Please find below links to some aspects of disaster resilience that were in the news recently…
Recent emergencies/disasters
Mandatory wildfire evacuations are ordered for parts of western Los Angeles County https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/16/us/wildfire-mandatory-evacuations-los-angeles-palisades/index.html
Cyclone Tauktae intensifies, lashes west coast of India https://www.axios.com/cyclone-tauktae-intensifies-hits-west-coast-of-india-60e3997e-fce1-4467-a366-d4987c0f16c2.html
Famine – The Worst Drought In 40 Years Threatens People In Madagascar https://reliefweb.int/report/madagascar/famine-worst-drought-40-years-threatens-people-madagascar
Sri Lanka – Floods and Landslides Leave 3 Dead, 11,000 Affected http://floodlist.com/asia/sri-lanka-floods-update-may-2021
India’s Gujarat state evacuates over 200,000 people as cyclone hits https://news.trust.org/item/20210517154651-d7f5r/
Destructive tornado rips through Wuhan, killing 8 people and injuring 280, China https://watchers.news/2021/05/15/wuhan-tornado-china-may-14-2021-casualties-damage/
Shallow M5.4 earthquake hits Iran – Turkmenistan border region, injuring 25 people https://watchers.news/2021/05/17/north-khorasan-iran-earthquake-may-17-2021/
Ecuador – Flash Floods in Cuenca Cause Major Damage http://floodlist.com/america/ecuador-cuenca-floods-may-2021
Extreme Weather and Climate Change
Australia Just Broke a Major Record For New Solar Panel Roof Installations https://www.sciencealert.com/australia-a-world-leader-in-rooftop-solar-breaks-new-record-for-installations
Getting ready for climate change is about people, not spreadsheets https://theconversation.com/getting-ready-for-climate-change-is-about-people-not-spreadsheets-lets-use-our-imaginations-160706
Last hope over climate crisis requires end to coal, says Alok Sharma https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/14/last-hope-over-climate-crisis-requires-end-to-coal-says-alok-sharma
Australia stands alone in not having a significant climate plan, says UK expert https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/14/australia-stands-alone-in-not-having-a-significant-climate-plan-says-uk-expert
Antarctica’s Doomsday Glacier: How Doomed Are We? https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/antarctica-thwaites-glacier-how-fast-will-it-melt-1168437/
April was the world’s ninth-warmest April in 142 years of record keeping https://www.noaa.gov/news/april-2021-and-year-to-date-were-among-earth-s-top-10-warmest
Net zero: despite the greenwash, it’s vital for tackling climate change https://theconversation.com/net-zero-despite-the-greenwash-its-vital-for-tackling-climate-change-160329
Extreme Heat Risks May Be Widely Underestimated and Sometimes Left Out of Major Climate Reports https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16052021/extreme-heat-risks-climate-change/
We can’t beat the climate crisis without rethinking land use https://www.brookings.edu/research/we-cant-beat-the-climate-crisis-without-rethinking-land-use/
A digital twin of the Earth to better prepare for climate extremes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JbBm7M4b2s
Western Australia eyes massive 100GW of wind and solar for green hydrogen by 2030 https://reneweconomy.com.au/western-australia-eyes-massive-100gw-of-wind-and-solar-for-green-hydrogen-by-2030/
Greenland ice sheet on brink of major tipping point, says study https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/17/greenland-ice-sheet-on-brink-of-major-tipping-point-says-study
The USA is heating up https://www.fastcompany.com/90636999/this-map-of-the-u-s-heating-up-is-horrifying-show-it-to-every-climate-denier-you-know
Antarctica is headed for a climate tipping point by 2060, with catastrophic melting if carbon emissions aren’t cut quickly https://theconversation.com/antarctica-is-headed-for-a-climate-tipping-point-by-2060-with-catastrophic-melting-if-carbon-emissions-arent-cut-quickly-160978
Rethinking urban heat stress: Assessing risk and adaptation options across socioeconomic groups in Bonn, Germany https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212095521000870?via%3Dihub
Disaster risk reduction
Queensland’s Economic Assessment Framework of Flood Risk Management Projects https://www.aidr.org.au/news/queenslands-economic-assessment-framework-of-flood-risk-management-projects/
‘This has never happened’: California’s only wildfire research center makes scary discovery https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/fuel-moisture-content-California-wildfire-16087019.php
Forecasters navigate a highway to success around Lake Victoria https://www.preventionweb.net/news/view/77801
