Please find below links to recent news about some aspects of disaster resilience…
Recent emergencies/disaster
Australia fires: blazes ‘too big to put out’ as 140 bushfires rage in NSW and Queensland https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/07/australia-fires-blazes-too-big-to-put-out-as-140-bushfires-rage-in-nsw-and-queensland?CMP=share_btn_tw
Namibia – 1 Dead After Flash Floods in Northern and Central Areas http://floodlist.com/africa/namibia-floods-december-2019
New Zealand – Flooding Prompts State of Emergency in Canterbury Region http://floodlist.com/australia/new-zealand-canterbury-otago-december-2019
Uganda – at Least 16 Killed in Floods and Landslides in Western Region http://floodlist.com/africa/uganda-floods-landslides-bundibugyo-western-region-december-2019
Flooding causes extreme destruction in South Sudan: IOM https://www.southsudan.biz/flooding-causes-extreme-destruction-in-south-sudan-iom/
White Island volcano erupts in Bay of Plenty: 5 dead, 8 missing, 31 in hospital https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12292240
Malaysia – Hundreds Evacuated After Floods in Johor http://floodlist.com/asia/malaysia-floods-johor-december-2019
Philippines – Thousands Displaced by Floods in North http://floodlist.com/asia/philippines-northeast-monsoon-floods-cagayan-december-2019
Sri Lanka – 6 Dead, Thousands Displaced as Heavy Rain Continues http://floodlist.com/asia/sri-lanka-north-east-monsoon-december-2019
Rwanda – Dozens Homeless After Heavy Rain Triggers Landslides in Musanze http://floodlist.com/africa/rwanda-dozens-homeless-after-heavy-rain-triggers-landslides-in-musanze
Somalia – Homes Destroyed as Tropical Cyclone Pawan http://floodlist.com/africa/somalia-tropical-cyclone-pawan-december-2019
Colombia – Thousands Hit by Floods in Nariño Department http://floodlist.com/america/colombia-floods-narino-december-2019
South Africa – Hundreds Rescued From Floods in Gauteng http://floodlist.com/africa/south-africa-floods-gauteng-december-2019
Lebanon and Israel – Flash Floods Cause Travel Chaos http://floodlist.com/asia/lebanon-israel-flash-floods-december-2019
More than 720 homes lost in NSW fires as Sydney told to brace for huge losses https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/more-than-720-homes-lost-in-nsw-fires-as-sydney-told-to-brace-for-huge-losses-20191211-p53iv5.html
Malaysia – 300 Evacuate After Floods in Sabah http://floodlist.com/asia/malaysia-sabah-floods-december-2019
Madagascar – Floods and Wind Damage After Tropical Cyclone Belna Makes Landfall http://floodlist.com/africa/madagascar-tropical-cyclone-belna-december-2019
Ecuador – Deadly Floods and Landslides in Morona-Santiago Province http://floodlist.com/america/ecuador-floods-morona-santiago-province-december-2019
Maldives – Heavy Rain Causes Floods in Malé http://floodlist.com/asia/maldives-floods-december-2019
Volcanic activity worldwide 12 Dec 2019: Etna volcano, Fuego, Popocatépetl, Dukono, Reventador https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/volcano-activity/news/94056/Volcanic-activity-worldwide-12-Dec-2019-Etna-volcano-Fuego-Popocatepetl-Dukono-Reventador-San.html
Extreme Weather and Climate Change
Nagano is first prefecture in Japan to declare a climate emergency http://www.newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/125987.php
Victoria Falls dries to a trickle after worst drought in a century https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/07/victoria-falls-dries-to-a-trickle-after-worst-drought-in-a-century?CMP=share_btn_tw
Leading scientists condemn political inaction on climate change as Australia ‘literally burns’ https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/dec/07/leading-scientists-condemn-political-inaction-on-climate-change-as-australia-literally-burns
New research examines climate change’s role in 2018 extreme weather events https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/new-research-examines-climate-change%E2%80%99s-role-2018-extreme-weather
Earth’s frozen ‘water towers’ threatened by warming, population growth, report says https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/mountain-water-towers-climate-change-threats-1.5388575
Explaining Extreme Events from a Climate Perspective https://www.ametsoc.org/ams/index.cfm/publications/bulletin-of-the-american-meteorological-society-bams/explaining-extreme-events-from-a-climate-perspective/
Greenland ice losses rising faster than expected https://phys.org/news/2019-12-greenland-ice-losses-faster.html
Historic American towns have endured wars, storms. What about sea rise? https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-12-08/historic-american-towns-sea-rise
Sea Level Science Grapples with Uncertainty and Usability https://eos.org/research-spotlights/sea-level-science-grapples-with-uncertainty-and-usability#.Xe_EATjkkYA.linkedin
‘Sydney is angry’: Protesters march to demand urgent action on climate change https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-is-angry-protesters-march-to-demand-urgent-action-on-climate-change-20191211-p53iyc.html
Now Australian cities are choking on smoke, will we finally talk about climate change? https://theconversation.com/now-australian-cities-are-choking-on-smoke-will-we-finally-talk-about-climate-change-128543
“Climatic-affective atmospheres”: A conceptual tool for affective scholarship in a changing climate https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1755458619300453
Climate Analytics suggests Australia has reneged on a pledge to make deeper emissions cuts https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/12/australias-use-of-accounting-loophole-to-meet-paris-deal-found-to-have-no-legal-basis?CMP=share_btn_tw
On current trends, Greenland ice melting will cause 100 million people to be flooded each year by the end of the century, so 400 million in total due to sea level rise https://sealevel.nasa.gov/news/178/greenlands-rapid-melt-will-mean-more-flooding
