Please find below links to some aspects of disaster resilience that were in the news recently…
Recent emergencies/disasters
Tornado outbreak strikes Indiana and Ohio, numerous injuries, 2 fatalities reported https://watchers.news/2024/03/15/tornado-outbreak-strikes-indiana-and-ohio-numerous-injuries-2-fatalities-reported/
Severe Tropical Cyclone “Megan” reaches Category 3, landfall expected on March 18, Australia https://watchers.news/2024/03/17/severe-tropical-cyclone-megan-reaches-category-3-landfall-expected-on-march-18-australia/
New volcanic eruption begins on Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland https://watchers.news/2024/03/16/volcanic-eruption-reykjanes-peninsula-iceland-march-2024/
Argentina – Flood Chaos in Buenos Aires After 130mm of Rain in 24 Hours https://floodlist.com/america/argentina-flood-buenos-aires-march-2024
Bushfire emergency threatens homes in Perth’s north-east https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-19/bushfire-emergency-threatens-homes-red-hill-north-of-perth/103607322
Volcanic activity worldwide 20 Mar 2024: Santiaguito volcano, Fuego, Popocatépetl, Semeru, Marapi https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/volcano-activity/news/237108/Volcanic-activity-worldwide-20-Mar-2024-Santiaguito-volcano-Fuego-Popocatepetl-Semeru-Marapi-.html
Extreme Weather and Climate Change
Stranded assets: Chinese fossil car production plunges amid surging EV demand https://thedriven.io/2024/03/15/stranded-assets-chinese-fossil-car-production-plunges-amid-surging-ev-demand/
World’s most powerful tidal turbine eyes US debut with Orbital Marine https://interestingengineering.com/energy/worlds-most-powerful-tidal-turbine-eyes-us-debut-with-orbital-marine
How China Became the World’s Leader on Renewable Energy https://e360.yale.edu/features/china-renewable-energy
WA had its hottest summer ever, but climate change and heat-related health problems barely made the news https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2024-03-18/wa-summer-heat-broke-records-but-media-downplayed-climate-change/103572922
Climate hazards don’t have to become climate disasters https://www.undrr.org/zero-climate-disasters
Publication: Reality Check: Lessons from 25 Policies Advancing a Low-Carbon Future https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/3770b59a-617f-4636-8aa1-adbe6db7db34
Australian Alps face world’s largest loss of snow by end of century, research shows https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/mar/15/australian-alps-face-worlds-largest-loss-of-snow-by-end-of-century-research-shows
Rio De Janeiro hits record 62.3 °C (144.14 °F) thermal sensation, Brazil https://watchers.news/2024/03/18/rio-de-janeiro-hits-record-62-3-c-144-14-f-thermal-sensation-brazil/
Severe wildfires in southern China claim 4 lives, spawn huge pyroCb clouds https://watchers.news/2024/03/18/severe-wildfires-in-southern-china-claim-4-lives-spawn-huge-pyrocb-clouds/
The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Global Climate report confirms 2023 broke every single climate indicator https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-20/wmo-climate-records-broken-global-temperature/103604076
Heatwaves are killing more of our patients than any other natural disaster https://www.ausdoc.com.au/opinion/heatwaves-kill-more-of-our-patients-than-any-other-natural-disaster/
46C summer days and ‘supercell’ storms are Britain’s future – and now is our last chance to prepare https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/19/summer-storm-britain-future-tories-labour-climate
South Sudan closes schools in preparation for 45C heatwave https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/18/south-sudan-closes-schools-in-preparation-for-45c-heatwave
How does public perception of climate protest influence support for climate action? https://www.nature.com/articles/s44168-023-00096-9
Higher temperatures mean higher food and other prices. A new study links climate shocks to inflation https://apnews.com/article/inflation-climate-change-food-prices-heat-6e5297e12868aaf797529bb755268818
The heat index — how hot it feels — is rising faster than temperature https://news.berkeley.edu/2024/03/19/the-heat-index-how-hot-it-feels-is-rising-faster-than-temperature
Frequency of heat days systematically underestimated in many studies https://medienportal.univie.ac.at/en/media/recent-press-releases/detailansicht-en/artikel/frequency-of-heat-days-systematically-underestimated-in-many-studies/
