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.

Woman fetching water from a borehole, Nigeria.

Research briefs

2 November 2023

Scientists map loss of groundwater storage around the world

A new study maps, for the first time, the permanent loss of aquifer storage capacity occurring globally.

Desert Research Institute

Commuters wade knee deep floods in Jakarta, Indonesia

Research briefs

6 November 2023

New model adds human reactions to flood risk assessment

Researchers at North Carolina State University have created a land change model that simulates interactions between urban growth, increased flooding and how humans adapt in response, offering a more realistic assessment of risk.

North Carolina State University

Yellow tsunami hazard zone warning sign in Bali, Indonesia

Updates

6 November 2023

How business can contribute to tsunami preparedness: Examples from Fiji, Haiti, and Sri Lanka

In support of government efforts to raise awareness and prepare vulnerable communities for the possible occurrence of a tsunami, stakeholders such as business networks may organize activities to contribute to tsunami preparedness.

Connecting Business initiative

Documents and publications

6 November 2023

Overview of seismic and energy retrofit technologies for existing buildings

This report provides a simplified analysis to identify the EU existing buildings most needing combined seismic and energy retrofit, along with a focus on the Italian context due to the huge variability of its building stock.

Documents and publications

6 November 2023

Building climate-resilient, female-led businesses in Kenya

This policy brief draws on research in Laikipia County in central Kenya under the Women Entrepreneurs in Climate Change Adaptation (WECCA) project. This case study tackles challenges faced by female entrepreneurs in Africa in the face of climate change.

Indian women dressed in colorful clothes selling fish at a fish market.

Research briefs

3 November 2023

The climate crisis is making gender inequality in developing coastal communities worse

Sea-level rise, storm surges and high waves in coastal area do not discriminate, but societal structures often do. This makes climate change a highly gender-sensitive issue.

Conversation Media Group, the

Research briefs

2 November 2023

Warming world, widening gap: climate change’s toll on poverty and inequality in South Africa

A new CMCC study analyzes the relationship between temperature and inequality in South Africa and highlights the benefits of decarbonization in terms of reducing socioeconomic disparities and increasing population well-being.

Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici

Flooded street in the city of York in the United Kingdom. The first story of the red brickstone houses is under water.

Updates

2 November 2023

Storm Ciarán is breaking records and research suggests more severe weather in future

Research suggests that storms which combine high winds and extreme rainfall, like Ciarán, will happen more often over northern Europe in future. This will compound the risks of climate change as the effects of flooding and wind damage accumulate.

Conversation Media Group, the

Research briefs

2 November 2023

UMass hydrogeologists develop innovative way to predict saltwater intrusion into groundwater using Plymouth, Mass. as test case

Working closely with local conservation group, researchers develop new model to predict climate-change driven saltwater intrusion that is transferable to other vulnerable coastal communities.

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Plants growing out of small piles of coins.

Updates

2 November 2023

As climate impacts accelerate, finance gap for adaptation efforts at least 50% bigger than thought

Progress on climate adaptation is slowing on all fronts when it should be accelerating to catch up with rising climate change impacts and risks, according to a new United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report.

United Nations Environment Programme