research topics on natural disasters

Natural Disasters

Where and from which disasters do people die? What can we do to prevent deaths from natural disasters?

By Hannah Ritchie and Pablo Rosado

This page was first published in December 2022 and last revised in January 2024.

Natural disasters – from earthquakes and floods to storms and droughts – affect millions of people every year. However, we are not defenseless against them, and the global death toll, especially from droughts and floods, has been reduced.

While natural disasters account for a small fraction of all deaths globally , they can have a large impact, especially on vulnerable populations in low-to-middle-income countries with insufficient infrastructure to protect and respond effectively​. Understanding the frequency, intensity, and impact of natural disasters is crucial if we want to be better prepared and protect people’s lives and livelihoods.

On this page, you will find our complete collection of data, charts, and research on natural disasters and their human and economic costs.

See all charts on Natural Disasters ↓

Other research and writing on Natural Disasters on Our World in Data:

• Not all deaths are equal: How many deaths make a natural disaster newsworthy?

Natural disasters data explorer

Natural disasters kill tens of thousands each year.

The number of deaths from natural disasters can be highly variable from year to year; some years pass with very few deaths before a large disaster event claims many lives. On average, over the past couple of decades, natural disasters have annually resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of individuals worldwide.

In the visualizations shown here, we see the annual variability in the number and share of deaths from natural disasters in recent decades.

What we see is that in many years, the number of deaths can be very low – often less than 10,000, and accounting for as low as 0.01% of total deaths. But we also see the devastating impact of shock events: the 1983-85 famine and drought in Ethiopia; the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami ; Cyclone Nargis which struck Myanmar in 2008; and the 2010 Port-au-Prince earthquake which resulted in approximately 70% of all deaths that year in Haiti. All of these events pushed global disaster deaths to over 200,000 – more than 0.4% of deaths in these years.

Low-frequency, high-impact events such as earthquakes and tsunamis are not preventable, but such high losses of human life are. We know from historical data that the world has seen a significant reduction in disaster deaths through earlier prediction, more resilient infrastructure, emergency preparedness, and response systems. Those at low incomes are often the most vulnerable to disaster events: improving living standards, infrastructure, and response systems in these regions will be key to preventing deaths from natural disasters in the coming decades.

Number of deaths from natural disasters

Annual deaths from natural disasters.

In the visualization shown here, we see the long-term global trend in natural disaster deaths. This shows the estimated annual number of deaths from disasters from 1900 onwards from the EM-DAT International Disaster Database . 1

What we see is that in the early-to-mid 20th century, the annual death toll from disasters was high, often reaching over one million per year. In recent decades we have seen a substantial decline in deaths. Even in peak years with high-impact events, the death toll has not exceeded 500,000 since the mid-1960s.

This decline is even more impressive when we consider the rate of population growth over this period. When we correct for population – showing this data in terms of death rates (measured per 100,000 people) – we see an even greater decline over the past century. This chart can be viewed here .

The annual number of deaths from natural disasters is also available by country since 1990. This can be explored in the interactive map.

Average number of deaths by decade

In the chart, we show global deaths from natural disasters since 1900, but rather than reporting annual deaths, we show the annual average by decade.

As we see, over the course of the 20th century there was a significant decline in global deaths from natural disasters. In the early 1900s, the annual average was often in the range of 400,000 to 500,000 deaths. In the second half of the century and into the early 2000s, we have seen a significant decline to less than 100,000 – at least five times lower than these peaks. This decline is even more impressive when we consider the rate of population growth over this period. When we correct for population – showing this data in terms of death rates (measured per 100,000 people) – then we see a more than 10-fold decline over the past century. This chart can be viewed here .

Number of deaths by type of natural disaster

With almost minute-by-minute updates on what’s happening in the world, we are constantly reminded of the latest disaster. These stories are, of course, important but they do not give us a sense of how the toll of disasters has changed over time.

For most of us, it is hard to know whether any given year was a particularly deadly one in the context of previous years.

To understand the devastating toll of disasters today, and in the past, we have built a Natural Disasters Data Explorer which provides estimates of fatalities, displacement, and economic damage for every country since 1900. This is based on data sourced from EM-DAT; a project that undertakes the important work of building these incredibly detailed histories of disasters. 2

In this visualization, I give a sense of how the global picture has evolved over the last century. It shows the estimated annual death toll – from all disasters at the top, followed by a breakdown by type. The size of the bubble represents the total death toll for that year.

I’ve labeled most of the years with the largest death tolls. This usually provokes the follow-up question: “Why? What event happened?”. So I’ve also noted large-scale events that contributed to the majority – but not necessarily all – of the deaths in that year.

For example, the estimated global death toll from storms in 2008 was approximately 141,000. 138,366 of these deaths occurred in Cyclone Margis, which struck Myanmar and is labeled on the chart.

What we see is that in the 20th century, it was common to have years where the death toll was in the millions. This was usually the result of major droughts or floods. Often these would lead to famines. We look at the long history of famines here .

Improved food security, resilience to other disasters, and better national and international responses mean that the world has not experienced death tolls of this scale in many decades. Famines today are usually driven by civil war and political unrest.

In most years, the death toll from disasters is now in the range of 10,000 to 20,000 people. In the most fatal years – which tend to be those with major earthquakes or cyclones – this can reach tens to hundreds of thousands.

This trend does not mean that disasters have become less frequent, or less intense. It means the world today is much better at preventing deaths from disasters than in the past. This will become increasingly important in our response and adaptation to climate change .

