In the 08/19/2025 edition:
Land subsidence is a growing global challenge, and UNESCO’s Land Subsidence Initiative highlights the urgent need for collaborative research and action.
News: Strengthening bureaucrat incentives can curb crop burning and save lives in India and Pakistan
By VoxDev/ CEPR on Aug 18, 2025 04:44 pm
Evidence from India and Pakistan shows that harnessing district officials’ local pollution incentives reduces crop fires by up to 14.5% and deters burns by a further 13%, significantly lowering infant and child mortality.
News: Grand Canyon’s Dragon Bravo megafire shows the growing wildfire threat to water systems
By Conversation Media Group, the on Aug 18, 2025 04:31 pm
By mid-August, Dragon Bravo was a “megafire,” having burned over 140,000 acres, and was one of the largest fires in Arizona history. It had destroyed more than 70 structures, including the iconic Grand Canyon Lodge, and sent smoke across the region.
News: Can Pakistan turn recurring monsoon chaos into long-term water security?
By International Water Management Institute (IWMI) on Aug 18, 2025 04:31 pm
As Pakistan braces for another intense monsoon, the crisis presents both a stark warning and a rare opportunity — underscoring the urgent need for smarter water governance, local action and nature-based solutions to build lasting resilience.
News: New study reveals lasting impact of earthquakes on rivers and landscapes
By Durham University on Aug 18, 2025 03:37 pm
When the devastating magnitude 7.9 Wenchuan Earthquake struck central China in May 2008, it triggered more than 60,000 landslides, reshaping the slopes of the Longmen Shan mountains.
News: 70 years of data reveal adaptation measures slash European flood losses and fatalities
By Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research on Aug 18, 2025 02:33 pm
A new attribution study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) shows that such adaptation other than structural flood defenses has reduced economic losses from flooding by 63% and fatalities by 52% since 1950.
News: UCLA researchers unveil AI-powered tool for near real-time, large-scale wildfire fuel mapping
By University of California, Los Angeles on Aug 15, 2025 02:47 pm
Researchers have developed FuelVision, a new system that could help enhance nationwide wildfire preparedness by combining satellite imagery with artificial intelligence to rapidly and accurately identify wildfire fuel sources.
News: Africa’s smallholder farmers face collapse if we do not act on climate change
By Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) on Aug 15, 2025 02:19 pm
Battered by a ‘perfect storm’ of climate shocks—simultaneous extreme heat, droughts, floods, and rising temperature variability—smallholder farmers, particularly in rain‑fed systems, face mounting risks.
News: Drought: What you need to know about this growing global risk
By World Economic Forum on Aug 15, 2025 02:16 pm
The years 2023-2025 have witnessed some of the most widespread and damaging droughts in recorded history, OECD data shows. This isn’t a random occurrence, but the culmination of long-term trends.
News: Europe confronts an unprecedented wildfire season – What can we do to prevent them?
By United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction – Regional Office for Europe & Central Asia on Aug 15, 2025 01:56 pm
Europe is experiencing what may become one of its most devastating wildfire seasons on record. How can we step up long-term prevention efforts on wildfires and reduce risk before the flames ignite?
News: Why the climate crisis is a child rights crisis — and what we can do about it.
By Save the Children – Australia on Aug 15, 2025 01:49 pm
Climate-induced disasters are displacing families and closing schools. Across the Pacific, natural hazards like cyclones, floods and droughts are becoming more frequent and more intense – and they are disproportionately affecting children.
News: Beyond lives saved: Why early warning systems are a smart investment
By United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) on Aug 15, 2025 01:41 pm
Traditionally, early warning systems (EWS) have focused on saving lives. While reasonable, this narrow framing often leaves potential co-benefits untapped.
News: From victims to ambassadors of change. How children can educate communities on disaster risk reduction
By The Hut (TheHut) on Aug 15, 2025 11:24 am
Children are not just victims of climate disasters — they are emerging as key agents of change. Through games, workshops and real-world exploration, schools across Europe are building their resilience and civic role.
News: As humanitarian funding declines, now is the time to invest in preparedness
By SRHR Knowledge Hub (2tgether4srhr) on Aug 14, 2025 07:45 pm
Research shows that for every one US dollar invested in preparedness and system resilience, more than two US dollars is saved in future response costs over four years.
News: Rivers under pressure: Satellite data filtering techniques may underestimate Europe’s water storage changes
By Inderscience Publishers Limited on Aug 14, 2025 05:02 pm
Research has shown that conventional approaches to measuring water storage across Europe’s complex river systems may significantly underrepresent the scale and severity of changes linked to climate change.
News: Rain from tropical cyclones to increase under warmer climate
By National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research on Aug 14, 2025 04:50 pm
New high-resolution modelling predicts that rainfall from tropical cyclones will significantly increase under global warming.
News: Heritage and recovery: a decade of learning from the Gorkha Earthquake
By The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) on Aug 14, 2025 04:30 pm
2025 marks ten years since the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake(s) struck Nepal, killing nearly 9,000 people, and causing catastrophic damage to lives and livelihoods, as well as physical, social, and cultural infrastructure.
