Special Issue on Adaptation to Global-Warming-Triggered Disasters

2009 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syunsuke Ikeda
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Greenhouse Gases ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Disaster Mitigation ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Special Issue

The Committee on Disaster Mitigation under Global Changes of Natural and Social Environments, Science Council of Japan (SCJ), issued on May 30, 2007 a report, “Policies for Creation of a Safe and Secure Society against Increasing Natural Disasters around the World”. The report, which includes an outline of Japan’s past responses to natural disasters of a global scale, provides a comprehensive discussion of a desirable direction for the development of infrastructure and social systems to meet the forthcoming changes in nature and society. Based on the report, the committee reported to the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, in response to the minister’s former inquiry. Another report was issued on countermeasures by adaptation to water-related disasters, following the former report and the result of discussions made in the subcommittee on June 26, 2008. This special issue of JDR is based on the latter report of Science Council of Japan. In Japan, over the past 30 years, the number of days of heavy rain with a daily rainfall of 200 mm or more have increased to about 1.5 times that of the first 30 years of the 20th century. It has been pointed out that this is likely to have been caused by global warming. The Fourth report of the IPCC indicates that even low-end predictions implies an unavoidable temperature rise of about 2°C, and, even if the concentration of greenhouse gases is stabilized, the ongoing warming and sea level rise will continue for several centuries. In terms of social systems, population and assets are increasingly concentrated in metropolitan areas. At the same time, economic recession and aging of the population are accelerating especially in rural areas. The central parts of small- and medium-size cities have lost vitality, and so-called marginal settlements are increasing in farming, forestry and fishing villages. These factors make it difficult and complicated to maintain social functions to fight with natural disasters. Under these circumstances, it is quite important in our country to take an action for adaptation to climate changes, where land is vulnerable to water-related disasters. The need for adaptation has widely been recognized in Europe, and various reports have been issued there. In Japan, initiatives to reduce greenhouse gases emission are being actively discussed, but both the central government and the people still do not fully recognize the importance of adaptation to water-related disasters. Elsewhere, increases in extreme weather and climate events have caused flood disasters, such as those that have been occurring with larger frequency in the downstream deltas of Asian rivers. The latter type of disaster is exemplified by the unprecedented huge flood disaster that occurred in Myanmar in May in the last year. The increase of population in Asia will induce shortage of water resources in near future. Japan, which is in the Asian Monsoon Region, has a natural and social geography similar to these countries. Japan should implement strong assistance programs based on accumulated knowledge and advanced technologies developed. To treat the adaptations mentioned in the above, there are many components to be considered such as follows: (1) Reliable assessment of future climate, economic and social situation such as population. (2) Developing physical and social infrastructures. (3) Building disaster awareness and preparation in communities. (4) Planning for recovery and restoration. (5) Research and development for adaptation. (6) International contributions for preventing water-related disasters. In this special issue of JDR, these subjects are treated in series by introducing 5 papers written by leading researchers and engineer worked in the central government. However, the details of international contributions could not be included in this issue.

Special Issue on Disaster and Big Data

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shunichi Koshimura ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Disaster Mitigation ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Editorial Committee ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Large Populations ◽  
Working Together

In the years that have passed since the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake, many new findings, insights and suggestions have been made in disaster observation, sensing, simulation, and damage determination on the damage scene. Based on the lessons, challenges for disaster mitigation against future catastrophic natural disasters such as the anticipated Tokyo metropolitan and Nankai Trough earthquakes are made on how we will share visions of potential impact and how we will maximize society's disaster resilience. Much of the ``disaster big data" obtained is related to the dynamic flow of large populations, vehicles and goods inside and outside affected areas. This has dramatically facilitated our understanding of how society has responded to unprecedented catastrophes. The key question is how we will use big data in establishing social systems that respond promptly, sensibly and effectively to natural disasters how this understanding will affect adversity and resilience. Researchers from a wide variety of fields are now working together under the collaborative JST CREST project entitled ``Establishing the most advanced disaster reduction management system by fusion of real-time disaster simulation and big data assimilation." One objective of this project is to identify potential disaster scenarios related to earthquake and tsunami progress in a chained or compound manner and to create new techniques for responsive disaster mitigation measures enabling society to recover. This special issue on disaster and big data consists of 11 papers detailing the recent progress of this project. As an editor of this issue, I would like to express our deep gratitude for the insightful comments and suggestions made by the reviewers and the members of the editorial committee.

