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Researching the Future of Emergency Management
The research will consider emerging innovations in areas such as artificial intelligence, geospatial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, and decision aids, to equip and support emergency managers for the future.
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One- to Four-Family Properties with Multiple Losses Insured by the National Flood Insurance Program
What are the characteristics of properties that have experienced multiple flood losses (e.g., percentage of overall claims payments, number of losses, and structure characteristics)? What are the socioeconomic characteristics of multiple loss property (MLP) households and the communities in which they are located? What percentage of MLPs have been mitigated, what are the socioeconomics characteristics of neighborhoods where MLPs have been mitigated, and how effective has mitigation been in reducing risk?
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What Causes Mudslides and Floods After Wildfires? Hint: It’s Not What Scientists Thought
Researchers believed a waxy coating in burnt soil caused water to run over the ground’s surface. They now find that burnt ground can absorb water, findings that can help them more accurately predict flooding and mudslides after a fire.
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Florida’s Home Insurance Crisis Isn’t Going Away
It’s hard to make money selling home insurance in Florida. For one thing, the state is very vulnerable to hurricanes, and those hurricanes are getting stronger thanks to climate change. A legal loophole has made the state a hotbed for fraudulent litigation over insurance claims, and companies lose even more money fighting those lawsuits. And reinsurers are charging insurance companies much higher fees owing to climate change-driven disaster losses.
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Adapting to Wildfires in a Warming World
Recent wildfires in Canada and California offer a preview of a world made far more dangerous by climate change, one in which smoke and fire exact an ever-increasing toll on public health and the economy.
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Climate Change Is Increasing Stress on Thousands of Aging Dams Across the U.S.
There are more than 91,000 dams across the U.S., in all 50 states, with diverse designs and purposes. The average dam age is 60 years, and more than 8,000 dams are over 90 years old. The American Society of Civil Engineers’ report card for the nation’s infrastructure gave U.S. dams a “D” grade.
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As Unprecedented Rainfalls Occur More Frequently, What Can Be Done About the Resulting Flash Floods?
Record rainfall is wreaking havoc in northern India and New York state as flash floods inundate communities. Experts have called for better resilience through ‘weatherproofing.’
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Radar Can Help Fight Wildfires, Identify Flash-Flood Risks
Radar imaging technology can provide valuable insight into the location and extent of wildfires in remote Arctic and Subarctic forests, like those currently burning in Canada. Capable of penetrating clouds and smoke, and imaging day and night, Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) can play a critical role in wildfire monitoring.
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Forecasting Flash Floods an Hour in Advance
Korea has recently seen a surge in localized torrential rain and floods due to global warming. Frequent flash floods are hard to forecast and, when forecast, the accuracy is low. Forecasting of localized flash floods, based on rainfall radar, to commence soon.
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What Are the Odds of a Truly Catastrophic, Even Extinction-Causing, Disaster?
The Forecastong Research Institute (FRI) brought together forecasters from two groups with distinctive claims to knowledge about humanity’s future — experts in various domains relevant to existential risk, and “superforecasters” with a track record of predictive accuracy over short time horizons. FRI asked tournament participants to predict the likelihood of global risks related to nuclear weapon use, biorisks, and AI, along with dozens of other related, shorter-run forecasts.
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Testing Next Generation Flood and Wildfire Alerting Technology
DHS S&T conducted a demonstration of new technology that integrates unattended flood and wildfire sensors with Integrated Public Alert Warning System (IPAWS) with Open Platform for Emergency Networks (IPAWS-OPEN). These systems have the potential to provide life-saving critical emergency alerts to people in affected areas.
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Extreme Heat Will Cost the U.S. $1 Billion in Health Care Costs — This Summer Alone
Extreme heat — summertime temperatures and humidity that exceed the historical average — is being made more frequent and intense by climate change. High temperatures could lead to 235,000 ER visits and 56,000 hospital admissions for heat-related conditions annually.
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New York’s Climate Buyout Plans Must Put Communities First: Experts
In 2022, New York State passed the Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act. Among its many objectives, the act promises to invest more than a billion dollars toward flood protection across the state — including through voluntary private property buyouts. What should a buyout program look like? Designing an equitable buyout program is more complicated than it may seem.
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Climate Change Has Sent Temperatures Soaring in Texas
Hotter days and nights. More record highs. Climate change has shifted the entire range of Texas heat upwards. Heat is one of the deadliest consequences of climate change. It’s already the most dangerous type of weather, typically killing more people annually than hurricanes, tornadoes or flooding.
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FireDrone Supports the Firefighters
Researchers are developing a heat-resistant drone that can analyze the source of danger at close range in the event of a building or forest fire. This allows firefighters to optimize the strategy of a high-risk operation before entering the danger zone.
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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?”