Climate Disaster Research Articles

Proactive green innovation and firm climate resilience: the nonlinear interaction effect of climate risk.

Based on empirical analysis of 113 climate disasters affecting 3563 listed firms across 31 provinces in China from 2010 to 2022, as documented in the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT), this study employs event study and multiple regression to explore the impact of proactive green innovation on firm climate resilience. By categorizing proactive green innovation into process and product innovation and climate resilience into short-term and long-term resilience, a proactive green innovation-firm climate resilience 2 × 2 matrix is constructed to provide innovative insights. This study reveals that proactive green innovation enhances firm climate resilience. Specifically, proactive green process innovation both enhances short-term and long-term climate resilience, while proactive green product innovation only enhances long-term rather than short-term climate resilience. Furthermore, climate disaster has inverted U-shaped interaction effect on the relationship between proactive green innovation and short-term climate resilience and U-shaped interaction effect on the relationship between proactive green innovation and long-term climate resilience. Additionally, this study also investigates the heterogeneous mechanisms of proactive green innovation enhancing short-term and long-term climate resilience based on network embeddedness theory and legitimacy theory.

Deep learning-based harmonization and super-resolution of Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 images

Multi-spectral satellite images of the Earth’s surface are used in various applications, from water quality assessment and urban planning to climate monitoring, disaster response, infrastructure oversight, and agricultural surveillance. Many of these applications would benefit from higher spatial and temporal resolution of observations, which could be achieved by combining observations from several sources. This study introduces a deep learning-based pipeline to harmonize the spectral and spatial discrepancies between the Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 Earth Observation satellites. Through established image quality metrics, we demonstrate a significant enhancement in the spatial resolution of Landsat-8 images. Field observation experiments show that leveraging unified images from both satellites increases the availability of cloud-free images by 21% annually on average in our study area. Additionally, our pipeline enhances the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) correlation between Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 observations by about 4.9%, offering significant performance gains in a downstream crop segmentation task. Our 100M parameter model, trained on European data, generalizes to most regions with only minor limitations. Furthermore, we show that the pipeline can provide uncertainty estimates for its outputs, which are valuable for decision-making in downstream applications. Our code base is available online: https://github.com/venkatesh-thiru/Deep-Harmonization.

The Potential of Absorbing Aerosols to Enhance Extreme Precipitation

AbstractUnderstanding the impact of various climate forcing agents, such as aerosols, on extreme precipitation is socially and scientifically vital. While anthropogenic absorbing aerosols influence Earth's energy balance and atmospheric convection, their role in extreme events remains unclear. This paper uses convective‐resolving radiative‐convective‐equilibrium simulations, with fixed solar radiation, to investigate the influence of absorbing aerosols on extreme precipitation comprehensively. Our findings reveal an underappreciated mechanism through which absorbing aerosols can, under certain conditions, strongly intensify extreme precipitation. Notably, we demonstrate that a mechanism previously reported for much warmer (hothouse) climates, where intense rainfall alternates with multi‐day dry spells, can operate under current realistic conditions due to absorbing aerosol influence. This mechanism operates when an aerosol perturbation shifts the lower tropospheric radiative heating rate to positive values, generating a strong inhibition layer. Our work highlights an additional potential effect of absorbing aerosols, with implications for climate change mitigation and disaster risk management.

Assessment of Dar es Salaam's resilience to climate change disasters using the Climate Disaster Resilience Index (CDRI)

Climate change is becoming an increasingly significant issue in Africa, and the need for climate resilience assessment has intensified. Dar es Salam is one of Africa's emerging megacities. With a population of over seven million, which continues to grow, there is an urgent need to understand the city's ability to deal with natural disasters. The Climate Disaster Resilience Index (CDRI) was used in this study to assess the city's ability to withstand and cope with climatic hazards. The Index was quantified using sets of dimensions (social, physical, economic, natural, and institutional), with various parameters indicating the city's abilities, strengths, and vulnerabilities to potential climate‐related disasters. Despite being moderately resilient to climate change disasters, the results of our study indicate that the city's economic and institutional features obtained the lowest scores and the least resilience level. The study's findings provide a perspective on aspects of the city management sectors in terms of resilience and which should be given greater consideration in order to strengthen the city's current and future resilience.