Special Issue on Disaster and Big Data Part 2

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-225
Author(s):  
Shunichi Koshimura ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Disaster Mitigation ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Editorial Committee ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Working Together

6 years have passed since the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake. Many new findings, insights and suggestions have been made and were implemented in disaster observation, sensing, simulation, and damage determination. The challenges for disaster mitigation against future catastrophic natural disasters, such as the Tokyo metropolitan earthquake and Nankai Trough earthquake, are how we share the visions of the possible impacts and prepare for mitigating the losses and damages, and how we enhance society’s disaster resilience. A huge amount of information called “disaster big data” obtained, which are related to the dynamic flow of a large number of people, vehicles and goods inside and outside the affected areas. This has dramatically facilitated our understanding of how our society has responded to the unprecedented catastrophes. The key question is how we use big data in establishing the social systems that respond promptly, sensibly and effectively to natural disasters, and in withstanding the adversities with resilience. Researchers with various expertise are working together under the collaborative project called JST CREST “Establishing the most advanced disaster reduction management system by fusion of real-time disaster simulation and big data assimilation.” The project aims to identify possible disaster scenarios caused by earthquake and tsunami that occur and progress in a chained or compound manner and to create new technologies to lead responses and disaster mitigation measures that encourages the society to get over the disaster. This special issue titled “Disaster and Big Data Part 2,” including 13 papers, aims to share the recent progress of the project as the sequel of Part 1 published in March 2016. As an editor of this issue, I would like to express our deep gratitude for the insightful comments and suggestions made by the reviewers and the members of the editorial committee.

Special Issue on Enhancement of Societal Resiliency Against Natural Disasters

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-211
Author(s):  
Muneo Hori
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Heavy Rain ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Disaster Mitigation ◽  
Social Resilience ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Advanced Technologies ◽  
Estimation System

Enhancing social resilience in the event of natural disasters is a critical issue for Japan. It will requires a need huge efforts to further increase the physical preparedness; on the other hand, compared to increasing physical preparedness, enhancing social resilience is a cost-effective means of mitigating the effects of natural disasters. The Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion program (SIP), the biggest national research program in Japan, selected a theme related to enhancing social resilience in the face of natural disasters in 2014. The authors of this special issue worked as a part of the SIP for five years and developed state-of-the-art technologies for the enhancement, namely, next-generation tsunami and heavy rain observation, integrated liquefaction counter-measures, methods for sharing disaster information, a real-time disaster estimation system, an emergency communication system, and the development of applications for regional use. Most of the technologies have been implemented in efforts at natural disaster mitigation following earthquakes and heavy rains in 2017 and 2018. The development and implementation of advanced technologies are the essence of the SIP because it aims to foster innovation. While the SIP is a Japanese government program, it promotes international utilization of the technologies it develops. There are many instances which might be studied better by developing and utilizing advanced technologies in various countries following different types of natural disasters. I hope that this special issue will be a gateway for readers who are interested in using such advanced technologies to mitigate natural disasters and enhance social resilience during such events.

scholarly journals LOCAL WISDOM AND NATURAL DISASTER IN WEST SUMATRA

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Syafwan Rozi
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Architectural Design ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Disaster Mitigation ◽  
A Value ◽  
Social Events ◽  
The Social ◽  
West Sumatra ◽  
Depth Interviews

