The Effects of COVID-19 on External Political Efficacy

2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-107
Author(s):  
Markie Rae McBrayer ◽  
Bert Baumgaertner ◽  
Florian Justwan
Keyword(s):  
Disaster Management ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Disaster Response ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Efficacy ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Pandemic Response

Significant scholarship examines the effects of disasters and disaster management on political behavior and attitudes. Yet, no research has assessed how health crises might shape people’s levels of external efficacy, nor how disaster response affects external efficacy beyond localized extreme-weather events. Using the United States as a case study, we seek to fill these gaps in the literature by exploring how individuals’ external political efficacy is affected by assessments of the federal COVID response. With an original collection of survey data from April 2020, we find that respondents who view the government’s handling of COVID more positively report higher levels of external efficacy. In a secondary analysis, we performed an experiment in February 2021 where people were given different narratives about government management of the pandemic response. The experimental results strongly suggest that disaster management—in this case the handling of the pandemic—shapes individuals’ efficacy.

scholarly journals Policy options for addressing climate change, with a focus on ecosystem based adaptation: a case study of Guyana

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramesh Lilwah
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Resource Sector ◽  
Adaptation Method ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

Close to ninety percent of Guyana‟s population live along a low lying coastal plain, which is below sea level and very vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. While the national government has not yet developed a comprehensive climate policy, the potential impacts of climate change is considered in several sectoral policies, much of which emphasize mitigation, with little focus on adaptation. This research examined the current priorities for adaptation by a review of the policies within the natural resource sector to identify opportunities for adaptation, especially ecosystem based adaptation. A Diagnostic Adaptation Framework (DAF) was used to help identify approaches to address a given adaptation challenge with regards to needs, measures and options. A survey questionnaire was used to support the policy reviews and identified four key vulnerabilities: coastal floods; sea level rise; drought and extreme weather events. The application of the DAF in selecting an adaptation method suggests the need for more data on drought and extreme weather events. Coastal flooding is addressed, with recognized need for more data and public awareness for ecosystem based adaptation

Assessment of extreme weather events on transport networks: case study of the 2007 wildfires in Peloponnesus

2013 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evangelos Mitsakis ◽  
Iraklis Stamos ◽  
Anestis Papanikolaou ◽  
Georgia Aifadopoulou ◽  
Haris Kontoes
Keyword(s):  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Transport Networks ◽  
Weather Events

Nowcasting lightning during RELAMPAGO

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan Ruzanski ◽  
Venkatachalam Chandrasekar ◽  
Ivan Arias
Keyword(s):  
Weather Radar ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Optimization Approach ◽  
Lightning Flash ◽  
Convective Systems ◽  
Physical Mechanisms ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Future Loss

<p>The Remote Sensing of Electrification, Lightning, and Mesoscale/Microscale Processes with Adaptive Ground Observations (RELAMPAGO) international field campaign occurred June 1, 2018, to April 30, 2019. This campaign was comprised of more than 150 scientists from 10 organizations. Data was collected to investigate different phases of the life cycle of thunderstorms that occur in Argentina to better understand the physical mechanisms that cause the initiation and growth of organized convective systems in some of the most intense storms on the planet. The main focus of the project was to develop new conceptual models for forecasting extreme weather events that will hopefully lead to reductions in future loss of life and property.</p><p>This presentation shows the performance of a recently developed model for estimating ice mass aloft, a key component in the atmospheric electrification process, and a method for nowcasting lightning activity using C-band weather radar and Global Lightning Dataset (GLD360) data from RELAMPAGO. This nowcasting method uses a grid-based approach to make specific forecasts of lightning in space and time. The method estimates ice mass aloft in the region where electrification occurs using a numerical optimization approach to essentially reframe a simplified bulk microphysical model into a completely data-driven model. Previous results using WSR-88D S-band radar data in the United States showed that using this model significantly improved nowcasts of first-flash lightning occurrence versus the traditional weather radar-based ice mass estimator as well as using lightning flash-rate density directly.</p>

