Breaking News: Natural Disasters

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Released: 28-Mar-2023 1:15 PM EDT
SMART warnings could protect communities at risk from flooding
University of Birmingham

Engaging communities in developing a real-time early warning system could help to reduce the often-devastating impact of flooding on people and property – particularly in mountainous regions where extreme water events are a ‘wicked’ problem, a new study reveals

Newswise: Phytoplankton blooms offer insight into impacts of climate change
Released: 23-Mar-2023 4:15 PM EDT
Phytoplankton blooms offer insight into impacts of climate change
University of Otago

The first study into the biological response of the upper ocean in the wake of South Pacific cyclones could help predict the impact of warming ocean temperatures, New Zealand researchers believe.

Released: 23-Mar-2023 9:50 AM EDT
Housing plays key role in disaster preparedness
Ohio State University

Researchers focus a lot of attention on how disasters such as hurricanes and floods affect people’s housing in the United States. But a new national study found that housing is also important before disasters happen: People with homes not meeting federal quality classifications and those who are housing insecure tend to be less prepared to face natural calamities.

Released: 14-Mar-2023 6:40 PM EDT
A mechanistic and probabilistic method for predicting wildfires
Lehigh University

Data shows that between 2016-2020, at least five of the top 20 most destructive California wildfires started from power systems. Paired with the extreme weather conditions and nearby vegetation, power system-ignited incidents are more likely to develop into large, intense wildfires.

Released: 7-Mar-2023 3:50 PM EST
A new study unveils the mechanism behind the generation of large tsunamis off the Northwest Mexican Coast
Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)

The Northwest Pacific coast of Mexico is an area struck by large earthquakes and tsunamis as a result of the interaction of two tectonic plates. However, to date, the structure of the continental margin and, therefore, the causes behind the generation of these natural hazards were unknown.

Newswise: Choi.jpg
Released: 1-Mar-2023 3:20 PM EST
Tracking Trash: Researchers use aerial imaging to capture rapidly changing hurricane debris data
Florida State University

Juyeong Choi, an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, will lead a $75,000 National Science Foundation-funded study examining debris collection and illegal dumping in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, a Category 4 storm that hit southwestern Florida in 2022.

Released: 28-Feb-2023 10:05 AM EST
The claim that U.S. temperatures are not trending upward is false
Newswise

It is simply false to claim that data from the Climate Reference Network show no warming over the last 18 years. There is a warming trend. Even if it was true, the US represents only 1.9 % of the Earth's surface.

Newswise: One is bad enough: climate change raises the threat of back-to-back hurricanes
Released: 27-Feb-2023 7:20 PM EST
One is bad enough: climate change raises the threat of back-to-back hurricanes
Princeton University School of Engineering and Applied Science

Getting hit with one hurricane is bad enough, but new research from Princeton University’s engineering school shows that back-to-back versions may become common for many areas in coming decades.

Released: 24-Feb-2023 2:15 PM EST
We cannot predict earthquakes with accuracy, despite claim
Newswise

The claim a Dutch researcher predicted the February earthquake in Turkey and Syria would happen three days before it occurred is misleading. Despite the accuracy of his prediction, scientists cannot predict when and where an earthquake will occur.

Released: 22-Feb-2023 3:50 PM EST
Study by FSU researchers finds resilience to natural disasters lags in Black communities
Florida State University

Years after Hurricane Michael devastated Florida’s Gulf Coast, residents of that area are still struggling to overcome the trauma of the Category 5 storm. In a recent study, FSU researchers found that trauma and a host of psychosocial and physical challenges caused by Hurricane Michael are disproportionately affecting the region’s Black communities.

Newswise: Eren-Erman-Ozguven-RIDER-Center-900x600.jpeg
Released: 20-Feb-2023 5:05 PM EST
The road to safety: Researchers work to improve access to special needs hurricane shelters
Florida State University

New research from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the Resilient Infrastructure and Disaster Response Center (RIDER) shows how repurposing regular hurricane shelters to special needs shelters could cut travel times for vulnerable populations.