Analysis of extreme precipitation variation characteristics in mountain grasslands of arid and semi-arid regions in China

Introduction: With global warming, the disaster losses caused by extreme precipitation events are increasing. The poor natural conditions and climate change make the arid and semi-arid mountainous grassland area a sensitive region of climate change. The study on the spatio-temporal variation characteristics of extreme precipitation events in this region is helpful to improve the ability of climate prediction and disaster prevention and reduction in grassland.Methods: Based on the daily precipitation data of four meteorological monitoring stations in the Yinshanbeilu from 1970 to 2020, the trend analysis, M-K test and wavelet analysis were used to select seven typical extreme precipitation indicators to analyze the temporal and spatial characteristics of extreme precipitation.Results and Discussion: The results showed that the precipitation in the Yinshanbeilu increased in the past 51a, and the number of heavy rain days increased significantly. The significance test of CDD and CWD showed that the number of continuous dry days and continuous wet days decreased abruptly. The spatial analysis showed that the high value areas of R95p, R95d and PRCRTOT were all located in Siziwang Banner, and it could be concluded that the extreme precipitation risk was the highest in Siziwang Banner, while the low value areas of SDII, Rx1day, R95p and PRCRTOT were all located in Sonid Right Banner, which could be inferred that the Sonid Right Banner was relatively dry. The first main cycle of the seven indexes of extreme precipitation almost runs through the whole time series, and the starting point of the minimum main cycle changes inconsistent. In addition to the number of consecutive dry days, the other indices have a good correlation with annual precipitation, flood season and monthly precipitation from June to September, and July is the peak period of extreme precipitation events.

Climate resilience analysis of nuclear energy by big data associated with Internet of Things (IoT)

Climate disasters are invested in the respect of non-carbon emission energy where the role of nuclear energy is analyzed by the complex algorithm. Nuclear energy is investigated by the climate variations. Artificial intelligence (AI) is used for analyzing the basic factors of the society and environment where six factors are in society and six factors are in the environment. The blockchain-based information technology (IT) is incorporated with big data for the Internet of Things (IoT) in the modeling of this study. The impact values of the Climate decrease gradually until about the 60th year and then it is stabilized. Hence, the resilience to environmental stabilization from climate disasters is achieved using nuclear energy. The impact change for Climate shows that the impact change rate increases as the impact decreases during 100 months. This study shows the climate impact decreases during 100 months of nuclear energy usage.

Effectiveness evaluation of Construction 4.0 technologies in improving built environment resilience

PurposeBuilt environments are highly vulnerable to climatic disasters such as extreme floods, droughts and storms. Inaccurate decisions in adopting emerging construction technologies can result in missed opportunities to improve the resilience of built environments. Therefore, understanding the effectiveness of emerging construction technologies in improving built environment resilience can help in making better strategic decisions at the national and organizational levels. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of Construction 4.0 technologies in improving built environment resilience.Design/methodology/approachA list of Construction 4.0 technologies was adopted from a national strategic plan. Then, the data were collected using the fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution technique from selected built environment experts to determine the relative effectiveness of Construction 4.0 technologies in improving built environment resilience.FindingsSix Construction 4.0 technologies are critical in improving built environment resilience (in rank order): building information modeling, autonomous construction, advanced building materials, big data and predictive analytics, internet of Things and prefabrication and modular construction. In addition, adopting Construction 4.0 technologies collectively is crucial, as moderate to strong connections exist among the technologies in improving built environment resilience.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first papers that evaluate the effectiveness of Construction 4.0 technologies in improving built environment resilience. Industry professionals, researchers and policymakers can use the study findings to make well-informed decisions on selecting Construction 4.0 technologies that improve built environment resilience to climatic disasters.

Feeling climate injustice: Affective climate violence, greenhouse gaslighting and the whiteness of climate anxiety

This paper explores the process of feeling climate injustice. It aims to situate climate distress as an issue of justice, in order to generate more politically accountable and empowering responses. It firstly situates climate anxiety, solastalgia and climate disaster trauma as symptoms of affective climate violence, where harm that could have been prevented was instead consciously and systematically exacerbated by fossil fuelled political regimes. It articulates witnessing as a practice of affective climate justice, an approach that would recognise climate distress as violence, and offer support, apology and redress for this violence, including through seeking to prevent future climate change. However, the second section outlines how, in perverse efforts to maintain fossil fuel interests, climate distress is often further amplified through practices of greenhouse gaslighting – denying, deriding and dismissing people's experiences of harm. Greenhouse gaslighting is outlined as a patriarchal practice of emotional abuse that is enabled by and seeks to perpetuate white-colonial-extractivism. Thirdly, the paper argues that even within progressive circles, current efforts to witness climate distress potentially fail to enact affective climate justice due to discourses that centre whiteness and privilege, rather than recognising and responding to the different and unequal forms of affective climate violence experienced by diverse peoples.

