Please find below links to some aspects of disaster resilience that were in the news recently…
Recent emergencies/disasters
Severe flooding in Punjab kills 24, inundates 1 000 villages and damages 60 000 ha of farmland https://watchers.news/2025/08/30/punjab-floods-kill-24-inundate-1000-villages-damage-60000-ha-farmland/
Explosive eruption at Santa Maria volcano, Guatemala https://watchers.news/2025/08/29/explosive-eruption-santa-maria-volcano-guatemala-august-29-2025/
Expert fears for local wildlife in moorland blaze https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gqj5e4xezo
Earthquake destroys villages in eastern Afghanistan and kills 800 people, with 2500 injured https://www.9news.com.au/world/afghanistan-earthquake-asia-world/9386304a-4fdc-4b79-b263-294627a87fe7
Over 1 000 killed after devastating landslide wipes out Tarasin village, Darfur, Sudan https://watchers.news/2025/09/02/1000-killed-landslide-wipes-out-tarasin-village-darfur-sudan/
Flash floods kill 2 in San Antonio, Texas https://watchers.news/2025/09/02/flash-floods-kill-2-san-antonio-texas/
Campers evacuated as Ellenbrae Station escapes brunt of WA bushfires https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-02/bushfires-cause-evacuations-wa-kimberley-region/105720696
Volcanic activity worldwide 2 Sep 2025: Fuego volcano, Semeru, Ibu, Dukono, Reventador, Kilauea https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/volcano-activity/news/279692/Volcanic-activity-worldwide-2-Sep-2025-Fuego-volcano-Semeru-Ibu-Dukono-Reventador-Kilauea.html
Extreme Weather and Climate Change
Diverging trends in large floods across Europe in a warming climate https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02734-y
Climate change increases supercell storms in Europe https://www.generation-nt.com/actualites/changement-climatique-orage-supercellulaire-europe-eth-zurich-2061725
Is climate change causing us to get cooler? https://www.tagesschau.de/klimawandel-kollabiert-der-golfstrom-100.html
Nepal and China agree to cooperate on glacial lake flooding, as warming hikes threat https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/08/27/nepal-and-china-agree-to-cooperate-on-glacial-lake-flooding-as-warming-hikes-threat/
The climate case for planting trees has been overhyped — but it’s not too late to fix it https://theconversation.com/the-climate-case-for-planting-trees-has-been-overhyped-but-its-not-too-late-to-fix-it-259998
WHO, WMO issue new report and guidance to protect workers from increasing heat stress https://wmo.int/news/media-centre/who-wmo-issue-new-report-and-guidance-protect-workers-from-increasing-heat-stress
Collecting more than trash: Researchers equip local garbage trucks to gather data on urban heat island effect https://news.nd.edu/news/collecting-more-than-trash-researchers-equip-local-garbage-trucks-to-gather-data-on-urban-heat-island-effect/
Climate change is driving a silent, sinister change in Australia’s mountain ash forests https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-driving-a-silent-sinister-change-in-australias-mountain-ash-forests-255737
Summer 2025 was hottest on record in UK, says Met Office https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/sep/01/uk-experienced-its-hottest-summer-on-record-in-2025-met-office-says
Scientists issue warning after witnessing ‘very shocking’ phenomenon in Arctic: ‘It was not just a marginal record’ https://www.thecooldown.com/outdoors/sea-ice-loss-svalbard-arctic-ice-melt-slump/
Using a systems thinking approach to assess the complex interplay between sustainable development goals, climate change, and humanitarian operations https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11625-025-01727-2
Biggest generator in New Zealand hits go on first phase of 400 megawatt solar project https://reneweconomy.com.au/biggest-generator-in-new-zealand-hits-go-on-first-phase-of-400-megawatt-solar-project/
Climate change kills, Spanish PM tells deniers at launch of plan to tackle crisis https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/01/spain-pm-pedro-sanchez-plan-tackle-climate-crisis
El Niño/La Niña Update (August 2025) https://wmo.int/publication-series/el-ninola-nina-update-august-2025
The ocean carbon sink is ailing: 10% drop in CO₂ absorption seen during record 2023 marine heat wave https://phys.org/news/2025-09-ocean-carbon-ailing-absorption-marine.html
Nature can keep up with climate change – but not at this speed https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2025/08/nature-can-keep-up-with-climate-change-but-not-at-this-speed/
Understanding the up-scaling mechanisms of urban energy transitions: An application of a capital-based framework to a comparative case study of two solar communities in Hong Kong https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629625002452
Underestimating support for climate action limits political decision making, study says https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/sep/02/politicians-underestimate-support-climate-action-limiting-policies-study
Climate change intensified Hurricane Katrina; could have been a stronger storm in today’s climate https://www.climatecentral.org/report/hurricane-katrina-20-year-anniversary
Warming temperatures affect glaciers’ ability to store meltwater, contributing to rising sea levels https://theconversation.com/warming-temperatures-affect-glaciers-ability-to-store-meltwater-contributing-to-rising-sea-levels-240628
The ‘frying pan of Spain’ shows how cities can deal with extreme heat https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/seville-spain-climate-change-extreme-heat-1.7602428
Disaster risk reduction
