Please find below a list of links to some aspects of disaster resilience that were in the news recently…
Recent emergencies/disasters
Menindee experiencing worst flooding since 1976 https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/news/menindee-experiencing-worst-flooding-since-1976-as-dominic-perrottet-visits/news-story/96b32d65b55d1cbf407f95a2670e8775
Record flooding in Kimberley causes widespread destruction to homes and infrastructure https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-08/kimberley-flooding-crisis-damage-assessment-clean-up-/101835660
Flooding closes Mannum’s main street as peak River Murray flow passes through SA town https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-08/mannum-main-street-closed-due-to-flooding/101834986
Indonesia – Deadly Flash Floods on Java Island https://floodlist.com/asia/indonesia-floods-java-island-january-2023
Angola – Heavy Rains Cause Death and Damages in 5 Provinces https://floodlist.com/africa/angola-rain-floods-january-2023
No risk of tsunami after Darwin, Northern Territory shaken by magnitude-7.7 earthquake https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-10/nt-earthquake-tsunami-7-7-darwin/101839192
Bushfire near Lake Pedder in ‘mop-up stage’ as fire authorities brace for coming heatwave https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-10/bonnet-bay-lake-bushfire-in-mop-up-stage-ahead-of-heatwave/101836978
Endless onslaught of atmospheric river events in California claim 14 lives, residents urged to be hyper-vigilant https://watchers.news/2023/01/10/endless-onslaught-of-atmospheric-river-events-in-california-claim-14-lives-residents-urged-to-be-hyper-vigilant/
Alice Springs’ usually dry Todd River flowing strong thanks to rain from ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-11/nt-alice-springs-rainfall-todd-river-flowing/101841178
Crushed by falling trees. Drowned in floodwaters. The deadly toll of California storms worsens https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-01-11/california-storms-deadlier-than-last-two-fire-seasons
Colombia – Massive Landslide Destroys Homes, Cuts Major Road in Cauca https://floodlist.com/america/colombia-landslide-cauca-january-2023
Volcanic activity worldwide 12 Jan 2023: Fuego volcano, Popocatépetl, Krakatau, Semeru, Marapi https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/volcano-activity/news/201508/Volcanic-activity-worldwide-12-Jan-2023-Fuego-volcano-Popocatepetl-Krakatau-Semeru-Marapi-Ker.html
Extreme Weather and Climate Change
Australia could swing from three years of La Niña to hot and dry El Niño in 2023 https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/04/australia-could-swing-from-three-years-of-la-nina-to-hot-and-dry-el-nino-in-2023
Low amount of snow across Alps in 2022-23 winter https://www.ventusky.com/?p=46.24;10.16;6&l=snow
Debunking 3 Common Climate Change Myths https://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/debunking-3-common-climate-change-myths
Global temperatures in 2023 set to be among hottest on record https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/dec/20/global-temperatures-in-2023-set-to-be-among-hottest-on-record
Half of glaciers will be gone by 2100 even under Paris 1.5C accord, study finds https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/05/half-planets-glaciers-gone-2100-even-under-paris-15c-accord-data-finds
Warming climate means more and stronger Atlantic tropical storms https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2023/01/04/cyclones
Climate change: Why is Europe experiencing a January heat wave? https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/01/03/climate-change-why-is-europe-experiencing-a-january-heat-wave
Large-scale dynamics moderate impact-relevant changes to organised convective storms https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-022-00669-2
Scientists Report a Dramatic Drop in the Extent of Antarctic Sea Ice https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06012023/antarctic-sea-ice-climate-change/
More than 90% of the world’s population is projected to face increased risks from the compound impacts of extreme heat and drought, potentially widening social inequalities https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2023-01-06-compound-extreme-heat-and-drought-will-hit-90-world-population-oxford-study
Relentless rain, record heat: study finds climate crisis worsened extreme weather https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/09/climate-crisis-extreme-weather-heat-rainfall-drought
Climate Change in 2022: Multiple Billion-Dollar Disasters and Unbearable Human Costs https://blog.ucsusa.org/rachel-cleetus/climate-change-2022-multiple-billion-dollar-disasters-unbearable-human-costs/
Summer 2022 was the hottest on record for Europe and, overall, last year was the second warmest year on record for Europe, while globally it was the fifth warmest https://climate.copernicus.eu/2022-saw-record-temperatures-europe-and-across-world
This report assesses the social and economic effects of extreme heat through the prism of twelve cities that are already enduring and addressing dramatic impacts of heat waves https://onebillionresilient.org/hot-cities-chilled-economies/
Australian official: Climate change making historic flooding “less natural” https://www.axios.com/2023/01/09/australia-floods-climate-change-link
NSW coal mine’s life could reach past 2050 https://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/nsw-coal-mines-life-could-163021503.html
Chief Heat Officers — an Emergency Response to Urban Heat https://www.brinknews.com/chief-heat-officers-an-emergency-response-to-urban-heat/
