What's New in Knowledge | January 2025
We have had two notable anniversaries, the 50th anniversary of Cyclone Tracy, and the 20th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami. The UNDRR Special Representative, Kamal Kishore reflected that the tsunami was a wake-up call for humanity and disaster risk. The disaster revealed the interconnectedness of modern societies and highlighted blind spots in disaster risk management policy.
UNESCO’s Tsunami Eyewitness and Survivors Project helps bring awareness to tsunamis. In this opinion piece WWF examines what we have learned from recovery from the Indian Ocean tsunami. This report from the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific also examines the advances in tsunami warnings systems. This article focuses on the role of memorials in Aceh on remembering and forgetting the tsunami. This article examines the advances in understanding tectonics.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has published a report on the impact of Cyclone Tracy on disaster management in Australia. This Conversation article also focuses on the same topic. The ABC have produced an excellent feature on the cyclone.
World Weather Attribution have published When Risk Become Reality: Extreme Weather in 2024, their first annual report on the attribution of climate change to climate disasters. Climate change contributed to the deaths of at least 3,700 people and the displacement of millions in 26 weather events they studied in 2024. The Office of Humanitarian Affairs has released its annual Global Humanitarian Overview.
In understanding consequences and recovery, a new paper from the Disaster Climate and Adversity Unit at University Melbourne explores the experiences of recovery work in cascading and compounding disasters. This paper examines the important topic of place attachment and how it restored over the long term. Decision making for prioritising reconstruction projects is the focus of this paper.
This paper looks at the establishment of community organisations for post disaster resettlement. This one looks at social capital, disaster, conflict and displacement. Losses from hurricanes, severe thunderstorms, and floods have topped $100 billion globally according to Swiss Re. Imagine what good we could do if we could reinvest that money.
This article examines the collective value of at risk properties in the US in the path of Hurricane Helene. An attribution map from Carbon Brief has found 74% of extreme weather events that they had examined, were made worse by human activity. This interesting paper used Natural Language Processing to examine post disaster recovery communications.
Looking at knowledge, systemic research into natural hazards in Australia turns 21. While we focus on our friends at Natural Hazards Research Australia (NHRA), check out their excellent new initiative, the Practice Note that helps support the translation and use of research findings into practice. Read the newsletter from the good folks at the Lessons Team at Emergency Management Victoria.
In thinking about systemic risk, any article that focuses on de-risking coffee supply is worth highlighting. This paper looks at using case based reasoning, i.e. historical case studies for systemic disaster risk planning. This article looks at the potential impact of bushfires and extreme heat on the power grid. The 2024 World Cities Report examines the role of cities as climate hubs. While economic conditions have improved, there are still concerns about global labour shortages, the threat of recession, and rising interest rates. If you are wondering why this is of interest to us, check out our new Australia’s Riskscape report.
This NHRA Hazard Note examines bushfires and power networks and finds the most at-risk places in Queensland. This is an interesting piece on decision making relating to logistics and supply chains, and finds that companies are moving away from just cost being the main driver of decisions. The Liveable Cities Newsletter is a new initiative unpacking urban resilience. The OECD’s Survey of Adult Skills details how OECD countries are tracking with literacy, numeracy and problem solving skills.
In disaster risk reduction, this paper examines emergency preparedness and contingency planning in the ASEAN region. UNDRR released their annual status report of multi-hazard warning systems. This paper examines the efficacy of emergency kits in the Indian context. Planning for public housing recovery is examined in this piece. This article explores the application and effectiveness of nature based solutions in Latin America and the Caribbean region. This article from UNDP examines the need for greater preparedness for epidemics, based on resilience, innovation and rights.
This article makes the case for transformative not incremental disaster risk reduction. This article reinforces the long known contention that risk communications must be backed by community engagement. The article also reinforces the notion that action-oriented information must be personalised. UNDRR add multi-hazard warning systems to their cities resilience scorecard. There’s nothing like a good compendium on disaster resilient infrastructure, particularly one that showcases innovative approaches towards disaster resilience of new and existing infrastructure.
Insurers play a key role in getting risk communications to householders as demonstrated in this study. While on preparedness, this study examines the role of the great Tohuku earthquake on risk perception and preparedness in Japan. This research examines flood risk communication using the 2019 Arkansas floods as a case study. A fascinating development in Spain with paid leave to reduce people being forced to travel for work during extreme weather.
