WSU Study: Climate Change Will Mean More Landslides on Logged Land

The Centralia Chronicle
November 14, 2017
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

Decreased slope stability from logging combined with increased rainfall from climate change will mean more landslides in the future, according to a Washington State University study. The study, published in Engineering Geology, was modeled after clearcuts on the Olympic Peninsula and based off of the predicted climate of the year 2045. It forecasted that there is likely to be an increase between 7 and 11 percent of areas that are highly vulnerable to landslide events. Researchers noted that those findings are applicable to the Cascade Mountain Range as well. … “Logged landscapes become more susceptible to landslide activity under climate change,” said Jennifer Adam, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and associate director of the State of Washington Water Research Center, in the release.

Read More