In the 07/22/2025 edition:
Disaster risk reduction is a top global priority as extreme weather events, flash floods, and rising urban heat demand urgent, localized solutions.
DRR Community Voices: Invisible heat: Connecting lives, cities and the urgency to act
By Martyn Clark on Jul 21, 2025 04:33 pm
Cities need neighbourhood-level intelligence, not global averages. They need to know where heat will hit hardest, who is most at risk and what to do about it.
News: Climate change hazards, risks and vulnerabilities assessment in schools in Pakistan: piloting a localised participatory assessment.
By Sightsavers on Jul 21, 2025 03:41 pm
The Pakistan School Safety Framework offers policy guidance, sets standards for the implementation of Comprehensive School Safety at all levels and calls for the establishment of school-level disaster management committees.
News: This is the summer of flooding across the US, and scientists know why
By Cable News Network on Jul 21, 2025 03:21 pm
This summer, in particular, has been defined by a tragic surge in deadly flash floods across the United States, underscoring the escalating volatility of our warming world.
News: From planning to progress—States take action to become more disaster resilient
By The Pew Charitable Trusts on Jul 21, 2025 01:18 pm
Programs from Maine to Texas build momentum through measurable success.
News: Seismic study reveals hidden megathrust earthquake risk off British Columbia
By Columbia Climate School on Jul 21, 2025 01:11 pm
A study published in Science Advances reveals the first detailed images of a newly developing subduction zone off the coast of British Columbia’s Haida Gwaii archipelago.
News: What makes debris flows dangerous
By ETH Zurich on Jul 21, 2025 01:03 pm
Time and again debris flows cause death and destruction. A research team has measured these flows of water, earth and debris with high precision.
News: 16 times extreme weather drove higher food prices since 2022
By Carbon Brief on Jul 21, 2025 12:48 pm
UK potatoes, South Korean cabbage and west African cocoa are just some of the foods that became markedly more expensive after extreme weather events in recent years, according to new research.
News: Jamaica: How investments in disaster resilience helped protect communities
By World Bank, the on Jul 21, 2025 12:33 pm
For the residents of Port Royal Street in Kingston, past hurricanes turned a critical transportation route into a hazard zone. Now, as part of the project, a newly reinforced seawall was constructed along Port Royal Street to counteract coastal erosion.
News: Cities are heating up. Better infrastructure can cool them down
By World Resources Institute on Jul 21, 2025 12:21 pm
Urban infrastructure can be one of the most powerful tools to keep people cool, without relying on energy-hungry air conditioning. The key is focusing on “surface infrastructure” — the places where the physical city and the atmosphere interact.
News: Study uncovers predictors of individuals’ preparedness for disasters and trust in disaster assistance
By Texas A&M University System on Jul 21, 2025 11:33 am
Adults 55 years and older have more trust in evacuation orders issued by the government than younger adults. School of Public Health research could inform new strategies to increase preparedness nationwide.
News: Strengthening early warnings and anticipatory action through the use of digital technology
By United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Jul 21, 2025 11:22 am
In Malawi, UNICEF, in partnership with the Malawi Government and the Malawi University of Science and Technology, launched the African Drone and Data Academy (ADDA) in 2020 to address severe cyclones, floods and droughts caused by climate change.
News: Expanding shock-responsive and adaptive social protection programs to build resilience within vulnerable populations
By International Labour Organization on Jul 21, 2025 11:14 am
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Mongolia faced increased household poverty, worsened by school closures and income loss. Vulnerable households struggled to meet the food demands of children staying home.
DRR Community Voices: When disasters disrupt democracy: The impact of extreme weather on the 2024 super-cycle year of elections
By Erik Asplund on Jul 18, 2025 03:20 pm
Disasters and extreme weather events disrupted 20 elections at different levels in 15 countries in 2024. These included meteorological, hydrological, climatological, and geophysical disasters that damaged or destroyed critical infrastructure.
News: Apply: Youth infographic contest on nuclear emergency preparedness and response
By International Atomic Energy Agency on Jul 18, 2025 02:43 pm
The IAEA has launched an infographic design contest for young professionals aged 18 to 35 to raise awareness about emergency preparedness and response in nuclear and radiological contexts.
News: Flood and vulnerability map validation efforts in Lao PDR
By Asian Disaster Preparedness Center on Jul 18, 2025 02:23 pm
This project aims to enhance disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation capacities in Lao PDR by providing operational, high-resolution maps of flood susceptibility and climate vulnerability.
