Please find below links to some aspects of disaster resilience that were in the news recently…
Recent emergencies/disasters
Flood and wind warnings across UK as Storm Bella sweeps in https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/dec/26/flood-and-wind-warnings-across-uk-as-storm-bella-sweeps-in
Deadly flooding hits Rio de Janeiro, Brazil https://watchers.news/2020/12/24/deadly-flooding-hits-rio-de-janeiro-brazil/
Strong and shallow M6.7 earthquake hits off the coast of Los Lagos, Chile https://watchers.news/2020/12/27/los-lagos-earthquake-december-27-2020-chile/
Tropical Storm “Chalane” to make landfall over Madagascar, head toward Mozambique https://watchers.news/2020/12/25/tropical-cyclone-chalane-landfall-madagascar-mozambique/
Portugal – Evacuations After Floods and Landslides in Madeira http://floodlist.com/europe/portugal-floods-madeira-december-2020
Croatia earthquake leaves children among dead, forcing hospital evacuation and nuclear plant shutdown https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-30/croatia-petrinja-earthquake-shakes-slovenia-injuries-death/13020682
Strong eruption at Suwanosejima volcano, Alert Level raised, Japan https://watchers.news/2020/12/28/suwanosejima-volcano-alert-level-december-2020/
At least 12 climbers dead as heavy snow hits Tehran, Iran https://watchers.news/2020/12/29/12-climbers-dead-heavy-snow-tehran-iran/
Ecuador – Flood Damage Leaves Thousands Without Drinking Water in Azuay Province http://floodlist.com/america/ecuador-azuay-province-floods-december-2020
DR Congo – Deadly Floods Strike Again in Uvira http://floodlist.com/africa/dr-congo-floods-uvira-december-2020
Madagascar – Tropical Storm Chalane Triggers Minor Flooding http://floodlist.com/africa/madagascar-tropical-storm-chalane-december-2020
Neighbourhood evacuated as landslide buries houses, destroys buildings in Norway https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-31/landslide-buries-houses-gjerdrum-norway/13022952
Sleeping volcanoes rumble to life in the eastern Caribbean https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/30/v
Volcanic activity worldwide 31 Dec 2020: Fuego volcano, Karymsky, Popocatépetl, Reventador, Sangay https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/volcano-activity/news/118019/Volcanic-activity-worldwide-31-Dec-2020-Fuego-volcano-Karymsky-Popocatepetl-Reventador-Sangay.html
Extreme Weather and Climate Change
From bushfires to flash flooding, what will the Australian summer of the future look like? https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-28/bushfires-flash-flooding-what-will-summer-of-future-look-like/12989778
Climate of change puts business and Coalition at odds https://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/climate-of-change-puts-business-and-coalition-at-odds-20201218-p56oqb.html
India achieves record low price for large scale solar plant https://reneweconomy.com.au/india-achieves-record-low-price-for-large-scale-solar-plant-51986/
New Zealand readers say ‘everything’ must be prioritised in battle against climate change https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/26/new-zealand-readers-say-everything-must-be-prioritised-in-battle-against-climate-change
Oregon wildfires are adding more fuel to young activists’ legal climate battle https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/23/oregon-wildfires-climate-crisis-juliana-v-us
Project Drawdown https://drawdown.org/
New climate models suggest faster melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet https://www.carbonbrief.org/new-climate-models-suggest-faster-melting-of-the-greenland-ice-sheet
WMO: Siberian heatwave put 2020 among three hottest years on record https://www.climatechangenews.com/2020/12/02/wmo-siberian-heatwave-put-2020-among-three-hottest-years-record/
2020 closes a decade of exceptional heat https://public.wmo.int/en/media/news/2020-closes-decade-of-exceptional-heat
Climate change: Extreme weather causes huge losses in 2020 https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-55416013
Australia’s bushfires among the world’s worst weather disasters ‘boosted’ by climate change, report finds https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australia-s-bushfires-among-the-world-s-worst-weather-disasters-boosted-by-climate-change-report-finds?cid=news:socialshare:twitter
Counting the cost 2020: A year of climate breakdown https://reliefweb.int/report/world/counting-cost-2020-year-climate-breakdown-december-2020
Sea-level rise from climate change could exceed the high-end projections, scientists warn https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-rising-sea-levels-worst-case-projections/
Australia trails Pacific nations in fight against climate change https://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/australia-trails-pacific-nations-in-fight-against-climate-change-20201229-p56qms.html
‘We cannot make it without science’: Greta Thunberg says climate experts are being ignored https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/29/we-cannot-make-it-without-science-greta-thunberg-says-climate-experts-are-being-ignored?CMP=share_btn_tw
Experts should lead climate change response: NSW Environment Minister https://www.afr.com/politics/experts-should-lead-climate-change-response-nsw-environment-minister-20201228-p56qen
Floods, storms and searing heat: 2020 in extreme weather https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/30/floods-storms-and-searing-heat-2020-in-extreme-weather?CMP=share_btn_tw
Tampa addresses chronic flooding as climate challenges loom https://www.tampabay.com/news/tampa/2020/12/27/tampa-addresses-chronic-flooding-as-climate-challenges-loom/
2020 Broke All These Environmental Records Despite The Pandemic https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/2020-climate-change-records-covid-pandemic_uk_5fc62d73c5b61d04bfad3c77
Cambridge becomes the 1st US city to require stickers warning the threat of climate change at gas pumps https://www.businessinsider.com/cambridge-gas-pumps-post-warning-climate-change-2020-12?r=AU&IR=T
