Natural Disasters Archives - Page 2 of 57 - State of the Planet

wildfire california

State Farm’s California Pullout: What It Means for Climate Adaptation and Communities

Do decisions like State Farm’s aid in moving people out of harm’s way? Climate School experts discuss.

by |June 7, 2023
map of us in shades of red, orange, and yellow

New Tool Helps Communities Prepare for Natural Hazards

A revamped map lets you zoom in to check the climate, weather, and geological hazards in your own backyard and then learn how to protect yourself.

by Emily Halnon |May 19, 2023
Display image from the NYS FIDSS mapping tool shows a zoomed-in area of Newburgh, New York, in the lower Hudson River Valley, shows critical infrastructure along the river, vulnerable to flooding.

New Mapper Opens Up Access to Flood Planning in New York State

An easy-to-use flood planning tool visualizes building footprint data for nearly all New York State, except New York City.

by |May 18, 2023

Upcoming Scientific Fieldwork, 2023 and Beyond

Climate School researchers are carrying out fieldwork on every continent and every ocean. A guide to upcoming projects.

by |May 9, 2023
jeff schlegelmilch in washington dc

Why It’s So Hard to Be Prepared for Disasters

Disaster expert Jeffrey Schlegelmilch discusses February’s devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria, the challenges to building resilience, and how emergencies can reveal the inner workings of a society.

by Daniella Zandi |March 15, 2023
Flooding in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Should We Stop Using the Term ‘Natural Disaster’?

The words we use to describe events matter. Would a different term elicit more substantial change?

by Ella Jacobs |March 14, 2023

What We Need to Learn From Climate-Accelerated Extreme Weather Events

We need to build our response capacity leading up to extreme-weather emergencies and implement a more systematic and assured process of reconstruction for victims in the aftermath.

by |March 6, 2023

Towering Wildfire Clouds Are Affecting the Stratosphere, and the Climate

Aircraft collecting data from clouds of smoke have revealed surprising effects of wildfires on the ground.

by |February 28, 2023
map of earthquake impacts

Gauging Losses and Lessons in Turkey’s Unfolding Earthquake Tragedy

As earthquake engineers stress, most of the time, buildings kill people, not the shaking itself. It’s exceedingly hard to unbuild, move back, or retrofit buildings at scale.

by |February 7, 2023

New Trainings Will Lead the Way on Climate Resilience and Equitable Disaster Response

With a $1.5 million grant from FEMA, Columbia Climate School’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness will create and deliver trainings on climate resilience with a focus on equity for state, local, tribal, and territorial emergency managers.

by |January 30, 2023