News: Clear-cutting linked to 18-fold rise in extreme floods, UBC study finds
By University of British Columbia on Jul 18, 2025 02:02 pm
New research finds long-term impacts on flood size and frequency decades after trees are removed
News: Making sense of the synergies: how anticipatory action connects to other approaches and sectors
By Anticipation Hub on Jul 18, 2025 01:51 pm
Anticipatory action does not happen in isolation; it is interwoven with other humanitarian approaches, as well as the climate and development sectors. In this month’s blog, we asked some of our partners to explain how these synergies play out in practic
News: Pacific Prepared Podcast: Evacuation plans are crucial in Pacific disaster preparedness, and not having them can create problems even before an event
By Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Jul 18, 2025 01:12 pm
This podcast episode puts the spotlight on evacuations; in Samoa, for instance, the audience can hear how not having an evacuation plan can have severe consequences on mental health.
News: Smarter skies: How Tanzanian innovators are using AI for climate action
By Climate-KIC, European Institute of Innovation and Technology on Jul 18, 2025 01:07 pm
To understand how AI can play a role in bridging critical data gaps and empowering climate resilience in Tanzania, Climate-KIC spoke with farmers, AI innovators, and community leaders involved in our Adaptation Innovation Cluster.
News: IDF Insurance team delivers tripartite programme parametric flood insurance solution for Lagos State Government
By Insurance Development Forum on Jul 18, 2025 12:58 pm
Key milestone achieved in the Tripartite Programme’s sub-sovereign risk transfer project, advancing climate resilience for vulnerable communities and building future-ready nations.
News: Growing exposure and uncertain rainfall trends highlight the critical need for climate resilience in Colombia and Venezuela
By World Weather Attribution on Jul 18, 2025 12:47 pm
In late June 2025, several days of heavy rainfall swept across Colombia and Venezuela, causing widespread flooding, overflowing rivers, and numerous landslides.
News: Celeste Saulo meets President of Kenya to champion Early Warnings for All
By World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Jul 18, 2025 12:37 pm
A WMO delegation led by Secretary-General Celeste Saulo met with H.E. Dr. William Ruto, for high -level bilateral discussions on strengthening meteorological and climate services and championing the Early Warnings for All initiative.
News: Rising to the challenge: boosting adaptation and resilience for development
By World Bank, the on Jul 18, 2025 12:28 pm
World Bank analysis shows that a 10% increase in income could reduce the global population at high risk from climate hazards by almost 100 million people.
News: Rising seas threaten to swallow one of NZ’s oldest settlement sites – new research
By Conversation Media Group, the on Jul 18, 2025 12:16 pm
One of Aotearoa New Zealand’s oldest settlement sites is at risk of being washed away by rising seas, according to research.
News: Growing water risks threaten world’s most cherished heritage sites
By World Resources Institute on Jul 18, 2025 12:16 pm
Water is impacting some of the Earth’s most cherished places: The Taj Mahal, for example, faces water scarcity that is increasing pollution and depleting groundwater, both of which are damaging the mausoleum.
News: Ireland: National climate change risk assessment
By Climate Ireland on Jul 18, 2025 09:59 am
The National Climate Change Risk Assessment (NCCRA) identifies 115 risks and five potential opportunities due to projected changes in climate conditions. There are a total of 43 significant risks identified for Ireland.
News: Planting resilience: Nature-based solutions in Burundi
By Global Center on Adaptation on Jul 17, 2025 05:08 pm
This project will invest in climate-resilient infrastructure to reduce flooding, including drainage systems, embankments, culverts, and flood retention basins. But gray infrastructure alone cannot solve the problem.
News: Why use insurance for anticipatory action – and why now?
By Anticipation Hub on Jul 17, 2025 04:56 pm
Traditionally designed to cover post-disaster losses, insurance – when structured around forecast-based triggers – has the potential to release rapid, pre-arranged funding based on early warning systems.
News: Water savings for a water-resilient Europe
By European Environment Agency on Jul 17, 2025 04:52 pm
This briefing explores potential water savings that could be achieved in key European economic sectors to improve water efficiency and address growing uncertainties related to water availability.
