In the 01/20/2026 edition:
Disaster resilience news for January 2026 highlights the accelerating impacts of climate change, including extreme heat, wildfires, floods, sea level rise, and health risks, alongside global efforts in disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation, insurance reform, and community preparedness.
News: Oregon bill would require home insurers to consider wildfire prevention efforts
By Oregon Public Broadcasting on Jan 19, 2026 10:54 pm
The proposal comes in light of rising property insurance premiums and policy cancellations or nonrenewals across the country and much of the West.
News: Cold wave triggers surge in brain stroke cases in Ranchi hospitals
By Times of India, the on Jan 19, 2026 10:42 pm
The intense cold wave prevailing across the state has resulted in a surge in brain stroke cases, with major hospitals reporting an increase in patient inflow.
News: ‘We’re in danger of extinction’: can Bolivia’s ‘water people’ survive a rising tide of salt and migration?
By Guardian, the (UK) on Jan 19, 2026 10:22 pm
The Uru Chipaya, one of South America’s most ancient civilisations, are battling drought, salinity and an exodus of their people as the climate crisis wreaks havoc on their land.
News: China inaugurates university specializing in emergency management
By Xinhua News Agency on Jan 19, 2026 09:32 pm
A conference marking the inauguration of the University of Emergency Management was recently held in Langfang, north China’s Hebei Province.
News: Resilience through reinsurance in wildfire recovery
By AXA XL on Jan 19, 2026 09:01 pm
(Re)insurance injects billions of dollars of non-recourse funding, in a structured way, to help facilitate a reformative recovery from events like the 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires. Non-recourse is important to highlight.
News: 1.5 Degrees C: Understanding world’s critical warming threshold
By World Resources Institute on Jan 19, 2026 08:52 pm
This article explains what exactly the 1.5 degrees C goal is, how was it set, and what happens if we exceed it? Here’s what to know.
News: Nonia’s school prepares for climate disasters
By United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Jan 19, 2026 04:17 pm
With support from the Government of China, UNICEF is helping schools prepare for and respond to future climate disasters.
News: How will sea level rise affect the global economy?
By Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M) on Jan 19, 2026 04:02 pm
Global sea level rise will have severe consequences for coastal regions and beyond. However, it has not been adequately represented in integrated impact assessments. A new model enables the study of the socioeconomic impacts of sea level rise.
News: Greening school playgrounds can improve quality of life in cities and help deal with climate change
By Open University of Catalonia on Jan 19, 2026 03:13 pm
A new study finds greening school playgrounds can improve quality of life in cities and help deal with climate change.
News: More floods are coming. Here’s what actually works to help people prepare
By Conversation Media Group, the on Jan 19, 2026 02:35 pm
What mattered was participatory learning over time: people being invited into respectful conversations, treated as capable decision-makers, and supported to work through risk in ways that made sense within their own lives.
News: A year of evidence showing the impact of disaster risk reduction
By United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) on Jan 19, 2026 12:56 pm
From extreme heat and floods to earthquakes and cyclones, a wealth of examples collected on PreventionWeb offer clear evidence that disaster risk reduction delivers tangible results.
News: Locust swarms destroy crops — scientists found a way to stop it
By Arizona State University on Jan 19, 2026 11:48 am
Study believed to be the first to test this method in real-world farming conditions; soil amendments resulted in fewer locusts, less damage and a doubled crop yield.
News: Call for submissions for IRDR special issue on community-based disaster risk reduction
By Integrated Research on Disaster Risk on Jan 16, 2026 05:07 pm
IRDR is pleased to announce a special issue in the Journal of Hazards, Risk and Resilience (JHRR) focused on advancing the community-based DRR and CCA, with a particular focus on innovative research led by young scientists.
News: Learnings to strengthen anticipatory action for cyclones in Madagascar
By Start Network on Jan 16, 2026 04:49 pm
Representatives from humanitarian organisations, meteorological services, public institutions, and university partners from Start Network FOREWARN programme gathered in Antsirabe, Madagascar to reflect on the lessons learned from the last cyclone season.
News: New study reveals earth system models overestimate river flow increases
By Chinese Academy of Sciences on Jan 16, 2026 04:33 pm
Understanding how water moves through the Earth system is fundamental to predicting climate impacts and ensuring sustainable water management. Yet despite decades of research, uncertainties persist.