This IBM report presents 4 case studies from around the world that demonstrate how innovative strategies and strong partnerships can enhance preparedness. ‘Decisions for the Decade’ is an intensely interactive game from the American Red Cross designed to support learning and dialogue about key aspects of long-term investments under uncertainty. Routledge has released the first edition of the International Handbook of Social Work and Disasters. One of the chapters focusses on the role that social workers can play in preparedness
Focussing on First Nations knowledge, this article highlights progress on integrating traditional indigenous knowledge into the international convention of biodiversity.
For children and young people, this analysis of 3,000 studies worldwide documents the impacts of floods on neonatal babies. This piece details the impact of hurricanes on children’s learning. The impact of disasters on schools in regional and rural areas is the focus of this Conversation article. Egypt launches a program of school evacuation drills on International Day of Disaster Risk Reduction. This study investigates the emotional and cognitive effects of earthquakes on preschool children based on the pictures they draw and the stories they tell.
Recognising inequity, this paper recognises the critical role of women in disaster risk reduction in Oman. This paper looks at LGBTQIA+ health disparities and climate change. This report focuses on 13 women working on climate change. This paper looks at the experience of migrant women during disasters in Italy. This article focuses on a program to learn Filipino sign language.
On animals in disasters, the Saturday Paper ran a feature on planning for animals in disasters, drawing heavily on the AIDR Handbook, and its working group. The handbook was also featured in the Australian Veterinarian Association’s newsletter.
Looking at weather matters and climate change, this paper proposes a conceptual framework for cross-border climate change impacts. Ten questions are posed on what future and extreme weather data is needed. This news article flags that the WMO will announce that 2024 was the hottest year on record. This report reflects on how climate finance has evolved from 2018-22, exploring both mitigation and adaptation flows across different economies. This report from the World Economic Forum and University of Exeter finds that climate change could drive fixed-asset losses of $560-610 billion per year across listed companies by 2035. This is the equivalent of an annual 7% drop in average company earnings - around half the 15.3% decline in profits experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
AI is helping with climate predictions, suggesting that we will get to a warming of 3°C much faster than anticipated, and has predicted the Earth’s peak warming. This research identifies the exposure of 250 natural world heritage sites to extreme climate events under 4 different future scenarios. This article examines the contribution that large scale building retrofits will make to managing climate change. In the northern hemisphere, climate change is driving dangerous bacteria further north.
There’s been quite a focus on different hazards, NHRA funded research from Deakin University on communication responses for compound natural hazards is published here. This article looks at how volcanologists can help with urban climate resilience. This article examines tsunami evacuation guidance systems, while this one looks at the systemic impacts of tsunami. This paper examines cyclone simulation models for resilience engineering. This article identifies that up to 40% of Australia’s bushfires are deliberately lit. Integrated fire management has a new international platform. Two excellent blog pieces from Hamish Clarke, one a speech to a bank, and the other pondering the biggest fire season ever.
This research aims to investigate existing approaches and methods for simulating and visualising indoor seismic damage. This article looks at what we can and can’t predict about earthquakes. This article outlines the research that NOAA has undertaken in the North American hurricane season, including the flights into hurricanes.
Researchers are saying the bathtub approach to flood risk modelling is outdated and needs updating. What is bathtub modelling? Grab your rubber duck and find out. This paper outlines an approach using dynamic sketch mapping to help with reflections on urban flooding. This paper outlines how physics models can help prevent deadly stampedes at mass gatherings. This study explores the implementation of recent innovative egalitarian Scottish flood policies which attempt to prioritise equity in real-world settings.
Shining a light on new, emerging or forgotten hazards, this is how the Tonga volcano eruption sounded. Oil spill risk and capability is the focus of this RAND piece. Australia’s earthquake risk is getting renewed attention from the insurance industry. The not-so-hidden impact of bushfire smoke also receives focus, the lingering health risks in unaffected houses and this sobering Lancet article estimates that globally die every year from bushfire smoke pollution.
Focussing on extreme heat, a new study from Mexico turns common assumptions about heat related deaths on its head, finding that 75% of deaths were in the age range of 18- 35 years old. This is an excellent ABC story on the 2009 heatwave across southeast Australia. We’ll forgive them the use of natural disaster in the title this time. This report focusses on a project in London, aimed at addressing the gap in user-friendly overheating metrics amongst different groups. This paper also from the Grantham Institute examines the gaps in public perceptions on extreme heat: ‘it is seen as dangerous, but not to me.’