Injuries and displacement from disasters

Human impacts from natural disasters are not fully captured in mortality rates. Injury, homelessness, and displacement can all have a significant impact on populations.

The visualization below shows the number of people displaced internally (i.e. within a given country) from natural disasters. Note that these figures report on the basis of new cases of displaced persons: if someone is forced to flee their home from natural disasters more than once in any given year, they will be recorded only once within these statistics.

Interactive charts on the following global impacts are available using the links below:

• Injuries : The number of people injured is defined as "People suffering from physical injuries, trauma, or an illness requiring immediate medical assistance as a direct result of a disaster."
• Homelessness : The number of people homeless is defined as the "Number of people whose house is destroyed or heavily damaged and therefore need shelter after an event."
• Requiring assistance : The number of people requiring assistance is defined as "People requiring immediate assistance during a period of emergency, i.e. requiring basic survival needs such as food, water, shelter, sanitation, and immediate medical assistance."
• Total number affected : The total number of people affected is defined as "the sum of the injured, affected, and left homeless after a disaster."

Natural disasters by type

Earthquakes, earthquake events.

Earthquake events occur across the world every day. The US Geological Survey (USGS) tracks and reports global earthquakes, with (close to) real-time updates which you can find here .

However, the earthquakes that occur most frequently are often too small to cause significant damage (whether to human life or in economic terms).

In the chart below we show the long history of known earthquakes classified by the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) of the NOAA as 'significant' earthquakes. Significant earthquakes are those which are large enough to cause notable damage. They must meet at least one of the following criteria: caused deaths, moderate damage ($1 million or more), a magnitude 7.5 or greater, Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) X or greater, or generated a tsunami.

Available data — which you can explore in the chart below — extends back to 2150 BC. But we should be aware that the most recent records will be much more complete than our long-run historical estimates. An increase in the number of recorded earthquakes doesn't necessarily mean this was the true trend over time. By clicking on a country in the map below, you can view its full series of known significant earthquakes.

Deaths from earthquakes

Alongside estimates of the number of earthquake events, the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) of the NOAA also publishes estimates of the number of deaths over this long-term series. In the chart below we see the estimated mortality numbers extending back to 1500.

These figures can be found for specific countries using the "change country" function in the bottom-left of the chart, or by selecting the "map" on the bottom right.

At the global level, we see that earthquake deaths have been a persistent human risk through time.

What were the world's deadliest earthquakes?

The number of people dying in natural disasters is lower today than it was in the past, and the world has become more resilient.

Earthquakes, however, can still claim a large number of lives. Whilst historically floods, droughts, and epidemics dominated disaster deaths , a high annual death toll now often results from a major earthquake and possibly a tsunami caused by them. Since 2000, the two peak years in annual death tolls (reaching 100s of thousands) were 2004 and 2010. Both events (the Sumatra earthquake and tsunami of 2004, and the Port-au-Prince earthquake in 2010) are in the deadliest earthquake rankings below.

What have been the most deadly earthquakes in human history? In the visualization, we have mapped the top 10 rankings of known earthquakes which resulted in the largest number of deaths. 3 This ranking is based on mortality estimates from the NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC). 4

Clicking on the visualization will open it in higher resolution. This ranking is also summarized in table form.

The most deadly earthquake in history was in Shaanxi, China in 1556. It's estimated to have killed 830,000 people. This is more than twice that of the second most fatal: the recent Port-au-Prince earthquake in Haiti in 2010. It's reported that 316,000 people died as a result. 5

Two very recent earthquakes — the Sumatra earthquake and tsunami of 2004, and the 2010 Port-au-Prince earthquake — feature amongst the most deadly in human history. But equally, some of the most fatal occurred in the very distant past. Making the top three was the earthquake in Antakya (Turkey) in the year 115. Both old and very recent features are near the top of the list. The deadly nature of earthquakes has been a persistent threat throughout our history.

Number of significant volcanic eruptions

There are a large number of volcanoes across the world that are volcanically active but display little or only very low-level activity. In the map, we see the number of significant volcanic eruptions that occur in each country in a given year. A significant eruption is classified as one that meets at least one of the following criteria: caused fatalities, caused moderate damage (approximately $1 million or more), with a Volcanic Explosivity Index of 6 or larger, caused a tsunami, or was associated with a major earthquake. 6

Estimates of volcanic eruptions are available dating back as early as 1750 BCE, however, the data completeness for long historic events will be much lower than in the recent past.

Deaths from volcanic eruptions

In the visualization, we see the number of deaths from significant volcanic eruptions across the world. Using the timeline on the map we can see the frequency of volcanic activity deaths over time. If we look at deaths over the past century we see several high-impact events: the Nevado del Ruiz eruption in Colombia in 1985; the Mount Pelée eruption in Martinique in 1902; and the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa in Indonesia.

This visualization – sourced from the NASA Socioeconomic Data And Applications Center (SEDAC) – shows the distribution of mortality risk from landslides across the world. As we would expect, the risks of landslides are much greater close to highly mountainous regions with dense neighboring populations. This makes the mortality risk highest across the Andes region in South America, and the Himalayas across Asia.

Famines & Droughts

We cover the history of Famines in detail in our dedicated entry here . For this research, we assembled a global dataset on famines dating back to the 1860s.

