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.

Earth model with a thermometer in front.

Research briefs

10 January 2023

New tech to monitor climate change

Weather extremes have become more frequent and intensive since the 1950s, and international hydrology experts are using new technology to map land areas subject to hotter, dryer conditions under climate change.

Flinders University

Documents and publications

11 January 2023

Anticipatory action to manage climate risks: Lessons from the Red Cross Red Crescent in Southern Africa, Bangladesh, and beyond

This article identifies common benefits and challenges associated with anticipatory action (AA) programmes, finding that AA has built local Red Cross Red Crescent capacity, leading to more proactive operations and expedited humanitarian response.

Areal view of some islands in the Pacific

Update

9 January 2023

Why Pacific Islanders are staying put even as rising seas flood their homes and crops

Climate change is forcing people around the world to abandon their homes. In the Pacific Islands, rising sea levels are leaving communities facing tough decisions about relocation. Some are choosing to stay in high-risk areas.

Conversation Media Group, the

Adults and children walking through flooded streets in Pakistan

Update

9 January 2023

Co-Chairs Summary International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan

Co-hosted by the Government of Pakistan and the United Nations, the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan took place on 9 January 2023, in Geneva, in the backdrop of the devastating floods in 2022.

United Nations - Headquarters

Damaged bridge after the floods in the Ahr valley in Germany in 2021.

Update

9 January 2023

Latin America, Caribbean achieves capability in using nuclear techniques to respond to disasters

With climate change exacerbating the impact of disaster vulnerabilities, the LAC region urgently needed capacity to assess the safety of built structures following disasters. With the IAEA’s help, the region has achieved self-reliance in these capacities.

International Atomic Energy Agency

Research briefs

9 January 2023

Researchers propose a more effective method to predict floods

Researchers propose a new model for predicting floods, that is a type of nonstationary flood frequency analysis. Nonstationary models take into account variations of factors influencing flood frequency.

Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Update

10 January 2023

Climate change and La Niña driving losses: the disaster figures for 2022

With overall losses of around US$ 270bn (previous year US$ 320bn) and insured losses of roughly US$ 120bn (previous year US$ 120bn), 2022 joins the recent run of years with high losses.

Münchener Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft (Munich Re)

Waste laying on the streets in Nigeria. Yellow tricycles pass the waste along the road.

Update

6 January 2023

Poor waste management chokes DR Congo’s capital, increases risk of flooding

Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is paying a heavy price for poor waste management. Every raindrop that falls on the city brings tears. Floods are caused by the waste sown with joy and gladness by Kinshasa residents.

Disaster Risk Reduction Network of African Journalists

An old packhorse bridge strides a drought-stricken river in West Yorkshire, England

Update

6 January 2023

How California could save up its rain to ease future droughts — instead of watching epic atmospheric river rainfall drain into the Pacific

Why can’t more rainwater be collected and stored for the long, dry spring and summer when it’s needed?

Conversation Media Group, the

A poor boy collecting garbage waste from a landfill site in the outskirts of Delhi. Hundreds of children work at these sites to earn their livelihood.

Research briefs

6 January 2023

Compound extreme heat and drought will hit 90% of world population – Oxford study

More than 90% of the world’s population is projected to face increased risks from the compound impacts of extreme heat and drought, potentially widening social inequalities as well as undermining the natural world’s ability to reduce CO2 emissions

Oxford University