Disaster risk reduction
This year wasn’t unprecedented. If anything, it set the precedent https://www.smh.com.au/national/this-year-wasn-t-unprecedented-if-anything-it-set-the-precedent-20201224-p56pzt.html
Evolution of a pyrocumulonimbus event associated with an extreme wildfire in Tasmania, Australia https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/20/1497/2020/
The top 10 weather and climate events of a record-setting year https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/12/the-top-10-weather-and-climate-events-of-a-record-setting-year/
The anatomy of a firestorm: Researchers use radar to peer into a bushfire phenomenon https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-27/tasmania-anatomy-dunalley-fire-thunderstorm-revealed/13016480
Rising to meet the tide https://knowablemagazine.org/article/physical-world/2020/rising-meet-tide
Could Covid lockdown have helped save the planet? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/29/could-covid-lockdown-have-helped-save-the-planet
Billion-Dollar Disasters: The Costs, in Lives and Dollars, Have Never Been So High https://insideclimatenews.org/news/29122020/billion-dollar-weather-disasters-climate-change-wildfire-hurricane-storms/
Overshadowed by COVID: the deadly extreme weather of 2020 https://theconversation.com/overshadowed-by-covid-the-deadly-extreme-weather-of-2020-151237
California must burn more of its forests to save them. Is the public ready?https://www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/California-must-burn-more-of-its-forests-to-save-15829961.php
ACCC inquiry finds northern Australia properties difficult to insure due to flood and cyclone risks https://www.accc.gov.au/publications/northern-australia-insurance-inquiry-final-report
Emergency management
Withstanding winter vulnerabilities: A way of life in a northern seaside community https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343874277_Withstanding_winter_vulnerabilities_A_way_of_life_in_a_northern_seaside_community_OPEN_ACCESS
Covid pandemic turned 2020 into deadliest year in U.S. history, CDC finds https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/covid-pandemic-turned-2020-deadliest-year-u-s-history-cdc-n1252078?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma
Here’s a Plan to Stop the Coronavirus From Mutating https://www.wired.com/story/heres-a-plan-to-stop-the-coronavirus-from-mutating/
Covid world map: which countries have the most coronavirus cases and deaths? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/27/covid-world-map-which-countries-have-the-most-coronavirus-cases-and-deaths
With the new Covid variant everywhere, it’s not enough to just wait for the vaccine https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/28/covid-vaccine-uk-restrictions-independent-sage
Theodore, the first Queensland town to be totally evacuated, reflects on flood disaster 10 years on https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-28/decade-on-from-devastating-thedore-flood-entire-town-evacuated/12985622
Where Year Two of the Pandemic Will Take Us https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/12/pandemic-year-two/617528/
Vaccination no guarantee of virus eradication: WHO officials https://www.preventionweb.net/news/view/75345
Early Action Protocol activated as Tropical Cyclone Chalane approaches Mozambique https://www.preventionweb.net/news/view/75341
Silence of the bush: Mallacoota residents look back over a year of loss and regrowth after fire devastation https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jan/01/silence-of-the-bush-mallacoota-residents-look-back-over-a-year-of-loss-and-regrowth-after-fire-devastation?CMP=share_btn_tw
How do the COVID-19 variants found in the UK and South Africa affect the illness? https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-31/what-are-the-south-african-and-uk-variants-of-covid-19/13022430
Disaster education, communications and engagement
Taiwan dispatches its first volcano drill alert https://www.preventionweb.net/news/view/75334
Role of pre-disaster discussions on preparedness on consensus-making of integrated flood management (IFM) after a flood disaster, based on a case in the Abukuma River Basin, Fukushima, Japan https://www.preventionweb.net/publications/view/75337
Psychology and disasters
Reasons to be hopeful in 2021 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/27/reasons-to-be-hopeful
Covid poses ‘greatest threat to mental health since second world war’ https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/dec/27/covid-poses-greatest-threat-to-mental-health-since-second-world-war
Eight Persistent COVID-19 Myths and Why People Believe Them https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/eight-persistent-covid-19-myths-and-why-people-believe-them/
The lost summer https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-30/cate-tregellas-family-secrets-mallacoota-bushfires-black-summer/13006130
Sociology and disasters
COVID-19 and inequality: A review of the evidence on likely impact and policy options https://www.preventionweb.net/publications/view/75319
Regional differences in resilience of social and physical systems: Case study of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2399808320980744
Disasters and Demographic Change of ‘Single-Industry’ Towns—Decline and Resilience in Morwell, Australia https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344435575_Disasters_and_Demographic_Change_of_%27Single-Industry%27_Towns-Decline_and_Resilience_in_Morwell_Australia
Regional differences in resilience of social and physical systems: Case study of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347827130_Regional_differences_in_resilience_of_social_and_physical_systems_Case_study_of_Puerto_Rico_after_Hurricane_Maria
People in harm’s way: Flood exposure and poverty in 189 countries https://www.preventionweb.net/publications/view/74356
Disaster Resilience News 