Disasters can wipe out affordable housing forever unless communities plan ahead – that loss hurts the economy

The most affordable homes face the highest risks from disasters for three key reasons.

Shannon Van Zandt, Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning, Texas A&M University • conversation
Feb. 9, 2022 ~9 min

Disaster news on TV and social media can trigger post-traumatic stress in kids thousands of miles away – here’s why some are more vulnerable

Children don’t have to be in physical danger for disaster images to have a powerful psychological impact.

Anthony Steven Dick, Professor of Psychology, Florida International University • conversation
Feb. 7, 2022 ~10 min


How to build wildfire-resistant communities on the wildland fringe

As more people move into high fire-risk areas and rebuilding after destructive blazes, an architect explains what to do to keep properties as safe as possible.

Jeanne Homer, Professor of Architecture, Oklahoma State University • conversation
Feb. 1, 2022 ~9 min

New flood maps show US damage rising 26% in next 30 years due to climate change alone, and the inequity is stark

A street-by-street analysis shows where the risks are rising fastest and also lays bare the inequities of who has to endure America’s crippling flood problem.

Paul Bates, Professor of Hydrology, School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol • conversation
Jan. 31, 2022 ~9 min

2021’s biggest climate and weather disasters cost the U.S. $145 billion – here's what climate science says about them in 5 essential reads

Devastating wildfires, the Texas freeze and a hurricane that wreaked havoc from Louisiana to New York City topped NOAA’s list of billion-dollar disasters in 2021. (CHECK LIST)

Stacy Morford, Environment + Climate Editor • conversation
Jan. 10, 2022 ~10 min

Devastating Colorado fires cap a year of climate disasters in 2021, with one side of the country too wet, the other dangerously dry

US disasters in 2021 told a tale of two climate extremes. A climate scientist explains why wet areas are getting wetter and dry areas drier.

Shuang-Ye Wu, Professor of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, University of Dayton • conversation
Dec. 21, 2021 ~9 min

2021’s climate disasters revealed an east-west weather divide, with one side of the country too wet, the other dangerously dry

US disasters in 2021 told a tale of two climate extremes. A climate scientist explains why wet areas are getting wetter and dry areas drier.

Shuang-Ye Wu, Professor of Geology and Environmental Geosciences, University of Dayton • conversation
Dec. 21, 2021 ~8 min

An expert on search and rescue robots explains the technologies used in disasters like the Florida condo collapse

At building collapse sites, aerial drones and ground robots can extend the eyes and ears of search and rescue personnel to places people can't go – above and inside the rubble pile.

Robin R. Murphy, Raytheon Professor of Computer Science and Engineering; Vice-President Center for Robot-Assisted Search and Rescue (nfp), Texas A&M University • conversation
June 30, 2021 ~8 min


Florida condo collapse – searching for answers about what went wrong in Surfside can improve building regulation

Investigators are searching for what caused the tall apartment building near Miami to suddenly fail. What they find could lead to changes in building codes.

Norb Delatte, M.R. Lohmann Professor of Engineering and the Head of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Oklahoma State University • conversation
June 28, 2021 ~7 min

'Natural' disasters are due to societal failures – so, here's a six-point pandemic recovery plan

Natural disaster is a misnomer. Disasters occur due to societal failures, not nature.

Ilan Kelman, Professor of Disasters and Health, UCL • conversation
June 21, 2021 ~9 min

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