Climate-related Disasters Research Articles

The Impact of Long-Term Disruptions on Academic Success in Higher Education and Best Practices to Help Students Overcome Them

Disruptions in the delivery of academic content in higher education had been minimal as recently as 2020. Learning obstacles have not only become more frequent but also exhibit increased duration due to climate related natural disasters, and most recently, global health pandemics. The primary investigators explore the negative impacts these events have had on students’ academic success, and the best practices implemented by colleges and universities to help students overcome these issues, and persist in attaining personal and academic goals. Analysis will examine institutional-based efforts for academic student support, guidance, and motivation together with the students’ resiliency efforts. Analysis will also describe the effects on the online delivery of academic content. Findings demonstrate that one of the best ways institutions can encourage academic success is through self-resiliency, and that proactive steps mitigate stressful events.

Disaster risk management and cultural heritage: The perceptions of European world heritage site managers on disaster risk management

Research into the sustainable management of the world's cultural heritage (CH) is increasing. This is due to the vulnerability of CH to climate-related disasters and the perceived contribution of CH to the achievement of broader sustainability goals. Despite the perceived benefits of bringing together CH and sustainability, researchers have identified barriers that slow integration. These barriers are theoretical and practical, and targeted research would help improve the resilience of our CH. This article aims to explore the perceptions of a group of UNESCO world heritage site managers (WHSM) on disaster risk management. A questionnaire was sent to WHSM via professional email boxes. The questionnaire consisted of 26 questions designed to explore the perception of WHSM. In total, 58 responses were received, and the results produced findings worthy of discussion. WHSM still have limited access to disaster risk management strategies or practical implementation experience. Practitioners in this field perceive multiple risks, not just those related to climate change. The researchers noted that there was a tendency to focus on the most immediate problem, rather than the full range of risks they might face. It is clear that there is an opportunity to improve resilience through knowledge sharing and better communication across all CH. This is also true of individual world cultural heritage sites, with opportunities to engage more effectively with local stakeholders. This article pinpoints the current perceptions of WHSM for the academic community and highlights critical avenues of research that will aid in the overarching theoretical and operational integration of CH and sustainability.

Australia's political engagement on health and climate change: the MJA-Lancet Countdown indicator and implications for the future.

Australia's political engagement on health and climate change: the MJA-Lancet Countdown indicator and implications for the future.

Socio-Economic Assessment of Value for Climate Services Case Study, Uganda and Kenya

Socio-Economic Assessment of Value for Climate Services Case Study, Uganda and Kenya

Climate change, mobility and violent conflict: a typology of interlinked pathways

Despite increased attention toward the links between climate, human mobility and conflict, the pathways through which resulting human insecurity may lead to violence are poorly understood. Although there is no inherent link between climate-related mobility and conflict, a coherent understanding of the triple nexus is needed to address the impact of intersecting crises on millions of lives and livelihoods. To achieve this, an in-depth literature review is employed to identify and explore four pathways that connect climate, human mobility and violent conflict: conflict as a result of climate-related disaster displacement, conflict as a result of scarcity-related mobility, conflict as a result of abundance-related migration, and conflict as a result of pre-existing tensions and migratory patterns interacting with climate change and/or variability. Finally, recommendations are made to guide research, policies and programming aiming to sever the link between climate-related mobility and conflict, where it may exist.Published open access under a CC BY licence. https://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/

China’s Wealth Capital Stock Mapping via Machine Learning Methods

The frequent occurrence of extreme weather and the development of urbanization have led to the continuously worsening climate-related disaster losses. Socioeconomic exposure is crucial in disaster risk assessment. Social assets at risk mainly include the buildings, the machinery and the equipment, and the infrastructure. In this study, the wealth capital stock (WKS) was selected as an indicator for measuring social wealth. However, the existing WKS estimates have not been gridded accurately, thereby limiting further disaster assessment. Hence, the multisource remote sensing and the POI data were used to disaggregate the 2012 prefecture-level WKS data into 1000 m × 1000 m grids. Subsequently, ensemble models were built via the stacking method. The performance of the ensemble models was verified by evaluating and comparing the three base models with the stacking model. The stacking model attained more robust prediction results (RMSE = 0.34, R2 = 0.9025), and its prediction spatially presented a realistic asset distribution. The 1000 m × 1000 m WKS gridded data produced by this research offer a more reasonable and accurate socioeconomic exposure map compared with existing ones, thereby providing an important bibliography for disaster assessment. This study may also be adopted by the ensemble learning models in refining the spatialization of the socioeconomic data.

