Knowledge Base highlights and editors' picks

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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.

Update

9 May 2023

Early wildfires, heat waves show grim signs of global climate crisis

An early, aggressive wildfire season in Alberta, alarming, summer-like temperatures in parts of the Mediterranean, scorching, road-melting heat to South Asia, and torrential rain causing deadly floods in Congo - all signs of anthropogenic climate change.

The Energy Mix

Research briefs

8 May 2023

UC Irvine, NASA JPL researchers discover a cause of rapid ice melting in Greenland

Researchers uncovered a previously unseen way in which the ice and ocean interact. They said their findings could mean that the climate community has been vastly underestimating the magnitude of future sea level rise caused by polar ice deterioration.

University of California, Irvine

Two women walking through the flooded streets of Lagos, Nigeria.

Update

8 May 2023

Flooding in Nigeria is on the rise – good forecasts, drains and risk maps are urgently needed

Nigeria is one of the most flood-prone countries in west Africa. Many areas experience annual flooding. This happens during heavy rainfall and one of the reasons is poor drainage systems.

Conversation Media Group, the

Sand storm hitting the city of Basra in Iraq, 2022

Update

8 May 2023

Sandstorms are a growing menace, here's how we can minimise their impact

Most sandstorms are natural events, but they are being exacerbated by climate change, drought, land degradation and unsustainable management of land and water resources.

World Economic Forum

Research briefs

5 May 2023

Extreme April heat in Spain, Portugal, Morocco & Algeria almost impossible without climate change

A large area of South Western Europe and Northern Africa experienced extremely high temperatures usually only seen in July and August, at the end of April 2023.

World Weather Attribution

Agriculture worker in a pineapple field under a cloudy sky

Update

8 May 2023

Our tropical fruits are vulnerable to climate change. Can we make them resilient in time?

Plants provide almost every calorie of food we eat. For millennia, farmers have bred grains, fruit and vegetable varieties to get larger harvests and plants better able to tolerate different climates.

Conversation Media Group, the

View from space on Fiji in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean and its coral reefs

Update

8 May 2023

Simplifying climate change information for communities a key Pacific priority

The Pacific Climate Change Centre (PCCC) is working with eight Pacific countries to enhance and integrate knowledge brokerage on climate change into aspects of the work they are doing in their communities.

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme

Woman carrying a basket walking through the sandy desert with her livestock.

Update

5 May 2023

Sand and dust storm research find answers with AI and ancient knowledge

The Middle East and North African region lose about $13 billion a year because of increasing sand and dust storms. By combining learnings from artificial intelligence and 3000-year-old sustainable methods, researchers might find ways to mitigate damages

Lund University

Aerial View of homes under water in Australia's flooding disaster. Also features paddlers surveying damage.

Update

4 May 2023

Beyond avoided losses: capitalizing on the secondary benefits of investments in urban flood protection

Faced with increased climate variability, cities are increasingly considering investments in urban flood protection.

World Bank, the

Aerial shot of the gigantic city of Bogota, Colombia.

Update

4 May 2023

How will climate change affect Latin America? Scientists respond to IPCC report

Mongabay Latam spoke with scientists who contributed to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report about the effects in Latin America, opportunities for mitigation and adaptation and the contributions of Native cultures.

Mongabay