Research briefs

Global climate change is being felt in many coastal communities of the United States, often as small scale nuisance flooding. According to researchers at the University of California, Irvine, rising sea levels will cause these smaller events to become increasingly frequent in the future and their cumulative effect will be comparable to extreme events such as Hurricane Katrina or Superstorm Sandy.

Findings from study on Immigrants and Refugees in the 2010-2011 Canterbury and Tohoku Disasters demonstrate social vulnerabilities in disasters are fluid and complex, suggesting that people may be simultaneously vulnerable and resilient. Those who had previous experiences of disasters were generally better equipped to deal with the Canterbury and Tohoku disasters.

A new biological-behavioral-operational computer model could help policy makers choose the best intervention strategies to rapidly contain an infectious disease outbreak. The model provides critical information about how to mitigate infection, monitor risk and trace disease during a pandemic.

The unprecedented increase in alien species can have negative impacts on native ecosystems and the global homogenisation of floras and faunas. While legislations are currently in force globally to mitigate the introduction of new alien species, urgent implementation of more effective prevention policies is needed.

Increasingly dangerous fire weather is forecast for Australia and the Mediterranean as the global footprint of extreme fires expands. Using climate change model projections to investigate the likely consequences of climate change, the research found more extreme fires are predicted in the future for Australia’s east coast and the whole of the Mediterranean region.

Global warming has already increased the risk of droughts and flooding according to a new research. The frequency of major rainfall disruptions in the climate models had already increased by around 30% relative to pre-industrial times. The risk will continue to rise over coming decades, even if global warming during the 21st century is restricted to 2℃.

A new study analyses flood risk and economic damages under different global warming scenarios. Findings reveal that, with a 4°C temperature increase globally, countries representing 73% of the global population would face a 580% increase in flood risk. In addition, 79% of the global economy would face a 500% increase in flood damages.

A new study says the U.S. Geological Survey's "Did You Feel It?" (DYFI) website can be used to improve maps of earthquake intensity, if non-reporting areas are included in the mapping analysis. The DYFI website collected millions of reports from people who log on to the site to share information when they feel an earthquake in their ZIP code.

New research by Cardiff University suggests that devastating tsunamis could be halted before hitting the Earth’s shoreline by firing deep-ocean sound waves at the oncoming mass of water to redistribute the huge amounts of energy stored within the wave. This could potentially save lives and billions of pounds worth of damage.

The impact of climate change on psychological health is an emerging concern among mental health professionals, disaster response officials, educators, and faith leaders. With “Climate trauma” occurring when either acute or long-term climate impacts cause loss of life or property, studies suggest methods of dealing with stresses of climate change.