Natural Hazards

Tackling the leaks in the transport network with Maria Pregnolato

Vale Cigala April 6, 2021

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

Giulia Roder March 22, 2021

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]

From caves explorer to landslides scientist: Fausto Guzzetti 2021 Soloviev Medal

Luigi Lombardo March 8, 2021

The photograph shows a rockfall that occurred near Valtopina, Umbria, Central Italy, on an unknown date. Photo Credit: Fausto Guzzetti (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Dr Fausto Guzzetti, current Research Director of the National Research Council (CNR) in Italy, has been awarded the 2021 Sergey Soloviev Medal for “his fundamental contributions to the field of natural hazards and his remarkable efforts to link the scientific community and civil protection authorities to mitigate risk for exposed populations”. From his passion for mountains and caves and his “hope ...[Read More]

2020: The escalation of extreme rainfall events in Brazil

Paulo Hader February 22, 2021

Figure 1. A localized typical summer rainfall near the Serra do Mar in the region of Baixada Santista. Photo credit: Marcelo Fischer Gramani, with permission.

In summer 2020, extreme rainfall events dumped up to 320 mm of rain in a single day in the Baixada Santista metropolitan region, São Paulo state, breaking Brazil’s record for the biggest rainfall in a single event and demonstrating one of the greatest threats of climate change. The damage caused by the associated landslides led to dozens of fatalities and hundreds of homeless people, as well ...[Read More]