The relationship between extreme weather and low crop yields

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matias Heino ◽  
Weston Anderson ◽  
Michael Puma ◽  
Matti Kummu
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Crop Yield ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
The United States ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Weather Data ◽  
Yield Variability ◽  
Weather Events

<p>It is well known that climate extremes and variability have strong implications for crop productivity. Previous research has estimated that annual weather conditions explain a third of global crop yield variability, with explanatory power above 50% in several important crop producing regions. Further, compared to average conditions, extreme events contribute a major fraction of weather induced crop yield variations. Here we aim to analyse how extreme weather events are related to the likelihood of very low crop yields at the global scale. We investigate not only the impacts of heat and drought on crop yields but also excess soil moisture and abnormally cool temperatures, as these extremes can be detrimental to crops as well. In this study, we combine reanalysis weather data with national and sub-national crop production statistics and assess relationships using statistical copulas methods, which are especially suitable for analysing extremes. Further, because irrigation can decrease crop yield variability, we assess how the observed signals differ in irrigated and rainfed cropping systems. We also analyse whether the strength of the observed statistical relationships could be explained by socio-economic factors, such as GDP, social stability, and poverty rates. Our preliminary results indicate that extreme heat and cold as well as soil moisture abundance and excess have a noticeable effect on crop yields in many areas around the globe, including several global bread baskets such as the United States and Australia. This study will increase understanding of extreme weather-related implications on global food production, which is relevant also in the context of climate change, as the frequency of extreme weather events is likely to increase in many regions worldwide.</p>

scholarly journals Coastal Communities and Climate Change: A Case Study in Gujarat, India

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anil Kumar Roy
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Coastal Communities ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Coping Capacity ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Indian Cities

Developing countries are highly vulnerable to climate change [1,2]. They have less coping capacity to deal with its negative impacts. India is one of the most vulnerable countries in South Asia. It urgently requires adaptation and mitigation measures to cope with possible impacts arising from extreme weather events due to climate change. Indian cities, particularly the coastal ones, are at a comparatively greater risk as their population is likely to grow rapidly and may reach 500 million over the next 50 years [3]. The assessment of climate change impacts and adaptability both at the macro region and micro levels is necessary to create effective mitigation policies

scholarly journals Community resilience and urban core shelter implementation: A Wellington case study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Ralph Peter Titmuss
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Disaster Response ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Community Resilience ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Indian Ocean Tsunami ◽  
Building Stock ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
The World

<p>As a result of climate change, extreme weather events are becoming more common around the world. Coupled with the ever-present threat of sea level rise that coastal cities face there is a potential for far more severe weather events to occur. This thesis will seek to understand how an existing city can adapt to a more hostile environment, and how in the event of an extreme weather occurrence it maintains its function. There is an urgent need to understand how a city can respond when faced with these situations. Previous extreme weather events, Katrina, the Indian Ocean tsunami, and extreme flooding around the world, highlight the danger of a lack of preparedness and resilience found in most cities.  The purpose of this thesis is to understand how the concept of a core shelter, as a way to address the threats of extreme weather events, can be applied to a well-established urban context, Wellington NZ. A core shelter is a structure that in the event of a large-scale disaster, protects its users, and post-disaster still reaches permanent housing standards without being deemed to be a permanent dwelling. It will also look at whether it is possible to create areas in an existing city that can be considered “safe havens” in the event of an extreme natural incident.  This thesis outlines the need for these shelters by identifying the potential threats of climate change in a Wellington context, and by understanding the vulnerability of Wellington’s current building stock. It reaches a conclusion that through the implementation of core shelters in Wellington NZ, resilience will be improved, disaster response efforts will be aided, and destruction arising from extreme weather events will be reduced. In addition, it identifies the areas of Wellington that are deemed to be of higher risk in a disaster or extreme weather event, analyses an existing building’s potential to become a community resilience/core shelter, and proposes a custom building that could be built on Leeds St and Ghuznee St.</p>

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document