Climate change and La Niña driving losses https://www.munichre.com/en/company/media-relations/media-information-and-corporate-news/media-information/2023/natural-disaster-figures-2022.html
An emerging governmentality of climate change loss and damage https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/27539687221148748#
World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency 2022 https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/72/12/1149/6764747
2022: New Zealand’s warmest year on record, again https://niwa.co.nz/climate/summaries/annual-climate-summary-2022
Better insurance could effectively mitigate the increase in economic growth losses from U.S. hurricanes under global warming https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add6616
Extreme weather has cost the US more than $1 trillion in the past seven years, feds report https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/10/weather/billion-dollar-weather-disasters-noaa-climate/index.html
Oceans were the hottest ever recorded in 2022, analysis shows https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jan/11/oceans-were-the-hottest-ever-recorded-in-2022-analysis-shows
Global droughts connected by linkages between drought hubs https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-35531-8
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/
New tech to monitor climate change https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2023/01/10/new-tech-to-monitor-climate-change/
2022 was one of Earth’s six warmest years on record https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/01/2022-was-one-of-earths-six-warmest-years-on-record/
Climate change and extreme weather events have doctors worried https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/wellbeing/2023/01/11/health-risks-climate-change-doctors/
Four ways winter heatwaves affect humans and nature https://phys.org/news/2023-01-ways-winter-heatwaves-affect-humans.html
Disaster risk reduction
It is 20 years since the 2003 Alpine fires tore through much of the Victorian high country https://themountainjournal.com/2023/01/08/20-years-on-from-the-2003-alpine-fires/
Neglecting Model Parametric Uncertainty Can Drastically Underestimate Flood Risks https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022EF003050
Louisiana’s draft coastal master plan update promises billions in hurricane-damage savings https://www.nola.com/news/environment/coast-master-plan-vows-billions-in-hurricane-damage-savings/article_8ed406c4-8d87-11ed-8aac-6f575e7f82a3.html
Coastal risk screening tool https://coastal.climatecentral.org/map/9/152.3513/-32.4617/
The interplay of drought-flood extreme events in Africa https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/cred-crunch-issue-no-69-december-2022-interplay-drought-flood-extreme-events-africa
Natural and engineered nature-based structures offer promise for storm-related disaster risk reduction and flood mitigation https://www.preventionweb.net/news/engineering-nature-face-down-hurricane-hazards
The fiscal impact of extreme weather events: First evidence for EU countries https://new.cepr.org/voxeu/columns/fiscal-impact-extreme-weather-events-first-evidence-eu-countries
Venice: the risk maps of the flood-prone areas https://www.cmcc.it/article/venice-the-risk-maps-of-the-flood-prone-areas
When volcanoes roar: protecting the public and tracking long-term climate impacts https://research.noaa.gov/article/ArtMID/587/ArticleID/2924/When-volcanoes-roar-protecting-the-public-and-tracking-long-term-climate-impacts
Joshimath, a disaster of ignored warnings https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/energy/joshimath-disaster-of-ignoring-risks-in-the-himalayas/
Global catastrophic risk from lower magnitude volcanic eruptions https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-25021-8
Europe’s ‘pyroregions’: summer 2022 saw 20-year freak fires in regions that are historically immune, close to normal in fire prone areas https://theconversation.com/europes-pyroregions-summer-2022-saw-20-year-freak-fires-in-regions-that-are-historically-immune-close-to-normal-in-fire-prone-areas-193770
Home insurance premium rises by more than 500 per cent for Horsham man with property outside flood zone https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-09/home-insurance-soars-for-residents-outside-flood-zone/101833780
Flooding Is Nearly a Daily Occurrence Throughout the U.S. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2022/12/15/flooding-is-nearly-a-daily-occurrence-throughout-the-us
Deep learning can predict tsunami impacts in less than a second https://www.riken.jp/en/news_pubs/research_news/rr/20221226_1/
For insurers, the second-costliest single natural hazard related disaster in 2022 in the world was flooding in the southeast of Australia in February and March. Floods in Australia caused losses of US$ 8.1bn last year, of which US$ 4.7bn was insured https://www.munichre.com/en/company/media-relations/media-information-and-corporate-news/media-information/2023/natural-disaster-figures-2022.html
Maluku earthquake: why do some ocean earthquakes cause tsunamis while others don’t? https://theconversation.com/maluku-earthquake-why-do-some-ocean-earthquakes-cause-tsunamis-while-others-dont-197529
Researchers propose a more effective method to predict floods https://www.xjtlu.edu.cn/en/news/2023/01/researchers-propose-a-more-effective-method-to-predict-floods
Preparedness efforts for health threats: the gap between detection and action https://nationalpreparednesscommission.uk/2023/01/preparedness-efforts-for-health-threats-the-gap-between-detection-and-action/
