Podcast
Understanding Resilience, Vulnerability and Sustainability in Food-Energy-Water Systems
Who do you think has the most sustainable water supply – residents of the mountain town of Flagstaff, Arizona – or its vast, desert neighbor of metropolitan Phoenix? In Episode Three FEWSION data scientist Richard Rushforth (Assistant Research Professor in the School of Informatics, Computing and Cyber Systems at Northern Arizona University) has the answer. The overall water security of these two contrasting cities is not what you might think. FEWSION project director Ben Ruddell (Associate Professor in the School of Informatics, Computing and Cyber Systems at Northern Arizona University) explains why it’s important to consider resilience and vulnerability to fully understand how to make our Food-Energy-Water systems more sustainable. And how FEWSION data can be used to do that. Using the concept of the ‘Butterfly Effect’ Ruddell describes real-life examples of drought (US 2011-2012), Hurricane Harvey and the current China-US trade war to demonstrate how a change of conditions in one part of the food-energy-water system can cascade through those systems. And why FEWSION data can help us to predict and better prepare for such scenarios in the future.
Suggested Citation: [Hope, D., B.L. Ruddell, and R.R. Rushforth (2018), Crucial FEWSION Episode 3 – The Butterfly Effect: Understanding Resilience, Vulnerability and Sustainability in Food-Energy-Water Systems https://soundcloud.com/diane-hope/crucial-fewsion-episode-3. Accessed November 2nd, 2018.].
Credits:
Podcast recorded, narrated and produced by Diane Hope.
Music: ‘Drip Hop Emergency’ and ‘Emergent’ composed by Diane Hope.