research Archives - Disasters News

Feb152025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Fujitsu, Yokohama Univ Predict Typhoon Tornadoes Using Supercomputer

Breaking News, Climate Actions, Disasters, Learning & Developments

Fujitsu Limited and Yokohama National University have achieved a groundbreaking milestone by developing the world's first real-time prediction system for multiple tornadoes associated with typhoons. Utilizing Fujitsu’s Fugaku supercomputer and an enhanced version of the Cloud Resolving Storm Simulator (CReSS), this innovation significantly improves disaster preparedness by delivering more accurate and faster tornado forecasts. This advanced system reduces prediction times from over 11 hours to just 80 minutes, allowing forecasts up to four hours ahead of tornado occurrences. Notably, the prediction model only used 5% of Fugaku’s computational capacity, demonstrating the potential for larger-scale simulations and even quicker predictions. Addressing Tornado Prediction Challenges Ab...

Feb152025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Columbia University Launches Climate Finance Masters Program

Breaking News, Climate Actions

Columbia University’s Climate School has introduced a groundbreaking master’s degree in climate finance, the first of its kind in the U.S. The program, launching this fall, aims to equip professionals with financial and scientific expertise to address the challenges and opportunities of climate change and the global energy transition. Developed in partnership with Columbia Business School, the program will focus on a multidisciplinary approach to climate crisis solutions, covering topics like climate science, international finance, capital markets, and energy financing. Alexis Abramson, Dean of the Climate School, highlighted the need for collaborative problem-solving, emphasizing the importance of integrating finance with climate strategies to combat the global crisis. Costis Mag...

Feb142025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

New Study Reveals Why Rock-Ice Avalanches Travel Farther, Proposes Key Friction Equation

Breaking News, Learning & Developments

Rock avalanches are a significant hazard in mountainous regions, but when ice is present, the risk escalates dramatically. In colder regions, rock-ice avalanches avalanches consisting of both rock and ice tend to travel much farther than those made up of rock alone. Despite this well-known behavior, scientists have long struggled to understand the exact mechanism behind this increased mobility. A recent study led by Fan et al. [2024] sheds new light on this mystery using advanced experimental methods. The researchers developed a state-of-the-art flume setup equipped with high-speed cameras that can operate at temperatures as low as −10°C. This allowed them to closely observe how ice fragments interact with rock fragments during avalanche simulations, offering unprecedented insight into ...

Feb102025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Climate Change Threatens Mediterranean Fisheries With 41% Drop in River Flow

Breaking News, Climate Actions, Environment

A new study by European scientists warns that freshwater flowing through rivers into the Mediterranean Sea could decline by as much as 41% due to climate change. The research, published on February 3, 2025, outlines a worst-case scenario in which global temperatures rise by 4°C above pre-industrial levels, drastically altering coastal ecosystems and threatening the region’s fisheries. The decrease in river flow would reduce freshwater and nutrient inputs, leading to lower primary productivity in the Mediterranean’s marine ecosystem. This would have cascading effects on the food chain, ultimately impacting commercially valuable seafood species. "The results show that 41% less river flow could slash marine productivity by 10% and fish biomass by 6% in the Mediterranean, leading to annu...

Feb82025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Megadroughts Expanding Globally as Climate Warms, New Study Finds

Breaking News, Climate Actions, Disasters, Environment

A groundbreaking study published in Science has revealed that megadroughts severe, long-lasting dry spells have been increasing in size, duration, and intensity over the past four decades. Researchers found that the total land area affected by multiyear droughts has expanded by 50,000 square kilometers (12 million acres) annually, signaling an alarming trend driven by climate change. A Comprehensive Global Drought Catalog For the first time, scientists have compiled a global catalog of long-term drought events since 1980, assessing their effects on vegetation and ranking their severity. The research, led by Liangzhi Chen of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow, and Landscape Research WSL, identified 13,176 individual droughts lasting longer than two years between 1980 and 201...