The Invention of Disaster: Power and Knowledge in Discourses on Hazard and Vulnerability https://www.routledge.com/The-Invention-of-Disaster-Power-and-Knowledge-in-Discourses-on-Hazard-and/Gaillard/p/book/9781138805620#
San Francisco isn’t doing enough to stop supercharged floods https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/san-francisco-isnt-doing-enough-to-stop-floods-17694442.php
Grain shape effects in bed load sediment transport https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05564-6
Flooding in California: What Went Wrong, and What Comes Next https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2023/01/12/flooding-in-california-what-went-wrong-and-what-comes-next/
An Enhanced Hydrologic Stream Network Based on the NHDPlus Medium Resolution Dataset https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20195127
Sensitivity of northwest Australian tropical cyclone activity to ITCZ migration since 500 CE https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add9832
Understanding uncertainties in contemporary and future extreme wave events for broad-scale impact and adaptation planning https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ade3170
Climatic Asynchrony and Hydrologic Inefficiency Explain the Global Pattern of Water Availability https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2022GL101214
Atmospheric rivers over California’s wildfire burn scars raise fears of deadly mudslides – this is what cascading climate disasters look like https://theconversation.com/atmospheric-rivers-over-californias-wildfire-burn-scars-raise-fears-of-deadly-mudslides-this-is-what-cascading-climate-disasters-look-like-197563
Emergency management
Survey: 3.3 million US adults displaced by natural disasters https://apnews.com/article/natural-disasters-indiana-florida-climate-and-environment-0bfdab41b233feba55e08382a0594258
‘They’ve been texting us for food’: remote communities left ‘abandoned’ in Kimberley flood response https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jan/05/theyve-been-texting-us-for-food-remote-communities-left-abandoned-in-kimberley-flood-response
PM seeing devastation of WA flooding https://www.theage.com.au/national/western-australia/pm-seeing-devastation-of-wa-flooding-20230109-p5cb6a.html
Uganda edges closer to being declared Ebola-free https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/uganda-edges-closer-to-being-declared-ebola-free-4079436
Long Covid resolves within year for many with mild Covid, study says https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/11/health/long-covid-symptoms-study-wellness/index.html
98% of California homeowners don’t have flood insurance https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/01/12/california-storms-weather-forecast-live-updates-tornado-flooding/11038205002/
Disaster education, communications and engagement
Top climate papers featured in the media in 2022 https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-the-climate-papers-most-featured-in-the-media-in-2022/
Why facts don’t change minds: Insights from cognitive science for the improved communication of conservation research https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320722004396
Tokyo police’s Twitter account for disaster info turns 10 years old https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/01/11/national/tokyo-polices-twitter-account-disaster-prevention-turns-10-years-old/
Cultural Burning for Resilience | The Mini-Documentary https://vimeo.com/603712505
Reducing risk and building resilience through effective governance https://disasterlaw.ifrc.org/node/909
‘Breaking the Silence’: The 10 most under-reported humanitarian crises of 2022 https://www.careinternational.org.uk/press-office/press-releases/breaking-the-silence-the-10-most-under-reported-humanitarian-crises-of-2022/
Changing behavioral responses to heat risk in a warming world: How can communication approaches be improved? https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wcc.819
Psychology and disasters
Uncovering heterogeneous associations of disaster-related traumatic experiences with subsequent mental health problems: A machine learning approach https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pcn.13322
The Adverse Health Effects of Disaster-Related Trauma https://www.bu.edu/sph/news/articles/2023/the-adverse-health-effects-of-disaster-related-trauma/
Massive review study suggests psychological trauma nearly triples a person’s risk of mental disorder https://www.psypost.org/2023/01/massive-review-study-suggests-psychological-trauma-nearly-triples-a-persons-risk-of-mental-disorder-64695
Sociology and disasters
The Anthropology of Epidemics https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2020/07/24/book-review-the-anthropology-of-epidemics-by-ann-h-kelly-frederic-keck-and-christos-lynteris/
Majority of disabled people never go home after disasters https://www.eenews.net/articles/majority-of-disabled-people-never-go-home-after-disasters/
Why Pacific Islanders are staying put even as rising seas flood their homes and crops https://theconversation.com/why-pacific-islanders-are-staying-put-even-as-rising-seas-flood-their-homes-and-crops-195100
Forgotten people, false promises: Stories of riverbank erosion in Assam https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/livelihoods/forgotten-people-false-promises-riverbank-erosion-assam/
The compounding impacts of Cyclone Idai and their implications for urban inequality https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212420923000067
Disaster Resilience News 