Every Saturday we decipher climate issues with François Gemenne, professor at HEC, president of the Scientific Council of the Foundation for Nature and Man and member of the IPCC. Saturday October 25: prevent natural disasters using birds.
Using migratory birds to prevent natural disasters may seem crazy, but that is the goal of the innovative scientific program “Kivi Kuaka”. It is named after two migratory birds, KiviPolynesian name for the Alaskan curlew, and Kuaka, Maori name for the red godwit, which can help to better prevent natural disasters, and in particular to trigger the alert earlier.
These migratory birds are, in fact, very sensitive to infrasound produced by the vortices of cyclones or submersive waves. They can therefore warn of the imminence of a hurricane, a storm or even a tsunami. During the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, survivors in Indonesia’s Aceh province reported seeing birds taking refuge inland long before the wave arrived.
It is from this observation that the Kivi Kuaka project was born. The idea is to equip hundreds of migratory birds in the South Pacific with small GPS beacons, which will transmit data from their flights via the International Space Station. The data not only makes it possible to better anticipate natural disasters, but also to improve climate modeling and weather forecasts in this area. These beacons will also make it possible to transmit valuable data for the preservation of biodiversity, since these bird populations have been reduced by half in 20 years.
A program developed with the army
Initially, this program was developed within an unprecedented collaboration made up of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Ecological Transition and the National Museum of Natural History. Other partners have been added, such as the French Office for Biodiversity, Météo France and the French Development Agency.
If the presence of the Ministry of the Armed Forces may be surprising, it is because environmental security has redefined its role. Increasingly, armies are called upon to reinforce disaster areas, during humanitarian operations, to evacuate populations or provide assistance to victims. This is particularly true in the South Pacific, where many territories are very vulnerable to climatic disasters, and where the means of intervention are often very limited.
Whenever a disaster occurs, the lack of anticipation is often deplored and yet this is the key to preventing these disasters. The sooner we can be alerted to these disasters, the better we can evacuate populations and therefore save lives. This is why this Kivi Kuaka program is important, because the results it provides can obviously be applied in many other regions.
A program in danger
Funding for 2024 is still not guaranteed, which obviously threatens the future of the program. François Gemenne was able to follow this program in particular within the framework of the Climate and Defense Observatory of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, which he directs with Julia Tasse. There are not yet enough resources put into disaster prevention, even though the tools that would make it possible to considerably reduce their impacts exist.
France is not immune to natural disasters. One of the main effects of climate change will be an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme phenomena. In France, 62% of the population is exposed to climate risks, according to the Ministry of Ecological Transition. In 2022, the bill for natural disasters in France amounted to ten billion euros, according to insurers.