<p>Community-based disaster management is an attempt to optimize the potential of social and local values in communities to facilitate the handling of natural disasters. West Sumatra as one of the disaster-prone areas in Indonesia has a number of local wisdom values—a value combining religion and local culture—rooted in traditional philosophy; “Adat Basandi Syara’, Syara’ Basandi Kitabullah”. The examples of those local wisdoms are customary ideas or proverbs in the form of legend and expressions, architectural design of the traditional house—“Rumah Gadang”—and the structure of the environment as well as the social systems of kinship and traditional administration in the form of Nagari. This research employed qualitative method by using ethnography approach. The data were collected through observations, participation in social events, and in-depth interviews. Those techniques were applied to obtain the valid information and the meaning of events and behaviors comprehensively. The local values applied by the indigenous communities as the victims of natural disasters in some regions of West Sumatra include “Badoncek” tradition in Nagari Tandikat Padang Pariaman, the architecture of “Rumah Gadang” in Nagari Sungayang, Tanah Datar and disaster mitigation based on district in Nagari Kubang Putiah Agam.</p><p><br />Managemen bencana berbasis masyarakat merupakan upaya untuk mengoptimalkan potensi sosial dan nilai-nilai lokal yang dimiliki masyarakat untuk memudahkan proses penanganan bencana alam. Sumatera Barat sebagai salah satu daerah rawan bencana di Indonesia, memiliki sejumlah nilai kearifan lokal, sebuah nilai yang memadukan antara agama dan budaya lokal yang termaktub dalam filosofi adat; Adat Basandi Syara’, Syara’ Basandi Kitabullah. Di antara kearifan lokal itu adalah ide atau pepatah adat dalam bentuk tambo dan ungkapan-ungkapan, tata ruang rumah adat dari segi arsitektur rumah gadang dan penataan lingkungannya serta sistem sosial kekerabatan dan pemerintahan adat dalam bentuk nagari. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan pendekatan etnografi. Pengumpulan data dilakukan melalui observasi, keterlibatan dalam kegiatan masyarakat dan wawancara mendalam. Teknik-teknik ini dilakukan untuk mendapat informasi yang valid dan mendalam serta menghayati makna atau arti peristiwa dan tingkah laku secara komprehensif. Adapun nilai-nilai kearifan lokal yang diterapkan komunitas adat di Sumatera Barat meliputi tradisi badoncek di Nagari Tandikat Padang Pariaman, arsitektur dan tata kelola rumah gadang di Nagari Sungayang Tanah Datar serta mitigasi bencana berbasis nagari di Nagari Kubang Putiah Kabupaten Agam.</p>

Special Issue on Extinction of Organisms

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 165-165
Author(s):  
Hiroyoshi Higuchi ◽  
Hideaki Karaki
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Alien Species ◽  
Volcanic Activity ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Habitat Destruction ◽  
Chemical Pollution ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact

Plants and animals are declining or becoming extinct in many parts of the world. They include both well-known species such as the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) and the crested ibis (Nipponia nippon) and once common land snails, fireflies and small migratory birds. Factors leading to population decline or extinction include habitat destruction, chemical pollution, alien species, poaching, infectious disease, and global warming. In addition to their individual adverse impacts, these factors often overlap or interconnect in time and space, compounding their effects. In limited areas isolated by habitat destruction, for example, alien species and global warming more easily cause local populations to decline and become extinct. There are also natural disasters such as volcanic activity and meteors that diminish or exterminate flora and fauna populations. However, extinction of species and groups sometimes give an opportunity for other species and groups to occupy vacant niche and similar life styles, which may lead to adaptive radiation in evolution. Organisms have repeated such evolution and extinction throughout geological history. This special issue focuses on the extinction of plants and animals resulting from both human activity and natural disasters. In the first of seven articles, Hisashi Nagata reviews the history of extinction and the natural and human factors involved. Kazuto Kawakami looks at the impact of alien species on current ecosystems in the Ogasawara Islands, demonstrating interrelationships among different plant and animal species and pointing out what we could do about island ecosystem conservation and management. Haruo Ogi discusses the effects of fisheries by-catch on sea birds. TatsuyaKunisue and Shinsuke Tanabe detail the effects of chemical pollution on wild animals. Both factors are important in conserving biodiversity and in maintaining industries such as marine fisheries. Kazuya Ashizawa et al. focus on the population decline and extinction of plants growing along dry river beds and becoming rare as a result of human activities changing the structure of natural rivers. Yunshan Su deals with the history of the near extinction of crested ibises in China, and introduces successful recovery programs that may be useful in a similar Japanese program for the same species. Takashi Kamijo et al. detail the impact of volcanic activity on the vegetation of a small island, discussing ecosystem recovery. We hope that this special issue will lead to better understanding of the unique interrelationships among plants, animals and the inorganic world, teaching how to conserve and manage the biodiversity around us. Extinction of one species may appear to have nothing to do with human lives, but the extinction of many plants and animals sets up serious conditions in maintaining life during the changing structure and function of ecosystems comparable in process to an aircraft losing rivets one by one and finally crashing at a critical point with massive loss of life.

