A mudslide is more than mere mud: It’s a concretelike mass of sopping earth gathering everything in its path—trees, boulders, cars—as it careers downhill at up to 50 miles per hour. Most mudslides are so loaded with rubble that scientists prefer to call them debris flows.
Anything that soaks the ground can trigger them—rainfall, snowmelt, a burst dam—and they are most likely to develop on steep slopes with unstable soil. Debris flows typically occur as a result of another disaster. Wildfires, like those that ripped through more than a million acres in California last year, increase the risk of debris flows by stripping stabilizing vegetation from hillsides.
Climate change promises to make matters even muddier. With more extreme weather, it could pack a one-two punch: Drier droughts set the stage for wildfires, and wetter storms saturate the soil. Fortunately, scientists and engineers are developing new strategies to predict debris flows and prepare for their impact.
A mudslide is more than mere mud: It’s a concretelike mass of sopping earth gathering everything in its path—trees, boulders, cars—as it careers downhill at up to 50 miles per hour. Most mudslides are so loaded with rubble that scientists prefer to call them debris flows.
Anything that soaks the ground can trigger them—rainfall, snowmelt, a burst dam—and they are most likely to develop on steep slopes with unstable soil. Debris flows typically occur as a result of another disaster. Wildfires, like those that ripped through more than a million acres in California last year, increase the risk of debris flows by stripping stabilizing vegetation from hillsides.
Climate change promises to make matters even muddier. With more extreme weather, it could pack a one-two punch: Drier droughts set the stage for wildfires, and wetter storms saturate the soil. Fortunately, scientists and engineers are developing new strategies to predict debris flows and prepare for their impact.
