The World at risk: natural hazards and climate change

1994 ◽  
Vol 31 (05) ◽  
pp. 31-2698-31-2698
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
The World

Uncertainties in Safety and Security

2020 ◽  
pp. 383-412
Author(s):  
Tünde Anna Kovács ◽  
Zoltán Nyikes
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Critical Infrastructure ◽  
Critical Infrastructure Protection ◽  
Safe Operation ◽  
Infrastructure Protection ◽  
Terror Attacks ◽  
The World

In today's world, critical infrastructure encompasses facilities vital to the economy, politics, and population. Their maintenance and safe operation can ensure the supply for the population. These facilities are at risk due to climate change, natural disasters, terror attacks, or wars which are increasingly affecting countries around the world. In addition, the human factor can also cause uncertainty and damages. The function of the world depends on human activities. In this chapter the uncertainties in safety and security are introduced. Security is the most important part as it is the critical infrastructure protection and human safety . The important pillars of safety and security and these uncertainties are introduced in this chapter.

scholarly journals The World at Risk: Vulnerability, Precarity, and Connectedness

2020 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-149
Author(s):  
James F. Keenan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
Judith Butler ◽  
Theological Ethics ◽  
Linda Hogan ◽  
International Conference ◽  
The World ◽  
Risk Vulnerability ◽  
Catholic Theological

This article considers the world at risk; in particular it focuses on the three topics covered at the international conference of Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church in 2018 in Sarajevo: climate change, its impact on marginalized populations, and the tragic banality of contemporary political leadership. The article turns to a proposal by Trinity College’s Linda Hogan to develop an ethics of vulnerability so as to respond to the triple crisis. After examining contemporary writings on both vulnerability and precarity by Judith Butler and others, it concludes by applying the ethics of vulnerability to other urgent cases as well.

PLANNING BEFORE THE WEST BURNS: DO WESTERN STATES’ MITIGATION PLANS FACTOR IN RECOVERY AND LOCAL NEEDS?

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 43-48
Author(s):  
Harrison Crum
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Disaster Recovery ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
American Population ◽  
The West ◽  
Past Work ◽  
The World

Abstract A growing proportion of the American population is at risk to the effects of wildfires as fire seasons continue to lengthen and intensify. Because of this, it is crucial that states adequately prepare for these powerful fires, along with all other disasters, and their long-term impacts. Long-term disaster recovery is an understudied and misunderstood field, yet much can be gained from current and past work that has identified common crucial problems and limitations in planning for disaster recovery. Across a range of states working with the same hazard, state mitigation plans struggle to consistently define their critical terms and often fail to detail how they will work directly with local communities and governments and address the needs of residents in these communities. As disasters become a progressively larger issue with the consequences of climate change, how states address these issues in their mitigation plans will be essential to minimizing the impacts of disasters on communities throughout the world and providing them with the resources to recover better after a disaster.

scholarly journals Geoscience on television: a review of science communication literature in the context of geosciences

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 2507-2518 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rolf Hut ◽  
Anne M. Land-Zandstra ◽  
Ionica Smeets ◽  
Cathelijne R. Stoof
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Information Transfer ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Knowledge Gaps ◽  
Relevant Theory ◽  
The World ◽  
Effective Science ◽  
Formal Science

Abstract. Geoscience communication is becoming increasingly important as climate change increases the occurrence of natural hazards around the world. Few geoscientists are trained in effective science communication, and awareness of the formal science communication literature is also low. This can be challenging when interacting with journalists on a powerful medium like TV. To provide geoscience communicators with background knowledge on effective science communication on television, we reviewed relevant theory in the context of geosciences and discuss six major themes: scientist motivation, target audience, narratives and storytelling, jargon and information transfer, relationship between scientists and journalists, and stereotypes of scientists on TV. We illustrate each theme with a case study of geosciences on TV and discuss relevant science communication literature. We then highlight how this literature applies to the geosciences and identify knowledge gaps related to science communication in the geosciences. As TV offers a unique opportunity to reach many viewers, we hope this review can not only positively contribute to effective geoscience communication but also to the wider geoscience debate in society.

scholarly journals Australia’s Unfolding Geoscience Malady

Eos ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Boone ◽  
Mark Quigley ◽  
Peter Betts ◽  
Meghan Miller ◽  
Tim Rawling
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
At Risk ◽  
The World

Brutal university cuts are putting at risk an industry crucial to addressing climate change Down Under and around the world. Saving geoscience will require a community reckoning.