“There’s been this increasing dawning of awareness among many Americans that climate change is actually starting to harm people here and now” https://www.theverge.com/2019/12/10/21003596/climate-change-end-of-decade-2019-temperature-storms-wildfires-effects-emissions
People are waking up to the climate crisis, but two sobering reports this week are a reminder of the enormity of the problem https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/arctic-melt-climate-change-global-warming-permafrost-bomb-greta-thunberg-925599/
Explaining Extreme Events from a Climate Perspective Report https://www.ametsoc.org/ams/index.cfm/publications/bulletin-of-the-american-meteorological-society-bams/explaining-extreme-events-from-a-climate-perspective/
Disaster risk reduction
How to live with mega-fires? Portugal’s feral forests may hold the secret https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/12/how-to-live-with-mega-fires-portugal-forests-may-hold-secret/
Study suggests Cascadia can trigger quakes on the northern San Andreas, California https://watchers.news/2019/12/08/study-suggests-cascadia-can-trigger-quakes-on-the-northern-san-andreas-california/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Indian Ocean Dipole: What is it and why is it linked to floods and bushfires? https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-50602971
Flash flooding is a serious threat in the UK – here’s how scientists are tackling its prediction https://theconversation.com/flash-flooding-is-a-serious-threat-in-the-uk-heres-how-scientists-are-tackling-its-prediction-128015
Meteorological conditions leading to the 2015 Salgar flash flood: lessons for vulnerable regions in tropical complex terrain https://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/19/2635/2019/
A benefit–cost analysis of floodplain land acquisition for US flood damage reduction https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0437-5
New study compares floodplain protection today to predicted future flood losses https://phys.org/news/2019-12-floodplain-today-future-losses.html
To prevent increasingly massive wildfires we need to rethink our approach to forest management https://thenib.com/prescribed-burn-forest-fires
A Tiny Leak Led to a Massive, Unexpected Collapse at Kilauea Volcano https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-tiny-leak-led-to-a-massive-unexpected-collapse-at-kilauea-volcano/
Conserving the Floodplains Could Save Billions of Dollars, Researchers say https://www.govtech.com/em/disaster/Conserving-the-Floodplains-Could-Save-Billions-of-Dollars-Researchers-say.html
Damaging Rains From Hurricanes Can Be More Intense After Winds Subside https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2019/12/03/damaging-rains-from-hurricanes-can-be-more-intense-after-winds-subside-say-researchers/
Hazard map articles should describe the development of a volcanic hazard map or set of volcanic hazard maps https://appliedvolc.biomedcentral.com/submission-guidelines/preparing-your-manuscript/hazard-map
Scientists Scramble to Collect Data After Ridgecrest Earthquakes https://eos.org/features/scientists-scramble-to-collect-data-after-ridgecrest-earthquakes
Emergency management
Government’s role in supporting community–led approaches to recovery https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/media/6916/srrg-community_led_literature_review.pdf
Briefing Mozambique’s post-cyclone problems multiply https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2019/09/09/Mozambique-cyclone-drought-elections-militancy
‘Smells like it’s time to go to work’: American firefighters arrive in Sydney https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/it-smells-like-it-s-time-to-go-to-work-american-firefighters-arrive-in-sydney-20191208-p53hxt.html
White Island erupts: Why were tourists allowed on unsettled island? https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12292364
Why White Island erupted and why there was no warning https://theconversation.com/why-white-island-erupted-and-why-there-was-no-warning-128550?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=twitterbutton
As Australia bush fires rage, country offers lessons for the wildfire-prone western U.S. https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/11/23/australia-bush-fires-rage-country-offers-lessons-wildfire-prone-us/
New Zealand helicopter pilot describes horror of volcano rescue https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/10/new-zealand-volcano-helicopter-pilot-says-was-victims-last-hope?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Tweet
Hunger deepening in South Sudan as floods follow drought and unresolved conflict https://insight.wfp.org/conflict-eases-as-hunger-deepens-in-south-sudan-7a41e03581a0
Despite Warning Of 2nd Eruption, Police Will Try To Recover Bodies On White Island https://www.npr.org/2019/12/12/787416826/despite-warning-of-2nd-eruption-police-will-try-to-recover-bodies-on-white-islan
Disaster education, communications and engagement
Policy Perspectives on Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing https://theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/articles/10.5334/cstp.293/
A new database for detecting floods in real-time on a global scale using Twitter https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-019-0326-9
Sociology and disasters
Capturing Bonding, Bridging, and Linking Social Capital through Publicly Available Data https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/rhc3.12183
How a small British town used social connections to make residents happier and healthier https://qz.com/1725422/how-one-town-fostered-resilience-by-combating-loneliness/amp/
The historical context of injustice, discrimination and inequality experienced through social structures that cause harm to certain people informs today’s risk https://theconversation.com/risk-rooted-in-colonial-era-weighs-on-bahamas-efforts-to-rebuild-after-hurricane-dorian-125548
Disaster Resilience News 