Governing Transition: Case Studies in Transformative Adaptation

Global climate change presents both acute and long-term risks to humanity. Managed retreat has emerged in the literature as one method by which to manage some acute and slow-onset events caused by climate change, but it requires substantial additional research and examination. It is now clear that humanity must scrutinize how and where we live and the wisdom of policies that support continued rebuilding and reinvestment after climate-related disasters. Despite its emergence as a potential policy response to risk, the phrase “managed retreat” is documented as a barrier in itself to successful adaptation actions, largely because the term is currently almost exclusively considered to mean physical movement of infrastructure or people out of harm’s way—that is, retreat. There is a need to document and consider case studies where managed retreat is being utilized more broadly and to consider these case studies as a climate governance approach to managing risk. The case studies presented of local policy responses to climate-induced disaster events demonstrate examples of the permanent changes that are already occurring to the existing and historical governance of climate-related risks. These case studies can serve to broaden the climate adaptation discussion and framework beyond “managed retreat” and may lead to more successful implementation of adaptation measures that reduce climate risks. We adopt the term “transformative adaptation measures,” rather than “managed retreat,” and provide case study illustrations of climate governance strategies that communities faced with a changing climate risk profile may consider, rather than focusing on “retreat.”

Vulnerability and recovery: Long-term mental and physical health trajectories following climate-related disasters

Extreme weather and climate-related disaster events are associated with a range of adverse health outcomes. People are not equally vulnerable to the adversity, experiencing varied patterns of long-term health trajectories in recovery depending on their vulnerabilities, capacities, and resiliencies. This study aims to identify latent mental and physical health trajectories and their associations with person- and place-based pre-disaster predictors. Using an Australian, population-based, longitudinal dataset spanning 2009–19, group-based multi-trajectory modelling was applied to identify the distinct mental, social, emotional, and physical health trajectories of people who had experienced damage to their home following a climate-related disaster event. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess a series of social vulnerability predictors (demographic, socioeconomic, housing, health, neighbourhood, and geographical) of health patterns. We identified three distinct health trajectories. Most individuals experienced small or minimal health impacts at the time of the disaster year followed by a fast recovery. However, one-fifth of the exposed population were severely affected during and post disaster. This cohort had the worst mental and physical health prior to the disaster and experienced the largest decreases in mental and physical health and the lowest recoveries. Pre-existing mental and physical conditions were the most substantial risk factors, increasing the probability of experiencing high impact and slow recovery by 61% for mental health and 51% for physical health. In addition, vulnerability in the form of housing affordability stress, lower household income, and lack of community attachment, participation and safety were also significant independent risk factors for ongoing post-disaster health problems. Critically, people's mental and physical health recovery is dependent on pre-disaster vulnerabilities in health, resource access, and capacities. These findings could assist policymakers and health practitioners to more effectively target people most at risk and design prevention and response strategies to prevent the exacerbation of poor health and wellbeing.

An overview of the influence of climate change on food security and human health

Climate change is increasing the frequency of climate-related disasters, creating greater risks of hunger and the breakdown of food systems. The sustainability of our planet is currently a major concern for the global community and has been a central theme for a number of major global initiatives in recent years. Climate change has prevalent, multi-faceted, and temporal impacts on food security. Higher temperatures, water scarcity, extreme events like droughts and floods and greater CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere have already begun to impact staple crops around the world. The warming climate is already taking a toll on human health, causing widespread hunger and illness that will grow exponentially worse, and will pose a major threat to human well-being. In this article, an attempt has been made to discuss some critical issues relevant to the four dimensions of food security and to provide broader perspectives on climate change and its impacts on the food system, food security and human well-being. “Humanity is facing a rare challenge. But it is a common challenge. There are no sides in the fight for climate justice” (Kofi Annan’s message prior to the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen 2009).

Key Pathways to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals in Three Polar Regions

