Natural Hazards

Climate hazard

Paving the way for climate resilience: what can we learn from the coronavirus pandemic?

Asimina Voskaki July 12, 2021

Photo credit: adapted from the original found in Pixabay (Pixabay License)

Even though significant epidemics and pandemics have been recorded many times throughout human history, the Covid-19 pandemic demonstrated how vulnerable our societies still are. While the consequences of the pandemic are still ongoing, the global response so far can potentially offer some insights to support climate change response. Undoubtedly, the world is already experiencing a wide range of c ...[Read More]

Forests in danger: not only fires!

Jonathan Rizzi September 28, 2020

A group of Norway spruce trees that died during this summer 2020. The trees were growing on a particularly drought-sensitive soil composed by volcanic, coarse gravel that is well-drained. The trees have been severely stressed during the 2018 drought and heavily attacked by the spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus) this summer. June 2020 was very warm and this made many beetles fly synchronized during a short period, making the attack severe for the trees. Place: Kjose, Larvik, Norway (Photo credit: Svein Solberg).

We often talk about forests for their importance in climate as a carbon sink and oxygen source. For their great role in the preservation of biodiversity, both for vegetation and as habitat for many animal species, for their potential in recreational activities. However, we do not talk a lot about forests in relation to natural hazards. Indeed, forests can be severely affected by natural hazards. T ...[Read More]