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.

Research briefs

27 October 2022

Plant processes may be key to predicting drought development, according to Stanford researchers

Based on new analyses of satellite data, scientists have found that hydrologic conditions that increase flash drought risk occur more often than current models predict. Incorporating how plants change soil structures can improve Earth system models.

Stanford University

Update

27 October 2022

Droughts don’t need to result in famine: Ethiopia and Somalia show what makes the difference

The Horn of Africa is facing its worst drought in 40 years. Scientists suspect that a multi-year La Niña cycle has been amplified by climate change to prolong dry and hot conditions.

Conversation Media Group, the

Women eating together in Senegal in the traditional manner.

Research briefs

24 October 2022

Lower than normal rainfall linked with a higher chance of food insecurity

New research led by Penn State found that a lack of rainfall was associated with the highest risk of food insecurity in Tanzania.

Pennsylvania State University

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

Update

26 October 2022

Analysis: Africa’s unreported extreme weather in 2022 and climate change

From deadly floods in Nigeria to devastating drought in Somalia, Africa has faced a run of severe – and sometimes unprecedented – extreme weather events since the start of 2022.

Carbon Brief

Update

26 October 2022

Beyond a state of sandbagging: What can we learn from all the floods, here and overseas?

“We are […] sandbagging the state”, New South Wales Emergency Services Minister Steph Cooke declared on Saturday. And so we endure the third La Niña season with this waiting-for-the-next-disaster attitude.

Conversation Media Group, the

Documents and publications

26 October 2022

ASEAN Framework on anticipatory action in disaster management

This framework provides guidance for defining and contextualising anticipatory action at the regional level with some considerations for its implementation by Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

A photo of two laughing children wearing traditional Mongolian dress in a field with cashmere goats

Update

25 October 2022

559 million children currently exposed to high heatwave frequency, rising to all 2.02 billion children globally by 2050

559 million children are currently exposed to high heatwave frequency, according to new research from UNICEF. Further 624 million children are exposed to one of three other high heat measures - high heatwave duration, severity or extreme high temperatures

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Documents and publications

26 October 2022

The 2022 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: health at the mercy of fossil fuels

This year’s report launches as countries and health systems grapple with the health, social and economic implications of climate change, which now compound the impacts of the the global energy crisis, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Research briefs

24 October 2022

Growing plants on buildings can reduce heat and produce healthy food in African cities

Persistently high temperatures and related heat stress are a big problem for people living in cities, especially in slums and informal settlements. It’s a problem that is expected to continue.

Conversation Media Group, the

Research briefs

29 September 2022

Arctic sea ice loss leads to more frequent strong El Niño events

Over the last 40 years, a rapid shrinking of Arctic sea ice has been one of the most significant indicators of climate change. The amount of sea ice that survives the Arctic summer has declined 13 percent per decade since the late 1970s.

University at Albany