News: The rising threat to New York City’s food system
By Columbia University on Aug 14, 2025 04:28 pm
The Hunts Point Food Distribution Center is the largest of its kind in the country, feeding the city and surrounding areas each year – but the center is already prone to flooding in some areas, and the risks are likely to grow in the coming decades.
News: UNESCO equips rural schools in Uzbekistan with weather monitoring tools and disaster education
By United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – Headquarters on Aug 14, 2025 02:01 pm
UNESCO is equipping rural schools in Uzbekistan’s Pskem and Tepar villages with weather stations and hands-on disaster education to help communities better prepare for landslides and other hazards.
News: Child malnutrition is a sign of conflict to come: Nigerian study links climate change, food and violence
By Conversation Media Group, the on Aug 14, 2025 01:24 pm
Climate stress can pave the road to violence through indirect channels – a gradual rise in food insecurity and growing social tensions that set the stage for more armed violence.
News: Apply: IAEA youth infographic contest on nuclear emergency preparedness and response
By International Atomic Energy Agency on Aug 14, 2025 01:07 pm
Entries for the IAEA infographic design contest for young professionals aged 18 to 35 to raise awareness about emergency preparedness and response in nuclear and radiological contexts can now be submitted until 31 August 2025.
News: Canadian cities are unprepared for climate-driven migration — here’s what they can do
By Conversation Media Group, the on Aug 14, 2025 08:51 am
This summer, wildfires have caused evacuations across Canada and recently forced thousands of people to flee their homes in Newfoundland and Labrador.
News: Residents know when floods happen, but data must catch up
By Eos – AGU on Aug 13, 2025 06:14 pm
As a Ph.D. student studying the impacts of coastal flooding in Annapolis, Md., Miyuki Hino heard from people familiar with the area that rain caused flooding, but the conventional method of measuring floods wasn’t picking it up.
News: ‘We are on the frontline’: the ambitious plan to save an Alpine village from a climate catastrophe
By Guardian, the (UK) on Aug 13, 2025 06:10 pm
A huge lake formed by a melting glacier above Pralognan-la-Vanoise could inundate the village – but a project is under way to stop it
News: Sea level rise could drown iconic Easter Island statues by 2080, warns study
By University of Hawai’i on Aug 13, 2025 05:55 pm
By 2080 rising sea levels could cause seasonal waves to reach Ahu Tongariki, the iconic ceremonial platform that is part of the Rapa Nui National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site.
News: How Britain can beat the heat without becoming addicted to air conditioning
By Conversation Media Group, the on Aug 13, 2025 05:50 pm
With heatwaves becoming hotter and more frequent, demand for air conditioning is expected to rise significantly. However, if the UK responds to hotter summers simply by installing more AC, they risk a costly, energy-hungry and more unequal future.
News: China’s rural communities are adapting to climate change
By Dialogue Earth on Aug 13, 2025 05:50 pm
China is one of the countries worst affected by extreme weather events associated with climate change. But rural communities are finding ways to adapt to the situation, sometimes with the help of NGOs like Zhaotong Yongqing.
News: New infrastructure protects Viet Nam’s Mekong Delta City from chronic floods
By World Bank, the on Aug 13, 2025 05:49 pm
Backed by a $250 million loan from the World Bank and implemented between 2016 and 2024, the initiative constructed a flood-defense system along the Can Tho and Khai Luong rivers to shield the city’s urban core.
News: Heat, work, and worry: How is outdoor employment linked to concern about extreme heat?
By Yale Program on Climate Change Communication on Aug 13, 2025 05:35 pm
June 2025 was the third-hottest June on record, continuing a trend of rising temperatures worldwide. Extreme heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S.-surpassing hurricanes and floods.
News: Canada has “flood amnesia.” Lessons from the Dutch would help treat it
By Institute for Research on Public Policy on Aug 13, 2025 05:25 pm
The Dutch put flood resilience before politics, with flood-risk reduction integrated across governments and embedded in culture.
News: Risks of climate crisis to Australia’s economy and environment are ‘intense and scary’, unreleased government report says
By Guardian, the (UK) on Aug 13, 2025 05:18 pm
Sources say delayed risk assessment includes modelling of effects of climate crisis in ways that have been little discussed in political debate so far.
News: Why the UK needs more proactive heat risk management
By London School of Economics and Political Science, the on Aug 13, 2025 05:06 pm
Heatwaves are becoming increasingly common and increasingly intense, with severe consequences. But the state’s response to the impacts of extreme heat continues to be temporary and disjointed.
News: The 2025 Kamchatka tsunami and the power of preparedness
By United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) on Aug 13, 2025 04:46 pm
Coordinated by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (UNESCO-IOC), the Pacific Tsunami Warning System (PTWS) is a network of 46 member States across the Pacific, supported by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu.
