this past year alone, my family has faced evacuation twice in the #canadian north due to #wildfire. during the current evac, thousands of northerners have zero communication with their families, emergency personnel or access to wildfire data.
this is entirely due to the collapse of NorthwesTel's fibre network infrastructure and zero secondary systems for comms. the sub/arctic is infamous for its fragile, ancient comms architecture.
i want to change that, and i'd like help thinking out loud about potential citizen-owned/operated technologies for long-distance emergency comms.
#hamradio and #packetradio enthusiasts - could you please recommend some research resources on the following:
legal/frequency considerations for non-voice/packet transmission specific to #Canada
recommended hardware & software for 1000km+ transmission, tcp/ip
examples of amateur radio clubs that have undertaken this kind of role before
if possible, please respond with links to documentation, research and/or policy papers.
my entire family has worked wildfire management since the teletype days, and i hopefully can effect some actual useful change for northerners here.
Yes, Canada is still on fire. Even though summer has gone by and the traditional wildfire season is over, hundreds of forest fires continue burning, most of them out of control.
This is intensely sad to me, not to mention frightening, and it’s a blatantly ominous sign that we are in the midst of a climate emergency.
My #wildfire#safety protocol (assuming you have done all the wildfire pre-prep earlier in the season). 1. Applies to RED FLAG or near RED FLAG (ie. windy, dry) conditions ONLY. I pay attention other times, but not as much. 2. Pay attention to National Weather Service forecasts, and READ THE NOTES. You want to be aware of direction of wind, timing, and where the biggest threats are. If it's not a RED FLAG, I am not as worried, at least in SoCal (lots of firefighting resources). (cont)
Some #survival lessons from watching/collecting Maui #wildfire social media videos (for a client) this week.
Evacuate early if you are worried. Many survivors with videos made it out as their neighbors were waiting for someone to tell them to leave, or were saying "the fire department will put it out".
If you are in the path of smoke, you will soon be in the path of embers, and then you will soon be in the fire. Smoke = get out!
(continued).
(Update: unclear on status of schools a day and a half later). Initial scanner/radio reports of middle school and elementary school destroyed in #MedicalLake#WA due to the #wildfire there -- not confirmed. Evacuations were contining. Scanner reports of fatalities near Medical Lake, but I have not followed up on the details from that night.
Deadliest US #wildfires (so far) -- next grim milestone would be 282 deaths (which was set in 1881). #Maui#wildfire#disaster is number 5 at the moment.
Cities keep being surprised by #climate-aggravated emergencies. #NewYork was not ready for the #smoke emergency.
"#Wildfire smoke experts said that it would have been difficult to foresee such dramatic impacts but that #ClimateChange is also reshaping natural hazards at a startling pace."
"#Seattle did not have a specific plan for #heatwaves in June 2021, when temperatures soared to 108."
#indiegamedev
after a lot of coding to build the foundations for UIs, i'm finally getting to building in map generation and gameplay for my macintosh system 6/SimEarth- inspired #wildfire simulation game
no biome generation yet, but i'm now able to display terrain tiles in a window
why build a game when you can build an operating system instead :P
With the #wildfire smoke in #yeg this weekend, I pulled the air purifiers up from the basement.
Does anyone know how the filters work for these? As in is there some sort of standard or does each manufacturer make unique?
I have a couple of Instant (as in Instant Pot) brand filters and they work well. But filters seem to be stupid expensive: 55CAD per filter. I think the original purifier was only 80CAD.
There similar looking/sized filters for half the price, but not sure if they'll work.
Sigh. I know we need Emergency Alerts during wildfire season. I know the current fires are serious for those who live near them. But. I do worry that all these alarms sent to people who do NOT live near the fires are going to make us sufficiently numb that we won’t pay attention when an alarm actually matters to where we live. (Also - they are so so loud. What a wake up call.) #Alberta#Edmonton#yeg#wildfire#EmergencyAlerts
"Playground on fire... elementary school... no units available" is not what you want to hear. Several calls of people trapped in their homes. #MedicalLake#WAwx#wildfire#WA
Massive wildfire threatens town of Villa Carlos Paz in Argentina.
Pillars of flames and smoke are encroaching from the surrounding hills.
960 firefighters, 8 firefighting planes and 2 helicopters are fighting the wildfires.
The wildfire was accidentally ignited in a campfire.
Fossil-fueled global warming, extreme heat and drought are all contributing to wildfires in S. America. It's not summer yet.
"While nearly 56 million acres of well-established trees at least a century old remain in the region, logging has shattered this forest, leaving behind a patchwork of isolated stands of trees that has created a landscape less able to support wildlife, according to the study. And it has made the land more susceptible to #wildfire, scientists say."
In preparation for the July 4th weekend, re-cleared the buffer zone around my house, just in case (high risk of #wildfire starts). Used a weed-whacker instead of a McLeod to save time this time (with a very, very, very long electric cord). #FireSeason
finally got to that place where emergent gameplay begins appearing
in this #macintosh styled #wildfire simulation that's a spiritual successor to SimEarth, i added a Zippo igniter tool that lets you start uh... prescribed burns >_>
right now the fire spreads according to the prevailing winds at each tile, and the amount of burnable fuel and humidity in the tree stand.
each tree stand grows according to its local rainfall, elevation, terrain type and internal genetic factors. right now i've got half a dozen types of deciduous and coniferous trees modeled, but i'll be adding a lot more :D