Special Issue on Protecting Cultural Heritage and Historic Cities from Disasters

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-3
Author(s):  
Kazuyuki Izuno ◽  
Takeyuki Okubo
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Cultural Preservation ◽  
Disaster Mitigation ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Disaster Reduction ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Masonry ◽  
Wooden Structures ◽  
Near Future

Natural disasters have damaged or destroyed many invaluable cultural heritages. How to mitigate these losses, however, is difficult question. If we cannot save human lives, of course we cannot save cultural heritages from disasters. This requires more sophisticated countermeasures than conventional disaster reduction methodologies. This special issue of JDR provides many examples of such mitigation in historical cities which have expanded with cultural heritages as nuclei. Cultural heritage disaster mitigation lies somewhere between the fields of cultural preservation and the disaster mitigation engineering. The first two review papers focus on the importance of protecting cultural heritage from natural disasters and the history of this issue from the viewpoints of both engineering and humanities. Twelve papers discuss engineering problems and the planning of cultural heritages preservation, cover issues such as the seismic performance of traditional wooden structures, the vulnerability of historical masonry structures, disaster reduction in slope failures around cultural heritages, disaster risk analysis at historical cities, fire prevention in historical cities, and urban planning taking cultural heritage into consideration. This issue closes with a tutorial paper showing the techniques and basics of cultural heritage disaster mitigation. It serves as a practical handbook on mitigating disasters surrounding cultural heritages and historical cities. We expect contributors to this field to increase in the near future due to the importance and urgency of cultural heritage disaster mitigation. We thank the authors for their earnest contributions and the reviewers for their invaluable advice on improving the quality of this special issue of JDR.

Special Issue on Disaster and Big Data Part 4

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-415
Author(s):  
Shunichi Koshimura
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Disaster Management ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Disaster Mitigation ◽  
Disaster Resilience ◽  
Editorial Committee ◽  
Tsunami Disaster ◽  
New Findings

The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami disaster taught us many lessons. Many new findings, insights, and suggestions have been made and implemented in damage determination and in disaster observation, sensing, and simulation. The challenges in terms of mitigating damage from future catastrophic natural disasters, such as the expected Metropolitan Tokyo Earthquake and Nankai Trough Earthquake and Tsunami, are how we share the visions of the possible impacts and prepare to mitigate loss and damage, how we enhance society’s disaster resilience and the ability of society and social systems to prepare well, how we respond promptly and effectively to natural disasters, and how we apply lessons learned to future disaster management. In recent years, a huge amount of information known as “disaster big data,” including data related to the dynamic movement of a large number of people, vehicles, and goods as IoT, has been obtained to understand how our society responds to natural disasters, both inside and outside the affected areas. The key question is how to utilize disaster big data to enhance disaster resilience. Researchers with various areas of expertise are working together in a collaborative project called JST CREST: “Establishing the Most Advanced Disaster Reduction Management System by Fusion of Real-Time Disaster Simulation and Big Data Assimilation.” The project aims to identify possible disaster scenarios caused by earthquakes and tsunamis that occur and progress in a chained or compound manner, as well as to create new technologies to lead responses and disaster mitigation measures that help societies recover from disasters. Since 2016, we have published three special issues entitled “Disaster and Big Data,” and now we will publish a fourth one which includes 10 research papers and 1 report. These aim to share the recent progress of the project as a sequel to Part 3, published in March 2018. As a guest editor of this issue, I would like to express our deep gratitude for the insightful comments and suggestions made by the reviewers and members of the editorial committee. It is my hope that the fruits of everyone’s efforts and outcomes will be utilized in disaster management efforts to mitigate damage and losses from future catastrophic disasters.