The space weather modeling framework goes open access https://eos.org/science-updates/the-space-weather-modeling-framework-goes-open-access
Why do rivers leap from their banks? Scientists strive to predict deadly flooding events https://www.preventionweb.net/news/view/77810
Cred Crunch, Issue no. 62, May 2021 – Year in review 2020: global trends and perspectives https://www.preventionweb.net/publications/view/77811
Global riverine flood risk – how do hydrogeomorphic floodplain maps compare to flood hazard maps? https://nhess.copernicus.org/preprints/nhess-2021-136/
How a major Auckland eruption would reshape the city https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/how-a-major-auckland-eruption-would-reshape-the-city/IE6GN7PLYIJEC3ZNNJYZ7NSPUE/
Simulation of post volcanic eruption land use and economic recovery pathways over a period of 20 years in the Auckland region of New Zealand https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377027321000822#
Aboriginal people have the skills, refined over thousands of years, to care for this fragile, fire-prone ancient continent https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/18/a-dream-of-belonging-for-indigenous-australians-the-fabled-outback-is-home
California Is Headed Toward Another Brutal Wildfire Season https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2021/05/california-is-headed-toward-another-brutal-wildfire-season/
Blue roofs could help reduce the flooding effects of big storms https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/what-on-earth-blue-roofs-1.5998117
Flooding: prevention as the best option https://www.preventionweb.net/publications/view/77825
Emergency management
Latest edition of the Australian Journal of Emergency Management https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/resources/ajem-april-2021/
One Way to Save a California Town From Wildfire: Advance Work by Unsung Heroes https://www.kqed.org/science/1973159/how-to-save-a-california-town-from-wildfire-plentyy-of-advance-work-and-agency-cooperation
How lessons from past emergencies could improve the pandemic response https://www.washington.edu/news/2021/04/20/how-lessons-from-past-emergencies-could-improve-the-pandemic-response/
Brazil’s fight against Covid-19 hampered by flooding and favela growth https://www.euronews.com/2021/05/16/brazil-s-fight-against-covid-19-hampered-by-flooding-and-favela-growth
Black mould is the latest threat for flood-affected homeowners on the New South Wales mid-north coast https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-15/black-mould-in-flood-hit-homes-port-macquarie-region/100133580
Disaster education, communications and engagement
Community Engagement for Disaster Resilience Handbook Companion Documents https://www.aidr.org.au/news/community-engagement-for-disaster-resilience-handbook-companion-documents/
Silent Walk as a street mobilization: Campaigning following the Grenfell Tower fire https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351327948_Silent_Walk_as_a_street_mobilization_Campaigning_following_the_Grenfell_Tower_fire
Citizen aid, social media and brokerage after disaster https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351275852_Citizen_aid_social_media_and_brokerage_after_disaster
The COVID-19 Vaccine Communication Handbook https://hackmd.io/@scibehC19vax/home
What might a public communications push on the climate crisis in Bristol involve, if we took it as seriously as Covid 19? https://thebristolcable.org/2021/05/communicating-climate-change-what-can-we-learn-from-covid-19/
During Disaster: Refining the Concept of Focusing Events to Better Explain Long-Duration Crises https://journals.openedition.org/irpp/1868
Factors influencing flood disaster preparedness initiatives among small and medium enterprises located at flood-prone area https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212420921002685?via%3Dihub
Psychology and disasters
Why do people make risky decisions during a fire evacuation? Study on the effect of smoke level, individual risk preference, and neighbor behavior https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0925753521000904?via%3Dihub
Sociology and disasters
What drought, fish kills and financial strife along the Darling River taught regional communities in NSW https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-16/what-darling-river-locals-learnt-after-drought-fish-kills/100137124
‘Top down’ disaster resilience doesn’t work. The National Recovery and Resilience Agency must have community at its heart https://theconversation.com/top-down-disaster-resilience-doesnt-work-the-national-recovery-and-resilience-agency-must-have-community-at-its-heart-160363
Disaster Resilience News 