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.

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An illustration of a child carry water through an area affected by drought to their homes in canisters.

Update

16 January 2024

An ancient system that could bring water to dry areas

Some of Africa’s dry areas face serious water shortages due to minimal rainfall. An ancient system of drawing water from aquifers, the “qanat system”, could help.

Conversation Media Group, the

Update

17 January 2024

How rising sea levels will affect our coastal cities and towns

Sea-level rise – along with increasing temperatures – is one of the clearest signals of man-made global warming. Yet exactly how rising water levels affect the coast is often misunderstood.

Conversation Media Group, the

A dock in Grand Cayman as Hurricane Laura passes by, USA (202)

Press release

9 January 2024

Many devastating extremes in 2023 were amplified by global warming

XAIDA, a consortium of leading European climate institutes, held an online media briefing on January 9 from 14.00-15.00 CET to discuss key findings on weather extremes in 2023.

Xaida (X)

Update

16 January 2024

Ten extreme climate events of 2023

The year 2023 has also broken many heat records. Here Eco-Business looks back at 2023 and lists the year’s ten extreme weather events.

Climate Adaptation Platform

Update

15 January 2024

Four ways to adapt roads in Central Asia to climate change

A recently launched ADB manual discusses how governments in the region can strengthen existing infrastructure and ensure a safe, climate-resilient road network. Here are four ways to make roads in Central Asia more climate resilient.

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Big crack in a road following an earthquake.

Research briefs

15 January 2024

Rocking our world: Understanding human-induced earthquakes

Geophysicists from Freie Universität Berlin among the researchers investigating human-induced earthquakes.

Freie Universität Berlin

Journey for water in Shyamnagar Union Bangladesh

Update

11 January 2024

Rising tides, ruined fields show how Bangladesh’s farmers grapple with climate change

Farmers and fishers in Bangladesh’s coastal belt report losses as climate-induced disasters and coastline changes threaten livelihoods.

The Third Pole

Panoramic view of Hoover Dam and Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge between Arizona and Nevada over Colorado River, USA

Update

14 January 2024

Dam-failure flood risk in California: How to manage low-probability hazards

This analysis quantifies dam-failure risk in California and explores how society can manage such low-probability, high-impact hazards.

California WaterBlog

Update

15 January 2024

Two years on, the Tonga tsunami shows effective risk communication saves lives

The 15 January 2022 tsunami in Tonga demonstrates how a high level of risk awareness among the population, combined with effective early warning systems, saves lives.

United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)