How Lidar Technology Helps Measure Disaster Costs https://www.govtech.com/products/how-lidar-technology-helps-measure-disaster-costs
WMO issues guidelines on verification of hydrological forecasts https://wmo.int/media/news/wmo-issues-guidelines-verification-of-hydrological-forecasts
‘Now is the time’: Hurricane category 6 could be introduced under new storm severity scale https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/hurricanes/now-is-the-time-hurricane-category-6-could-be-introduced-under-new-storm-severity-scale
A country on fire with the same problems: SAI recommendations from six years ago have largely not been implemented https://en.vijesti.me/vijesti/drustvo/772760/drzava-u-plamenu-uz-iste-boljke-preporuke-dri-od-prije-sest-godina-uglavnom-nijesu-realizovane
Twenty years since Katrina: A legacy of risk and resilience https://www.moodys.com/web/en/us/insights/insurance/twenty-years-since-katrina–a-legacy-of-risk-and-resilience.html
Mapping the heart of volcanoes when they wake up https://www.unige.ch/medias/en/2025/cartographier-le-coeur-des-volcans-en-eveil
Co-production, A Key to Sustainable Early Warning Systems https://wmo.int/media/magazine-article/co-production-key-sustainable-early-warning-systems
On average, 18 percent of the total population is affected after each disaster in Small Island Developing States (SIDS), compared to 6 percent in non-SIDS countries https://www.undrr.org/implementing-sendai-framework/sendai-framework-action/small-island-developing-states
Status of science and technology in disaster risk reduction in Asia-Pacific 2022 https://www.undrr.org/publication/status-science-and-technology-disaster-risk-reduction-asia-pacific-2022
A professor of forestry engineering proposes two measures to reduce the risk of fires in summer: “They are very clear.” https://www.cope.es/programas/herrera-en-cope/noticias/catedratico-ingenieria-forestal-propone-dos-medidas-reducir-riesgo-incendios-verano-son-claras-20250902_3206673.html
Key facts about the long-term impacts of extreme weather and disasters https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/08/long-term-community-impacts-extreme-weather-disaster
California communities can reduce wildfire damage by half. Here’s how https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/08/28/california-communities-can-reduce-wildfire-damage-by-half-heres-how/
What happens to New Orleans’ levees when a Category 4 hurricane hits? https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2025/08/what-happens-to-new-orleans-levees-when-a-category-4-hurricane-hits/
Emergency Management
Katrina holds lessons as US debates role of states and FEMA in disaster response https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2025/0829/hurricane-katrina-fema-trump-states
The financial costs of the California wildfires https://onebillionresilient.org/2025/08/27/finance-california-wildfire/
A pyramid of human ecology of disease for pandemic preparedness https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953625008238
Afghanistan earthquake sees Taliban call for international help with rescue and recovery https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-02/afghanistan-earthquake-prompts-call-for-help-from-taliban/105723244
Author of book on Hurricane Katrina debunks myths and misconceptions https://www.npr.org/2025/08/28/nx-s1-5509491/author-of-book-on-hurricane-katrina-debunks-myths-and-misconceptions
Earthquakes in Afghanistan and a landslide in Sudan https://disasterphilanthropy.org/blog/earthquakes-in-afghanistan-and-a-landslide-in-sudan/
From Katrina To Lahaina To Kamchatka, Learning From Disaster https://www.civilbeat.org/2025/09/from-katrina-to-lahaina-to-kamchatka-learning-from-disaster/
Bushfire warning in Queensland after year of record-breaking rain https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-01/queensland-bushfire-threat-increases-during-spring/105706800
Why was the Afghanistan earthquake so deadly? A disaster resilience expert explains https://theconversation.com/why-was-the-afghanistan-earthquake-so-deadly-a-disaster-resilience-expert-explains-264274
Disaster Education, Communications and Engagement
Tsunamis and atolls: why warnings must be locally meaningful https://www.preventionweb.net/drr-community-voices/tsunamis-and-atolls-why-warnings-must-be-locally-meaningful
Youth Localizing the SDGs: 2025 International Youth Day to spotlight local solutions https://desapublications.un.org/un-desa-voice/more-from-undesa/july-2025/youth-localizing-sdgs-2025-international-youth-day
No Resilience Without Trust – An interview with Janise Rodgers and Mary Antonette Beroya-Eitner from GeoHazards International https://blogs.egu.eu/divisions/nh/2025/09/01/no-resilience-without-trust-an-interview-with-janice-rodgers-and-mary-antonette-beroya-eitner-from-geohazards-international/
Disaster psychology
The Impact of Different Types of Social Resources on Coping Self-Efficacy and Distress During Australia’s Black Summer Bushfires https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/9/1341
Updating Mental Models of Risk https://www.researchgate.net/publication/393275824_Updating_Mental_Models_of_Risk
Sociology and disasters
Yaku Raymi: The Quechua Ritual to Save a Glacier https://news.mongabay.com/video/2025/03/yaku-raymi-the-quechua-ritual-to-save-a-glacier/
Vulnerability-deprivation-resilience: A sociotechnical approach to humanitarian logistics management https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S259019822500243X
Affluent Areas Benefit More from Flood Solutions Funding https://scienmag.com/affluent-areas-benefit-more-from-flood-solutions-funding/
Disaster Resilience News 