Please find below links to some aspects of disaster resilience that were in the news recently…
Recent emergencies/disasters
Major flooding underway in northern Queensland after extreme rainfall, Australia https://watchers.news/2025/02/02/major-flooding-underway-in-northern-queensland-after-extreme-rainfall-australia/
Santorini on alert as tremors rattle island https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2eg12jn730o
Streets turn into raging rivers as heavy rains hit Italy https://watchers.news/2025/02/03/streets-turn-into-raging-rivers-as-heavy-rains-hit-italy/
Over 9 000 people evacuate Santorini as seismic crisis worsens, UK issues travel advisory, Greece https://watchers.news/2025/02/04/over-9-000-people-evacuate-santorini-as-seismic-crisis-worsens-uk-issues-travel-advisory-greece/
North Queensland on alert for flash flooding as second death recorded in emergency https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-05/north-queensland-flooding-townsville-rainfall-flood-recovery/104894530
Heavy rains set new records in San Francisco, triggering floods and landslides, California https://watchers.news/2025/02/06/heavy-rains-set-new-records-in-san-francisco-triggering-floods-and-landslides-california/
Effusive eruption at Stromboli volcano, lava flowing down Sciara del Fuoco, Italy https://watchers.news/2025/02/06/effusive-eruption-at-stromboli-volcano-lava-flowing-down-sciara-del-fuoco-italy/
Volcanic activity worldwide 5 Feb 2025: Santorini volcano, Santiaguito, Popocatépetl, Semeru, Ibu https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/volcano-activity/news/264126/Volcanic-activity-worldwide-5-Feb-2025-Santorini-volcano-Santiaguito-Popocatepetl-Semeru-Ibu-.html
Extreme Weather and Climate Change
Fire chiefs warn UK is not prepared for climate crisis impacts https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/feb/02/fire-chiefs-warn-uk-not-prepared-climate-crisis-impacts
Climate change increased the likelihood of wildfire disaster in highly exposed Los Angeles area https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/climate-change-increased-the-likelihood-of-wildfire-disaster-in-highly-exposed-los-angeles-area/
Climate Change Increases Risk of Successive Natural Hazards in the Himalayas https://www.news.uzh.ch/en/articles/media/2025/sikkim-flood-desaster.html
Bhutan’s climate resilience: Ten years of partnership and a path forward https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/endpovertyinsouthasia/bhutan-s-climate-resilience–ten-years-of-partnership-and-a-path
Insuring Resilience: How Parametric Solutions are Transforming Climate Adaptation in the Pacific https://www.undp.org/pacific/blog/insuring-resilience-how-parametric-solutions-are-transforming-climate-adaptation-pacific
Customers will take as much wind and solar as they can “because they are the cheapest” https://reneweconomy.com.au/customers-will-take-as-much-wind-and-solar-as-they-can-because-they-are-the-cheapest-says-brookfield/
Greenland ice sheet cracking more rapidly than ever, study shows https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/03/greenland-ice-sheet-cracking-study
Mortality impacts of the most extreme heat events https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-024-00635-w
Temperatures at north pole 20C above average and beyond ice melting point https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/04/temperatures-at-north-pole-20c-above-average-and-beyond-ice-melting-point
Paris When It Sizzles: The City of Light Aims to Get Smart on Heat https://e360.yale.edu/features/paris-heat-waves-climate-change
Global ‘Stilling’: Is Climate Change Slowing Down the Wind? https://e360.yale.edu/features/global-stilling-is-climate-change-slowing-the-worlds-wind
How Climate Change Could Upend the American Dream https://www.propublica.org/article/climate-change-homes-insurance-housing-rent-mortgage
Ancient Climate Reconstruction Links Past and Future https://eos.org/research-spotlights/ancient-climate-reconstruction-links-past-and-future
More, bigger crevasses open up in Greenland ice sheet, threatening increased sea level rise https://news.ufl.edu/2025/02/greenland-crevasses/
Half a degree rise in global warming will triple area of Earth too hot for humans https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/half-a-degree-rise-in-global-warming-will-triple-area-of-earth-too-hot-for-humans
January 2025 was the warmest on record globally, despite an emerging La Niña https://climate.copernicus.eu/copernicus-january-2025-was-warmest-record-globally-despite-emerging-la-nina
It’s official: Australia’s ocean surface was the hottest on record in 2024 https://theconversation.com/its-official-australias-ocean-surface-was-the-hottest-on-record-in-2024-249277
Extreme heat: Where 50C temperatures could hit this week https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/extreme-heat-where-50c-temperatures-could-hit-this-week/k5h0nafly
Hottest January on record mystifies climate scientists https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/06/hottest-january-on-record-climate-scientists-global-temperatures-high
Disaster risk reduction
