By 2050, climate change impacts such as storms and drought could displace up to 300 million people worldwide. Nations should recognize ‘climate migrants’ and make plans for aiding and resettling them.
Frost affected many crops across WA during September 2016.
WA Department of Primary Industry and Regional Development
We already know that climate change makes heatwaves hotter and longer. But a new series of research papers asks whether there is also a climate fingerprint on frosty spells and bouts of wet weather.
A flooded street in Euroa, Victoria.
AAP Image/Brendan McCarthy
You should never try to drive through floodwater, because you never know what’s beneath the surface. And new research shows some roads are more treacherous than others.
People wait to get evacuated in Sukadana village, near Mount Agung, a volcano on the highest alert level, in Bali, Indonesia.
Reuters
What decisions can we make today to reduce the future risk of hazards like floods and fire? Particularly in a time of climate change, modelling various plausible futures helps us plan for uncertainty.
Cars are submerged on a flooded road in the Sydney suburb of Marrickville in 2012.
Alex Holver/NixPages
A massive residential development in a flood-prone inner-city suburb sounds like a recipe for disaster. But good urban design can deliver higher density and reduce the flood risk.
Natural disasters, like historic flooding in South Asia, are always accompanied by disease outbreaks.
REUTERS/Jayanta Dey
Dian Spear, University of Cape Town and Chandni Singh, Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS)
There is increasing evidence from across many African and South Asian countries that contextual, timely climate information, helps farmers manage the risks they face.
Hurricane Irma descends on the Caribbean islands.
NOAA National Weather Service National Hurricane Center/Handout via Reuters
Saturated media coverage of hurricanes like Harvey and Irma can make it seem like disasters happen all the time. Is the frequency of billion-dollar disasters really rising?
Relatively few homes hit by Harvey have flood insurance.
Reuters/Carlo Allegri
The federal government created a program in 1968 to insure homes in the US from flooding, yet few of the houses hammered by Harvey’s record rainfall were covered.
Isiah Courtney carries his dog Bruce through flood waters from Tropical Storm Harvey in Beaumont Place, Houston, Texas, U.S., on August 28, 2017.
REUTERS/Jonathan Bachman
Researchers examined credit data on the victims of Hurricane Katrina to understand how the disaster affected their personal finances, revealing important lessons for those hurt by Harvey.
Mumbai rains flooded the city for a week, leaving thousands helpless while building collapsed killing dozens on August 31th.
PUNIT PARANJPE / AFP
Nepal has blamed India for exacerbating intense monsoon flooding that has killed at least 1,200 people in the last two months.
Brenda Bradley, 72, and her husband Jimmie, 78, survey flooding from Hurricane Harvey in their neighborhood in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, August 28, 2017.
AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis
Evacuations and disruptions to health care during and after disasters like Hurricane Harvey are serious threats for older adults, who may need support well after relief operations end.
Residents of Muong La, Son La, are left to pick up the pieces after this latest disaster.
Le Trieu Duong
Disasters may have ‘natural’ triggers but why are ethic minorities forced to live under harsh conditions that make them particularly vulnerable to catastrophes?
Two people walk down a flooded section of Interstate 610 in Houston in floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey on Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017.
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
As Hurricane Harvey shows, flooding can happen wherever large storms stall and dumps lots of rain. A new study finds that development is increasing in flood zones inland, where people may not think they are at risk.
The Acros Fukuoka eco-building in Fukuoka, Japan boasts one of the world’s most famous green roofs. The GRIT Lab at the University of Toronto is working to bring green roofs to the city and beyond in order to combat climate change.
(Shutterstock)
Green roofs could play a critical role in helping cities cope with extreme rainfall events in the age of climate change. The roofs essentially suck up stormwater like sponges if designed properly.
U.S. Army Spc. Pam Anderson applies first-aid medical attention to an elderly man during flood relief operations just outside of Winona, Minnesota, August 20, 2007.
Staff Sgt. Daniel Ewer, U.S. Army
New research shows that older people are especially at risk during and after natural disasters, and may need medical help or other support well after relief operations end.