Marie Kurz

Presenter(s):
Marie Kurz, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research UFZ Leipzig

Primary Convener:
Marie Kurz, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Regional-scale, extreme disturbance events, including the southern California wildfires in January 2025 and historic flooding following Hurricane Helene in September 2024, impact human and ecological communities, energy generation and distribution systems, industry, hydro-biogeochemical functioning, and associated ecosystem services, often far beyond the spatiotemporal footprint of the actual event. While disturbances result in substantial social and economic toll, they also offer unique opportunities for novel scientific inquiry into system and process understanding. Key challenges are knowing that disturbances will occur but not when and where; and whether gained system and process understanding can be extrapolated across ecosystems and future states. Novel technologies, increased data sharing, and lessons learned from past studies are refining the efficacy of leveraging large-scale disturbances. We propose a forum discussion on what the scientific community can do to optimize our preparation and response to disturbances and maximize the unique scientific understanding gained from these events. Topics include:Approaches and technologies to enable rapid response of observations, and how the community be prepared to quickly implement them.Core data needed to effectively characterize both antecedent conditions and event dynamics.Key knowledge gaps, e.g. relating to system and process behavior and scaling, that we can address by studying disturbances.

Cross-Listed:
NH - Natural Hazards
B - Biogeosciences
H - Hydrology
EP - Earth and Planetary Surface Processes
GC - Global Environmental Change