SDG Indicator 16.1.1 Detected victims of intentional homicide, by sex (women) vs. SDG Indicator 1.5.1 Number of people affected by disaster. Research shows that violence against women and girls increases in the aftermath of disasters. At the extreme end of the scale, this takes the form of intentional homicides. Data: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs analysis based on Global Sustainable Development Goal Indicators Database (UN DESA, 2021). Graphic: UNDRR

Humanity entering “spiral of self-destruction”, UN warns – “By deliberately ignoring risk and failing to integrate it in decision making, the world is effectively bankrolling its own destruction”

26 April 2022 (France 24) – Humanity is suffering from a “broken perception of risk”, spurring us into activities and behaviours that cause climate change and a surging number of disasters around the globe, the UN warned Tuesday. In a fresh report, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, or UNDRR, found that between 350 and […]

Climate change impacts on poverty by 2030 in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Additional people living in extreme poverty as a percent of the total population, by country (left); additional people living in extreme poverty, by country (right). Climate change could drive millions of people in LAC back into extreme poverty. Graphic: World Bank

Climate disasters in Latin America threaten to drive six million into poverty in next decade

By David Callaway 26 April 2022 MANAGUA, Nicaragua (Callaway Climate Insights) – As Latin America prepares for another disastrous hurricane season, two major intergovernmental reports are pointing to the need for urgency in reversing years of climate-related disasters that have driven more people into poverty. A report by the World Bank this month said over the past […]

European surface air temperature anomalies for summer (JJA) 1950–2021, relative to the average for the 1991–2020 reference period. In 2021, summer temperatures were about 1 degree Celsius above the average over the past three decades, with Italy even recording temperatures of 48.8C – a provisional record for the whole of Europe. Data source: ERA5, E-OBS. Credit: C3S / ECMWF / KNMI

Europe suffered year of climate chaos in 2021 with hottest summer on record – “We are facing a lot of challenges”

By Gloria Dickie and Kate Abnett 22 April 2022 (Reuters) – Europeans endured the hottest summer on record last year, with wildfires, floods and intense heatwaves hitting the continent, according to a report by EU scientists released Friday. Summer temperatures were about 1 degree Celsius above the average over the past three decades, with Italy even recording […]

Coastal flooding at the historic site at Jamestown, Virginia in 2009. Three feet of water accumulated after a storm. Such events now occur several times a year, and the site is often closed for safety reasons. Photo: Michael Lavin / Jamestown Rediscovery

Jamestown: America’s first English settlement now endangered by rising sea level – “There is basically a five-year window at Jamestown”

By Jane O’Brien 4 May 2022 JAMESTOWN, Virginia (BBC News) – One of the most important historic sites in America has been put on a list of endangered places. Preservation groups warn that Jamestown, Virginia, may not survive another generation because of climate change. In 1607, the small island near the mouth of the Chesapeake […]

2m surface temperature over Asia on 30 April 2022. Pakistan temperatures soared up to a scorching 49C (120.2F), one of the hottest temperatures ever recorded on Earth in April. Graphic: Climate Reanalyzer

Pakistan and India suffer extreme spring heatwaves – “We are living in hell”

By Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Shah Meer Baloch 2 May 2022 DELHI and ISLAMABAD (The Guardian) – For the past few weeks, Nazeer Ahmed has been living in one of the hottest places on Earth. As a brutal heatwave has swept across India and Pakistan, his home in Turbat, in Pakistan’s Balochistan region, has been suffering […]

Aerial view of a landslide caused by tropical storm Megi, which hit the village of Kantagnos in Baybay town, Leyte province, Philippines, on 13 April 2022. Photo: Bobbie Alota / AFP / Getty Images

Storm Megi death toll rises as hundreds of thousands displaced in Philippines, nearly 2 million residents affected 

By Akanksha Sharma 14 April 2022 (CNN) – The death toll in the Philippines from tropical storm Megi has risen to 76 while hundreds of thousands of others remain displaced, authorities in the country said Wednesday. Many of the deaths came in landslides and floods caused when the storm made landfall on Sunday, battering the eastern […]

Satellite view of container yards with strewn shipping containers in Durban, South Africa, after record flooding, 14 April 2022 Photo: Maxar Technologies

South Africa flood toll rises to 443 in deadliest flood and worst rains in 60 years – “This is a catastrophe of enormous proportions”

17 April 2022 (AFP) – The death toll from floods that have battered South Africa’s east coast has risen to 443, including a rescuer, a regional official said today, as dozens more are still missing. “The death toll now stands at 443,” Sihle Zikalala, the premier of the KwaZulu-Natal province told a media briefing, adding […]

John Lawrence and Payton Campbell (unseen at rear) with their children Harlow and Aria inspect a flooded road near their home on 2 March 2022 in Dungay, Australia. Several northern New South Wales towns were forced to evacuate as Australia faced unprecedented storms and the worst flooding in a decade. Photo: Dan Peled / Getty Images

Coastal home buyers are ignoring rising flood risks, despite clear warnings and rising insurance premiums

By Risa Palm and Toby W. Bolsen 25 March 2022 (The Conversation) – Apollo Beach, Florida, is a maze of canals lined with hundreds of houses perched right near the water’s edge. The whole community, just south of Tampa, is only about 3 feet above sea level, meaning it’s at risk from storm surge as […]

Lismore, Australia residents Tim Fry and Zara Coronakes and son Ezekiel stand outside the remains of their flooded home on 11 March 2022. Photo: Jason O'Brien / AAP

After the Australia floods, the distressing but necessary case for managed retreat – “Is it fair for taxpayers to carry the huge burden of paying for future rescue and relief costs?”

By Antonia Settle 13 March 2022 (The Conversation) – From Brisbane to Sydney, many thousands of Australians have been reliving a devastating experience they hoped – in 2021, 2020, 2017, 2015, 2013, 2012 or 2010/11 – would never happen to them again. For some suburbs built on the flood plains of the Nepean River in […]

Aerial view of the town of Beenleigh, Queensland on 29 February 2022 compared with 2 March 2022 (after flooding). The images were captured by the Nearmap proprietary aerial camera system attached to planes. Photo: Nearmap / The Washington Post

Australia’s cataclysmic floods raise specter of permanent retreat as towns become uninsurable – Sydney to be hit by another 100mm (4 inches) of rain in four days as bureau warns of flood fatigue – “The taxpayer is now the insurer”

By Sarah Keoghan and Laura Chung 22 March 2022 (SMH) – The Bureau of Meteorology has urged residents in flood-prone areas to remain vigilant as 100 millimetres of rain is forecast for Sydney over the next four days. Senior meteorologist Jackson Browne said the weather bureau was concerned flood-fatigued residents living in at-risk areas may […]

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