The Best Defense Against 'Natural' Disasters Is Nature Itself

I’ve watched in horror as Europe burns.

Ferocious wildfires have swept through Spain, France and now Greece, scorching towns and forests and spewing toxic smoke. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes. Many will have little left to return to.

European communities are just some of many suffering from this summer of extremes. In just the last month, we’ve seen sweltering heat in the U.S., Europe and India; rampant wildfires in Europe, Canada and the U.S.; and deadly floods in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

These “natural disasters” dominate today’s headlines, but they are anything but natural.

Humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions are driving natural disasters to very unnatural extremes. The data speaks for itself: The last 11 years have been the hottest on record. In the U.S. alone, the average length of heat wave season is now 46 days longer than it was in the 1960s. Wildfires are similarly record-breaking. Data from Global Nature Watch shows that fires burn twice as much forest today as they did 20 years ago. And the number of people exposed to floods is projected to double between 2010 and 2030, due largely to climate change, development and land subsidence.

These events wreak havoc on both people and ecosystems. But as communities around the world deploy more firefighters and first responders, it’s time to also realize that our best defense against natural disasters may be nature itself.

Nature: An Underutilized Tool Against Heat, Fires and Floods

We often think of nature as something that needs protecting. But in the face of escalating floods, fires and heat, it’s high time we recognize the many ways nature can protect us.

Perhaps nature’s strongest protective force is reining in the world’s greatest existential threat. Forests, the ocean, soil and natural ecosystems absorb roughly half of humans’ carbon emissions. This natural “carbon sink” shields communities around the world from even more climate impacts than what we’re already experiencing today.

Nature offers a buffer against current climate threats, too. Leaders often turn to built infrastructure as necessary climate resilience measures — sea walls to prevent floods, air-conditioned buildings to beat extreme heat, pipes to hold and redirect stormwater. Yet nature-based solutions provide many of these same services — often with greater flexibility, cheaper costs and considerable co-benefits.

Take heat, one of the most pervasive and growing threats cities face today. Nearly 500,000 people die every year from scorching temperatures. This is simply unacceptable from both a public health and an equity perspective. High heat is especially dangerous for vulnerable groups like pregnant women, children and the elderly. Temperatures are often the hottest in poor neighborhoods, which lack updated buildings, air conditioning and shade.

There are many necessary solutions to hotter temperatures, but one is decidedly low-tech. Urban trees are natural air conditioners, offering both shade and evaporative cooling. Data from WRI’s Cool Cities Lab finds that a tree-lined street can feel up to 14 degrees F cooler than one exposed to the sun. Yet most cities prioritize heat-trapping concrete over cooling green space.

One exception is Medellín, Colombia. The city’s Green Corridors program planted more than 800,000 trees and millions of shrubs and plants along roads, parks, rivers and other public spaces. Shaded areas saw temperatures drop by up to 10 degrees C (18 degrees F). And cooler air wasn’t the only benefit. The added green space has reduced air pollution, provides habitat for urban wildlife, and offers pleasant places to bike, walk and relax. The program also created thousands of jobs for city gardeners and planting technicians.

Fires are another area where nature-based solutions can make a big impact. While fires are a natural part of forest ecosystems in parts of the world like Canada and the U.S., hotter, drier temperatures and poor forest management fuel the kind of large-scale fires we see today. Restoring forest health can help.

Ironically, that sometimes means fighting fire with fire. The Lomakatsi Restoration Project in the western U.S. trains forestry technicians in practices such as prescribed burns, which reduce the buildup of flammable materials like thick underbrush. They also thin forests to remove unhealthy or overly dense stands of trees and build fuel breaks to stop fires from spreading.

The result is a healthier, more fire-resistant forest — as well as a healthier community. Lomakatsi prioritizes jobs for members of economically disadvantaged Tribal communities. The 35,000 acres of forest the project has restored so far has also helped protect the local water supply. Healthy forests play a critical role in regulating stream temperatures, reducing erosion and sedimentation, and improving water quality.

We also see the power of nature in controlling the floods that threaten riverine and coastal communities around the world. Part of the reason these areas are so vulnerable to floods in the first place is because the nature around them is unhealthy. Deforestation in upstream forested watersheds destroys trees’ deep root systems that lock soil in place. Draining and filling in wetlands demolishes cities’ natural water-absorption systems. So does paving over green space with impermeable concrete.

Some cities are starting to recognize that healthier nature makes for a safer community. Long plagued by floods and landslides, leaders in Kigali, Rwanda, decided years ago to rehabilitate the city’s degraded wetlands by carefully relocating thousands of homes, factories and buildings to other areas of the city. Removing pollutants and sediment, restoring natural soil and thirsty plant species, and building wooden boardwalks transformed the landscape. A few years ago I had the pleasure of visiting the result: the Nyandungu Ecotourism Park. The massive wetland acts like a natural sponge, storing and filtering water that used to cause dangerous floods.

But the park is so much more than a flood-prevention mechanism: It supports about 4,000 local jobs, cleans the air, stores carbon and attracts thousands of visitors to walk the paths and ride bikes. It truly is one of the most beautiful parts of the city, as I describe in my book "The New Global Possible."

Fighting Nature with Nature

As the examples above show, nature is one of our best tools for climate resilience. And yet, it remains grossly underutilized. Research shows that for every $1 invested in restoring and conserving nature, $30 is spent destroying it. We’re plowing down and paving over infrastructure that cools the air, stops floods, reduces fires, and provides clean and ample water — at a time when we need these services more than ever.

Like so many things, what we need is finance. Research shows that meeting the world’s climate, land restoration and biodiversity targets requires $571 billion a year by 2030, 2.5 times the amount that’s currently flowing to nature-based solutions.

But, more importantly, what we need is a change in mindset. Leaders must realize: We don’t need to just build our way to a better future with concrete and steel; we also have to plant it.

Embracing nature isn’t just about avoiding risk; it’s about creating healthy, vibrant spaces where both people and planet can thrive. Research shows that every $1 spent on nature-based solutions can deliver up to $8 in benefits. These kinds of projects can create and sustain jobs, clean the air, be deployed virtually anywhere, and, better yet, help rein in the climate change that’s driving more natural disasters in the first place.

As we anxiously anticipate the next fire, flood or heat wave that will inevitably come, it’s time to recognize that fortifying nature is fundamentally about fortifying ourselves.