News: When lightning strikes: Models of multi-ignition wildfires could predict catastrophic events
By Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on Jan 16, 2026 04:27 pm
In a new study researchers examine multi-ignition fires, calculating their impact and modeling the mechanisms behind them. The work shows that when flames combine, they are disproportionately destructive.
News: Spain’s meteorologists subjected to ‘alarming’ rise in hate speech, minister warns
By Guardian, the (UK) on Jan 16, 2026 04:20 pm
A number of recent reports examined by the ministry had detected a “significant increase” in the hostile language that climate experts are subjected to on digital platforms.
News: After the disaster, living for today
By Harvard Gazette on Jan 16, 2026 04:07 pm
Epidemiologists have consistently found that people who have survived natural disasters tend to engage in risky health behaviors at higher rates than peers who have not. What’s novel in Kawachi’s research is the underlying mechanism: present bias.
News: The hidden risk of combined stressors for soils
By Freie Universität Berlin on Jan 16, 2026 03:54 pm
New study by researchers at Freie Universität published in “Nature Communications” shows that independent environmental stressors such as heat, drought, and microplastics affect soils differently when combined.
News: Who is most worried about heat and air pollution in India?
By Yale Program on Climate Change Communication on Jan 16, 2026 03:39 pm
In recent years, India has experienced frequent and intense heat waves alongside some of the highest levels of air pollution in the world. To understand how different groups of people view these hazards 10,751 adults were surveyed nationwide.
News: Are nature-based solutions the key to adapting under uncertainty?
By Global Center on Adaptation on Jan 16, 2026 02:47 pm
How do we adapt when the future is unclear? One answer gaining momentum is Nature-Based Solutions (NbS)—working with nature rather than trying to engineer our way out of every problem.
News: Ocean damage nearly doubles the cost of climate change
By Inside Climate News on Jan 16, 2026 02:06 pm
Ignoring the blue economy has left a multi-trillion-dollar blind spot in climate finance, according to a study from Scripps Oceanography.
News: Who cares for the climate? Women’s unpaid labor is holding up the world
By World Bank, the on Jan 16, 2026 01:25 pm
Recent work has revealed a persistent gap in how we understand and respond to climate crises: the invisible force that actually keeps communities alive through climate disasters is care work, performed overwhelmingly by women.
News: As Victoria’s Great Ocean Road flash floods show, we need to get better at taking warnings seriously
By Conversation Media Group, the on Jan 16, 2026 12:51 pm
Victoria’s flash floods along the Great Ocean Road highlight how rapidly localized extreme rainfall can cause devastating flooding and why communities and authorities must improve how they understand and act.
News: Growing up alongside deadly fires inspired me to study them – and fight flames with swarms of drones
By Conversation Media Group, the on Jan 16, 2026 11:41 am
Growing up in Greece, wildfires were a constant presence each summer. Those experiences shaped my curiosity about how people could better respond to such disasters. Wildfires are becoming more intense, frequent and harder to manage worldwide.
News: How attribution science can help inform grid resilience
By Union of Concerned Scientists on Jan 15, 2026 07:46 pm
A new report by UCS highlights the pattern of these challenges by exploring the intersection of extreme weather, power outages, and future grid resilience in the central United States.
News: Inside new science exposing how humidity can escalate a heat wave
By University of Florida on Jan 15, 2026 06:27 pm
Each season brings updates on storm tracks, cone predictions and wind speeds, all in the hopes of predicting the unpredictable. But a quieter, more deceptive threat is already reshaping the way people live and work in the Sunshine State: extreme heat.
News: Why water is the catalyst for the next wave of global growth
By World Economic Forum (WEF) on Jan 15, 2026 06:15 pm
Water infrastructure is key to human development and climate resilience, but its socioeconomic value as an enabler of growth is often underappreciated.
News: South Eastern Railway deploys flood warning camera technology to improve resilience at five high-risk locations
By South East European Cooperation Process on Jan 15, 2026 06:05 pm
New systems will help the integrated railway to make faster and more informed decisions to help keep trains moving safely and reliably.
News: No power, no phone, no radio: why comms dropped out during the central Victorian fires
By Conversation Media Group, the on Jan 15, 2026 05:52 pm
Australia has entered an era of climate instability, where communications during bushfires and extreme weather must perform under increasingly severe conditions.