Gridded Harmonized Dataset for the Spatial Location of the Global Critical Infrastructure Network

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadhana Nirandjan ◽  
Elco Koks ◽  
Philip Ward ◽  
Jeroen Aerts
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Waste Water ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Spatial Data ◽  
Critical Infrastructure ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Socio Economic Development

<p>Critical infrastructure (CI) is fundamental for the functioning of a society and forms the backbone for socio-economic development. Natural hazards, however, pose a major threat to CI. The destruction of CI, and the disruption of essential services they provide may hamper societies and economies. Moreover, the overall risk for CI is expected to rise. This is due climate change (i.e. intensification and more frequent hazards), and socio-economic development (i.e. increase in the amount and value of CI).</p><p>Building sustainable and resilient infrastructure is a key to reducing the impacts of natural hazards and climate change on society. However, an in-depth knowledge of the global CI that is directly at risk for natural hazards is still lacking. The development of a harmonized dataset integrating the geospatial locations of the main CI systems at a global scale will aid to our knowledge on the CI that is exposed and at risk for natural hazards.</p><p>We present a first-of-its-kind globally consistent spatial dataset for the representation of CI. In this study, an index to express the spatial intensity of CI at the global scale is developed: the Critical Infrastructure System Index (CISI). The CISI is expressed in a dimensionless value ranging between 0 (being no CI intensity) and 1 (being highest CI intensity). The CISI aggregates high resolution spatial information of CI based on OpenStreetMap (OSM) data. For the development of this index, a total of 34 CI types (e.g. primary roads, waste-water plants and hospitals) are defined and categorized under seven overarching CI systems: transportation, energy, tele-communication, waste, water, health and education. Spatial data on these CI types are extracted by using a selection of 78 OSM tags. The detailed spatial data is rasterized into a harmonized and consistent dataset with a resolution of 0.1x0.1 degrees.</p><p>This novel global dataset will be a valuable starting point for policy makers, planners, and researchers in several fields. The dataset can be deployed as a tool to gain insights in the current landscape of the CI network, to identify hotspots of CI, and to gain exposure information for risk assessments. We use open data hosted by OSM, and provide code for further use and development. In this study, we demonstrate the database and CISI at a global scale, but the publicly accessible code can also be used to further develop the dataset with latest releases of data on CI provided by OSM as well as other (open) sources for any location and any resolution.</p>

scholarly journals Climate Change

2021 ◽  
pp. 355-379
Author(s):  
Jakkie Cilliers
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Future Trends ◽  
Current Development ◽  
Adaptation Capacity ◽  
Current Path ◽  
The World ◽  
Development Trajectory

AbstractOn its current development trajectory the world is headed for serious climate change trouble. More carbon emissions will affect all of humanity and with its low adaptation capacity, arid climates and rainfall-dependent agriculture, Africa is particularly at risk. Cillliers offers an in-depth assessment of the implications of climate change for Africans. In addition to reviewing the scientific consensus on the threats climate change is likely to pose in the coming decades, he sheds light on how Africa’s future trends in energy, population and lifestyle will affect carbon emissions. The chapter concludes by comparing Africa’s carbon emissions in four scenarios with the Current Path forecast, namely Made in Africa and Free Trade (highest carbon emissions) and Leapfrogging and Demographic Dividend (lowest carbon emissions).

scholarly journals Geoscience on television: a review of science communication literature in the context of geosciences

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. Hut ◽  
A. M. Land-Zandstra ◽  
I. Smeets ◽  
C. Stoof
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Information Transfer ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Knowledge Gaps ◽  
Relevant Theory ◽  
The World ◽  
Effective Science ◽  
Formal Science

Abstract. Geoscience communication is becoming increasingly important as climate change increases the occurrence of natural hazards around the world. Few geoscientists are trained in effective science communication, and awareness of the formal science communication literature is also low. This can be challenging when interacting with journalists on a powerful medium like TV. To provide geoscience communicators with background knowledge on effective science communication on television, we reviewed relevant theory in the context of geosciences and discuss six major themes: scientist motivation, target audience, narratives and storytelling, jargon and information transfer, relationship between scientists and journalists, and stereotypes of scientists on TV. We illustrate each theme with a case study of geosciences on TV and discuss relevant science communication literature. We then highlight how this literature applies to the geosciences and identify knowledge gaps related to science communication in the geosciences. As TV offers a unique opportunity to reach many viewers, we hope this review can not only positively contribute to effective geoscience communication but also to the wider geoscience debate in society.

Future population exposures to unprecedented climatic risks

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taikan Oki ◽  
Taichi Sano
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Population ◽  
Extreme Temperatures ◽  
Climatic Risk ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Climatic Risks

Abstract Anthropogenic climate change is causing shifts in the frequencies of extreme weather events. There is an urgent need to quantify future unprecedented risks from extreme temperatures and precipitation, and the geographic distributions of at-risk areas. Here, we define the rim of two-dimensional (2D) risk histograms for 20-year extreme temperatures and precipitation as a climatic risk boundary. We found that nearly a quarter of the world population in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and other regions of the world will transgress the climatic risk boundaries by the end of this century under RCP8.5 scenario, while under the future RCP2.6 scenario, only 5.8% of population will transgress the climatic risk boundaries. Some metropolitan areas, such as Delhi, Mumbai, and Tokyo, will also overstep the boundaries. While many large cities will remain within the climatic risk boundaries, they will still be exposed to unprecedented climatic risks in relation to the experiences of people in that region. This study will help refine public perceptions of extreme climatic risks and lead to more efficient policy making. In the future, unprecedented extreme weather risks should be properly considered in the impact assessments of climate change, and transfers of technologies and experiences gained in other regions to new at-risk regions should be supported to assist with adaptation to extreme climatic risks.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document