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.

Bangkok residents wade floods after heavy rains left the city inundated

Update

23 October 2023

Op-ed: Crisis resilient urban futures: The future of Asian and Pacific cities 2023

The most vulnerable communities often are those most affected. This is clear in our cities where climate-related disasters disproportionately impact the poor, and women and children are unable to access essential urban services.

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP)

United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) - Headquarters

Weeks of heavy monsoon rains flooded farmland and hundreds of villages along the Sutlej River in Pakistan and India in August 2023.

Update

19 October 2023

Sutlej River floods in Pakistan worsened by catalogue of issues

The devastating recent floods in Pakistan’s Punjab province were partially exacerbated by climate change, but local experts tell a broader story implicating the Indus Waters Treaty and flood plain encroachments.

The Third Pole

The catastrophic debris flow destroyed a road between national parks Manyara and Ngorongoro on November 28, 2011, in Tanzania

Update

20 October 2023

Flood warnings for Africa advance with EU expertise

Satellites and on-the-ground sensors are helping Kenya, Ghana and Zambia tackle inundation risks and farmers cope with drought.

European Commission

Destructed coast by Hurricane Ian which hit the USA in September 2022.

Research briefs

19 October 2023

Atlantic hurricanes now twice as likely to strengthen from weak to major intensity in 24 hours, researchers suggest

Atlantic hurricanes may now be more than twice as likely to strengthen from a weak Category 1 hurricane to a major Category 3 or stronger hurricane in a 24-hour period than they were between 1970 and 1990

Nature Publishing Group

PhysOrg, Omicron Technology Ltd

Research briefs

19 October 2023

Urgent action needed to address climate change threats to coastal areas

A new study finds that global coastal adaptations are ‘incremental in scale’, short-sighted and inadequate to address the root causes of vulnerability to climate change. Decisive action is needed to identify and tackle global priorities across countries.

University of East Anglia

Damaged telecommunication infrastructure caused by hurricane in Ukraine (2016)

Update

19 October 2023

Extreme weather could burn many investment portfolios by mid-century

Infrastructure investments have long lifetimes and are designed to operate under specific conditions. However, climate change is causing more extreme weather events. These risks lead to direct losses, higher maintenance costs, and lower asset values.

Conversation Media Group, the

Cover and source: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Documents and publications

19 October 2023

Dimensions of gender and human mobility in the context of climate change (HMCCC)

This systematic review takes a look into HMCCC experiences by presenting the findings of existing publications on gender from recent literature as well as interviews from the Global Programme Human Mobility in the Context of Climate Change.

Hurricane Florence seen from Space in September 2018

Update

18 October 2023

How communal loans are helping Antigua and Barbuda brace for hurricanes

The Antigua and Barbuda Department of Environment has been working with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to roll out a revolving loans programme, which allows residents to obtain low-interest loans for hurricane-proofing their homes.

United Nations Environment Programme