In the 09/02/2025 edition:
Disaster Risk and Climate News for September 2, 2025, highlights global challenges including tsunamis, hurricanes, wildfires, water crises, and resilience strategies.
DRR Community Voices: Tsunamis and atolls: why warnings must be locally meaningful
By Ilan Kelman, Frederick H. Damon, Dirk H. R. Spennemann, Julius Riese on Sep 01, 2025 05:24 pm
The usual tsunami advice to move inland and to move to high ground might not be possible for many atolls. Generic, international, trans-oceanic warnings need to become locally meaningful. What advice should be given for surviving tsunamis?
News: Climate change intensified Hurricane Katrina; could have been a stronger storm in today’s climate
By Climate Central on Sep 01, 2025 04:10 pm
Twenty years ago this week, Hurricane Katrina became one of the worst disasters in U.S. history. Marking the 20-year anniversary, Climate Central assessed the influence of human-caused climate change on the devastating 2005 hurricane.
News: California communities can reduce wildfire damage by half. Here’s how.
By University of California, Berkeley on Sep 01, 2025 03:30 pm
A new UC Berkeley-led study demonstrates how two mitigation strategies — home hardening and defensible space — can have a major impact on wildfire destructiveness.
News: Reflections from frontline settlements: connecting urban communities with climate scientists
By International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) on Sep 01, 2025 02:32 pm
For cities to become climate-resilient and equitable for all, climate science must reflect the lived realities of urban communities.
News: What happens to New Orleans’ levees when a Category 4 hurricane hits?
By Yale Climate Connections on Sep 01, 2025 01:39 pm
The city’s $23 billion levee system is only rated to withstand a Cat 3.
News: In far Northeastern Maine, a native community fights to adapt to climate change
By Inside Climate News on Sep 01, 2025 01:25 pm
Sea level rise, dwindling fisheries and Trump budget cuts make the Passamaquoddy tribe’s resiliency quest a test of smart planning and stubborn will.
News: High Mountain Asia’s shrinking glaciers linked to monsoon changes
By University of Utah on Sep 01, 2025 01:09 pm
Shifting precipitation patterns, driven by climate change, could reshape water security and environmental hazards for one of world’s most populated regions, research shows.
News: Iran’s water crisis is driven by bad policies, but tech can help
By Context on Sep 01, 2025 01:02 pm
Decades of poor decisions have turned a challenge into a disaster, but new tech and bold action could ease Iran’s water crisis.
News: Workers are facing dangerous heat — even inside fast-food restaurants
By Grist Magazine on Sep 01, 2025 11:47 am
Heat is the deadliest weather event in the U.S. Increasingly, the labor movement, environmental justice advocates, and policymakers acknowledge that indoor workers are also vulnerable to the effects of extreme heat.
News: Lessons ‘unlearned’ Twenty years after Katrina, experts warn disaster readiness lags in the US.
By Al Jazeera Satellite Network on Sep 01, 2025 11:36 am
Two decades later, Katrina’s legacy continues to haunt many experts in the emergency disaster field, a spectre that has grown larger as many warn the administration of US President Donald Trump may be repeating the same mistakes.
News: The UK’s food system is built on keeping prices low – but this year’s droughts show up its failings
By Conversation Media Group, the on Sep 01, 2025 11:20 am
Behind the headlines of empty reservoirs and wilting fields lies a bigger problem: the way the UK’s food system is organised, managed and governed.
News: Majority of farmers report feelings of anxiety and depression in face of drought and flooding
By Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) on Sep 01, 2025 11:09 am
Anxiety is an almost universal experience among British farmers following the UK’s third worst harvest last year and extremely dry spring this year.
News: Climate change likely to expand the range of an Asian bat and the deadly disease it carries
By Inside Climate News on Sep 01, 2025 11:09 am
A vaccine in development may slow the spread of Nipah virus, which kills up to 75 percent of the people it sickens, but reducing the environmental disruptions that bring people, livestock and bats together could be more effective.
News: How researchers have studied the where, when, and eye of hurricanes since Katrina
By Eos – AGU on Sep 01, 2025 11:08 am
Twenty years after one of the country’s deadliest storms, scientists reflect on improvements in the ability to understand and predict disasters.