Proposing a new indicator, the “Potential Maximum Storm Tide” (PMST) to estimate the risk of coastal flooding under climate change https://eos.org/editor-highlights/where-and-how-sea-level-rise-threatens-coastal-areas-and-communities
Disaster risk reduction
Enhancing GRACE data resolution for water cycle analysis https://eo4society.esa.int/2024/03/13/enhancing-grace-data-resolution-for-water-cycle-analysis/
Improved Earthquake Clustering Using a Density‐Adaptive DBSCAN Algorithm: An Example from Iran https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/ssa/srl/article-abstract/95/2A/942/630230/Improved-Earthquake-Clustering-Using-a-Density
Lessons on resilience from a year of global earthquakes https://blogs.worldbank.org/climatechange/lessons-resilience-year-global-earthquakes
A systematic review of climate change science relevant to Australian design flood estimation https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/28/1251/2024/
Simple hydrological models for assessing the impact of forest cover change on streamflow for large catchments with a dry tropical climate https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02626667.2024.2310488
Global prediction of extreme floods in ungauged watersheds https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07145-1
Quality of Cities’ Networks of Plans and Prospects for Flood Resilience https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0739456X241236486
The USGS has collected and released topographic data that show the changes to the Mud Creek landslide of Big Sur during the winter of 2024 https://www.usgs.gov/programs/cmhrp/news/usgs-remote-sensing-data-tracks-big-sur-landslides-2024
Detecting storms thanks to GPS https://baug.ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/news/2024/03/detecting-storms-thanks-to-gps.html
Emergency Management
Who Pays? Cost-Sharing for Disaster Management in the US and Japan https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372823090_Who_Pays_Cost-Sharing_for_Disaster_Management_in_the_US_and_Japan
ECOWAS supports early warnings for all with a new disaster operations centre https://www.undrr.org/news/ecowas-supports-early-warnings-all-new-disaster-operations-centre
The Maui catastrophe is a wake-up call https://www.staradvertiser.com/2024/03/17/editorial/insight/column-the-maui-catastrophe-is-a-wake-up-call/
Evaluating the Impacts of Hurricane Maria on Residential Construction Practices in Puerto Rico https://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/9780784485279.050
Disaster Education, Communication and Engagement
Unravelling complexity through Impact Webs: a novel approach for mapping the systemic nature of risks https://www.preventionweb.net/drr-community-voices/unravelling-complexity-through-impact-webs-novel-approach-mapping-systemic
Researchers say Australian schoolchildren are asking if it’s ‘too late’ to halt climate change https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-21/kids-and-climate-action-is-it-too-late/103610946
Get prepared for earthquakes and tsunamis https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/safety/emergency-management/preparedbc/know-your-hazards/earthquakes-tsunamis
Disaster psychology
Mental health and psychosocial interventions in the context of climate change: a scoping review https://www.nature.com/articles/s44184-024-00054-1
1 in 3 Australians report being worried that they may have to permanently relocate because of extreme weather https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/resources/one-in-three-aussies-fear-extreme-weather-will-force-them-to-leave-their-homes/
Sociology and disasters
G20 DRR Working Group holds first meeting under the Brazilian Presidency and embraces addressing inequalities and reducing vulnerabilities https://www.undrr.org/news/g20-drr-working-group-holds-first-meeting-under-brazilian-presidency-and-embraces-addressing
Problems and promises of postmodernism in (re)liberating disaster studies https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/DPM-06-2023-0153/full/html
What is the Sendai Gender Action Plan? https://www.preventionweb.net/news/what-sendai-gender-action-plan
We are sidekicks! Concretizing the antecedents and outcomes of communal coping in the COVID-19 crisis renewal https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-5973.12557