In the visualization shown here, we see trends in drought severity in the United States. Given is the annual data of drought severity, plus the 9-year average. This is measured by the Palmer Drought Severity Index: the average moisture conditions observed between 1931 and 1990 at a given location are given an index value of zero. A positive value means conditions are wetter than average, while a negative value is drier than average. A value between -2 and -3 indicates moderate drought, -3 to -4 is severe drought, and -4 or below indicates extreme drought.

Hurricanes, Tornados, and Cyclones

Long-term trends in deaths from us weather events.

Trends in the US provide some of the most complete data on impacts and deaths from weather events over time. This chart shows death rates from lightning and other weather events in the United States over time. Death rates are given as the number of deaths per million individuals. Over this period, we see that on average each has seen a significant decline in death rates. This is primarily the result of improved infrastructure and predicted and response systems to disaster events.

Intensity of North Atlantic Hurricanes

A key metric for assessing hurricane severity is their intensity and the power they carry. The visualizations here use two metrics to define this: the accumulated cyclone energy (ACE), an index that measures the activity of a cyclone season; and the power dissipation index of cyclones.

Extreme precipitation and flooding

Precipitation anomalies.

In the visualization shown, we see the global precipitation anomaly each year; trends in the US-specific anomaly can be found here .

This precipitation anomaly is measured relative to the century average from 1901 to 2000. Positive values indicate a wetter year than normal; negative values indicate a drier year.

Also shown is US-specific data on the share of land area that experiences unusually high precipitation in any given year.

Precipitation extremes

We can look at precipitation anomalies over the course of the year, however, flooding events are often caused by intense rainfall over much shorter periods. Flooding events tend to occur when there is extremely high rainfall for hours or days.

The visualization here shows the extent of extreme one-day precipitation in the US. What we see is a general upward trend in the extent of extreme rainfall in recent decades.

Extreme Temperature (Heat & Cold)

Extreme temperature risks to human health and mortality can result from exposure to extreme heat and cold.

Heatwaves and high temperatures

In the visualizations shown here, we see long-term data on heatwaves and unusually high temperatures in the United States.

Overall we see there is significant year-to-year variability in the extent of heatwave events. What stands out over the past century of data was the 1936 North American heatwave – one of the most extreme heat wave events in modern history, which coincided with the Great Depression and Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

When we look at the trajectory of unusually high summer temperatures over time (defined as 'unusually high' in the context of historical records) we see an upward trend in recent decades.

Cold temperatures

Whilst we often focus on the heatwaves and warm temperatures in relation to weather extremes, extremely low temperatures can often have a high toll on human health and mortality. In the visualization here we show trends in the share of US land area experiencing unusually low winter temperatures. In recent years there appears to have been a declining trend in the extent of the US experiencing particularly cold winters.

US Wildfires

How are the frequency and extent of wildfires in the United States changing over time?

In the charts below we provide three overviews: the number of wildfires, the total acres burned, and the average acres burned per wildfire. This data is shown from 1983 onwards when comparable data recording began.

Over the past 30-35 years we notice three general trends in the charts below (although there is significant year-to-year variability):

• on average, the annual number of wildfires has not changed much;
• on average, the total acres burned has increased from the 1980s and 1990s into the 21st century;
• The combination of these two factors suggests that the average number of acres burned per wildfire has increased.

There has been significant media coverage of the long-run statistics of US wildfires reported by the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). The original statistics are available back to the year 1926. When we look at this long-term series it suggests there has been a significant decline in acres burned over the past century. However, the NIFC explicitly states:

Prior to 1983, sources of these figures were not known, or could not be confirmed, and were not derived from the current situation reporting process. As a result, the figures prior to 1983 should not be compared to later data.

Representatives from the NIFC have again confirmed (see the Carbon Brief's coverage here ) that these historic statistics are not comparable to those since 1983. The lack of reliable methods of measurement and reporting means some historical statistics may in fact be double or triple-counted in national statistics.

This means we cannot compare the recent data below with old, historic records. But it also doesn't confirm that acres burned today are higher than in the first half of the 20th century. Historically, fires were an often-used method of clearing land for agriculture, for example. It's not implausible to expect that wildfires of the past may have been larger than today but the available data is not reliable enough to confirm this.

Long-term trends in US lightning strikes

This chart shows the declining death rate due to lightning strikes in the US. In the first decade of the 20th century, the average annual rate of deaths was 4.5 per million people in the US. In the first 15 years of the 21st century, the death rate had declined to an average of 0.12 deaths per million. This is a 37-fold reduction in the likelihood of being killed by lightning in the US.

Lightning strikes across the world

The map here shows the distribution of lightning strikes across the world. This is given as the lightning strike density – the average number of strikes per square kilometer each year. In particular, we see the high frequency of strikes across the Equatorial regions, especially across central Africa.

Economic costs

Global disaster costs.

Natural disasters not only have devastating impacts in terms of the loss of human life but can also cause severe destruction with economic costs. When we look at global economic costs over time in absolute terms we tend to see rising costs. But, importantly, the world – and most countries – have also gotten richer . Global gross domestic product has increased more than four-fold since 1970. We might therefore expect that for any given disaster, the absolute economic costs could be higher than in the past.

A more appropriate metric to compare economic costs over time is to look at them in relation to GDP. This is the indicator adopted by all countries as part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals to monitor progress on resilience to disaster costs.

In the chart, we see global direct disaster losses given as a share of GDP.

Disaster costs by country

Since economic losses from disasters in relation to GDP is the indicator adopted by all countries within the UN Sustainable Development Goals, this data is also now reported for each country.

