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Reducing Flooding Impacts in Coastal Towns
Researchers study the benefits and costs of flood-reduction strategies aimed at increasing coastal resilience to storms and sea-level rise. The researchers will apply advanced computer models to simulate how these strategies affect water levels both on the surface and underground and the flooding of homes, businesses and infrastructure.
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How Mega-Floods Can Be Predicted
When floods are predicted only on the basis of local data, there may be unpleasant surprises. A new method makes it possible to significantly improve predictions - using international data from hydrologically similar areas.
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Reforms Needed to Expand Prescribed Burns
Prescribed fire, which mimics natural fire regimes, can help improve forest health and reduce the likelihood of catastrophic wildfire. But this management tool is underused in the fire-prone U.S. West and Baja California, Mexico, due to several barriers. Study highlights four strategies to overcome barriers to prescribed fire in the West.
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Making Flood-Prone Areas in New Jersey More Resilient to Climate Change
State and federal programs that enable the acquisition of flood-prone properties from willing homeowners at fair market value and then clear the land represent powerful first steps toward resilience.
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First 10 Months of 2023 See Record 25 Billion-Dollar Disasters
NOAA confirmed another billion-dollar disaster in October, bringing the total to a record 25 disasters in the first 10 months — the largest number of disasters for any year since NOAA has kept track of these types of events. The Mississippi River’s water level dropped to historic lows along parts of the river.
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New Model Adds Human Reactions to Flood Risk Assessment
Researchers have created a land change model that simulates interactions between urban growth, increased flooding and how humans adapt in response. The new model could offer a more realistic assessment of risk for urban planners, natural resource managers and other local government stakeholders.
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Damaging Thunderstorm Winds Increasing in Central U.S.
Destructive winds that flow out of thunderstorms in the central United States are becoming more widespread with warming temperatures. The central U.S. experienced a fivefold increase in the geographic area affected by damaging thunderstorm straight line winds in the past 40 years.
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Climate Change Is a National Security Risk
Climate change is affecting practically everything on Earth, from natural systems to human endeavors. National security is no exception. The U.S. Defense Department recognizes that climate change is a “threat multiplier” as it exacerbates existing environmental stresses and security risks.
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Innovative Way to Predict Saltwater Intrusion into Groundwater
Working closely with local conservation group, researchers develop new model to predict climate-change driven saltwater intrusion that is transferable to other vulnerable coastal communities.
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Colorado Prisons Vulnerable to Natural Disasters but May Be Ill-Prepared
Three-quarters of Colorado prisons are likely to experience a natural disaster in the coming years, but due to aging infrastructure and outdated policies, many are ill-equipped to keep residents safe.
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New Zealand: Firm Found Guilty Over Volcano Disaster
The court said Whakaari Management failed to sufficiently “assess risk” to visitors or provide them with protective gear, leading to the death of 22 people.
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States Working to Safeguard America’s Most Important River
Political leaders in the Mississippi River area are looking to form a multistate compact to manage threats from climate change, water pollution and drought-affected regions elsewhere. Twenty million people drink from the Mississippi River and its tributaries every day, and the river has led to more than 350,000 jobs and generates more than $21 billion in annual tourism, fishing and recreation spending.
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Floridians Believe in Climate Change, Want Government Action
The latest edition of the Florida Climate Resilience Survey found that 90 percent of Floridians believe climate change is happening, a higher figure than in the nation as a whole: a recent Yale University survey found that 74 percent of Americans as a whole think climate change is happening.
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How Big Institutions Stymie Disaster Response, and What to Do About It
Large institutions like government, the private sector, non-profits, and academia, are unprepared for disasters—both natural and human-created—because their incentives are not well-aligned.
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Floods Kill Long After the Water Has Gone
People impacted by a flooding event are at significantly increased risk of dying – including heart and lung problems – in a crucial window between three and six weeks after the event, even after the flooding has dissipated.
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More headlines
The long view
Using Drone Swarms to Fight Forest Fires
Forest fires are becoming increasingly catastrophic across the world, accelerated by climate change. Researchers are using multiple swarms of drones to tackle natural disasters like forest fires.
How Climate Change Will Affect Conflict and U.S. Military Operations
“People talk about climate change as a threat multiplier,” said Karen Sudkamp, an associate director of the Infrastructure, Immigration, and Security Operations Program within the RAND Homeland Security Research Division. “But at what point do we need to start talking about the threat multiplier actually becoming a significant threat all its own?”