News: Weather conditions leading to deadly wildfires in Türkiye, Cyprus and Greece made 10 times more likely due to climate change
By World Weather Attribution on Aug 29, 2025 11:46 am
To determine the role of climate change in this observed trend the authors combine the observation-based estimates with climate models. For both indices the models on average show a stronger increase in likelihood and intensity than observed.
News: The financial costs of the California wildfires
By Atlantic Council on Aug 29, 2025 11:37 am
The economic losses of the unseasonal Los Angeles fires are estimated to cost between $164 and $250 billion. This accounts for deaths, property losses, decreases in livelihoods, and the reduction of local economic activity.
News: Researchers make new guide to help maintain water security in the future
By Charles Darwin University on Aug 29, 2025 11:27 am
The guide summarises knowledge on climate and hydrological modelling to produce hydrological projections that can be used in local applications.
News: Researchers develop new urban sustainability assessment method Using SDGSAT-1 satellite data
By Chinese Academy of Sciences on Aug 29, 2025 11:19 am
A research team has developed a new method for evaluating urban sustainability, leveraging high-resolution data from the SDGSAT-1 satellite, according to a recent study published in Remote Sensing of Environment.
News: Overheated and underbuilt: How to fortify the US grid in the face of heat waves
By Atlantic Council on Aug 29, 2025 11:12 am
Utilities and system operators must identify and implement short-term solutions that can maintain reliability and keep prices down while new infrastructure projects are built.
News: What climate science can teach companies about resilience
By World Economic Forum on Aug 29, 2025 11:05 am
While policy is important, businesses must also incorporate climate risk into their strategic decision-making. After all, industry is set to continue to play a crucial role in addressing climate change.
News: Collecting more than trash: Researchers equip local garbage trucks to gather data on urban heat island effect
By University of Notre Dame on Aug 29, 2025 10:57 am
To help identify — and ultimately mitigate — heat islands in South Bend, a team of University of Notre Dame researchers has partnered with the city to collect data using a novel method: garbage trucks.
News: Lakes around the world are in decline. Here’s why – and what can be done about it.
By United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on Aug 29, 2025 10:35 am
There are more than 100 million lakes dotting the planet, according to one prominent study. But many aren’t what they used to be. From Bolivia to South Africa and beyond, climate change, pollution and over-abstraction are changing these bodies of water.
News: 20 years after Katrina, New Orleans’ levees are sinking and short on money
By Grist Magazine on Aug 29, 2025 10:35 am
The city’s $14 billion flood system faces new threats from climate change, land subsidence, and Trump budget cuts.
News: Why Ireland’s mild temperatures won’t protect it from the climate crisis
By Conversation Media Group, the on Aug 28, 2025 02:46 pm
The island of Ireland has a moderate climate, with few temperature extremes. Its temperature record is still “only” 33°C. But even somewhere with a relatively pleasant and cool climate isn’t immune to the risks of climate change.
News: Filipino champions of resilience: Experts leading the fight against flooding
By Wazzup Pilipinas on Aug 28, 2025 02:45 pm
As climate change intensifies rainfall patterns and rapid urbanization overwhelms aging drainage systems, the urgency for transformative disaster risk management is more pronounced. At the forefront of this national mission stand six leaders.
News: Rising temperatures intensify supercell thunderstorms in Europe
By ETH Zurich on Aug 28, 2025 02:43 pm
In a groundbreaking study, researchers have shown how climate change is intensifying supercell thunderstorms in Europe. At a global temperature increase of 3 degrees Celsius, these powerful storms are expected to occur more frequently.
News: Twenty years since Katrina: A legacy of risk and resilience
By Moody’s Investors Service on Aug 28, 2025 02:41 pm
Recalling the events of 20 years ago, Katrina first made landfall on the southeast Florida coast on August 25, 2005, then moved northwest and rapidly intensified in the warm waters of the Gulf to reach Category 5 strength on August 28.
News: We drilled deep under the sea to learn more about mega-earthquakes and tsunamis
By Conversation Media Group, the on Aug 28, 2025 02:41 pm
Far beneath the waves, down in the depths of the Japan Trench — seven kilometres below sea level — lie hidden clues about some of the most powerful earthquakes and tsunamis on Earth.
News: Mapping the heart of volcanoes when they wake up
By University of Geneva on Aug 28, 2025 02:39 pm
A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) in Italy has created an unprecedentedly accurate 3D model of the internal structure of an active volcano, marking an advance in risk management.