Due to the local and natural characteristics of high latitude and altitude in the Three Polar Region (TPR)—that is, the Antarctic, the Arctic, and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP)—this region has been significantly affected by climate change and related disasters. Thus, the sustainable development pathway for the TPR is different from that of other regions. The Antarctic region, as a public territory, experiences sustainability problems that are mainly the result of the integrated impact of tourism and scientific and commercial fishing activities on the continent and ocean. Understanding how to build a shared, co-built, and co-governed, legally binding and equal international multilateral partnership or treaty, and thereby reducing the impact on water life and on land life, is the key pathway to achieving the Antarctic sustainable development goals (SDGs). The Arctic region has both a high level of development at the national level and a low level of development within the country, including the livelihood of indigenous people. Learning how to effectively deal with the domestic development imbalance in the future is a key pathway to achieving Arctic SDGs. The QTP has a fragile ecology and a single industry. As a relatively poor area in China, the ability to promote ecological protection and improve people’s welfare through ecological policies is a key pathway to achieving the SDGs in the QTP. At the same time, the TPR also needs to enhance its climate resilience through climate action to mitigate the impacts of climate change. On this basis, to fully achieve the SDGs in support of the TPR, it is necessary to establish and pursue multilateral cooperation in science research, infrastructure, commerce, energy, and mining trades. As an important part of the climate system, spatial and temporal changes in the TPR have direct and indirect impacts on the global climate and other spheres (e.g., Anthroposphere) and also affect the global sustainable development process. Therefore, through the TPR’s linkage and multilateral cooperation, the region can simultaneously enter the global sustainable development track.

Climate Shocks and Gendered Political Transformation: How Crises Alter Women’s Political Representation

In 2019, visible, “rapid onset” climate-related disasters displaced roughly 24.9 million people, with more than 143 million anticipated to be internally displaced by 2050 in Latin America, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa (Kaczan and Orgill-Meyer 2020). Not only can climate change induce migration, but, I argue, climate shocks—which I define as discrete, unanticipated destruction due to weather such as floods, drought, or windstorms—can also destabilize gendered social systems. Climate shocks can initiate political transformations that open new space for women in representative politics. Additionally, they can compel women to mobilize—as representatives and their supporters—to redirect local and national political agendas to respond to the vulnerabilities exposed by climate shocks.

Time of emergence of compound events: contribution of univariate and dependence properties

Abstract. Many climate-related disasters often result from a combination of several climate phenomena, also referred to as “compound events’’ (CEs). By interacting with each other, these phenomena can lead to huge environmental and societal impacts, at a scale potentially far greater than any of these climate events could have caused separately. Marginal and dependence properties of the climate phenomena forming the CEs are key statistical properties characterising their probabilities of occurrence. In this study, we propose a new methodology to assess the time of emergence of CE probabilities, which is critical for mitigation strategies and adaptation planning. Using copula theory, we separate and quantify the contribution of marginal and dependence properties to the overall probability changes of multivariate hazards leading to CEs. It provides a better understanding of how the statistical properties of variables leading to CEs evolve and contribute to the change in their occurrences. For illustrative purposes, the methodology is applied over a 13-member multi-model ensemble (CMIP6) to two case studies: compound wind and precipitation extremes over the region of Brittany (France), and frost events occurring during the growing season preconditioned by warm temperatures (growing-period frost) over central France. For compound wind and precipitation extremes, results show that probabilities emerge before the end of the 21st century for six models of the CMIP6 ensemble considered. For growing-period frosts, significant changes of probability are detected for 11 models. Yet, the contribution of marginal and dependence properties to these changes in probabilities can be very different from one climate hazard to another, and from one model to another. Depending on the CE, some models place strong importance on both marginal properties and dependence properties for probability changes. These results highlight the importance of considering changes in both marginal and dependence properties, as well as their inter-model variability, for future risk assessments related to CEs.

Now is the time to act on nutrition in medical education.

Now is the time to act on nutrition in medical education.

The compounding impacts of Cyclone Idai and their implications for urban inequality

Climate-related disaster impacts within secondary cities of the Global South can severely constrain household access to basic resources and services in those cities. The loss of consistent household access to these services and resources can subsequently increase household vulnerability to further climate disaster impacts. There is limited research exploring the relationships between the observed loss of consistent access to resources and services and how those losses can compound household vulnerability to disaster impacts. In March 2019, Cyclone Idai made landfall in Beira, Mozambique, and resulted in one of the deadliest weather-related disasters in Southern Africa. This investigation compared the consistency of access to resources and services pre- and post-Cyclone Idai, assessed the extent to which the consistency of access to these resources and services was correlated, and investigated the implications of this compounded loss for rising inequality in the city. The findings indicate that respondent households lost consistent access to several resources and services after Cyclone Idai, the loss of consistent access to those resources and services was correlated, and the compounded nature of that lost contributed to rising inequality in the city. These findings suggest that the households experienced compounded (co-occurring) losses in the consistency of their access to each of the identified resources and services, potentially predisposing the sampled households to further vulnerability, and rising inequality, in the wake of Cyclone Idai. The paper concludes by identifying ways in which compounding losses can be prevented, and household resiliency enhanced, through both pre-disaster preparedness and post-disaster response.