News: A regional video contest empowering youth for climate resilience
By Indian Ocean Commission on Aug 13, 2025 04:00 pm
As disasters become more frequent and intense across the Indian Ocean region, the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) is calling on young people to take action – through video.
News: As climate change makes hail more destructive, Illinois residents pay the price
By Inside Climate News on Aug 13, 2025 02:50 pm
Insurers are raising rates. State officials are pressing back. And scientists say that researching this “underappreciated peril” is critical.
News: The next ‘Big One’ on the San Andreas fault might not be the earthquake we expect, researchers say
By PhysOrg, Omicron Technology Ltd on Aug 13, 2025 02:40 pm
What could the next mega-earthquake on California’s notorious San Andreas fault look like?
News: Natural archives in coral skeletons show sea-level rise began accelerating earlier than previously thought: NUS-led study
By National University of Singapore on Aug 13, 2025 02:32 pm
Coral records extend the Indian Ocean sea-level timeline by 60 years, offering the first century-long view of accelerating change linked to human-driven climate impacts
News: A look at the growing ‘disaster economy’ turning crisis into cash
By Grist Magazine on Aug 13, 2025 02:22 pm
Responding to and rebuilding from disasters is costing Americans staggering amounts of money. The bigger the disaster, the wider the ripple of economic consequences.
DRR Community Voices: Inclusion of ethnic groups in disaster risk management and financial protection in Colombia
By Cristian Camilo Fernández Lopera on Aug 13, 2025 01:09 pm
Strengthening coordination, adapting tools to local capacities, and ensuring participatory communication are key to enabling inclusive Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and Financial Protection (FP).
News: What NOT to do to protect the past for a resilient future
By United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) on Aug 12, 2025 05:29 pm
Our past and culture are never dead: keeping cultural heritage safe is preserving a part of our lives. SRSG Kamal Kishore reflects on some mistakes we make in DRR efforts for cultural heritage, and the lessons in resilience ancient cultures offer.
News: What really fueled the Manitoba wildfires in 2025? New study breaks it down
By University of Ottawa on Aug 12, 2025 02:41 pm
A recent study is shedding light on the factors that contributed to the significant wildfires in Manitoba in May 2025. The research explores how unusual weather patterns and stressed vegetation combined to create an ideal environment for disaster.
News: Disasters have cost us $162 billion this year. Insurance covered most of it.
By World Economic Forum on Aug 12, 2025 02:39 pm
The first half of 2025 marks a new inflection point in the global climate risk landscape. According to leading professional services firm Aon, global insured losses from natural catastrophe events reached $100 billion.
News: Scalable pathways for coastal restoration: lessons from RestCoast and beyond
By Global Center on Adaptation on Aug 12, 2025 02:39 pm
Coastal communities are on the frontline of climate change. Yet, there is an emerging opportunity: to scale coastal restoration not just as an environmental intervention, but as a socially inclusive, financially viable strategy for climate adaptation.
News: Preparing for the next flood: Protecting women’s health in Bangladesh
By United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on Aug 12, 2025 02:38 pm
Climate change has worsened monsoon flooding in Bangladesh, putting women of child-bearing age at risk – but the UN reproductive health agency (UNFPA) is helping them prepare.
News: Analysis: Record UK wildfires have burned an area twice the size of Glasgow in 2025
By Carbon Brief on Aug 12, 2025 02:36 pm
UK wildfires in 2025 so far have already burned by far the largest area of land over any calendar year since GWIS records began in 2012. The previous record year was 2019, followed by 2022, while 2024 saw the lowest area size burned.
News: Debris slide risk doesn’t always rise after a wildfire, study finds
By University of Oregon on Aug 12, 2025 02:34 pm
In the wake of a wildfire, there’s often an assumption that burned landscapes will be more susceptible to landslides. But new research from the University of Oregon suggests it’s not always that simple.
News: Africa’s climate adaptation: How Tanzania is transforming flood zones into resilient green spaces
By Down To Earth on Aug 12, 2025 02:18 pm
The flood-prone country is relocating vulnerable communities, restoring the Msimbazi River basin, and building climate-resilient infrastructure
News: Call for abstracts – IAF Global Space Conference on Climate Change
By International Astronautical Federation (IAF) on Aug 12, 2025 02:14 pm
The conference will explore the theme “Uniting Space and Earth for Climate Resilience,” showcasing cutting-edge research, breakthrough technologies, and cross-sector collaboration.
News: Startup uses AI-powered balloons for critical tasks in wake of disasters: ‘Insurance in the face of catastrophes’
By The Cool Down on Aug 12, 2025 11:59 am
After disasters, stratospheric balloons and cameras quickly and safely capture damage data to support insurance claims.
News: Call for application: IRDR International Centres of Excellence
By Integrated Research on Disaster Risk on Aug 12, 2025 11:31 am
IRDR ICoEs serve as hubs for transdisciplinary research, capacity building, and policy support in advancing the mission of IRDR, which is to mobilize science for disaster risk reduction (DRR), resilience building, and sustainable development.