Knowledge Base highlights and editors' picks

Top stories and editors' picks from the most recent additions. Explore the whole Knowledge Base.

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.

Documents and publications

5 April 2024

Child centered early warning systems: Examples and good practice

This document outlines examples of Save the Children’s experience with child-centred early warning systems, linked to the four pillars of the Early Warning for All initiative.

Update

3 April 2024

The Frontline Scorecard – Diagnosing the disaster resilience of health systems

A new report by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) presents a tool for conducting an initial broad-based assessment of the resilience of a country’s health system to disasters and climate change.

Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, the (GFDRR)

Update

4 April 2024

Climate engineering carries serious national security risks − countries facing extreme heat may try it anyway, and the world needs to be prepared

Climate engineering could be part of an equitable solution to climate change. But it also carries risks. Put simply, climate engineering is a technology that can’t be ignored, but more research is needed so policymakers can make informed decisions.

Conversation Media Group, the

Update

5 April 2024

Anticipatory mapping for climate resilience in Timor Leste

What if the place you were looking for could not be found on any map? Not because it's hidden, but because it was never mapped. And what if people in need were living in unmapped places?

Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team

A closeup of a seismograph machine needle drawing a red line on graph paper

Update

20 March 2024

Making seismic risk information open and accessible: A collaboration between PreventionWeb and GEM foundation

A powerful new resource for understanding and mitigating earthquake risk at the national level is now available on the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) PreventionWeb platform.

Global Earthquake Model Foundation (GEM)

Tornado going over land close to a house.

Update

3 April 2024

How might the next super tornado outbreak play out in tomorrow’s world?

Two experts ponder the social and physical factors that may shape the next colossal onslaught of twisters.

Yale Climate Connections

Documents and publications

4 April 2024

EXHAUSTION White Paper: Exposure to heat and air pollution in Europe. Important findings and recommendations

This White Paper which includes five stand-alone chapters, explores how the effects of heatwaves, air pollution and a changing climate lead to more heart and lung diseases in Europe, and premature deaths related to these challenges.

Research briefs

3 April 2024

UConn researchers closer to near real-time disaster monitoring

UConn researchers has found a way to drastically cut the lag time for these assessments using remote sensing data and machine learning, bringing disturbance assessment closer to near real-time (NRT) monitoring.

University of Connecticut

A family fetches water from a stream during a drought in Madagascar

Update

20 February 2024

Climate-affected Madagascar adapts to new reality: A UN Resident Coordinator blog

Madagascar is the fourth most vulnerable country in the world to climate change. It is recurrently hit by droughts and cyclones that are increasing in frequency, duration and intensity due to climate change.

United Nations - Headquarters

Update

20 March 2024

Saving lives and property — The fight against yearly flash floods in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: a case study of Pakistan

In the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region, there are gaps in relaying early warning information to communities that are most vulnerable which increases potential damage to life and property in case floods or other disasters occur.

Adaptation at Altitude