Special Issue on Disaster and Big Data Part 3

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-233
Author(s):  
Shunichi Koshimura
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Disaster Mitigation ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Editorial Committee ◽  
Tsunami Disaster ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Working Together

The 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster left behind many lessons to learn, and there have since been many new findings and insights that have led to suggestions made and implemented in disaster observation, sensing, simulation, and damage determination. The challenges for mitigating the damage from future catastrophic natural disasters, such as the Tokyo Metropolitan Earthquake or the Nankai Trough Earthquake and Tsunami, are in how we share our visions of the possible impacts, how we prepare to mitigate the losses and damages, and how we enhance society’s disaster resilience. The huge amount of information obtained, called “disaster big data,” is related to the dynamic movement, as IoT, of a large number people, vehicles, and goods from inside and outside the affected areas. This has dramatically facilitated our understanding of how our society has responded to unprecedented catastrophes. The key question is how to utilize big data in establishing social systems that respond promptly, sensibly, and effectively to natural disasters, and in withstanding adversity with resilience. Researchers with various types of expertise are working together under a collaborative project called JST CREST “Establishing the advanced disaster reduction management system by fusion of real-time disaster simulation and big data assimilation.” The project aims to identify possible earthquake and tsunami disaster scenarios that occur and progress in a chained or compound manner and to create new technologies to lead responses and disaster mitigation measures to help society to recover from disasters. As we have published two previous special issues entitled “Disaster and Big Data” since 2016, this issue is our third. Included are 14 papers that aim to share the recent progress of the project as the sequel to Part 2, published in March 2017. As one of the guest editors of this issue, I would like to express our deep gratitude for the insightful comments and suggestions made by the reviewers and the members of the editorial committee. I do hope that this work will be utilized in disaster management efforts to mitigate the damage and losses in future catastrophic disasters.

Special Issue on the International Symposium on River Technologies for Innovations and Social Systems at the WECC2015 and the Special Session on Disaster Risk Management at the 11th I3R2

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1211-1211
Author(s):  
Kenichi Tsukahara ◽  
◽  
Toshimitsu Komatsu
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
International Symposium ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Disaster Risk Management ◽  
Disaster Mitigation ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Special Session ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Academic Paper

The Standing Technical Committees on Disaster Risk Management (CDRM) of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) play an important role in collecting and disseminating DRM-related information and knowledge that will conceivably help engineering society members take effective disaster mitigation measures. As part of achieving this mission, the CDRM conducted two important 2015 events – the WFEO-CDRM Special Session on Disaster Risk Management at the 11th International Conference of the International Institute for Infrastructure Resilience and Reconstruction (I3R2) (I3R2 session) held in Seoul, Korea, and the 9th Joint International Symposium on Disaster Risk Management conducted in conjunction with the International Symposium on River Technologies for Innovations and Social Systems held in the 2015 World Engineering Conference and Convention (WECC2015) in Kyoto, Japan (WECC2015 symposium). The I3R2 session featured seven presentations. During the first half, disaster-cause papers covered high typhoon tides, earthquakes, and rain-induced soil erosion. The second half focused on mitigation-measure presentations such as recovery/reconstruction and regional support for mothers and children in the event of disasters. The WECC2015 symposium featured ten presentations by ten speakers with widely varied backgrounds in disaster mitigation, river engineering, international cooperation, UNESCO regional centers, NPO management, science and technology sections at embassies, and ferry and resort complex management. These informative, meaningful presentations close with active and informative Q&A sessions. In this special issue, five presentations that were revised as a form of academic paper were selected and published. I hope that these papers will be utilized for further advancement of disaster mitigation measures.

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