The All India Disaster Mitigation Institute released their report on evaluations of heat mitigation projects. This article details the review of thousands of papers on green-blue-grey infrastructure (GBGI), such as parks, wetlands, and engineered greening, focusing on their effectiveness in mitigating urban heating and their co-benefits. Extreme heat impacts on workforces also received attention in this article on gig work and extreme weather, and this study more a focus on general workforce issues. This ABC article outlines Sydney’s Heat Smart Plan, with a focus on minimum rental standards.
In health, this Conversation article gives advice on staying safe in crowded spaces. The Australian Critical Care paper looks at the critical issue of preparedness for intensive care units. This report focuses on Japan’s experiences to showcase how the country incrementally strengthened the resilience of its health system by enhancing its capacity, drawing valuable lessons from its experience of major earthquakes, floods, and infectious disease outbreaks. This paper looks at the intersection of social structure, extreme weather and mental health in the UK. This paper looks at the potential unintended consequence of mitigation measures for extreme heat, an increase in skin cancer.
This study introduces a surveillance strategy specifically designed for urban areas to enhance preparedness and response to disease outbreaks by leveraging human behaviour within urban contexts. This article poses the question of why a bird flu pandemic hasn’t started. This research shows the upper limits of human heat tolerance were breached for a total of 43 hours over the six days of Hajj. During these periods, heat and humidity passed beyond the point at which our bodies are able to cool down, causing 1,300 deaths. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant transformations in transportation dynamics, with travel patterns undergoing significant shifts. This paper examines a community-based response in Sweden to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Looking at governance, leadership and capacity building, this looks at the governance structure of recovery planning committees. This looks at community engagement in the recovery from the devastating floods in the Ahr Valley in Germany. The Sendai Frameworks Stakeholder Engagement Mechanism provides a response to the Summit of the Future. This is a guide for senior leaders to manage risks from natural hazards to hazardous facilities.
The Ethics Institute’s 9th Ethics Index report finds a slight fall in the index, although the importance of ethics in leadership and governance reaches an all-time high. This paper examines addressing trust deficits between marginalised communities and government emergency management agencies. This Q&A addresses the evaluation of emergency management training in the US, while this paper focuses on escalating decision making to a major incident in the UK.
Examining the frontiers in technology, this article is on the environmental impact of AI. The article looks at responsible data collection and reuse. This study investigates the potential for integrating AI and journalistic networks to create real-time, priority-driven maps of infrastructure damage during disasters. This one is a more existential question about what to do if AI becomes conscious.
This article looks at how misinformation spreads, while this article from Ika Trulsborg and John Richardson examines misinformation and disasters. Monash University have developed a game excellently named Cranky Uncle (we all have one of those you dread at family gatherings) that helps manage misinformation. This paper looks at the ethical dilemmas of managing mis and disinformation in a democratic context, while this one is focussed on social media sharing habits.
An interesting approach to managing heat and cold is textiles that change colour. It may make outfit coordinating that much harder. Google Deep Mind provides weather forecasts 15 days out. The excellent Infoxchange presents the Digital Technology in the Not-for-Profit Sector Report for 2024 which examines the use of technology in the for-purpose sector and the challenges that charities and not-for-profits face. Researchers in Switzerland have used high-resolution satellite data to make their forecasting models even more precise.
Back in time, the tenth anniversary of the Lindt Café Siege has just passed.
In good news, here are 7 quiet breakthroughs in climate change and nature in 2024.
WNIK TV
Here’s a new development where we list the webinars that that were released during the previous month. We don’t include Rotten Tomato scores. This month includes AIDR’s 50th Anniversary of Cyclone Tracy, the Major Incidents Report 2023-24 Showcase, and the International Social Capital Association’s webinar on Connecting Societal Sector During the Disasters Continuum.
WNIK Radio
The Overseas Development Institute looks at how 2024 was characterised by rapid technological progress, shifting geopolitical landscapes, and ongoing crises and conflicts, and then looks ahead to the key trends likely to shape 2025.
Sources: Prevention Web, Nature, The Conversation, UNDRR, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Linkedin, Sandy Whight, Isabel Cornes, Darryl Glover.
Compiled by Lexi Barrington and John Richardson.