Measurement of daily climate physical risks and climate transition risks faced by China's energy sector stocks

This paper introduces a novel approach for assessing the daily climate transition risk level in China and quantifying the climate physical risk associated with various fossil energy stocks. These measurements offer valuable data sources for empirical research in this field. In assessing climate transition risk, this paper employs the Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF) method to construct a glossary of China's climate transition terminology. It also utilizes the multi-scale moment difference method to evaluate China's daily climate transition risk from 2000 to 2022. Climate physical risk measurement primarily focuses on boundary projection and base period shifting. The analysis reveals that: (1) China's climate policy documents emphasize areas such as energy conservation, meteorology, renewables, low-carbon solutions, and carbon emissions. Notably, meteorology-related provisions, including those for typhoons, rainfall, and drought, indicate heightened government attention to climate disaster response. (2) The research identifies periods of increased climate transition risk levels in 2004–2008 and 2017–2019, with decreases in 2011–2015 and 2020–2022. (3) The distribution of climate physical risk levels in China's fossil energy stocks is right-skewed, with the range [0.86, 0.88] representing the predominant distribution interval and concentration of these risks. The findings of this study can assist policymakers and investors in making informed decisions for market management and investments based on climate risk scenarios.

The Climate Change Conundrum: A Case for Course Correction in the Global Regulatory Approach$

The Conference of Parties (COP) of the multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) provides a platform at a specific periodicity (one, two or three years) to review work of the Convention in question. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is a ‘universal’ convention with 198 parties. The 28th annual meeting of the COP (UNFCCC) was held in Dubai (UAE) during 30 November - 13 December 2023. The UN provides ‘secretariat’ support to the UNFCCC, hence the usage of prefix ‘United Nations’. It is called a ‘framework convention’ since it was adopted with a bare skeleton on 09 May 1992. It required ‘fleshing out’ of the UNFCCC with required elements to make it work for the “‘ultimate objective” of “stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system” (Article 2). It led to the adoption of the (“related legal instruments”) 1997 Kyoto Protocol and 2015 Paris Agreement. The climate change regime now comprises these three legal instruments that seek to address the global climate problematique. Whereas COP27 (Sharm El-Shaik; 06–21 November 2022) was known for adoption of the decision on “loss and damage” funding for vulnerable countries hit hard by climate disasters, COP28 unveiled the first global climate ‘stocktake’. This took place on the heels of UNEP Emissions Gap Report (20 November 2023) that issued warming that “world is heading for a temperature rise far above the Paris Agreement goals unless countries deliver more than they have promised”. The UNEP report called for the GHG emissions (by 2030) to “fall by 28 per cent for the Paris Agreement 2°C pathway and 42 per cent for the 1.5°C pathway”. Thus, there is a big chasm between what is laid down in the climate change regulatory framework, what is scientifically ordained and what is actually given effect on the ground by the states Parties. After 30 years (1994–2024), the resultant ‘conundrum’ presents a challenge at this juncture of planetary crisis. It calls for the state Parties to the global climate change regime to engage in a major course correction in the current global climate change regulatory approaches for securing our planetary future.

Can Strategy Address the Climate Crisis Without Losing its Essence?

AbstractHow should academic fields take on the existential risks created by the climate crisis? What can business schools do to accelerate the decarbonization of business required to save our species? In their Point, Bansal et al. argue that the field of strategic management is complicit in bringing about our current crisis, and they propose to reformulate the field's very foundations to help get us out. In our Counterpoint, we show why we agree with the diagnosis but argue why we are sceptical of the cure. Strategic management incubated in business schools devoted to creating shareholder value, and its central frameworks commit it to this mission, making it fundamentally impossible to reform. The adjustments suggested by Bansal et al. might nudge what is published in journals but will not solve the bigger challenge. If we are to turn back from the climate disaster and begin the process of mitigation and remediation, we need to equip firms to decarbonize their operations as quickly as possible, and to create new kinds of enterprise to bring about the clean energy transition. Given its history and methods, organization theory may be better equipped to take on this role.

