Natural hazards – The Conversation

Landslide risk is rising as extreme rainfall intensifies. New tools using satellite data and AI can help map where failures are most likely.

The climate policies I research aren’t working – as I found out the hard way.

After the fatal landslides at Mount Maunganui, attention has focused on recent tree removal from Mauao. But landslides rarely have simple causes.

Private firefighters in affluent LA neighbourhoods are a sign of an increasingly privatised response to disasters.

We rarely see good news headlines when a cyclone, earthquake or wildfire does not turn disastrous.

Rising premiums and insurer retreat reflect deeper shifts in risk – and strain on a system built for a different era.

Satellite remote sensing allows rapid, detailed disaster response and planning. But the rules governing who controls and has access to the data aren’t keeping up.

Many cities continue to allow developers to build homes in areas that have a high risk of flooding.

This was no ‘natural disaster’. There are lessons to learn from areas that survived the fires.

Tragic slips in the Bay of Plenty highlight how geology, heavy rainfall and climate change are combining to amplify a largely hidden risk.

As Australia’s south-east states reel from intense winds, many of us wonder if the trees near us are safe.

Scientists mapped the evolution of 140 glacial lakes in Alaska and found a way to tell how much larger and destructive they can get as their glaciers melt.

Rip currents are one of the great dangers of Australian beaches. We can learn a lot about avoiding and escaping this natural hazard by asking survivors what being caught in a rip is really like.

Scientists can warn of a risk of floods days in advance. But forecasts often aren’t definitive enough to trigger action.

As heavier rain raises landslide risk, gaps in data, law and funding leave New Zealand relying on response rather than prevention.

Managed retreat can be traumatic and hard. But with good planning, the land left behind can serve new purposes, and make public what was once private.

After a series of extreme weather events over the past month, NZ has been reminded that disasters aren’t just acts of nature.