News: River Rhine 4.2 degrees warmer at end of century due to climate change
By Deltares on Jul 17, 2025 04:50 pm
In spring 2025, the water level of the Rhine was significantly below the long-term average. ‘Such conditions are a foretaste of what we can expect more frequently for the Rhine in spring and summer in the future
News: AI, inclusion and action – accelerating support to countries to enhance multi-hazard early warning systems
By World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Jul 17, 2025 04:43 pm
A key message that clearly emerged from the discussion is that innovation occurs where local needs are acknowledged. These bottom-up innovations are key to bridging global ambition with local impact.
News: Lessons learned from the September 2024 Floods in the Czech Republic
By World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Jul 17, 2025 04:36 pm
The 2024 floods in the Czech Republic highlighted the role of high-resolution forecasting, dynamic hydrological modeling , and multi-agency coordination
News: International day of combating sand and dust storms丨China’s practice and plan shared to the globe
By China Meteorological Administration on Jul 17, 2025 04:28 pm
In 2025, CMA upgraded its independently developed sand and dust storm numerical weather prediction (NWP) system (hereinafter referred to as the System) to CMA-CW, achieving multiple technological breakthroughs.
News: New study shows hurricane hunter flights significantly increase forecast accuracy
By University at Albany on Jul 17, 2025 04:28 pm
Hurricane Hunter missions significantly increase the accuracy of hurricane forecasts, according to a new study published in Weather and Forecasting by researchers at the University at Albany.
News: With increase in extreme weather, removing outdated dams and barriers benefits communities
By American Rivers on Jul 17, 2025 04:01 pm
A just-released research paper from Utah State University, “Barrier Removal is a Strategy for Climate Resilience,” highlights how removing outdated or unsafe dams and barriers can make communities safer and stronger in the face of extreme weather.
News: From risk to resilience: building an impactful strategy for climate adaptation
By Zurich Insurance Group Limited on Jul 17, 2025 01:53 pm
As physical climate risks intensify, businesses are accelerating investments in climate adaption strategies.
News: How Zimbabwean smallholders are adapting to drought
By Dialogue Earth on Jul 17, 2025 01:15 pm
Zimbabwe has experienced frequent droughts since 2000. In response, Foundation for Farming, a Zimbabwean non-profit, worked to introduce the Pfumvudza method along with the country’s Department of Agricultural Technical and Extension Services (Agritex).
News: U.S. billion-dollar disasters: 1980-2024
By Climate Central on Jul 17, 2025 12:43 pm
From 1980 through 2024, the U.S. suffered 403 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters that claimed nearly 17,000 lives and resulted in more than $2.9 trillion in direct costs.
News: Why flash flood warnings will continue to go unheeded
By Grist Magazine on Jul 17, 2025 12:36 pm
Flash floods are among the deadliest natural disasters and the most difficult to accurately predict. Less than 1 percent of waterways across the United States have stream gauges that monitor rising water in real time.
News: A disaster expert explains why the Texas floods were so devastating
By Columbia Climate School on Jul 17, 2025 12:25 pm
In the following discussion, Kruczkiewicz talks about why the Texas floods were so devastating, how warning systems need to consider very different populations and how we might integrate both technology and local knowledge.
News: 10 years ago, a flood devastated this Texas town. The road to recovery has been long
By NPR on Jul 17, 2025 12:19 pm
On Memorial Day weekend in 2015, the Blanco River suddenly rose more than 40 feet in the middle of the night, swelling to about a quarter of a mile wide in some places and carrying away nearly everything in its path.
News: Trump’s plan to dismantle FEMA hits stumbling block after Texas floods
By El País on Jul 17, 2025 12:14 pm
The Trump administration has shifted from criticizing the federal emergency management agency to proposing its overhaul, while others argue that previous budget cuts contributed to the tragedy.
News: Food systems: Enhancing resilience and food security among vulnerable populations through risk-informed, community-driven, integrated and sustainable approaches
By World Food Programme on Jul 17, 2025 09:57 am
Niger’s integrated resilience programme and related UN initiatives use risk-informed, community-driven actions—land rehab, zaï pits, forecast-based funding, dashboards & microfinance—cut lean-season aid 80 %, lift incomes and advance SDG food secur
News: New app alerts users to rising rivers and streams
By Seven Days on Jul 16, 2025 03:14 pm
RiverAware, developed after Tropical Storm Irene, uses real-time data from a national network of gauges so people know when it’s time to seek higher ground.
News: Research shows aspen forests slow wildfire spread
By Colorado State University on Jul 16, 2025 03:01 pm
A new study from Colorado State University, Western Colorado University and the U.S. Forest Service found evidence that stands of aspen trees could resist wildfires by slowing a fire’s advance or changing its course.