News: How cities can strengthen climate resilience through people and systems
By Development Asia on Aug 28, 2025 02:24 pm
Start resilience projects with people-centered, evidence-based planning, combining infrastructure, community engagement, and adaptive learning.
News: Enhancing transboundary cooperation in river basin management for climate adaptation
By Development Asia on Aug 28, 2025 02:16 pm
The water-food-energy nexus approach can help Central Asia manage shared water resources and promote regional cooperation.
News: ‘Peak water security’ crisis, Texas A&M researcher warns
By Texas A&M University System on Aug 28, 2025 02:12 pm
New research warns of declining access to safe, reliable and affordable water in the U.S., urging for better water tracking tools and immediate policy reforms.
News: Changing climate pushed islanders to ‘chase the rain’ across the Pacific 1,000 years ago
By University of Southampton, the on Aug 28, 2025 02:09 pm
Research shows a major shift in South Pacific climate conditions—beginning around 1,000 years ago—that may have pushed people to settle further east and move away from increasingly drier conditions in the west.
News: Himalayan flash floods: climate change worsens them, but poor planning makes them deadly
By Conversation Media Group, the on Aug 28, 2025 02:08 pm
On August 5, a cloudburst near the Kheer Ganga river triggered a flash flood that tore through Dharali, a village in the Indian Himalayas. Every monsoon season, the Himalayas see similar tragedies – flash floods by cloudbursts or glacial lake outbursts.
News: Study finds droughts are making the air deadlier in Latin America
By Georgia State University on Aug 28, 2025 02:06 pm
When water is below normal levels in Latin America, it’s not just farmers and consumers who suffer. A new study finds that air pollution spikes, and thousands of people die prematurely as a result.
News: Study of extreme climate effects on critical infrastructure in Amsterdam
By Deltares on Aug 28, 2025 09:28 am
Electricity, telecommunications, accessibility and the water system are particularly important links: outages in these sectors almost automatically generate cascade effects that impact other vital functions.
News: A new governance framework for flood–drought synergies
By Deltares on Aug 28, 2025 09:19 am
Existing governance approaches, often rooted in sector-specific mandates and institutional silos, are insufficient to tackle the complex interconnections within and between floods and droughts.
News: Deadliest in generations: The Texas floods are the latest in a disturbing pattern
By Yale Climate Connections on Aug 28, 2025 09:03 am
Since 2005, the U.S. has experienced its deadliest hurricane in 77 years, deadliest tornado in 64 years, deadliest wildfire in 100 years, and deadliest flash flood in 49 years.
News: England’s most ethnically diverse areas are 15 times more likely to face extreme heat
By Carbon Brief on Aug 27, 2025 04:24 pm
Neighbourhoods in England that are home to the most minority-ethnic people are 15 times more likely to face extreme heat than the least diverse areas, according to Carbon Brief analysis.
News: Droughts don’t just dry up water – they drain livelihoods and weaken local economies
By Conversation Media Group, the on Aug 27, 2025 04:21 pm
As climate change accelerates, droughts are projected to become more frequent and intense, especially in dry regions. This makes it increasingly urgent to understand their complex impact on agriculture, water supplies and regional economies.
News: Climate change and antimicrobial resistance: A combination driving disease spread in Africa
By Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on Aug 27, 2025 04:20 pm
In sub-Saharan Africa alone, antimicrobial resistance was directly responsible for over 250,000 deaths in 2019 and contributed to more than 816,000 additional deaths over the same period.
News: Fallout from the fires
By Eos – AGU on Aug 27, 2025 04:13 pm
In January 2025, wildfires devastated Los Angeles neighborhoods and wildland alike. Scientists are contending with their lasting effects on air, land, and water.
News: Burning urban and wild land alike
By Eos – AGU on Aug 27, 2025 04:10 pm
When more densely populated Altadena and Pacific Palisades burned along with surrounding wildlands, hazards for residents didn’t stop when the fires were contained.
News: Australia faces a home insurance reckoning – and we can learn from California’s bold move
By Conversation Media Group, the on Aug 27, 2025 04:06 pm
California has just taken a novel approach to the insurance problem. There, insurers are now permitted to use forward-looking computer models of climate change and disasters when setting premiums – as long as they expand coverage in higher-risk areas.