Newswise: Poor infrastructure in Turkey, Syria partially to blame for the high number of earthquake casualties, says expert
Released: 20-Feb-2023 12:05 PM EST
Poor infrastructure in Turkey, Syria partially to blame for the high number of earthquake casualties, says expert
Virginia Tech

The earthquakes in Turkey and Syria killed over 45,000 people and decimated large areas. The shockingly high number of fatalities raises the question of whether infrastructure issues are to blame. Roberto Leon, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Tech, said there are several reasons for the large number of collapses, leading to mass casualties: Poor enforcement of existing codes (modern codes instituted after the 1999 Izmit earthquake) Grandfathering of older, deficient structures and not requiring their retrofit (structures built before 1999) Poor construction practices (i.

Newswise: New Technique Maps Large-scale Impacts of Fire-induced Permafrost Thaw in Alaska
Released: 14-Feb-2023 8:30 AM EST
New Technique Maps Large-scale Impacts of Fire-induced Permafrost Thaw in Alaska
Florida Atlantic University

For the first time, researchers have developed a machine learning-based ensemble approach to quantify fire-induced thaw settlement across the entire Tanana Flats in Alaska, which encompasses more than 3 million acres. They linked airborne repeat lidar data to time-series Landsat products (satellite images) to delineate thaw settlement patterns across six large fires that have occurred since 2000. The six fires resulted in a loss of nearly 99,000 acres of evergreen forest from 2000 to 2014 among nearly 155,000 acres of fire-influenced forests with varying degrees of burn severity. This novel approach helped to explain about 65 percent of the variance in lidar-detected elevation change.

Released: 10-Feb-2023 7:35 PM EST
To save our pets, we need to know our neighbors' Lessons from an urban firestorm
University of Colorado Boulder

More than 1,000 pets perished in the Dec. 30 Marshall Fire in Boulder County, Colo., many of them trapped inside their homes as guardians who had left for the day desperately tried to devise a plan to free them, according to new CU Boulder research published in the journal Animals.

Newswise: Understanding Japan’s earthquakes: New insight into the relationship between slow slip events and the build-up and release of tectonic strain
Released: 10-Feb-2023 5:35 PM EST
Understanding Japan’s earthquakes: New insight into the relationship between slow slip events and the build-up and release of tectonic strain
Kobe University

The Japanese archipelago is actively undergoing seismic shifts due to interactions between the oceanic plate and the continental plate.

Newswise: Microgrid in a Box opening new possibilities in defense, utilities, disaster relief
Released: 9-Feb-2023 10:05 AM EST
Microgrid in a Box opening new possibilities in defense, utilities, disaster relief
Idaho National Laboratory (INL)

Microgrid in a Box, it includes 320 kilowatt-hours of battery storage, and can tie seamlessly into a modern electrical grid and coordinate the distribution of electricity for a small village, military base, or, in the event of a disaster, a hospital, transportation depot, or other critical infrastructure building.

Newswise:Video Embedded ohio-state-virtual-reality-technology-prepares-first-responders-for-mass-casualty-events
VIDEO
Released: 9-Feb-2023 9:50 AM EST
Ohio State virtual reality technology prepares first responders for mass casualty events
Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center

The increasing frequency of active shooter incidents and other mass casualty events places heighten pressure on first responders to quickly assess, triage and treat victims to save lives. To help first responders prepare for these critical events, The Ohio State University College of Medicine developed a cutting-edge virtual reality disaster response training program.

   
Released: 8-Feb-2023 2:50 PM EST
New method helps scientists better predict when volcanos will erupt
Cornell University

Cornell University researchers have unearthed precise, microscopic clues to where magma is stored, offering a way to better assess the risk of volcanic eruptions.

Released: 7-Feb-2023 4:45 PM EST
As extreme weather events become more often and intensify, the number of people and places exposed to flooding events is likely to grow
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

As extreme weather events become more often and intensify, the number of people and places exposed to flooding events is likely to grow.

Newswise: Earthquake Expert from Turkey on Devastation in Turkey and Syria
Released: 7-Feb-2023 9:00 AM EST
Earthquake Expert from Turkey on Devastation in Turkey and Syria
California State University, Fullerton

Sinan Akçiz, assistant professor of geological sciences at Cal State Fullerton, turned his Introduction to Geology class on Monday into a real-life lesson about earthquakes and the devastation taking place in his native country, Turkey.