The map shows direct disaster costs for each country as a share of its GDP. Here we see large variations by country. This data can be found in absolute terms here .

Link between poverty and deaths from natural disasters

One of the major successes over the past century has been the dramatic decline in global deaths from natural disasters – this is despite the fact that the human population has increased rapidly over this period.

Behind this improvement has been the improvement in living standards; access to and development of resilient infrastructure; and effective response systems. These factors have been driven by an increase in incomes across the world.

What remains true today is that populations in low-income countries – those where a large percentage of the population still lives in extreme poverty or score low on the Human Development Index – are more vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters.

We see this effect in the visualization shown. This chart shows the death rates from natural disasters – the number of deaths per 100,000 population – of countries grouped by their socio-demographic index (SDI). SDI is a metric of development, where low SDI denotes countries with low standards of living.

What we see is that the large spikes in death rates occur almost exclusively for countries with a low or low-middle SDI. Highly developed countries are much more resilient to disaster events and therefore have a consistently low death rate from natural disasters.

Note that this does not mean low-income countries have high death tolls from disasters year-to-year: the data here shows that in most years they also have very low death rates. But when low-frequency, high-impact events do occur they are particularly vulnerable to its effects.

Overall development, poverty alleviation, and knowledge-sharing of how to increase resilience to natural disasters will therefore be key to reducing the toll of disasters in the decades to come.

Definitions & Metrics

Hurricanes, cyclones & typhoons.

There are multiple terms used to describe extreme weather events: hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, and tornadoes. What is the difference between these terms, and how are they defined?

The terms  hurricane ,  cyclone, and  typhoon all refer to the same thing; they can be used interchangeably. Hurricanes and typhoons are both described as the weather phenomenon 'tropical cyclone'. A tropical cyclone is a weather event that originates over tropical or subtropical waters and results in a rotating, organized system of clouds and thunderstorms. Its circulation patterns should be closed and low-level.

The choice of terminology is location-specific and depends on where the storm originates. The term  hurricane is used to describe a tropical cyclone that originates in the North Atlantic, central North Pacific, and eastern North Pacific. When it originates in the Northwest Pacific, we call it a typhoon . In the South Pacific and Indian Ocean the general term  tropical cyclone  is used.

In other words, the only difference between a hurricane and a typhoon is where it occurs.

When does a storm become a hurricane?

The characteristics of a hurricane are described in detail on the NASA website .

A hurricane evolves from a tropical disturbance or storm based on a threshold of wind speed.

A tropical disturbance arises over warm ocean waters. It can grow into a tropical depression which is an area of rotating thunderstorms with winds up to 62 kilometers (38 miles) per hour. From there, a depression evolves into a tropical storm if its wind speed reaches 63 km/hr (39 mph).

Finally, a hurricane is formed when a tropical storm reaches a wind speed of 119 km/hr (74 mph).

Difference between hurricanes and tornadoes

But, hurricanes/typhoons/cyclones  are distinctly different from tornadoes.

Whilst hurricanes and tornadoes have a characteristic circulatory wind pattern, they are very different weather systems. The main difference between the systems is scale (tornadoes are small-scale circulatory systems; hurricanes are large-scale). These differences are highlighted in the table below:

Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI)

The intensity or size of volcanic eruptions is most commonly defined by a metric termed the 'volcanic explosivity index (VEI)'. The VEI is derived based on the erupted mass or deposit of an eruption. The scale for VEI was outlined by Newhall & Self (1982) but is now commonly adopted in geophysical reporting. 7

The table below provides a summary (from the NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center ) of the characteristics of eruptions of different VEI values. A 'Significant Volcanic Eruption' is often defined as an eruption with a VEI value of 6 or greater. Historic eruptions that were definitely explosive, but carry no other descriptive information are assigned a default VEI of 2.

Interactive charts on natural disasters

Data quality, number of reported disaster events.

A key issue of data quality is the consistency of even reporting over time. For long-term trends in natural disaster events, we know that reporting and recording of events today is much more advanced and complete than in the past. This can lead to significant underreporting or uncertainty of events in the distant past. In the chart here we show data on the number of reported natural disasters over time.

This change over time can be influenced by several factors, namely the increased coverage of reporting over time. The increase over time is therefore not directly reflective of the actual trend in disaster events.

Number of reported disasters by type

This same data is shown here as the number of reported disaster events by type. Again, the incompleteness of historical data can lead to significant underreporting in the past. The increase over time is therefore not directly reflective of the actual trend in disaster events.

EMDAT (2019): OFDA/CRED International Disaster Database, Université Catholique de Louvain – Brussels – Belgium

EM-DAT, CRED / UCLouvain, Brussels, Belgium – www.emdat.be (D. Guha-Sapir)

Since two events are ranked equally in 8th place, a total of 11 are included.

National Geophysical Data Center / World Data Service (NGDC/WDS): Significant Earthquake Database. National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA. Available at:  https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/hazel/view/hazards/earthquake/search .

The death toll of the Haitian earthquake is still disputed. Here we present the adopted figure by the NGDC of the NOAA (for consistency with other earthquakes); this is the figure reported by the Haitian government. Some sources suggest a lower figure of 220,000. In the latter case, this event would fall to 7th place in the above rankings.

This data is sourced from the Significant Volcanic Eruption Database is a global listing of over 500 significant eruptions.

Newhall, C.G. and Self, S (1982). The volcanic explosivity index (VEI): an estimate of explosive magnitude for historical volcanism. Jour Geophys Res (Oceans & Atmospheres) , 87:1231-1238. Available at:  https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/JC087iC02p01231 .

