It is beyond dispute that climate change is now a significant factor in a growing number of disasters. So disaster in general is becoming an increasingly salient topic. The pieces linked below sample some insightful angles on this broad subject.
This short radio story reminds us to keep in mind the central fact of a warming climate: Everything is unprecedented. Welcome to your hotter Earth (Rebecca Hersher, Nathan Rott, Lauren Sommer, NPR).
But disasters also always involve other factors, and this succinct piece offers four more key points: How to understand natural disasters in a climate change age (Maggie Koerth, Five Thirty Eight). And Fred Pearce expands on one of those key points in Yale Environment 360: It’s not just climate. Are we ignoring other causes of disasters?
How important is it to focus on local and individual specifics for disaster prevention, relief, and recovery? Very.
What happens when too many disasters occur in a short time? Here are two quite different takes on the newly useful term “disaster fatigue,” the first pertaining to volunteers, the second to victims and their perception of risk:
The world of academia is rich in disaster studies. Here are just a few of many possible examples; to find more, Google disaster and economics, literature, political science, management, ethics — whatever field interests you.
