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.

An Indian family standing outside their house after cyclone Fani devastated the neighborhood.

Research briefs

9 May 2022

Communities in India flooded by ‘Amphan-scale cyclones’ could triple by 2100

Super cyclone Amphan” hit the Bay of Bengal in May 2020, exposing hundreds of thousands of people to flooding.

Carbon Brief

A construction working standing in a room of a house that is being renovated.

Update

9 May 2022

New tool from UCF-led team shows homeowners and renters the true cost of disasters

The tool can provide disaster readiness reports for 13.3 million addresses in 196 counties along the Gulf of Mexico — including all of Florida, and parts of Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas.

University of Central Florida

Update

6 May 2022

Climate action plans tailored to Ιndian cities

Many Indian cities are developing climate action plans to adapt to increasing risks they face because of climate change (such as flooding and heat waves) and to mitigate greenhouse emissions associated with extensive urbanization.

American Geophysical Union

An African man biking through flooded streets.

Update

9 May 2022

How policy can address frequent flooding in African coastal cities

Climate change has exacerbated the risk of flooding in African coastal cities. For many countries, the cost of dealing with flood damage is a significant share of national GDP, which restrains investment into other development goals.

London School of Economics and Political Science, the

An old wooden boar lying on the ground of a dry lake.

Update

8 May 2022

The window of opportunity to address increasing drought and expanding drylands is vanishing

Chile, Argentina and the American West are in the midst of a decade-long, megadrought — the driest conditions those regions have seen in a century. And many areas in Western Canada and the US are experiencing extreme drought — a once in 20-year event.

Conversation Media Group, the

A satellite image of a cyclone shot from space.

Research briefs

9 May 2022

Research shows future super cyclones would expose vastly greater numbers of people in most vulnerable parts of the world to extreme flooding

A new study has revealed super cyclones, the most intense form of tropical storm, are likely to have a much more devastating impact on people in South Asia in future years.

University of Bristol

Research briefs

5 May 2022

Water scarcity predicted to worsen in more than 80% of croplands globally this century

Agricultural water scarcity is expected to increase in more than 80% of the world’s croplands by 2050, according to a new study. Examining water requirements, it predicts whether the water available will meet the needs under climate change.

American Geophysical Union

Flooded nature reserve, Wümmewiesen, Germany

Research briefs

4 May 2022

Flood risk reduction with multiple benefits: more space for the river

Ecological flood control is effective, technically possible and economically efficient; however the approach is often not used because of the high administrative and legal hurdles.

Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V.

Update

5 May 2022

After a record-breaking fire year, experts call for a shift in wildfire strategy

In 2020 California experienced record-breaking wildfires. A new report recommends that fire managers shift their emphasis from reducing burned area to reducing fire severity and fire damage, and restoring key ecosystem functions after fires.

University of California, Davis

Cooling down during a heat wave, April 2017 in Calcutta, India.

Update

6 May 2022

A climate scientist on India and Pakistan’s horror heatwave, and the surprising consequences of better air quality

As the planet continues to warm, extreme heat will become more commonplace. This is particularly dire for India and Pakistan, as steps to improve air quality will actually increase temperatures during heatwaves.

Conversation Media Group, the