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A review of emergency response in disasters: present and future perspectives

• Review Article
• Published: 10 September 2020
• Volume 105 , pages 1109–1138, ( 2021 )

Cite this article

• Yi Feng 1 &
• Shaoze Cui   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9635-0181 2  

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With the increasing occurrence of disasters, how to respond to disasters has attracted a lot of interest. However, a systematic study of emergency response in disasters (ER) has been ignored. Based on the bibliometric analysis and visualization of 3678 journal articles (1970–2019) related to ER from the Web of Science, the current research situation in the field of ER has been studied. The important research questions and trends in the field of ER have been identified. In this study, the VOSviewer software is used to visually analyze publications about ER. Specifically, the most influential journals and authors, highly cited publications, authoritative research institutions, and co-citation are identified in this study. Moreover, the Ucinet software is applied to analyze the social network of 45 high-frequency keywords and the Citespace software is used to study the keyword citation bursts. The results show that the keywords “optimization” and “demand” are the most popular research interests. Besides, four main research topics on ER are summarized, which are emergency supplies and facility-related research, emergency preparedness and security-related research, emergency decision system-related research, and emergency medical rescue and cure-related research. Finally, this study puts forward the research work that should be paid attention to in the future according to different research topics, which can help researchers to understand the ER research progress systematically and focus on emerging research questions.

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Acknowledgements

This paper is our original work and has not been published or has it been submitted simultaneously elsewhere. All authors have agreed to the submission and declared that they have no conflict of interest. This paper was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 71533001, 71974025), Humanities and Social Science Youth Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. 17YJC630014), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No.2020M670761).

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• Published: 28 June 2021

Scientific evidence for ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction

• K. Sudmeier-Rieux   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0513-8968 1 ,
• T. Arce-Mojica 2 ,
• H. J. Boehmer 3 , 4 ,
• N. Doswald 1 ,
• L. Emerton 5 ,
• D. A. Friess 6 ,
• S. Galvin   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2235-1947 3 ,
• M. Hagenlocher   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5254-6713 7 ,
• H. James 7 ,
• P. Laban 8 ,
• C. Lacambra 9 ,
• W. Lange 10 ,
• B. G. McAdoo 11 , 12 ,
• C. Moos 13 ,
• J. Mysiak   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9341-7048 14 ,
• L. Narvaez   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8822-4126 7 ,
• U. Nehren   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6236-3542 2 ,
• P. Peduzzi 1 , 15 ,
• F. G. Renaud   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0830-1196 16 ,
• S. Sandholz   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2894-1633 7 ,
• L. Schreyers 17 ,
• Z. Sebesvari 7 ,
• T. Tom 18 ,
• A. Triyanti   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5524-7551 19 ,
• P. van Eijk 20 ,
• M. van Staveren   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2225-4103 21 ,
• M. Vicarelli 22 &
• Y. Walz 7  

Nature Sustainability volume  4 ,  pages 803–810 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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Ecosystems play a potentially important role in sustainably reducing the risk of disaster events worldwide. Yet, to date, there are few comprehensive studies that summarize the state of knowledge of ecosystem services and functions for disaster risk reduction. This paper builds scientific evidence through a review of 529 English-language articles published between 2000 and 2019. It catalogues the extent of knowledge on, and confidence in, ecosystems in reducing disaster risk. The data demonstrate robust links and cost-effectiveness between certain ecosystems in reducing specific hazards, something that was revealed to be particularly true for the role of vegetation in the stabilization of steep slopes. However, the published research was limited in geographic distribution and scope, with a concentration on urban areas of the Global North, with insufficient relevant research on coastal, dryland and watershed areas, especially in the Global South. Many types of ecosystem can provide sustainable and multifunctional approaches to disaster risk reduction. Yet, if they are to play a greater role, more attention is needed to fill research gaps and develop performance standards.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the many other people who made substantial contributions to this paper, including M. Estrella, H. Rossum, A. Gomez, M. Ford, T. Chareyre (UN Environment Programme, Crisis Management Branch, Switzerland), R. Lin (Institute for Environment and Human Security, United Nations University (UNU-EHS), Germany), I. Katrinnada, L. S. Ern (Yale-NUS College, Singapore), K. Compton (University of Massachusetts-Amherst, USA) and A. Casteller. We offer special thanks to Yale-NUS College, UNU-EHS and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst for funding research assistants who contributed to this article and M. Jaboyedoff (University of Lausanne, Switzerland) for funding the main author’s salary at the beginning of this research project.

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Contributions

Project administration : K.S.R. Funding acquisition: B.G.M., F.G.R. and M.V. Conceptualization: K.S.R., B.G.M. and U.N. Methodology: K.S.R., B.G.M., M.V., F.G.R., S.S., U.N., T.A.M., N.D. and P.P. Data curation: K.S.R., L.S., T.A.M., Y.W., B.G.M., F.G.R. and S.S. Formal analysis of the thematic category articles reviewed: urban: S.S., F.G.R., W.L., A.T., H.J. and L.N.; coastal: U.N., D.A.F. and C.L.; forests/vegetation: H.J.B. and S.G.; economics: M.V., L.E. and J.M.; rivers/wetlands: M.v.S., P.v.E., T.T. and L.N.; mountains: C.M. and T.A.M.; agroecosystems: P.L., Y.W. and M.H.; drylands: P.L. and Y.W.; multiple ecosystems: K.S.R., Z.S. and N.D.; out-of-scope thematic category articles reviewed: climate-related: K.S.R. and P.P.; geology: B.G.M. and T.A.M.; health: B.G.M. and T.A.M.; hydrology/pollution: Z.S., M.H. and K.S.R.; wildlife: S.G. and H.J.B. Writing—original draft preparation: K.S.R., U.N., S.S. and B.G.M. Writing—review and editing: K.S.R., S.G., H.J., U.N., D.A.F., M.H., P.P., B.G.M., C.L., F.G.R., S.S., M.V., L.E., C.M., H.J.B., N.D., J.M., Z.S., Y.W., P.L., T.A.M., L.S., M.v.S. and W.L. Visualization: L.S., P.P., U.N. and B.G.M.

