1. Home
  2. Knowledge Base

Knowledge Base highlights and editors' picks

Top stories and editors' picks from the most recent additions. Explore the whole Knowledge Base.

Every week the PreventionWeb team of editors selects the latest news and research, reports and publications on disaster risk reduction – here is their selection of the latest must-read content.

sunset at a drought stricken and arid landscape with shrubs
Research briefs

When extreme drought becomes commonplace

As drought becomes a more regular occurrence, a new study looks at the U.S. Drought Monitor, the nation’s preeminent drought classifier, to see how it has reflected climate change since 2000.
Eos - AGU
A cooling center sign in Vancouver, Canada amidst a heatwave
Update

‘Silent killer’: Canadian cities scramble to prevent heat-related deaths

Proactive measures to protect people well before a heat wave are important because illness and death from heat are largely preventable. Caroline Metz is leading the development of a new heat resilience tool to help municipalities address their heat risk.
The Energy Mix
A swollen river in Asayita, Ethiopia due to heavy rainfall
Update

Widespread parts of Asia and Africa reel under extreme weather

Extreme rainfall and floods have claimed many lives and caused economic and agricultural losses in East Africa and parts of the Arabian peninsular. Intense heat has gripped large parts of Asia, disrupting daily life and posing a serious health threat.
World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
Landslide-affected road
Research briefs

Researchers introduce new way to study, help prevent landslides

By introducing a new paradigm for studying landslide shapes and failure types, a global team of researchers has provided help for those who work to predict landslides and risk evaluations.
Rochester Institute of Technology
aerial view of Dubai
Update

The weather experiment that really flooded Dubai

A reckless experiment in Earth’s atmosphere caused a desert metropolis to flood. That was the story last week when more than a year’s worth of rain fell in a day on the Arabian Peninsula, one of the world’s driest regions.
Conversation Media Group, the
School girls walking in a road in Bangladesh
Update

Bangladesh: extreme heat closes all schools and forces 33 million children out of classrooms

Extreme heat has forced the closure of all schools in Bangladesh this week, impacting 33 million children, as temperatures soared to 42°C (108 F), 16 degrees more than the annual average.
Save the Children International
Nepal earthquake 2015 damaged buildings
Update

Quakes do not kill people, bad buildings do

Across the Asia Pacific, region infrastructure and homes are rising up in seismically sensitive areas with governments seemingly reluctant to enforce safety codes for fear of slowing down development activity.
Science and Development Network
Danger - coastal ersion
Research briefs

How saving island life can sink the island

Researchers in North Carolina have created a coastal evolution model to analyze how coastal management activities on barrier islands, meant to adapt to sea-level rise, interact with natural processes that would otherwise keep barrier islands above water.
Duke University
Cover
Documents and publications

Scaling up anticipatory actions for food security: Anticipatory action year in focus 2023

This report provides an overview of WFP's progress in scaling up its Anticipatory Action (AA) operations, from covering 3.2 million people in 28 countries in 2022 to 4.1 million people in 36 countries in 2023.
Iceberg with arch
Research briefs

West Antarctica’s ice sheet was smaller thousands of years ago – here’s why this matters today

A key uncertainty in how much and how fast the seas will rise lies in whether currently “stable” parts of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet can become “unstable”. One such region is West Antarctica’s Siple Coast.
Conversation Media Group, the
Bookshelves in a library.
The DRR Knowledge Base
Explore the latest on disaster risk and resilience from around the world: news, research, policies and publications.

Subscribe to alerts

Get updates in your inbox

Contribute your content

The Knowledge Base is a collaborative effort of the DRR community, updated and reviewed daily by PreventionWeb editors.

Upload your content for review

Is this page useful?

Yes No Report an issue on this page

Thank you. If you have 2 minutes, we would benefit from additional feedback (link opens in a new window).