Seabird Spread in the Sarasota Bay

Seabirds are marvels that exist all along Florida coasts. However, very little has been done to study how they are spread in the Sarasota Bay. The interactions between different species and how they are spread in the Sarasota Bay is very important for this ever-changing ecosystem. Having biodiversity of all species in the Bay is very important so that this ecosystem can survive and thrive. This Bay is consistently impacted by red tide, hurricanes, rip current, and many other climate disasters. Seeing how seabirds are impacted by these occurrences is important for measuring the biodiversity of the Bay. The spread of 6 seabird species (cormorant, brown pelican, anhinga, ibis, spoonbill, and osprey) were measured for 14 different test sites in the Sarasota Bay, while also taking into account other species that were observed. One boat trip was taken each month in June, July, and August to observe the 6 seabird species, and the others sighted, at the 14 different test sites. At these 14 test sites over the three months, the most observed bird species were gulls. The least observed species were spoonbills. The most observed species for the targeted species were cormorants. However, no bird species was statistically significantly above or below one another. Therefore, the biodiversity in the Sarasota Bay seems to be at healthy levels, even with the climate disasters that have occurred. Support was provided by Dr. Toro-Farmer, including funding for the boat trips and access to GIS software. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

The Climate Moratorium

Climate change is our new reality. The impacts of climatic changes, including massive forest fires, floods, drought, severe storms, saltwater intrusion, and the resulting migration of people displaced by such impacts, will continue to ravage communities across the nation into the foreseeable future. In the meantime, communities continue to expand and growth continues unabated in many of the most climate-impacted areas. Given that most communities are unprepared for the onslaught of climate disasters and many continue to increase existing community vulnerabilities through unsustainable growth and development practices, we need legal tools that will provide space to engage in effective adaptation planning. The climate moratorium is one such tool. Moratoria, which have been used to temporarily halt development and associated impacts to facilitate effective land-use planning, have long been used by communities to address community and infrastructure vulnerabilities. This Article proposes a climate moratorium.

Design and Evaluation of A Module in Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management (CCDRM)

The effectiveness of their teaching strategies has always been a concern for every professional teacher. Teaching strategies include students in every step of the learning process and encourage them to study. For this study, frequency (f), percentage (%), mean (M), and standard deviation (SD) and mixed factorial analysis of variance (MANOVA) were used. The intervention was given to the treatment group which was the synchronous learning modality, while the control group was represented by the asynchronous /self-regulated learning modality from 100 students of Isabela State University – Jones Campus under the new normal condition. The research instrument was developed for “Design and Evaluation of a Module in Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management (CCDRM)”. It is revealed that the overall results on the teachers’ and student evaluation of the CCDRM learning module show relatively high using the set indicators. During the pre-test, there was a higher proportion of students with moderate performance for asynchronous classes and fewer students with low performance compared to those who would undergo synchronous classes and during the post-test, there was a higher proportion of students with moderate performance for asynchronous classes and fewer students with low performance compared to those who underwent synchronous classes. As to the student’s performance, there was no statistically significant difference in the scores for synchronous and asynchronous classes. To teach university students about climate change and disaster risk management, it is advised that this research demonstrated the effectiveness of both the asynchronous and synchronous strategy. Keywords: Asynchronous, Synchronous, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management, Teaching strategies

In the Eye of the Storm: Hurricanes, Climate Migration, and Climate Attitudes

Climate disasters raise the salience of climate change’s negative consequences, including climate-induced migration. Policy action to address climate displacement is especially contentious in the United States, where weak support for tackling climate change intersects with high opposition to migration. Do climate disasters foster receptivity toward climate migrants and broader willingness to combat climate change? To study this question, we leverage the occurrence of Hurricane Ian during fielding of a preregistered survey in autumn 2022. Hurricane exposure increased concern about and support for policies to address climate migration. Hurricane exposure also increased support for climate action and belief in anthropogenic climate change. Effects of hurricane exposure cross-cut partisanship, education, age, and other important correlates of climate attitudes but decay within 6 months. Together, these results suggest that climate disasters may briefly increase favorability toward climate migrants and climate policy action but are unlikely to durably mobilize support even in severely impacted areas.

An Application of the Stakeholder Theory and Proactive-Reactive Disaster Management Principles to Study Climate Trends, Disaster Impacts, and Strategies for the Resilient Tourism Industry in Pokhara, Nepal

An Application of the Stakeholder Theory and Proactive-Reactive Disaster Management Principles to Study Climate Trends, Disaster Impacts, and Strategies for the Resilient Tourism Industry in Pokhara, Nepal

Characteristics of the East Asian Summer Monsoon Using GK2A Satellite Data

In East Asia, where concentrated summer precipitation often leads to climate disasters, understanding the factors that cause such extreme rainfall is crucial for effective forecasting and preparedness. The western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH) is a key driver of summer precipitation variability, and therefore, its monitoring is critical to predicting the wet or dry periods during the East Asian summer monsoon. Using the Geo-KOMPSAT 2A (GK2A) satellite cloud amount data and ERA5 reanalysis data during the years 2020–2023, this study identified three leading empirical orthogonal function (EOF) modes and investigated the associated WNPSH variability at synoptic and subseasonal scales. The analysis includes a linear regression of meteorological fields onto the principal component (PC) time series. All three modes play a role in the spatiotemporal variability of the WNPSH, exhibiting lead–lag relationships. In particular, the second mode is responsible for its northwestward shift and intensification. As the WNPSH moves northwestward, the position of the monsoon rain band also shifts, and its intensity is modulated mainly by the moisture transport along the WNPSH boundary. Our results highlight the potential of high-resolution, real-time data from the GK2A satellite to elucidate WNPSH variability and its impact on the East Asian summer monsoon. By addressing the variability of the WNSPH using GK2A data, we pave the way for the development of a real-time monitoring framework with GK2A, which will improve our predictability and readiness for extreme weather events in East Asia.

