contain by 2050. 'Traditionally, it's been thought that trees cannot adjust to changing atmospheric composition because they are 'stuck in their ways' and 'locked into' a closed cycling of nutrients with the soil,' says Robert MacKenzie, an atmospheric scientist and director of the Birmingham University Institute of Forest Research (BIFoR), which is conducting the experiment. Over the course of seven years, the researchers have found that, in this instance, this simply isn't true. The trees have responded to higher CO2 levels by raising their carbon-dioxide uptake by 20%, and logging a 10% increase in annual woody growth. This growth of trunk, root and branch helps them sequester more of the carbon in the air. In a surprise discovery, BIFoR researchers also found that microbes in the bark could absorb significant quantities of methane, a climate benefit of trees not previously known (and a discovery that made global news last July). The secret of the forest response appears to be a partnership with soil organisms such as fungi and bacteria, which absorb some of the pollutants and return nutrients to the trees, in exchange for the sugars and other food they cannot make themselves. In an additional benefit, it turned out that the trees bounced back better after a heat wave. The high carbon levels and water-use efficiency helped them resume full-scale photosynthesis faster than a control group of untouched oaks nearby. In Australia, researchers at the University of Western Sydney have been conducting Eucalyptus Free Air Carbon-Dioxide Enrichment or EucFACE trials since 2012. This 'lab' consists of 160 million hectares of eucalyptus-dominated forest in the Cumberland Plain. The mission is to try to predict the effects of rising atmospheric CO2 levels on such an ecosystem. The results have not been heartening, so far. For one thing, elevated CO2 levels caused a significant decline in the populations of arthropods such as spiders and insects, which serve a crucial pest-control and nutrient-cycling function for these trees. Adding to the crisis, in the nutrient-thin soil of this region, the eucalyptus trees' symbiotic relationship with microbes appeared to collapse. Despite the trees' desperate pleas for phosphorus — in the form of more and more carbon released into the soil to feed the microbes — the microbes withheld the crucial nutrient for their own use, 'leaving Eucalyptus trees with limited nutrition,' Kristine Crous, a senior lecturer at Western Sydney University, said in a statement. This is important information because current climate models account for a boost in forest growth globally to help mitigate climate change. As MacKenzie of BIFoR puts it too, for any climate model to be even reasonably accurate, researchers will need a clearer idea of the role trees can be expected to play. Lessons learnt in the Amazon: Brazil AmazonFACE in Brazil began in 2022. This rainforest is nearing its tipping point, by some estimates (it has passed that point, by others). This means it either cannot, or soon won't be able to, regenerate fast enough to retain its character as a rainforest. The factors that have tipped it over include, of course, widespread deforestation, mining activity, the pollution of its land, air and rivers, and global warming. It is estimated that, by 2050, this massive lung of the planet, spread across 6.7 million sq km (making it more than twice the size of India) will have begun its transition to the arid grasslands of a savannah. The 10-year AmazonFACE project, funded by research agencies in Brazil and the UK and coordinated by the government of Brazil's National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA) and the University of Campinas, is the first such experiment in a tropical forest. It covers more than 400 tree species. It is fundamentally an attempt to better understand this forest before it is lost. Flourishing pines: USA Some of the earliest pollution-adaptation studies in the world were conducted in the US. In 1996, a Free Air Carbon-Dioxide Enrichment or FACE test was conducted on a set of 3,700 pine trees in the 7,000-acre Duke Forest, owned and managed by Duke University (whose main campus is spread across 9,000 acres). The young trees responded to increased atmospheric CO2 by absorbing more of it. Only large-field manipulation experiments, however, can monitor the impact of increased carbon-dioxide on the ecosystem as a system, including soil composition and insect populations, says MacKenzie of BIFoR. It takes many years to see the effect averaged over different growing seasons as it gets hotter, drier, cooler and wetter, at different times of year. 'Ideally, this kind of study should have started, around the world, decades ago,' MacKenzie says.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Private firefighters are increasingly popular with insurers. But do they pose a risk?
Robert MacKenzie is an assistant fire chief—but not the kind who works for your local fire department. As the Palisades Fire bore down on Southern California last week, the private fire crew he oversees headed out to help defend homes for their customers: Insurance companies that offer wildfire protection to wealthy homeowners and others with the coverage built into their policies. Working with lists of high-risk properties provided by insurers, the team from Capstone Fire and Safety Management aims to arrive at houses before a fire does, then make changes to the structure that will give it the best chance of survival. If a fire is getting close, they'll smear a fire-protective gel on the side of the home, then get out, CalMatters reports. "If the windows are open, maybe we can close them. If there's a woodpile that's too close to the home, we can move it," said MacKenzie, who ran an in-house fire department for Southern California Edison before coming to work for Capstone. "Ninety percent of what we do is prevention." Capstone is part of a growing and controversial ecosystem of private firefighting companies that have seen themselves thrust into the spotlight as some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Los Angeles have gone up in flames. It includes firefighters directly contracted with government agencies as well as those who work for insurance companies and directly for rich families and developers. As California faces a future of more frequent and severe firestorms, the current fires have made clear that private companies are one way insurers and homeowners will respond to that threat. They've also posed the question of how the state should regulate private firefighters and how they should communicate with the public firefighting agencies leading disaster response. One of Capstone's clients is Pure Insurance, a boutique firm that advertises its services to high-net-worth individuals with luxury homes and art collections. But mainstream insurers are also offering wildfire defense services to their customers, typically included in the cost of their premium. Insurers that have contracted with fire defense companies include State Farm, which holds the most residential policies in the area covered by the Palisades, Eaton, and Hurst fires, according to a San Francisco Chronicle analysis. Insurers' use of private firefighters "started years ago with some of the high-net-worth insurance carriers, but it's moved into the standard market as well," said Janet Ruiz, a spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute, an industry association. "It is really part of the landscape now. And