Countries are neglecting the existential threat of pandemics. Bold leadership is necessary https://thebulletin.org/2025/01/countries-are-neglecting-the-existential-threat-of-pandemics-bold-leadership-is-necessary/
What’s driving north Queensland’s deadly, record-breaking floods? https://theconversation.com/whats-driving-north-queenslands-deadly-record-breaking-floods-248847
The 1995 Kobe earthquake: Reflecting on past lessons and assessing modern resilience https://www.moodys.com/web/en/us/insights/insurance/1995-kobe-earthquake-reflecting-past-lessons-assessing-modern-resilience.html
The effectiveness of disaster risk management policies in Brazilian municipalities https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1056819025000028
Flood Risk Assessment and Modelling Helps Lincolnshire Development Get Planning Approval https://rabconsultants.co.uk/news/flood-risk-assessment-and-modelling-helps-lincolnshire-development-get-planning-approval/
Spending on flood defences set to rise to record levels https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly5rln4yd3o
LA wildfires highlight nation’s insurance crisis as homeowners try to recover lost homes https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/la-wildfires-highlight-nations-insurance-crisis-homeowners-recover-118473201
Twelve months of smart solutions to reduce disaster risks https://www.preventionweb.net/news/twelve-months-smart-solutions-reduce-disaster-risks
UW-led research identifies migration, housing quality as risk factors in earthquake deaths https://www.washington.edu/news/2025/02/03/qa-uw-led-research-identifies-migration-housing-quality-as-risk-factors-in-earthquake-deaths/
Commission reports show faster progress is needed across Europe to protect waters and better manage flood risks https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_342
Words into Action guidelines: The Science–Policy–Society ecosystem for disaster risk reduction https://www.undrr.org/publication/words-action-guidelines-science-policy-society-ecosystem-disaster-risk-reduction
Explainability can foster trust in artificial intelligence in geoscience https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-025-01639-x
Emergency Management
How satellites and AI help fight wildfires today https://theconversation.com/how-satellites-and-ai-help-fight-wildfires-today-248420
North Queensland farmers assess flood damage as ‘wall of water’ smashes banana crops https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2025-02-04/bananas-and-cane-flooded-in-north-queensland/104891254
Nearly 250 million children missed school last year because of extreme weather, UNICEF says https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/250-million-children-missed-school-year-extreme-weather-118047443
Can We Rebuild Los Angeles? https://www.city-journal.org/article/los-angeles-wildfires-destruction-rebuild
Moving forward after the Los Angeles fires https://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/moving-forward-after-the-los-angeles-fires-experts-discuss-physical-psychological-and-environmental-recovery
Volunteer fire departments in Arkansas struggling amid low number of volunteers https://www.thv11.com/article/news/local/volunteer-fire-department-arkansas/91-3cfc8a9f-dd89-4e07-841e-71293d51f234
Disaster Education, Communication and Engagement
Next slide please: data visualisation expert on what’s wrong with the UK government’s coronavirus charts https://theconversation.com/next-slide-please-data-visualisation-expert-on-whats-wrong-with-the-uk-governments-coronavirus-charts-149329
Disaster psychology
Geopsychiatry Survey – Impact of Climate Change on Mental Health https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSciJ1x9iNoag9tfRJ3xL36N8LxxNNSRmY39nT_Q_MlQSJyBOQ/viewform
Sociology and disasters
The role of urban amenities in facilitating social mixing: Evidence from Stockholm https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204624002494
Assessing Catchment Vulnerability of Community-Based Small Businesses to Coastal Hazards: Spatial and Sectoral Disparities https://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/NHREFO.NHENG-2218
Connecting Social Capital and Vulnerability: Citation Network Analysis of Disaster Studies https://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/%28ASCE%29NH.1527-6996.0000469
Assessing Urban–Rural Differences in Disaster Evacuation Vulnerability Among Minority Populations: Insights from a Recent Survey in Florida https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00330124.2024.2440713#d1e252
Community spirit strong as anxiety builds over north Queensland floods https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-04/north-queensland-communities-rally-amid-floods/104890762
Caring, Coping and Rebuilding—The Role of Social Infrastructure During and After the 2021 Flood Event in Germany https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1753318x
Substitute or complement? How social capital, age and socioeconomic status interacted to impact mortality in Japan’s 3/11 tsunami https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827319300308
Disaster Resilience News 