Feb82025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Climate Crisis hits African Mountains Harder than Expected

Breaking News, Climate Actions, Environment, Learning & Developments

A new study from the University of York reveals that climate change is impacting mountain communities in equatorial Africa far more severely than previously thought, demanding urgent adaptation measures. Researchers interviewed 1,500 smallholder farmers across ten mountain regions in eight countries including Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Rwanda and found widespread reports of rising temperatures, declining rainfall, increased extreme weather, and unpredictable seasons. These shifts are disrupting agriculture, reducing crop yields, and worsening food security for millions. Communities are adapting by changing farming methods, diversifying livelihoods, and improving water and soil management, but responses vary significantly across regions. Experts stress that a one-size-fits-all appro...

Feb62025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

India Advances Biomedical Research with Key Facilities and Partnerships

Breaking News, Fact Check, Learning & Developments

India has taken a significant step forward in biomedical research with the inauguration of its first-ever Ferret Research Facility, the launch of the GARBH-INi-DRISHTI data repository, and a pivotal technology transfer agreement, all aimed at strengthening its role in global health security and advancing research in maternal and child health. The groundbreaking event, held on February 3, 2025, at the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI) in Faridabad, Haryana, was led by Dr. Rajesh Gokhale, Director General of the Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council (BRIC) and Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT). First Ferret Research Facility: Boosting Disease Research The newly inaugurated THSTI Ferret Research Facility marks a significant milesto...

Feb52025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Earthquake Hotspots: Why Suburban Areas Face Greater Devastation

Breaking News, Disasters, Fact Check, Learning & Developments

A vast majority of earthquakes occur within the infamous Ring of Fire, a seismic hotspot encircling the Pacific Ocean. Yet, when these earthquakes strike, the areas that experience the most intense shaking aren’t always the ones that suffer the worst destruction. Recent research has uncovered a hidden factor contributing to earthquake devastation: migration patterns and housing vulnerabilities. The 1999 Chi-Chi Earthquake Case Study Taiwan’s catastrophic Chi-Chi earthquake in 1999, which claimed over 2,400 lives, presented an unexpected pattern of destruction. Contrary to expectations, the worst damage was not in the bustling city centers but in the suburbs and outer regions. Similar trends have been observed in earthquakes that hit China, Chile, and Nepal, raising questions about wh...

Feb52025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Greenland Ice Sheet Cracking at Alarming Rate, Study Warns

Breaking News, Climate Actions, Disasters

Over the past five years, an astonishing 930 million cubic meters of crevasses have opened across Greenland’s ice sheet equivalent to a crack the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza forming every few days. This rapid increase in fracturing, particularly in the ice sheet’s fast-moving regions, could trigger a dangerous feedback loop that accelerates ice loss and raises global sea levels. A new multi-year study, led by researchers from the University of Florida and Durham University, provides the first large-scale analysis of Greenland’s glacier crevasses, spanning 2016 to 2021. The findings reveal significant variations across the ice sheet, with some areas especially in the west initially experiencing fewer crevasses, only to see an uptick in recent years. Overall, the study detected a sh...

Jan292025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

New Study Warns of Potential 1.9 Metre Sea-Level Rise by 2100 Under High Emissions Scenario

Breaking News, Climate Actions, Disasters, Learning & Developments

An international team of researchers from NTU Singapore and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands has projected a significant rise in global sea levels if carbon dioxide emissions continue to increase. According to their findings, published in the scientific journal Earth's Future, sea levels could rise between 0.5 and 1.9 meters by the year 2100 under a high-emission scenario. The upper limit of this range is nearly 90 centimeters higher than the latest United Nations (UN) projection, which estimates a rise of 0.6 to 1.0 meters. This study provides a "very likely range" (indicating a 90% probability of occurrence), offering a new dimension to sea-level projections. Previously, projections from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were based o...