Disaster risk communication

Recurrent floods have forced Juneau to confront a problem that communities around the world are increasingly facing: How do you prepare for a natural disaster when you know it will come back?

This paper presents a framework for disaster communication capacity development that combines audience research, engagement and scenario-based vulnerability analysis to address barriers to accessing, understanding and acting on hazard information.

This study advances an equity-centered approach by centering informational equity as an underexamined dimension of disaster vulnerability. Findings show informational inequities emerge from systematic misalignments across the risk communication ecosystem.

A stone bench and pillar on Bainbridge Island in Washington State show how sea levels could change over the coming decades.

This article compares typhoon communication in the Philippines and Vietnam, showing how political structures, corruption, propaganda and media control shape disaster visibility, often prioritising regime preservation over public safety.

This article investigates forces shaping what becomes visible during typhoon disasters across contrasting regime types and develops a model examining how political structures and propaganda machinery determine information flows when disasters strike

This landscape report examines how misinformation, disinformation and other forms of information pollution are affecting climate action and responses to climate-related disasters, and how different actors are responding.

This article examines information control after a deadly Himalayan flood, comparing Nepal’s response to misinformation with China’s wider suppression of public scrutiny

This paper examines institutional heat risk communication in England. Interviews with 29 practitioners revealed strong alert and coordination systems, but uneven public engagement, limited evaluation and capacity constraints that hinder effectiveness.

A study suggests that isotopes can provide an early warning of prolonged droughts. This study is one of the first in over 30 years to utilize isotopic techniques in Amazonian hydroclimatic research.

This paper develops a mechanism-based framework for understanding communication-related vulnerability in flood-prone communities. Survey results from Pakistan highlight trust, literacy, access and information barriers that limit effective warning response

Forecasting and early warning technology remain essential, but they have to be matched by readiness at the community level – evacuation plans, trusted communication networks, prepared local institutions and people able to act when information arrives.

This guidance note outlines practical approaches to strengthening information integrity within risk communication–before, during, and after disasters. Preparing for and managing information risks is an integral part of disaster risk reduction efforts.

A survey of 140 Indonesian operational meteorologists finds that terminology ambiguity and reliance on weather station data hinder heat warning dissemination. Past successful warnings and a liberal warning philosophy strongly influence warning decisions.

Two behavioural experiments in China show that government-issued disaster warnings generate higher trust than AI warnings. Consistent government-AI messages increase trust and protective intentions, while conflicting warnings increase anticipated regret.

This study investigates the complex interplay between local knowledge, awareness, perception, and preparedness among residents of Bogura City, Bangladesh, in the context of earthquake risk.

This toolkit examines how mis- and disinformation during extreme weather can undermine disaster response, offering practical guidance to build information resilience before, during and after crises.

There were two “systems” that warned people about the impending danger that day: one built by the state relying on sensors and SMS messages, the other relying on community-based ties. Only the second worked reliably.

This study sets out to examine how vernacular water-based settlements develop constructive and spatial responses to flood-related hazards, and what recurring combinations of responses can be identified across distinct hydro-climatic contexts.

This study tests a survey tool for identifying information voids during climate emergencies, showing how gaps in information quantity, quality, source and channel can affect disaster communication.

Bosai is a Japanese concept that encompasses all stages of disaster management. In a country where natural hazards are a frequent threat, understanding bosai is one of the most practical ways for individuals to protect themselves and those around them.

Social media conspiracy theorists quickly pinned the blame on an Alaskan research project, claiming the deadly wall of water and debris was a "man-made disaster." AFP has repeatedly debunked claims that the HAARP is to blame for extreme weather events.

Study uses the 2020 Gjerdrum landslide as a natural experiment to examine how climate risk salience affects housing markets. Exposed properties experienced temporary price declines of 1–1.5 per cent, while new residential development in risk zones fell.

Social media can quickly convey conditions in disaster-hit areas, helping people confirm others' safety, request rescues and share information such as shelter locations and needed supplies. But it can spread false information just as quickly.

Machine-learning techniques could help provide more warning. By detecting subtle changes in the continuous vibrations around a volcano, they can potentially identify signs of an impending eruption hours beforehand.

This article explains how misinformation during volcanic eruptions can distort public understanding of risk, urging clearer language, verified images and trusted scientific sources during crises

This article reports public reactions to a UK emergency phone alert on wildfire risk, highlighting concerns over alert fatigue, unclear guidance and the need for effective crisis communication.

This article examines hosepipe bans as everyday climate adaptation measures, showing how they can make climate risks tangible while also provoking resistance if seen as unfair or poorly explained

Claims that a deadly quake was artificial and Hiroshima was not hit by an atomic bomb have alarmed experts tracking Japan’s online spaces

This study shows that perceived false flood alarms can reduce evacuation behaviour, while positive emotional responses to false alarms may help maintain protective action during future warnings.

This paper describes eighteen misconceptions grouped in six themes (seismology, volcanoes and climate, systems and structures, volcanic hazards, timescales, photographs and footage) commonly encountered by volcanologists

A major climate adaptation programme is helping Egypt strengthen coastal resilience in the Nile Delta through nature-based coastal protection, climate-informed planning, coastal monitoring systems and integrated coastal zone management.

This study evaluates a music-based hurricane preparedness video in the Caribbean, finding that it can increase self-efficacy, trust and positive emotions alongside preparedness intentions.

This study examines how Canadian university emergency websites communicate mental health preparedness, finding that physical safety guidance is far more visible than mental health support.

Climate change arrived this summer for the beloved TV characters and landscapes of Sesame Street, in a special episode where Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and friends have to get ready for extreme weather.

Smartphones have become part of just about everyone’s emergency infrastructure. We use them to receive warnings, follow evacuation routes and road closures, locate shelters, contact family and track rapidly changing conditions.

Most wildfires started by humans are still being called "wild", placing the fire outside human society. It implies there was no spark – and certainly no humans, and fails to widen the cause to include climate change, calling for new naming conventions.

Journalists, editors, disaster management authorities and regional partners gathered in N'Djamena from 27–29 July for a regional workshop aimed at strengthening climate reporting and media resilience across one of Africa's most vulnerable regions.

Wildfire misinformation spreads fastest in the hours right after a fire breaks out — checking a claim against a credible source before sharing it is the simplest way to slow it down.

The podcast explores the ACACIA Project and how new sub‑seasonal forecasts, local forecasters and community planning (EVCA) come together to reduce the impacts of cyclones and floods in Madagascar.

The research examines the “risk perception gap,” or the difference between climate-related mortality estimates and public perceptions of climate risk, across U.S. counties.