News: Solar storms that cause auroras may be messing with your heart
By Earth.com on Jul 16, 2025 02:13 pm
The study makes a striking correlation between people’s HRV and energetic environmental phenomena such as the electromagnetic energy from the sun
News: Stories of Impact: UNDRR PreventionWeb
By Climate Policy Radar on Jul 16, 2025 01:50 pm
Today, 15th July, we announce a new data partnership with PreventionWeb’s, run and back by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). We sat down with PreventionWeb’s editor, Alex Tsakiridis, to find out more about PreventionWeb.
News: What Canada could learn from the tragic consequences of the Texas flash flood
By Conversation Media Group, the on Jul 16, 2025 01:48 pm
The critical challenge for communicating flash floods is ensuring that early warnings reach vulnerable populations. Unlike slow-onset river floods, flash floods leave very limited time for reaction. This makes accurate short-term forecasting essential.
News: Many Texas communities are dangerously unprepared for floods − lack of funding plays a big role
By Conversation Media Group, the on Jul 16, 2025 01:38 pm
Research shows when communities integrate land use planning, hazard mitigation, emergency response and economic development plans, they can ensure that new development avoids high-risk areas and that existing vulnerable areas are targeted for improvement.
News: How will climate change shape land markets and farm sizes in the developing world?
By VoxDev/ CEPR on Jul 16, 2025 12:36 pm
Evidence from Colombia shows that weather shocks induce a fragmentation of the farm-size distribution and exacerbate the prevalence of small farms in an economy, presenting how climate change might lower agricultural productivity in developing countries.
News: So what do the world’s coastlines look like in 2025?
By University of Plymouth on Jul 15, 2025 09:14 pm
Scientists revisit turn-of-the-century forecasts about threats that would face the world’s shorelines.
News: Reading between the lines: Leveraging news data for AI-powered food insecurity forecasts
By VoxDev/ CEPR on Jul 15, 2025 08:24 pm
A new AI-driven early warning system uses news data to predict food crises up to 12 months in advance–enabling faster, proactive responses.
News: Flash Flood in Texas: an unexpected surge
By CIMA Foundation – Centro Internazionale in Monitoraggio Ambientale on Jul 15, 2025 04:34 pm
On July 4, the Texas Hill Country region received in a few hours between 130 and 280 mm of rainfall. The rain fell on soils made poorly permeable by a recent dry spell, triggering a sudden rise in the Guadalupe River of over 8 meters in just 45 minutes.
News: Study finds cities with proactive, risk-tolerant governing styles most likely to have ambitious climate strategies
By University of Kansas (KU) on Jul 15, 2025 04:16 pm
A study finds that cities with proactive, learning-oriented and risk-tolerant governance styles are significantly more likely to implement ambitious climate resilience strategies.
News: New study reveals widespread and overlooked flooding across NC
By University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Jul 15, 2025 04:06 pm
A study from UNC-Chapel Hill reveals that repetitive flooding in North Carolina is far more common and more widespread than previously recognized, with over 20,000 buildings flooding multiple times between 1996 and 2020.
News: Europe has a heating strategy—now it needs one for cooling
By Atlantic Council on Jul 15, 2025 03:58 pm
For decades, European policymakers have defined energy security primarily as maintaining heat during winter. But a new threat is emerging.
News: 5 key facts about wildfires and clean air policies
By Stanford University on Jul 15, 2025 03:52 pm
How can air quality policies adapt to the new world of pollution trends shaped by wildfire smoke? Learn about the growing problem of air polluted by wildfire smoke, and what the data show about policies that can make a difference.
News: Philippine scientists’ warning vs. ‘indirect’ effect of tropical cyclones during the monsoon season
By Ateneo de Manila University on Jul 15, 2025 03:44 pm
Tropical cyclones hundreds of kilometers away from the Philippines are often more responsible for heavy rainfall than those that hit the country directly during the annual “Habagat” or southwest monsoon season from July to September, according to research
News: A warning from the future: the risk if NZ gets climate adaptation policy wrong today
By Conversation Media Group, the on Jul 15, 2025 03:36 pm
Although the story is fictitious, it describes a plausible future based on how New Zealand’s draft climate adaptation framework could play out. It reflects the likely consequences of policy decisions that focus narrowly on financial exposure.
News: Nature doesn’t cause disasters, we do
By The Quint on Jul 15, 2025 03:31 pm
Natural hazards are inevitable, but disasters are preventable with better planning.