Please find below links to some aspects of disaster resilience that were in the news recently…
Recent emergencies/disasters
Earthquake of magnitude 5.5 strikes China’s Shandong, 10 injured https://www.indiatodayne.in/international/story/earthquake-of-magnitude-55-strikes-chinas-shandong-10-injured-627296-2023-08-06
Typhoon Doksuri: Alarming pictures show floods in China, Philippines https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-66400905
China floods: Torrential rains in Hebei province leave 10 dead https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-66416099
Juneau’s worst glacial outburst flood has left residents displaced and homes destroyed or condemned https://www.ktoo.org/2023/08/05/city-recommends-evacuations-as-juneau-sees-record-flooding-from-glacial-outburst-flood/
Georgia – Massive Mudflow Leaves 12 Dead, 25 Missing https://floodlist.com/asia/georgia-mudflow-shovi-august-2023
Slovenia – Record Rain and Floods Cause Widespread Damage https://floodlist.com/europe/slovenia-floods-august-2023
Europe wildfires map shows where devastating blazes are sweeping Portugal and Italy https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/where-are-the-fires-in-portugal-today-b2390004.html
The NSW Government is facing mounting pressure to prepare for drought http://www.watercareer.com.au/news/drought-claims-rise-in-nsw
At least 60 fatalities, 37 missing as severe floods continue affecting China https://watchers.news/2023/08/09/at-least-60-fatalities-37-missing-as-severe-floods-continue-affecting-china/
Over a million evacuate as Tropical Cyclone “Khanun” threatens South Korea post havoc in Okinawa https://watchers.news/2023/08/09/over-a-million-evacuate-as-tropical-cyclone-khanun-threatens-south-korea-post-havoc-in-okinawa/
Storm Hans causes havoc in Norway with heaviest rain in 25 years forecast https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/08/storm-hans-causes-havoc-in-norway-with-heaviest-rain-in-25-years-forecast
Wildfires in Hawaii claim at least 36 lives, destroy more than 270 structures in the historical town of Lahaina https://watchers.news/2023/08/10/wildfires-in-hawaii-claim-at-least-36-lives-destroy-more-than-270-structures-in-the-historical-town-of-lahaina/
Volcanic activity worldwide 10 Aug 2023: Santiaguito volcano, Fuego, Semeru, Reventador, Mayon https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/volcano-activity/news/218178/Volcanic-activity-worldwide-10-Aug-2023-Santiaguito-volcano-Fuego-Semeru-Reventador-Mayon-Pito.html
Extreme Weather and Climate Change
A New Age of Water is Dawning https://time.com/6300886/climate-change-water/
Climate Change Responsible for Record-Breaking Heat in July, Analysis Suggests https://www.islandernews.com/news/national/climate-change-responsible-for-record-breaking-heat-in-july-analysis-suggests/video_b3748118-d06d-5195-ad0c-805ed93cdc1b.html
Extreme Heat Is Hitting Companies Where It Hurts https://time.com/6294411/extreme-heat-impacting-companies-economy/
Extreme Rain From Atmospheric Rivers and Ice-Heating Micro-Cracks Are Ominous New Threats to the Greenland Ice Sheet https://insideclimatenews.org/news/31072023/greenland-ice-sheet-microcracks-atmospheric-rivers-tipping-points/
Worsening flooding and drought as rapid warming continues https://www.reading.ac.uk/news/2023/Research-News/Worsening-flooding-and-drought-as-rapid-warming-continues
Copernicus confirms July 2023 was the hottest month ever recorded https://public.wmo.int/en/media/news/copernicus-confirms-july-2023-was-hottest-month-ever-recorded
Heat-Related EMS Activation Surveillance Dashboard https://nemsis.org/heat-related-ems-activation-surveillance-dashboard/
Scientists look beyond climate change and El Nino for other factors that heat up Earth https://apnews.com/article/hot-summer-climate-change-el-nino-9c5151f2fca2cd77d92a1c7bc61a0035
Climate statistics ‘not all doom and gloom’ – expert https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2023/0808/1398785-climate-report/
Daily 2-meter Air Temperature https://climatereanalyzer.org/clim/t2_daily/
Exceptional heat and rain, wildfires and floods mark summer of extremes https://public.wmo.int/en/media/news/exceptional-heat-and-rain-wildfires-and-floods-mark-summer-of-extremes
How climate change might trigger more earthquakes and volcanic eruptions https://theconversation.com/how-climate-change-might-trigger-more-earthquakes-and-volcanic-eruptions-210841
The social and cultural practices developed by First Nations people over generations, such as reducing physical exertion in hotter parts of the day, are powerful mechanisms for protecting human health https://reporter.anu.edu.au/all-stories/why-bringing-back-the-arvo-nap-could-help-us-adapt-to-extreme-heat
The intense heat sweeping much of the northern hemisphere has prompted fears about the summer to come in Australia https://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/extreme-global-weather-prompts-fears-about-the-hot-summer-to-come-for-australia-20230810-p5dvcf.html
Disaster risk reduction
Bureau of Meteorology super computer delays ‘very concerning’ ahead of summer https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/06/bureau-of-meteorology-super-computer-delays-bungle-summer-weather-fire-cyclone-alert-warning
Late Holocene drying of Port Phillip Bay: archaeological and cultural perspectives https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08120099.2023.2230598
Reimagining disaster risk reduction to cope with the new European summer https://www.sei.org/perspectives/reimagining-disaster-risk-reduction/
Lightning-Caused Wildfires are 80 Percent More Likely Under Dry Vegetation https://eos.org/editors-vox/lightning-caused-wildfires-are-80-percent-more-likely-under-dry-vegetation