even average homeowners are really taking a look at their risk way more than they used to." "It's not just the Kardashians," agreed Matthew Wara, director of Stanford University's Climate and Energy Policy Program, referring to the time Kim and Kanye infamously used a private squad to protect their mansion from the Woolsey Fire. Fire experts note that private firefighting is nothing new, dating back to the 1700s, before Benjamin Franklin co-founded the Union Fire Company, the first volunteer fire service organized to defend the whole community and not just its members. But critics have skewered the private companies as creating a two-tiered system where those with more resources get better protection than everyone else. After billionaire developer Rick Caruso hired private crews to defend his Palisades Village mall, backlash spread on social media as images circulated of pristine chain stores with water trucks parked outside alongside burnt-out ruins of homes and small businesses. Caruso later pledged a $5 million donation to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation. A 2018 California law requires private firefighters arriving in an evacuation zone to check in with the local incident commander and follow any of their instructions, including leaving the scene when asked. They're not allowed to use the same radio frequency as government firefighters to communicate with each other, must mark their vehicles as "nonemergency" and avoid using sirens. That law doesn't prevent private firefighters from hooking up to public fire hydrants—though representatives for both the fire companies and the state's fire protection department, Cal Fire, said they typically bring their own water trucks or connect to homeowners' hydrants. It's a sensitive issue because some hydrants in Pacific Palisades ran dry early last week as firefighters struggled to contain the blaze. Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, who authored the 2018 law, said in a statement to CalMatters that it was sparked by previous wildfire seasons in 2007 and 2017 in which private firefighters entered disaster zones without coordinating with their public counterparts, confusing residents and distracting emergency responders. "The public thought the private firefighters were public firefighters, which gave a false sense of security that there was emergency response in their neighborhoods," she said. "Private firefighters were going into evacuation areas without prior authorization. In a couple of (instances) they had to be rescued, which put emergency personnel at risk." Aguiar-Curry said fire agencies are evaluating the effectiveness of the law as the Los Angeles fires unfold to see if any changes need to be made. Insurers, who are likely staring down tens of billions of dollars in liability from the Los Angeles fires, have been willing to spend on wildfire defense in order to avoid the more costly loss of insured property. A contracted rate for private firefighters to visit a home and take preventive measures as a fire approaches can run about $1,000, said Mark Sektnan, vice president of state government relations for the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, another industry group. MacKenzie said Capstone is made up largely of retired firefighters and younger employees trying to gain the experience they need to be hired by a fire service. During the off-season, they visit insurers' customers and give them tips on how to fire-harden their properties. When they're on site at a fire, he said, they try to know their limits, sticking to the jobs that emergency responders might not have time to do. "We don't want to become part of the incident and create more havoc for the responding agencies," he said. "If there are small spot fires, like an ember coming from half a mile away, we'll extinguish that. But if that fire is coming up the canyon at a rapid rate, we typically gel the side of the exposed home and we'll leave and make sure our folks are safe." The company has visited more than 2,000 homes during the current Los Angeles firestorm, said MacKenzie, fielding a team of 16 engines with 34 people at the height of their operation. Another company widely used by insurers, Wildfire Defense Systems, says it has responded to 1,400 wildfires since 2008 and has a 99% success rate in saving structures if it arrives on the scene in time to prepare the property. "The people that actually have to put money at risk in these situations are insurance companies and reinsurance companies, so I think it's important to look at what they think is effective," said Wara, the Stanford researcher. "They think (home hardening by private firefighters) is highly effective and want to see more of it." A key question, said Wara, is whether private firefighters hired by insurers can get to a fire scene fast enough and whether they're admitted by the on-site commander. He said he'd heard from private firefighting crews who attempted to enter the Palisades Fire zone and were turned away. Captain Dan Collins, a spokesperson for Cal Fire on the Palisades Fire, said he couldn't confirm whether private crews had been denied permission to enter, but that if they were, it was for their own safety. Unlike private firefighters who are contracted directly with Cal Fire, fire crews who work for insurers or homeowners may not have the same training as regular firefighters, Collins said. Some fire departments, for example, require firefighters to be trained as paramedics. "There's no way for us as professional firefighters to vet their training, or their personal protective equipment," he said. Private firefighters are also not communicating on the same system or always briefed on the overall plan for tackling the fire, he said. "It makes things harder if we're in a dynamic fire situation and we drive by some unknown type engine and we can't get a hold of them or advise them of danger or something happening. It creates a potentially dangerous situation for those people." "No one wants to take on that liability," he added. Of the more than 5,000 people fighting the Palisades Fire, Collins said Cal Fire had contracted one private fire engine with a four-person crew. They were previously vetted by Cal Fire and report to a Cal Fire supervisor, he said. "Firefighting resources that prevent the destruction of a residence are helpful on incidents like these, with an emphasis on coordination and accountability," Cal Fire added in a statement provided after publication. The agency said it had worked with private companies to improve coordination over the past few years. Will the private firefighting sector continue to grow? Ken Sebastiani directs the fire technology program at Santa Rosa Junior College, where about 1,200 students pass through each semester, many inspired to work in fire prevention by personal experience in the Tubbs, Glass and Carr fires, which ravaged the wine country. He doesn't see many go on to private firefighting companies, he said; most want to work for Cal Fire or municipal departments. But he described the existence of private firefighting as a sign that with wildfire danger increasing, it's all hands on deck. "It's a global challenge, the need for firefighters, because of climate change," he said. "It's happening everywhere—Greece, Italy—so it's not just California." "Until Mother Nature slows down, it's really hard for the fire departments to catch up." This story was produced by CalMatters and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