   
Newswise: Ice cores show even dormant volcanoes leak abundant sulfur into the atmosphere
Released: 6-Feb-2023 3:05 PM EST
Ice cores show even dormant volcanoes leak abundant sulfur into the atmosphere
University of Washington

Non-erupting volcanoes leak a surprisingly high amount of sulfur-containing gases. A Greenland ice core shows that volcanoes quietly release at least three times as much sulfur into the Arctic atmosphere than estimated by current climate models. Aerosols are the most uncertain aspect of current climate models, so better estimates could improve the accuracy of long-term projections.

Newswise: Looking back at the Tonga eruption
Released: 27-Jan-2023 2:25 PM EST
Looking back at the Tonga eruption
Hokkaido University

A new analysis of seismic data recorded after the massively violent eruption of the underwater volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai, on January 15, 2022, has revealed new and useful information on the sequence of events.

Released: 26-Jan-2023 2:40 PM EST
Risk Communication Expert Examines Earthquake Post-Alert Messaging Following False Alarm
University at Albany, State University of New York

The false alert, the first of its kind in the United States, offered a unique opportunity to learn more about the importance of early warning earthquake and post-alert messaging.

   
Newswise: NASA says 2022 fifth warmest year on record, warming trend continues
Released: 13-Jan-2023 7:15 PM EST
NASA says 2022 fifth warmest year on record, warming trend continues
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Earth's average surface temperature in 2022 tied with 2015 as the fifth warmest on record, according to an analysis by NASA.

Released: 4-Jan-2023 6:45 PM EST
How climate change impacts the Indian Ocean dipole, leading to severe droughts and floods
Brown University

With a new analysis of long-term climate data, researchers say they now have a much better understanding of how climate change can impact and cause sea water temperatures on one side of the Indian Ocean to be so much warmer or cooler than the temperatures on the other — a phenomenon that can lead to sometimes deadly weather-related events like megadroughts in East Africa and severe flooding in Indonesia.

Released: 4-Jan-2023 6:40 PM EST
Climate risk insurance can effectively mitigate economic losses
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

In the US, hurricanes caused more than $400 billion in direct economic losses over the historical period 1980–2014, with losses peaking at more than $150 billion in 2005, the year when hurricane Katrina made landfall.

Newswise: Cyclone researchers: Warming climate means more and stronger Atlantic tropical storms
Released: 4-Jan-2023 4:30 PM EST
Cyclone researchers: Warming climate means more and stronger Atlantic tropical storms
Iowa State University

Researchers report a warming climate could increase the number and intensity of tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic, potentially creating more and stronger hurricanes. Researchers also examine a possible explanation for the relatively constant number of tropical cyclones around the globe every year.

Newswise: Surf, Sand and Seaweed: The latest breakthroughs in Marine Science
Released: 4-Jan-2023 1:40 PM EST
Surf, Sand and Seaweed: The latest breakthroughs in Marine Science
Newswise

Here are some of the latest articles that have been added to the Marine Science channel on Newswise, a free source for media.

Newswise: Americans Flocking to Fire: National Migration Study
5-Dec-2022 5:00 AM EST
Americans Flocking to Fire: National Migration Study
University of Vermont

Americans are leaving many of the U.S. counties hit hardest by hurricanes and heatwaves—and moving towards dangerous wildfires and warmer temperatures, says one of the largest studies of U.S. migration and natural disasters. These results are concerning, as wildfire and rising temperatures are projected to worsen with climate change. The study was inspired by the increasing number of headlines of record-breaking natural disasters.

   
Released: 5-Dec-2022 4:05 PM EST
We ain't misbehavin' here. The latest news in Behavioral Science on Newswise
Newswise

Here are some of the latest articles that have been added to the Behavioral Science channel on Newswise, a free source for journalists.

       
Released: 30-Nov-2022 4:35 PM EST
Landslide risk remains long after an earthquake
Newcastle University

Satellite observations have revealed that weak seismic ground shaking can trigger powerful landslide acceleration – even several years after a significant earthquake.


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