Natural Hazards

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]

Education in pandemic times, a digital help

Ivan Oliveira February 15, 2021

Image Credit PIXABAY

It has been a long year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. We all had to adjust and deal with a completely new reality, and it hasn’t always been easy. The adjustment has involved every aspect of life including the education system. When contact restrictions are in place and you cannot meet in person your students, your teachers, how do you continue to provide this crucial service? All univ ...[Read More]

Advances in earthquakes forecasting pass through machine learning

Gabriele Amato January 25, 2021

image edited from https://www.information-age.com/how-kubernetes-extends-machine-learning-ml-123492360/

In today’s interview, we meet Dr Fabio Corbi, a researcher at IGAG-CNR, the Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering of the Italian National Research Council. Fabio has experience in analogue modelling of megathrust earthquakes and he is currently exploring the potentiality of machine learning in this research field. Hi Fabio, would you briefly tell us about you and your career? ...[Read More]

Collaboration in Science: A Necessity Not A Luxury

Omar F. AlThuwaynee January 11, 2021

image created by Luigi Lombardo

Collaboration in science is of paramount importance for the development of new ideas and tools that progress our common knowledge. However, you might have felt at times that, for example, the competition for funding or the inequality of access to resources have undermined collaboration opportunities. In this blog post, we host the reflections and actions of Dr Omar AlThuwaynee, who, after experien ...[Read More]