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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.

Flooded street and house in Eastern South Africa
Update

The environmental dimensions of Libya’s flood disaster

Researchers examine the main environmental short and long-term considerations, both to help inform the humanitarian response and later recovery in Libya. They also reflect on how years of conflict and insecurity in Libya contributed to the disaster.
Conflict and Environment Observatory (CEOBS)
A farmer overlooking his dried up field.
Research briefs

Study reveals long-distance levers behind U.S. Southwest drought—and a dry future

Regarding the U.S. Southwest drought, a new study reveals that in the best-case scenario, conditions could ease a bit in coming years, but with climate change, will never return to their pre-2000 state.
Columbia Climate School
Storm surge affecting a coastal city
Update

What happens when an earthquake hits a building already damaged by coastal flooding?

Salt corrodes buildings. Earthquakes shake them. What happens when an earthquake hits a building already damaged by saltwater?
University at Buffalo
Animal skeleton in the desert
Research briefs

New research reveals extreme heat likely to wipe out humans and mammals in the distant future

A new study shows unprecedented heat is likely to lead to the next mass extinction since the dinosaurs died out, eliminating nearly all mammals in some 250 million years time.
University of Bristol
Wildfire in Stanislaus National Forest, California, 2013
Research briefs

UC Irvine scientists reveal what fuels wildfires in Sierra Nevada Mountains

A study by UC Irvine researchers has investigated wildfire fuels in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains, showing which kinds of plant debris contribute most to fires. The work could help improve California’s wildfire management efforts.
University of California, Irvine
An agronomist using a tablet computer collecting data with meteorological instrument to measure the wind speed, temperature and humidity and solar cell system in grape agricultural field.
Research briefs

Understanding compound events in a changing climate

The COST Action Understanding and modeling compound climate and weather events (DAMOCLES) has raised awareness and created a framework that centers the importance of compound events and their impacts across different scientific fields.
European Cooperation in Science and Technology
Bangkok residents navigate heavy floods by boat
Update

Lessons for ecosystem-based adaptation along Thailand’s changing rivers

An assessment of water-related climate change adaptation initiatives in Thailand has found that living weirs and re-establishing floodplains can reduce the vulnerability of communities and ecosystems, alongside a range of other benefits.
United Nations Environment Programme
Satellite view of the wildfires in a field
Update

The threat of wildfires is rising. So are new artificial intelligence solutions to fight them

Firefighters, utilities and governments are scrambling to get ahead of the flames by tapping into the latest AI technology—which has stirred both fear and excitement for its potential to transform life.
PhysOrg, Omicron Technology Ltd
Rain clouds at the coastline
Research briefs

Long-lasting La Niña events more common over past century

Multiyear La Niña events have become more common over the last 100 years, according to a new study led by University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa atmospheric scientist Bin Wang.
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
A teacher and schoolchildren plant seedlings in Kediri, Indonesia
Update

G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration commits resilience in a riskier planet

The unanimously adopted New Delhi Leaders’ covered a variety of pressing global challenges, including climate change, economic stability, digital economy, public health and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP)
illustration
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