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Sudmeier-Rieux, K., Arce-Mojica, T., Boehmer, H.J. et al. Scientific evidence for ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction. Nat Sustain 4 , 803–810 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00732-4

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Received : 19 April 2020

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Published : 28 June 2021

Issue Date : September 2021

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00732-4

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88 Natural Disaster Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Writing about risks or management of catastrophes caused by nature? Our experts have prepared a list of topics and essay questions about natural disasters – check them out!

🏆 Best Natural Disaster Essay Topics & Examples

📌 catchy essay titles for natural disasters, 👍 good essay topics on natural disaster, ❓ essay questions about natural disasters.

• Effects of Natural Disasters Essay Various factors influence the effects that a disaster on a country among them the magnitude of the disaster, the geography of the area affected and recovery efforts directed towards reducing the immediate effects of a […]
• “Natural Disaster Management Planning” by Perry Perry writes the article Natural disaster management planning: A study of logistics manager responding to the tsunami with the aim of analysing the tsunami disaster that occurred in 2004, as well as providing comprehensive overview […]
• Natural Disaster Aftermath: Spirituality and Health Care Second, healthcare providers should improve their staff’s cultural sensitivity and awareness of various spiritual practices and denominations in order to develop a flexible blueprint of communication with patients and proper intervention.
• Risk vs. Cost in Natural Disaster Insurance Floods are more predictable, and it is possible to create a map for each flood-prone area that would allow insurance companies to calculate the exact cost of premiums.
• National Response to Terrorism & Natural Disaster The National Response Framework governs the national security and crisis response to dynamic emergencies and natural disasters that occur in the community.
• Natural Disaster Risks Overview The Resilinc indicators provide analysis of the riskiness of the locations, such as real-time monitoring of the disruptions, analysis of the multiple risk indicators, assessment of the suppliers in the risky countries, and analysis of […]
• How Can a Company’s Knowledge Base Be Protected in the Event of a Natural Disaster? In any cases if there is a sudden disaster and there is loss of any data, it becomes highly difficult for the managers to get back the knowledge of the business and also if there […]
• Incident Command System: Natural Disaster Prevention Planning The disaster brought considerable financial losses to the states, and the Sonora government had to provide funding and support in the form of $30 million for the purpose of residential relief.
• Weather and Climate: Tathra Natural Disaster The paper discusses the affected areas, the causes of the hazard, and its impacts. The disaster occurred in the forests near the bank of Bega River and Tathra, a small town in the Far South […]
• Earthquake as a Unique Type of Natural Disaster Earthquakes are believed to be one of the most dangerous natural disasters, and they can have a lot of negative effects on both the community and the environment.
• Australian and Asian Natural Disaster Epidemiology The present paper discusses the disaster epidemiology of Australia and three countries that are located in the Asian region. While the latter did not result in any financial damage, they led to the deaths of […]
• Preparing for a Natural Disaster in US Responders also need to be given the necessary psychological support and training in anticipation of the imminent trauma that they will be exposed to by the devastating effects of the floods.
• Managing Natural Disaster Risks in a Changing Climate Usually, it is difficult to figure out the frequency of natural disasters and the kind of damage that can result from the occurrence of these disasters.
• Indiana University Bloomington Natural Disaster Risk Assessment and Risk Management This high concentration of infrastructure is likely to increase the level of damages because a destruction of many buildings is likely to result in higher human deaths and more financial losses.
• IUB Natural Disaster Risk Assessments and Risk Management Due to the fact that Tornado is a natural disaster that locations around IUB need to be prepared of; there are lots of vulnerabilities in the University.
• Preparing for a Safe Evacuation due to a Natural Disaster: Saving Valuables and Having an Evacuation Plan
• Haiti And Natural Disaster : Causes And Natural Disaster
• Macroeconomic Fluctuations Under Natural Disaster Shocks in Central America and the Caribbean
• Types Of Police Plans For A Natural Disaster
• The People as a Natural Disaster: Redemptive Violence in Jacobin Political Thought
• Federal Natural Disaster Assistance Programs for Livestock Producers, 2008-16
• There’s No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster
• Natural Disaster, Policy Action, and Mental Well Being: The Case of Fukushima
• The Economics of Natural Disaster-Kerala Floods
• Innovations in Agricultural and Natural Disaster Insurance
• Hurricane Katrina: Natural Disaster or Racial Disaster
• Variation in Risk Seeking Behavior in a Natural Experiment on Large Losses Induced by a Natural Disaster
• The Lisbon Earthquake : A Natural Disaster That Evoked
• The Role of Social Media During a Natural Disaster: 2011 Thai Flood
• Ice Storm: Reacting to a Natural Disaster in Quebec
• Natural Disaster Management Strategy For Common People
• The Process of Consumer Reactions to Possession Threats and Losses in a Natural Disaster
