Natural Disasters
-

Get Ready for Smokier Air: Record 2023 Wildfire Smoke Marks Long-Term Shift in North American Air Quality
A new analysis of air quality data from the past 70 years shows a broader, continent-wide trend toward smokier skies.
-

It’s Been One Year Since Wildfires Devastated Los Angeles. What Have We Learned?
In the wake of the fires, our disaster expert says that “we have the lessons we need to do better and recover better, but there is a stubbornness to learning and applying them.”
-

Can Generative AI Help Strengthen Disaster Preparedness and Resilience Among Youth?
New research indicates that GenAI chatbots, if thoughtfully designed and equitably implemented, can serve as a transformative tool for strengthening youth participation in disaster risk reduction.
-

The July 4 Floods in Texas Weren’t a One-Off. They Were a Warning.
We cannot afford to focus solely on short-term fixes, while ignoring the long-term drivers of disaster risk.
-

Sailing Around the Bangladesh Coastal Zone
The future sustainability of the delta depends on the balance of sea level rise, the subsidence of the land, and the deposition of sediments that can help maintain the land.
-

Driving Around the Bangladesh Coastal Zone
Mike Steckler travels around the coastal zone of the world’s largest delta in Bangladesh to repair GNSS (GPS) instruments.
-

Societies Are Unprepared for the Human Costs of Climate Overshoot
While scientists have made progress describing overshoot’s physical impacts, its humanitarian and social consequences need greater focus, say the authors.
-

Continuing on to Comilla, Dhaka and the Coast
After finishing fixing their global navigation satellite system equipment in Sylhet, Mike Steckler and his team traveled south to repair more stations in Comilla, then to Dhaka and the coast.
-

Repairing Global Navigation Satellite Systems in the Land of Tea
Mike Steckler is back in Sylhet, Bangladesh, to repair GNSS stations that are monitoring tectonics and earthquake hazards, and measuring the sinking of the land in the world’s biggest delta.

By studying thousands of buildings and analyzing their electricity use, Columbia Climate School Dean Alexis Abramson has been able to uncover ways to significantly cut energy consumption and emissions. Watch the Video: “Engineering a Cooler Future Through Smarter Buildings“