News: Tropical volcanic eruptions push rainfall across the equator
By Princeton University on Aug 27, 2025 04:04 pm
Volcanoes that blast gases high into the atmosphere not only change global temperatures but also influence flooding in unusual ways, Princeton researchers have found.
News: WSU study projects increases in lightning, wildfire risk
By Washington State University on Aug 27, 2025 04:04 pm
The Northwest can expect a widespread increase of days with cloud-to-ground lightning in the years to come — along with heightened wildfire risk — according to projections made with a unique machine-learning approach.
News: USF professor leads push for hurricane scale to include storm surge, flood risk
By University of South Florida on Aug 27, 2025 04:02 pm
Wind alone does not account for all hurricane-related fatalities. Storm surge and rainfall do as well. Yet the current warning system – the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale – measures a storm’s strength solely by wind speed.
News: Simpler models can outperform deep learning at climate prediction
By MIT News, Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Aug 27, 2025 04:01 pm
New research shows the natural variability in climate data can cause AI models to struggle at predicting local temperature and rainfall.
News: New Zealand summers set to sizzle: New research predicts more heatwaves coming by 2050s
By University of Waikato on Aug 27, 2025 04:01 pm
New research has revealed New Zealand is on track for a major spike in extreme heat, with heatwaves that currently hit once a decade potentially striking every other summer.
News: Deep-learning model visualizes urban heat stress at the meter scale
By Karlsruhe Institute of Technology on Aug 27, 2025 04:00 pm
A new deep-learning based model developed by the University of Freiburg and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) calculates for the first time how heat stress will develop on each square meter of a city in the future.
News: UN endorses German tool to put coastal resilience on the business agenda
By Hydro International on Aug 26, 2025 03:59 pm
As rising sea levels and shifting marine ecosystems sharpen the urgency of climate adaptation, a new tool developed in Germany has been adopted in the official guidelines of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
News: Atlantic shore towns feel Hurricane Erin’s sting without it ever making landfall
By Inside Climate News on Aug 26, 2025 03:55 pm
The unusually large storm has prompted evacuations and beach closures in coastal communities across the East Coast during an important time for tourism-related businesses.
News: Tokyo releases AI-generated video of Mount Fuji erupting
By Japan Times Ltd., the on Aug 26, 2025 03:18 pm
It is all part of an artificial intelligence-generated video the Tokyo Metropolitan Government released last week to raise awareness of what could happen to the capital if Mount Fuji erupted.
News: In the Arctic, consequences of heat waves linger
By Eos – AGU on Aug 26, 2025 03:10 pm
Kwon et al. suggest that the effects of the 2020 heat wave were still detectable the following year in the form of warmer- and wetter-than-usual soils.
News: How the Western Balkans is tackling flood risk
By United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Aug 26, 2025 03:09 pm
When the rain falls hard in the Western Balkans, it doesn’t respect borders. In the towns along the Drin River Basin – shared by Albania, North Macedonia and Montenegro – floodwaters rush through farmland, swallow roads and leave families stranded.
News: This AI model simulates 1000 years of the current climate in just one day
By University of Washington on Aug 26, 2025 03:06 pm
In a new study published on Aug. 25 in AGU Advances, University of Washington researchers used AI to simulate the Earth’s current climate and interannual variability for up to 1,000 years. The model takes just 12 hours to generate a forecast.
News: Monsoon flooding has killed hundreds in Pakistan – climate change is pushing the rainy season from blessing to looming catastrophe
By Conversation Media Group, the on Aug 26, 2025 03:03 pm
Farmers in South Asia rely on the summer monsoon’s rainfall, but extreme monsoon rains in recent years have been destructive and deadly.
News: Flooding in a changing climate: Why we need systemic action now
By Open Access Government on Aug 26, 2025 03:01 pm
Flooding is a complex phenomenon, with a wide range of causes that go far beyond rising sea levels. In Europe alone, floods can stem from coastal storms, overflowing rivers, heavy snowmelt, or flash floods triggered by intense thunderstorms.
News: Wildfires can raise local death rate by 67%, shows study on 2023 Hawaiʻi fires
By Frontiers in Climate on Aug 26, 2025 02:58 pm
Researchers investigating the fatalities associated with severe wildfires in August 2023 in Lāhainā, Maui, Hawaiʻi, found that 82 more local people died that month than would have been expected — a 67% increase over the usual death rate.