News: The past 3 years have been the three hottest on record
By Eos – AGU on Jan 15, 2026 05:36 pm
Extreme heat in 2023, 2024, and 2025 indicates a warming spike, a new analysis finds.
News: Water cycle instability drove global water-related disasters in 2025
By Australian National University on Jan 15, 2026 05:32 pm
Ongoing shifts in the global water cycle amplified floods, droughts and heat extremes in 2025, according to a new report involving an international team of researchers, led by The Australian National University (ANU).
News: Underestimates in global warming pose major climate and financial risks
By University of Exeter on Jan 15, 2026 04:58 pm
New analysis suggests the planet may be more sensitive to greenhouse gases than many models assume, meaning temperatures could rise faster and bring much greater climate risks than policymakers and financial institutions are planning for.
News: Major river deltas are sinking faster than sea-level rise
By Virginia Tech on Jan 15, 2026 04:50 pm
A new study published in Nature finds human-driven land sinking now outpaces sea-level rise in many of the world’s major delta systems, threatening more than 236 million people.
News: Severe weather is deadly for vulnerable older adults long after the storm ends, study finds
By University of Michigan on Jan 15, 2026 04:43 pm
Older adults who were exposed to heavy rainfall after Hurricane Harvey in 2017 faced a 3% increase in the risk of death within the following year, a new University of Michigan study found.
News: Global Risks Report 2026: Geopolitical and economic risks rise in new age of competition
By World Economic Forum (WEF) on Jan 15, 2026 04:37 pm
The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2026, finds geoeconomic confrontation emerges as the top risk for the year, followed by interstate conflict, extreme weather, societal polarization and misinformation and disinformation.
News: Beating back the Aedes aegypti mosquito
By Knowable Magazine on Jan 14, 2026 04:44 pm
Scientists are taking a multipronged approach to tackle this dangerous carrier of dengue, yellow fever and other noxious viruses.
News: New climate reports show ‘Unprecedented run of global heat’
By Inside Climate News on Jan 14, 2026 01:34 pm
Data from multiple international agencies shows the reality of a rapidly warming world.
News: Climate change presses on: Devastating wildfires and intense thunderstorms exacerbate losses for insurers
By Münchener Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft (Munich Re) on Jan 14, 2026 01:11 pm
Natural hazards caused significant losses worldwide in 2025. All in all, damage amounting to US$ 224bn was incurred, of which insurers covered around US$ 108bn. This means that 2025 joins a list of years with insured losses exceeding the US$ 100bn mark.
News: The real pain of climate change is easy to feel, but increasingly difficult to study
By Inside Climate News on Jan 14, 2026 01:10 pm
Many chronic pain patients cite the weather as a driver of their suffering, and climate change is making the torment more likely and harder to deal with. But research on the relationship is uncertain, and federal cuts could hold it back.
News: What life is really like for those affected by UK floods – new research
By Lancaster University on Jan 14, 2026 12:53 pm
The ‘Stories After The Storms’ report calls for clearer information and guidance for flood survivors in the immediate aftermath of floods, and greater recognition of the hidden psychological toll that they can take.
News: Extreme heat waves disrupt honey bee thermoregulation and threaten colony survival
By University of Chicago on Jan 14, 2026 12:38 pm
Although honey bees have the ability to regulate hive temperatures, new research shows that extreme summer heat can overwhelm these critical pollinators’ cooling systems, leading to significant colony population declines.
News: Wildfires: Building community resilience
By 350.org on Jan 14, 2026 12:29 pm
As devastating wildfires tear across south-east Australia, filmmaker and local resident Alex Kelly shares her experience.
News: Risk informing cities for resilience
By United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Jan 14, 2026 11:52 am
UNDP’s Resilient Urban Futures Initiative is helping Hawassa to understand the risk landscape. Through the initiative a comprehensive risk profiling exercise has been conducted, a major milestone in Hawassa’s journey to become a resilient metropolis.
News: As we begin to assess the fire damage in Victoria, we must not overlook these hidden costs
By Conversation Media Group, the on Jan 14, 2026 11:26 am
Many Australians think disaster-hit regions are all, more or less, the same if they suffer the same size of area burned or other immediate measures of fire loss. But when viewed through a more comprehensive lens, a different story emerges.