• Impact of Disasters and Role of Social Protection in Natural Disaster Risk Management in Cambodia
• Natural Disaster Risk Management in the Philippines : Reducing Vulnerability
• The Returns to Education in the Context of a Natural Disaster: Evidence from the 2010 Earthquake in Haiti
• Landslide Susceptibility Assessment Maps For Natural Disaster Management
• The Effects of Mortality on Fertility: Population Dynamics after a Natural Disaster
• The Political Economy of Natural Disaster Insurance: Lessons from the Failure of a Proposed Compulsory Insurance Scheme in Germany
• Hurricane Katrina Was a Man-Made and Natural Disaster
• Trust, Risk, and Time Preferences After a Natural Disaster: Experimental Evidence from Thailand
• Using Online Assessment to Replace Invigilated Assessment in Times of a Natural Disaster
• Impact Of Natural Disaster On Environment Tourism
• Occurrences Of Natural Disaster Or Man-Made Disaster
• The Causes And Impacts Of A Natural Disaster
• Moral Hazard in Natural Disaster Insurance Markets: Empirical Evidence from Germany and the United States
• Socioeconomic Resilience in Sri Lanka: Natural Disaster Poverty and Wellbeing Impact
• The Effect of Natural Disaster on a Society
• The Devastating Effects of Earthquakes and the Invention and Technologies Created to Minimize the Damage of the Natural Disaster
• Natural Disaster and Possible Harms Drugs
• The Effects Which A Natural Disaster Can Have On A Country
• The Black Death: Europe’s Worst Natural Disaster
• The Impact Of Natural Disaster Shock On Domestic Violence: Evidence From Bangladesh
• Mistreatment of Land, Natural Disaster, and Drought Created the Dust Bowl in America
• Trial by Fire: a Natural Disaster’s Impact on Attitudes toward the Government in Rural Russia
• The Natural Disaster Of Hurricane Katrina
• Tsunami: Science and True Natural Disaster
• The Economic Damage Brought by Natural Disaster
• Decision-Making Problems in Natural Disaster Insurance: Public Intervention
• Tsunami: A Natural Disaster of Biblical Proportions
• The Psychologic Effect on People in a Natural Disaster
• Earth, Wind, and Fire! Federalism and Incentive in Natural Disaster Response
• On the Efficient Management of Natural Disaster Risk Using Credit and Index Insurance
• Why Planning Is An Ongoing Process Of A Natural Disaster
• Does Natural Disaster Only Harm Humankind?
• Why Hasn’t Crop Insurance Eliminated Natural Disaster?
• Does Natural Disaster Bring Positive Social Change?
• How Does Paired Assistance to Natural Disaster-Affected Areas Contribute to Economic Sustainability?
• Does Terrorism Increase After a Natural Disaster?
• How Does Culture Affect Natural Disaster Decision Making?
• What Is Natural Disaster Explain?
• How Are Social Vulnerabilities Important Within Natural Disaster?
• What Is the Positive Effect of Natural Disaster?
• What Happens After a Natural Disaster?
• Can Spiritual Issues Surrounding a Disaster Arise for Individuals, Communities, and Health Care Providers?
• How Do Natural Disasters Help the Earth?
• How and Why Should Companies Prepare Themselves for a Natural Disaster?
• How Can Nurses Help in Natural Disaster Preparedness?
• Does Federal Natural Disaster Assistance Crowd Out Flood Insurance?
• Can Europe Save Itself From Natural Disasters?
• Are You Prepared for a Natural Disaster?
• When and How Natural Disaster Strikes?
• How Natural Disaster Affects Our Lives?
• Why Does Some Natural Disaster Insurance Not Exist?
• Are Natural Disaster Situations a Formidable Obstacle to Growth?
• Why Is Natural Disaster Recovery Plan Vital?
• Does Natural Disasters Affect International Trade?
• Does Economic Growth Really Reduce Natural Disaster Damages?
• Why Do Natural Disasters Happen?
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IvyPanda. (2023, November 9). 88 Natural Disaster Essay Topic Ideas & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/natural-disaster-essay-topics/

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IvyPanda . (2023) '88 Natural Disaster Essay Topic Ideas & Examples'. 9 November.

IvyPanda . 2023. "88 Natural Disaster Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." November 9, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/natural-disaster-essay-topics/.

1. IvyPanda . "88 Natural Disaster Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." November 9, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/natural-disaster-essay-topics/.

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IvyPanda . "88 Natural Disaster Essay Topic Ideas & Examples." November 9, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/natural-disaster-essay-topics/.

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Natural Disasters and Mental Health Consequences

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Natural Disasters are large-scale events that are often unexpected and cause death, trauma, and destruction of property. Disasters affect millions of people around the globe every year. Many studies reported there were increased short term and long-term mental health consequences, such as depression, post ...

Keywords : Natural Disasters, Mental Health, Depression, PTSD

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Disaster Risk and Resilience

For decades, the U.S. National Science Foundation has invested in fundamental research to understand and predict natural hazards and promote resilience.

Each year, extreme events — such as storms, wildfires, floods, heat waves, earthquakes and landslides — claim lives, devastate communities and strain social systems ranging from healthcare to food supplies.

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We support research that yields insights into natural hazards — such as hurricanes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, coastal erosion, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes, volcanoes, emerging epidemics, and disruption of the power grid by space weather — and methods to reduce their harmful impacts.