Effects of drought on ecosystem evapotranspiration and gross primary productivity in the Haihe River Basin

Evapotranspiration is a crucial component of the hydrological cycle and Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) is the largest flux in the global carbon cycle. However, both evapotranspiration and GPP are significantly affected by climate disasters, especially extreme drought events. Therefore, in this study, MODIS product data from 2002 to 2021 was used to analyze the spatiotemporal variations of actual evapotranspiration (ET), potential evapotranspiration (PET) and GPP within the Haihe River Basin. Then extreme drought events were identified by using EDDI drought index. A statistical analysis was performed to assess the impact of extreme drought on ecosystem evapotranspiration and GPP. The results showed that: (1) the annual evapotranspiration in the Haihe River Basin fluctuated greatly, ET showed a general increasing trend which was higher in the eastern region and lower in the central and western regions, PET showed an overall decreasing trend which was higher in the central and western regions and lower in the eastern region; (2) the annual GPP in the Haihe River Basin from 2002 to 2021 was 646.88 g C/m2/a and the increase rate was 14.75 g C/m2/a, which exhibited a decreasing trend from the northern to the southern and central-western regions; (3) under extreme drought conditions, ET decreased compared with the mean value, while PET increased, the Zhangweihe and the Tuhaimajiahe sub-basins were the most affected, with ET decreasing by 16.36% and PET increasing by 7.00% compared to the reference year. Additionally, extreme drought led to a decrease in GPP, with a reduction ranging from 7% to 18%.

Contribution and impact of plants to achieving carbon neutrality under global climate change

The sustainability of life on Earth is facing an escalating threat from climate change. The greenhouse effect, which is one of the primary causes of this perilous change, has resulted in detrimental consequences such as ocean acidification, biodiversity loss, climate disasters, and adverse economic and social impacts. As climate change continues to progress, its effects are expected to broaden and intensify. Consequently, countries and the international community are collaborating to mitigate climate change and promote measures for carbon neutrality and sustainable development. By achieving carbon neutrality, the world can decelerate the rate of climate change and biodiversity, foster sustainable development, and establish a healthier and more sustainable environment.Among the various methods employed to attain carbon neutrality, plant carbon sequestration stands out as a primary approach. Studying the impact and potential of plants in achieving carbon neutrality holds immense significance. In this review, I provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of plant carbon sequestration from diverse perspectives, explore the role of different plants in accomplishing carbon neutrality, and analyze the future potential of plants in mitigating the greenhouse effect and addressing climate change. Simultaneously, this review delves into the feasibility and relevant measures of integrating plants with other fields to collectively combat the greenhouse effect and promote carbon neutrality.

Health engagement in national climate commitments of small island developing states: A content analysis of Caribbean nationally determined contributions

ObjectiveTo investigate how health is incorporated into the NDCs of Caribbean SIDS and their financing challenges. MethodsThe study analysed the NDCs of sixteen Caribbean SIDS using content analysis to investigate their level of engagement with health. ResultsCaribbean SIDS have a high level of reference with health in their NDCs relative to other developing countries which is expected to increase as they update them. All sixteen countries included health in their NDCs, mostly with regard to adaptation to be achieved by 2025/2030. Five countries provided targets in health aimed at increasing climate resilience. This may be explained by the region's poor health profile, high exposure to climate change and disasters, inadequate health infrastructure and resources and dependence on external finance. There was hardly any information on how countries intend to finance their health goals. ConclusionInclusion of health in Caribbean SIDS NDCs could increase obligation to climate action at domestic and regional levels and attract international climate finance. The Caribbean should seek out funds that make finance available to tackle health-related risks from climate change. It is imperative that Caribbean SIDS compute and state their climate finance needs in health if they are to attract international finance and raise donor and investor confidence. Caribbean SIDS have the opportunity to advocate for and be an example for the integration of health into climate change policy and politics to encourage global cooperation, boost countries’ climate change aspirations and ramp up international climate finance.