A systematic review of natural flood management modelling: Approaches, limitations, and potential solutions https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jfr3.12899
Overlooking probabilistic mapping renders urban flood risk management inequitable https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-023-00940-0
Evolutionary fire ecology: An historical account and future directions https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biad059/7238546
Understanding an Extreme Weather Event with Science and Local Knowledge https://eos.org/articles/understanding-an-extreme-weather-event-with-science-and-local-knowledge
How to make urban hills safer: Cross-city dialogue on landslide risk management https://blogs.worldbank.org/sustainablecities/how-make-urban-hills-safer-cross-city-dialogue-landslide-risk-management
FEMA maps said they weren’t in a flood zone. Then came the rain https://grist.org/extreme-weather/federal-maps-said-they-werent-in-a-flood-zone-then-came-the-rain/
NOAA doubles the chances for a nasty Atlantic hurricane season due to hot ocean, tardy El Nino https://apnews.com/article/hurricanes-busy-hot-water-el-nino-53651a53c6a9b4d385d1ee51dda77463
Farming Is Intensifying Floods in the South American Plains https://eos.org/articles/farming-is-intensifying-floods-in-the-south-american-plains
How did the Maui fires start? What we know about humans making disasters worse https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/08/09/how-did-the-maui-fires-start-human-habitation-may-be-partly-to-blame/70559241007/
Quantifying thresholds for advancing impact-based drought assessment using classification and regression tree (CART) models https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022169423009083
Self-organization of channels and hillslopes in models of fluvial landform evolution and its potential for solving scaling issues https://esurf.copernicus.org/articles/11/741/2023/
What caused the deadly Hawai‘i wildfires? https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/08/what-caused-the-deadly-hawaii-wildfires/
Researchers find eruption date of Laacher See volcano is wrong by 130 years https://phys.org/news/2023-07-eruption-date-laacher-volcano-wrong.html
New evidence suggests the world’s largest known asteroid impact structure is buried deep in southeast Australia https://phys.org/news/2023-08-evidence-world-largest-asteroid-impact.html
Maui’s deadly wildfires burn through Lahaina – it’s a reminder of the growing risk to communities that once seemed safe https://theconversation.com/mauis-deadly-wildfires-burn-through-lahaina-its-a-reminder-of-the-growing-risk-to-communities-that-once-seemed-safe-211317
Measuring the Extent of Global Droughts in Unprecedented Detail https://www.uni-bonn.de/en/news/141-2023
Emergency management
AI May Be Able to Warn Us Before The Next Pandemic Strikes https://www.sciencealert.com/ai-may-be-able-to-warn-us-before-the-next-pandemic-strikes
Saving our forests, no matter the cost https://www.ekathimerini.com/opinion/1216945/saving-our-forests-no-matter-the-cost/
As a summer wave of Covid-19 hits the US, questions about vaccines, quarantine and testing are back https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/04/health/questions-about-covid-vaccines-quarantine-and-testing-are-back/index.html
Canadians are unprepared for natural hazards. Here’s what we can do about it https://theconversation.com/canadians-are-unprepared-for-natural-hazards-heres-what-we-can-do-about-it-201863
Disaster education, communications and engagement
Improving heat risk education and warning messaging: 3 recommendations https://www.preventionweb.net/blog/improving-heat-risk-education-and-warning-messaging-3-recommendations
What needs to be done to prevent severe flooding of Halifax homes https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-37-mainstreet-ns/clip/16002422-what-needs-done-prevent-severe-flooding-halifax-homes
The anticipatory action song: a street drama from Nepal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-oJEqsV_rY
Disaster psychology
Syrian baby born under earthquake rubble turns six months, happily surrounded by her adoptive family https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-06/syrian-baby-born-under-earthquake-rubble-turns-6-months/102694970
Sociology and disasters
Understanding the role of individual- and community-based resources in disaster preparedness https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S221242092300362X
Racism at heart of US failure to tackle deadly heatwaves, expert warns https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/06/jef-goodell-heatwaves-racism-the-heat-will-kill-you-first-book
Climate change contributes to violence against children – here’s how https://theconversation.com/climate-change-contributes-to-violence-against-children-heres-how-210027
How social infrastructure saves lives: a quantitative analysis of Japan’s 3/11 disasters https://www.researchgate.net/publication/367121957_How_social_infrastructure_saves_lives_a_quantitative_analysis_of_Japan’s_311_disasters
In Japan, extreme heat and an aging population are a deadly mix https://www.japantimes.co.jp/environment/2023/07/30/climate-change/climate-change-heat-waves-aging-society/
A crisis of isolation is making heat waves more deadly https://grist.org/extreme-heat/a-crisis-of-isolation-is-making-heat-waves-more-deadly/
Fostering Recovery Through Social Connections https://hazards.colorado.edu/news/research-counts/special-collection/fostering-recovery-through-social-connections
The urban political ecology of ‘haphazard urbanisation’ and disaster risk creation in the Kathmandu valley, Nepal https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212420923004041
Disaster Resilience News 