On the 23rd of June, I participated in the Second Workshop for AI (Artificial Intelligence) for Natural Disaster Management that hosted around 400 scientists, UN advisors, practitioners and policymakers from all over the world interested in machine learning for supporting disaster prediction and early warning. AI is not my research area; however, I have always been interested in the new advances t ...[Read More]
Mitigating Soil Erosion After Wildfires
Wildfires are a natural element in many ecosystems and play a central role in their dynamics. For example, they clear forest floors and liberate nutrients that can replenish the soil. However, changes in fire regimes induced by anthropogenic factors (such as climate change and land uses) have resulted in fire patterns that harm ecosystems [1]. Let’s see together the issues and the mitigation solut ...[Read More]
LANDAWARE: the international network on landslide early warning systems
For today’s interview, it gives me great pleasure to host Dr Manfred Stähli, who will tell us about a new initiative in the field of Landslide Early Warning Systems (LEWS), which is attracting the attention and participation of researchers from many countries. This initiative is called LandAware. Manfred is a senior scientist in mountain hydrology, slope stability and early warning systems a ...[Read More]
Floods in the Anthropocene: the good, the bad and the ugly
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]