NH
Natural Hazards

Flooding hazard

Lessons learnt, and to be learnt from the Uttarakhand, Himalaya 2021 catastrophic event.

June 14, 2021
Lessons learnt, and to be learnt from the Uttarakhand, Himalaya 2021 catastrophic event.
Google Earth image showing the location of the Ronti peak glacier, source of the 7th February 2021 landslide-induced flooding event, in Uttarakhand, western Himalaya, India

Rising global temperature and melting of glaciers in the Himalaya are changing the Himalayan cryospheric dynamics and causing a dramatic increase in the frequency and magnitude of the natural and anthropogenic hazards. One such example was the 7th February 2021 Uttarakhand landslide-induced floods, which killed almost 200 people and washed away two hydropower dams, amidst when India was dealing wi ...[Read More]

Tackling the leaks in the transport network with Maria Pregnolato

April 6, 2021
Tackling the leaks in the transport network with Maria Pregnolato
Road closed because of flooding in Queensland, Australia. Australia. Photo by sandid distributed by Pixabay

Transport networks are crucial to our lives, from commuting to work to reach health care facilities, from the transport of goods to leisure travelling. To quote Robin Chase, an American transport entrepreneur: “Transportation is […] the glue of our daily lives. When it goes well, we don’t see it. When it goes wrong, it negatively colours our day, makes us feel angry and impotent, curta ...[Read More]

Floods in the Anthropocene: the good, the bad and the ugly

March 22, 2021
Floods in the Anthropocene: the good, the bad and the ugly
Floods and people: Who shapes whom? Credits: Pixabay (free for commercial use, no attribution required)

The interplay between human societies and floods dates back to Old World civilizations. Floodplains have provided the potential for prosperous agriculture and for the development of organised communities and urban cultures. Contextually, flood events have caused millions of fatalities and invaluable economic losses throughout history. Over the past decades, human activities have increasingly alter ...[Read More]

How satellites measuring soil moisture provide a new understanding of rainfall patterns

February 24, 2020
How satellites measuring soil moisture provide a new understanding of rainfall patterns

Soil moisture and rainfall are the two fundamental variables in the water and energy cycle and their knowledge in many applications is crucial. For instance, for predicting the occurrence and the magnitude of flood and landslide events the knowledge of the initial soil moisture condition and of rainfall amount is mandatory. In the last decade, some authors have proposed a completely new approach, ...[Read More]