News: Ghana: Disaster risk financing in real time
By Center for Strategic and International Studies on Jan 13, 2026 08:48 pm
The benefits of parametric insurance include its efficiency and transparency, but governance is key, and administrative transitions can cause delays that carve away at benefits.
News: Mexico: The economics of climate risk ignores the value of natural habitats
By Conversation Media Group, the on Jan 13, 2026 08:26 pm
When Hurricane Delta hit Mexico’s Caribbean coast in 2020, insurance payouts were released within days – not to rebuild hotels or roads, but to repair coral reefs.
News: Climate adaptation means building social infrastructure
By Stanford Social Innovation Review, Stanford University on Jan 13, 2026 08:15 pm
Resilience to climate change is less about building walls than cultivating the social capacities for people to navigate uncertainty with agency, solidarity, and security.
News: Another way of monitoring wildfire could take flight
By Clemson University, South Carolina on Jan 13, 2026 07:59 pm
Researchers found that artificial intelligence can learn to estimate heat by studying patterns in ordinary red-green-blue (RGB) images, the type of standard color photos taken by digital cameras.
News: Nigeria: Mangrove loss is making the Niger Delta more vulnerable
By Conversation Media Group, the on Jan 13, 2026 07:51 pm
The Niger Delta region is the heart of the country’s oil and gas industry. Pipeline construction, dredging (when sand is dug out of the ground), oil spills and gas flaring (burning) have degraded mangrove habitats.
News: Investing in climate adaptation strengthens European competitiveness
By European Environment Agency on Jan 13, 2026 07:38 pm
Climate-proofing the agriculture, energy and transport sectors would help avoid billions of euros in losses from the accelerating extreme weather events related to climate change.
News: USA: UConn research team shining light on extreme weather preparedness in Connecticut
By University of Connecticut on Jan 13, 2026 03:47 pm
In their most recently published study, research team member Kenneth Lachlan looked closer at several communities in the eastern areas of the state and surveyed residents to learn more about how they received information during weather emergencies.
News: Türkiye: How hidden factors beneath Istanbul shape earthquake risk
By University of Southern California on Jan 13, 2026 02:34 pm
New research from USC shows that variation in underground temperature and sediment thickness segment the Main Marmara Fault in ways that control where earthquakes start, how far they spread and where they stop—findings that could reshape risk assessment
News: El Nino events reduce life expectancy, cause trillions in economic losses: Study
By Nanyang Technological University on Jan 13, 2026 02:11 pm
A new interdisciplinary study led by researchers with collaborators from the City University of Hong Kong, has found that the intensifying positive phase of ENSO could significantly reduce life expectancy across high-income Pacific Rim countries.
News: The invisible costs of wildfire disasters in 2025
By United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) on Jan 13, 2026 01:41 pm
Wildfires dominate headlines for their high price tags, but behind the insured losses are even greater invisible costs: the lasting social, health, ecological, and economic costs that shape recovery long after the flames die down and the smoke clears.
News: USA: Atlanta park doubles as a flood protection system
By Yale Climate Connections on Jan 13, 2026 01:39 pm
As climate change causes heavier rains, Cook Park helps keep the neighborhood dry while also providing a beautiful space that people can enjoy.
News: Disaster losses are far higher than insurance industry estimates as invisible impacts go uncounted
By United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) on Jan 13, 2026 01:38 pm
The true cost of disasters is significantly underestimated worldwide, as losses to health, livelihoods, ecosystems, and long-term development remain largely unmeasured.
News: Six innovative nature-based solution projects for social infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean
By Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on Jan 13, 2026 01:28 pm
Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) offer cost-effective and efficient alternatives to protect social infrastructure from floods, extreme heat, hurricanes, and other severe climate events.
News: El Niño and La Niña make water extremes move in sync
By The University of Texas at Austin on Jan 13, 2026 12:59 pm
Water extremes such as droughts and floods have a huge impact on communities, ecosystems, and economies. Researchers with The University of Texas have turned their attention to tracking these extremes across Earth and have discovered what is driving them.
News: Australia: What is the global water cycle and how is it amplifying climate disasters?
By Conversation Media Group, the on Jan 13, 2026 12:42 pm
Researchers latest report shows how changes in rainfall, air temperature and humidity combined to amplify water-related disasters across the world in 2025.