The importance of synthesis to disaster planning and response

The U.S. government spends billions on disaster relief every year—$136 billion between 2011 and 2013 alone—but one crucial area tends to be overlooked. There are often major gaps in the scientific understanding of the environments in question.

That's the argument of a recent paper in the Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy, written by former NOAA Fisheries Science Director Usha Varanasi. When disasters hit, writes Varanasi, responders must often play catch up, using valuable time assessing prior ecological conditions or pulling together scattered sources of information.

Varanasi proposes a new model for disaster-planning and response, in which baseline ecosystem data and syntheses are collected in advance of possible incidents. She calls it “frontloading the science,” and you can read the article here.

Citation

Varanasi, Usha (2013), Making Science Useful in Complex Political and Legal Arenas: A Case for Frontloading Science in Anticipation of Environmental Changes to Support Natural Resource Laws and Policies, Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy, Vol. 3, Number 2.