Rise or Recede? How Climate Disasters Affect Armed Conflict Intensity

Abstract Disasters play a key role in debates about climate change, environmental stress, and security. A qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) investigates how major climate-related disasters shape the dynamics of ongoing armed conflicts. Quantitative and qualitative data are presented for twenty-one cases across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. After climate-related disasters, 29 percent of these armed conflicts escalated, 33 percent de-escalated, and 38 percent did not change. Furthermore, only countries highly vulnerable to disasters experienced changes in conflict dynamics. Armed conflicts tend to escalate when the disaster induces shifts in relative power, whereby one conflict party (usually the rebels) subsequently scales up its military efforts. But if at least one conflict party is weakened by a disaster and the other lacks the capability to exploit this change, armed conflict intensity declines. Findings provide empirical support for a proposed power differential mechanism connecting climate-related disasters to armed conflict dynamics via short-term shifts in power relations between the conflict parties. Climate change can also act as a threat reducer by temporarily causing lower conflict intensity.

“Homesick for Something That’s Never Going to Be Again”: An Exploratory Study of the Sociological Implications of Solastalgia

Research on sense of place suggests that people’s understandings of themselves and others is closely tied to the feelings they have about the place where they reside. Solastalgia expands on this sociological concept by considering the impacts on the various benefits derived from place when a landscape is changed through acute or chronic environmental disruptions. As such, climate-related disasters affect both tangible and intangible goods. Using 24 qualitative interviews with residents of Paradise, California several months after a wildfire destroyed their town, this exploratory study examines three ways in which the solastalgia experience is socially constructed. This occurs through disruptions to coping resources found in the natural world, embeddedness of history in place, and the experience of “homesickness” for a changed landscape.

Explaining Disaster and Pandemic Preparedness at the Nexus of Personal Resilience and Social Vulnerability: An Exploratory Study.

The purpose of this research was a pilot examination to identify and assess relationships among social vulnerability, personal resilience, and preparedness for a sample of US residents living in the Gulf South, who had experienced climate-related disaster (e.g., hurricanes) and the COVID-19 pandemic. Binary logistic regression was conducted using primary survey data collected in 2020 (n = 744) to identify statistically significant explanatory variables of sociodemographic characteristics and resilience, measured by the CD-RISC 10, of climate-related disaster, and pandemic preparedness. Results indicate that respondents who identified as white, had more education, were in a relationship, and spoke English as a first language, as well as respondents who had exhibited greater resilience, were more likely to prepare for a climate-related disaster. Respondents who spoke English as a first language, had more education, and greater resilience were found to be statistically significant explanatory variables of pandemic preparedness. Respondents who prepared for disaster were also more likely to prepare for the pandemic. These findings provide insights into protective factors related to preparedness, including linkages between resilience and preparedness that can aid public health professionals in supporting resilience and preparedness efforts for impacted communities.

Multiple resilience dividends at the community level: A comparative study of disaster risk reduction interventions in different countries

Climate-related disasters are increasing in many parts of the world, yet investment in disaster risk reduction (DRR) remains insufficient to manage these risks. This is despite growing recognition that DRR interventions can reduce potential impacts from disasters as well as deliver broader economic, ecological, and social co-benefits. Focusing on the net benefits of DRR, beyond avoiding losses and damages, is considered as an important strategy to strengthen the case for DRR as part of a sustainable development by academics and international organizations alike. However, there is very limited evidence of on-the-ground accounting of these “multiple resilience dividends” by those who act to reduce disaster risk at the local level. Using an innovative analytical approach, we investigate the knowledge gaps and challenges associated with considering multiple resilience dividends in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of DRR interventions at the community level for the example of flood risk. We use a newly developed framework to analyze empirical survey data on community-level DRR interventions as well as five in-depth case studies from Vietnam, Nepal, Indonesia, Afghanistan, and the United Kingdom. The analysis reveals a disconnect between available planning tools and the evidence of materialized multiple resilience dividends, which is a key obstacle to successfully apply the concept at the community level. Structured consideration of multiple resilience dividends from the planning to the monitoring and evaluation stages is required to secure local buy-in and to ensure that these dividends materialize as intended.

Health Problems of Increasing Man-Made and Climate-Related Disasters on Forcibly Displaced populations: A Scoping Review on Global Evidence – CORRIGENDUM

Health Problems of Increasing Man-Made and Climate-Related Disasters on Forcibly Displaced populations: A Scoping Review on Global Evidence – CORRIGENDUM

Climate-Related Natural Disasters and Regional Migration in Europe: A Spatial Econometric Analysis

Climate-Related Natural Disasters and Regional Migration in Europe: A Spatial Econometric Analysis