• LIGHTNING RISKImproving Safety in the Open Air: TU Graz Evaluates Lightning Risk in Real Time

    By Falko Schoklitsch

    Airport aprons, large construction sites or open-air events are usually defenseless against lightning. To increase safety and reduce downtimes, electrical engineers at TU Graz are developing a forecasting system.

  • WATER SECURITYCalls Grow for Sustainable Governance as Groundwater Resources Become Scarce

    The depletion of groundwater resources, driven by unsustainable agricultural practices and increasing demands for food production, is a pressing issue, and it  underscores the urgent need for sustainable groundwater governance.

  • DISASTER PREPARATIONS Building a Fellowship that Empowers Policymakers to Leverage Science

    By Ryan Gallasch

    As all of us just saw with hurricanes Helene and Milton, extreme weather and other impacts of climate change are already affecting the fabric of our society. As evident by these recent tragedies, U.S. leaders are navigating a complex and interconnected policy landscape as they wrestle with how to confront climate change.

  • WILDFIRESSounding the Alarm: Fire's Speed Is More Threatening Than Its Size

    Most news reports about wildfires include the number of acres a given fire has burned, but according to a new study, these reports should also note how fast the fire is moving.

  • CLIMATE CHALLENGESDelay and Pay: Tipping Point Costs Quadruple After Waiting

    By Brendan Bane

    There’s more to weigh than catastrophic environmental change as tipping points draw near. Another point to consider, a new study reveals, is the cost of undoing the damage.

  • DISASTER-INSURANCE CRISISAmericans Face an Insurability Crisis as Climate Change Worsens Disasters – a Look at How Insurance Companies Set Rates and Coverage

    By Andrew J. Hoffman

    When home insurance averages $2,377 a year nationally, and $11,000 per year in Florida, this is a blow to many people. If affordability and relevance of insurance continue to degrade, real estate prices will start to decline in exposed locations. This will be the most tangible sign that climate change is driving an insurability crisis that disrupts wider financial stability.

  • CLIMATE CHALLENGESThinking the Unthinkable at COP29

    By Dr. Shaun Fitzgerald

    We shouldn’t need to be thinking of future global temperatures well in excess of 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, where the wildfires, droughts, flooding and other extreme weather effects of climate change are expected to become catastrophic. But alas the consequences of burning all those fossil fuels for energy and the feeble progress towards cutting emissions means that is where we are heading at the moment. Has the time come to consider climate repair as a necessary measure?

  • FLOODSNew AI Tool Generates Realistic Satellite Images of Future Flooding

    By Jennifer Chu

    Visualizing the potential impacts of a hurricane on people’s homes before it hits can help residents prepare and decide whether to evacuate. The method could help communities better prepare for approaching storms.

  • FOOD SECURITYCollaborative Planning for Australian Food Security Preparedness

    By Andrew Henderson

    Australia’s food security, commonly assumed safe thanks to our being a net food exporter, is increasingly vulnerable in a world marked by geopolitical and environmental instability.

  • CLIMATE CHALLENGESWargaming the Future of Climate Change

    By Doug Irving

    Military leaders have used games to think through everything from nuclear escalation to pandemic disease to the dangers of artificial intelligence. Players in these games might face any number of calamities with every turn—but, until recently, climate change was not one of them. That has changed.

  • CATASTROPHIC RISKSGlobal Catastrophic Risk Assessment

    By Henry H. Willis, Anu Narayanan et al.

    Global catastrophic and existential risks hold the potential to threaten human civilization. Addressing these risks is crucial for ensuring humans’ long-term survival and flourishing.

  • CATASTROPHIC RISKSCan We Live on Our Planet without Destroying It?

    By René Fransen

    With eight billion people, we use a lot of the Earth’s resources in ways that are likely unsustainable. How can we adapt our lifestyle to stay within the limits of what the Earth can give? Klaus Hubacek investigates planetary boundaries.

  • DISASTERS3 Innovative Ways to Help Countries Hit by Climate Disasters, Beyond a Loss and Damage Fund

    By Erin Coughlan de Perez

    The usual sources of disaster aid funding haven’t come close to meeting the need in hard-hit countries in recent years. So, groups are developing new ways to meet the need more effectively. In some cases, they are getting aid to countries before the damage occurs.

  • DISASTERSAmid Hurricane Milton’s Devastation, a Sliver of Good News

    By Anna Lamb

    Earlier this month Hurricane Milton caused an estimated $50 billion in damage and claimed the lives of at least 14 people, yet didn’t deliver the scale of destruction some had feared. Cellphone data suggest evacuation mandates, warning systems worked.

  • CLIMATE CHALLENGESClimate-Fueled Extreme Weather Is Hiking Up Car Insurance Rates

    By Kiley Price

    As climate change accelerates, hurricanes, wildfires and hail storms pound the U.S. with growing vigor—and the insurance market is struggling to foot the bill of the damages they leave behind for customers. Home insurers have raised premiums after extreme weather events. Now car insurers in the U.S. are doing the same thing.