Victoria University of Wellington
Successive governments have opted for an ad-hoc approach in response to natural disasters—and it's the worst approach to take, argue Ilan Noy and Belinda Storey.
The Conversation
New research shows successive NZ governments keep opting for expensive short-term fixes after floods and other disasters. But there are two other choices available.
CNN
For around 2,000 years, global sea levels hardly varied. That changed in the twentieth century. Sea levels started rising and have not stopped since â and now, the pace is accelerating.
Some impacts of climate change are so severe communities simply cannot adapt to them. That's where addressing "loss and damage" comes in.
The Conversation
Adaptive planning doesn’t mean people have to abandon coastal towns. It is about having a roadmap with multiple options to adjust as climate conditions evolve.
The Conversation
Despite thousands of kilometres of coastline, 93% of domestic freight is transported on New Zealand’s roads. But shipping – and rail – can help build resiliency.
The Conversation
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.
www.stuff.co.nz
April is here and the weather systems are about to ginger up, just in time for the clocks going back an hour this weekend.
The Conversation
Restraining rivers through stop banks and channels transfers and heightens flood risks downstream. Allowing them to roam free limits flooding and delivers other ecological benefits.
The Conversation
New Zealand relies on data from insurance and an international source to assess damages from extreme weather. But these datasets are fragmented, incomplete and unreliable.
The Conversation
A million tourists visit Milford Sound every year, including on cruise ships. What is the level of risk from natural disaster New Zealand is prepared to accept?
House and apartment owners who have their premises insured have every reason to keep a lookout for the results of a Treasury review of the country’s hazard liability risks. It will almost certainly lead to a rise in levies for natural disaster insurance because the $6 billion accumulated by the Natural Hazards Fund as reserves from which... Keep Reading
Point of Order
Eric Crampton writes - Treasury is consulting on changes to the Natural Hazards Insurance Levy – formerly known as the EQC levy. The Herald’s Jenée Tibshraeny reports that Treasury is considering increasing the Natural Hazards Commission’s cap from $345,000 to $460,000 while increasing the levy by up to $400 per year to make up the…
Salon
"It's really pretty dangerous out there," California fire victims say.
Fires devastated communities in Los Angeles this January. Data shows how unusual this was for the season, and how fire trends are changing with the climate.
The Conversation
Accepting change in the aftermath of natural disasters is hard. But long-term survival may require embracing managed retreat rather than repeated rebuilds.
The Conversation
Biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution do not happen in isolation, but proposed solutions too often fail to account for this. Two major reports point the way forward.
Newsroom
Comment: Wellington may be most famous for earthquakes, but the tsunami that damaged the city 170 years ago proved it’s a threat we should be preparing for.
www.psu.edu
As wildfires relentlessly sweep across Southern California and other parts of the world, Manzhu Yu, an assistant professor of geography at Penn State who works closely with wildfire behavior, smoke prediction and exposure analysis, offered insights into the ongoing wildfire crisis in Los Angeles.
The Conversation
The Los Angeles fires may be the most costly natural disaster in US history. An expert on safety, risk reduction and complex systems calls for a blue-ribbon commission to analyze their causes.
RNZ
Two major tsunami that swamped the east coast have been labelled a "missed opportunities", so what do we need to change to be prepared?
the Guardian
John Vaillant, the author of Fire Weather, explains why fires such as those in Los Angeles are different from those before
Mother Jones
The Los Angeles inferno is a case study for how blazes can spread, even in urban landscapes.
dw.com
The specter of flames devouring built environments has become more familiar over recent years and is often blamed on climate change. But is that always the case?
Newsroom
Exploding transformers and crippling worldwide power outages: NZ's disaster experts say the threat posed by solar storms is comparable to nuclear war
Natural hazard risk is a reality of living in New Zealand. Use this checklist to make sure you understand the risk profile of a property, before you buy.
Carbon capture and storage technology can trap CO2 emissions at their source. But there’s debate around how much it should be relied on as a climate solution.
World Meteorological Organization
WMO’s State of the Global Climate report confirmed that 2024 was likely the first calendar year to be more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial era, with a global mean near-surface temperature of 1.55 ± 0.13 °C above the 1850-1900 average. This is the warmest year in the 175-year observational record.WMO’s flagship report showed that:
Weather West - California weather and climate perspectives
Home of the Weather West blog by Daniel Swain
Collected news from New Zealand and around the world on natural hazards, emergencies and preparedness Keep Reading
Collected articles from New Zealand and around the world on natural hazards, emergencies and preparedness Keep Reading
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Natural Hazards