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We support the development of state-of-the-art facilities and testbeds across the U.S. to expand knowledge of natural hazards and test new technologies for resilience.

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We support the creation of a diverse workforce ready to design, implement and manage innovative solutions to natural disasters, hazards and climate change.

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Invites planning proposals for interdisciplinary research to create evidence-based solutions that strengthen human resilience, security, and quality of life by addressing seemingly intractable challenges that confront society.

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Editorial: Insights in disaster and emergency medicine: 2022

The year 2022 has been a year of significant advancements in disaster and emergency medicine. The global community, in the previous years, has faced numerous challenges, from the COVID-19 pandemic to an increase in natural disasters ( 1 ), and these experiences have provided valuable insights into disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. This Research Topic brings together six outstanding contributions that explore various aspects of disaster and emergency medicine, focusing on public health, military medicine, trauma care, and cardiac arrest management. It aims to shed light on the challenges and advancements in the field of disaster and emergency medicine, emphasizing the importance of a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach ( 2 ). The contributing articles in this Research Topic cover a wide range of topics, highlighting the complexity of this field and the need for innovative solutions to address emerging challenges.

Climate change is an essential theme in this Research Topic, as it has far-reaching implications for public health and emergency medicine ( 3 ). Robinson et al. explore the impact of climate change on military health and defense medical logistics. The authors identify significant knowledge gaps in understanding the impact of climate change on military health, highlighting the need for further research and investment in military medical research and development. The review points out that climate change may not only affect human physiology and mental health but also have implications for medical logistics, including the cold supply chain, medical devices, air conditioning, and fresh water supply.

Another significant aspect of disaster and emergency medicine is the management of patients in challenging environments. Two articles in this Research Topic address the intricacies of providing medical care during transportation. Post et al. discuss the treatment of intubated patients during aeromedical evacuation flights. Their study of German Air Force's humanitarian aid missions reveals no clinically significant deteriorations due to secondary transport. However, the authors emphasize the importance of elective intubation in borderline patients before flight, considering the hypobaric hypoxic conditions on board aircraft. Borgstedt et al. investigate factors affecting out-of-hospital cardiac arrest outcomes, emphasizing the crucial role of the chain of survival. Their retrospective study of emergency medical service (EMS) protocols in Munich, Germany, reveals that the location of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) does not significantly affect the return of spontaneous circulation incidence, although patients in public spaces have a higher chance of being admitted to the hospital with spontaneous circulation. The study also highlights the overall low levels of bystander CPR and bystander use of automated external defibrillators, emphasizing the importance of public education and training to improve the chain of survival.

The Research Topic also delves into the epidemiology of trauma in China. Wang et al. present a national retrospective study on trauma treatment and incidence, providing valuable data to inform healthcare prevention and management strategies in the country. By analyzing over 4.5 million trauma patients from two national-level databases, the authors offer insights into the demographic characteristics, trauma causes, injury degrees, disease burden, and mortality rates. This valuable information can serve as a foundation for informed decision-making, resource allocation, trauma prevention, and trauma management.

The interconnectedness and multidisciplinary nature of disaster and emergency medicine are further emphasized through the articles exploring the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Lamberti-Castronuovo et al. discuss the key role of health diplomacy in overcoming the crisis, demonstrating the importance of intersectoral cooperation and collaboration between different areas of expertise. By conducting a retrospective observational case study with qualitative methodology, the authors analyze the changes made to human resources, health service delivery, and logistics in response to the pandemic. Their findings underscore the importance of intersectoral collaboration in overcoming pandemic-related challenges and preparing for future disasters.

This Research Topic showcases the breadth and depth of disaster and emergency medicine research in 2022, demonstrating the crucial role of intersectoral collaboration, adaptation to changing environments, and effective resource allocation. As we continue to face complex challenges in public health, military medicine, trauma care, and cardiac arrest management, it is essential to draw upon the valuable insights provided by these studies to advance our understanding and enhance our response capabilities.

The diverse range of issues addressed in this Research Topic highlights the interconnectedness and multidisciplinary nature of disaster and emergency medicine. As underscored by Robinson et al. , climate change is having and will continue to have a significant impact on public health, particularly in the context of emergency medicine. The increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events call for the development of adaptive strategies. These strategies should focus on enhancing our capacity to respond to emergencies, especially in resource-limited countries where the consequences of extreme weather events are more severe, and response capabilities are often constrained ( 4 ).

Public health, by definition, is multidisciplinary and multisectoral. The contributing articles in this Research Topic demonstrate the indispensable nature of collaboration between different sectors and areas of expertise in emergency disaster response. As highlighted by Lamberti-Castronuovo et al. , the COVID-19 pandemic showcased the importance of intersectoral cooperation in overcoming the challenges posed by a global health crisis. However, such collaboration cannot be improvised in the wake of an emergency. Instead, it requires an ongoing relationship between the actors potentially involved in the response, fostering a culture of preparedness and resilience.

In conclusion, this Research Topic underlines the ever-evolving nature of disaster and emergency medicine and the need for collaboration, innovation, and preparedness to address the emerging challenges. The findings and insights from these contributions will undoubtedly contribute to the ongoing efforts to improve the practice of disaster and emergency medicine and enhance our capacity to respond to the pressing issues of our time. As researchers, practitioners, and policymakers continue to work together in this multidisciplinary field, we can expect further advancements that will ultimately benefit the health and wellbeing of communities worldwide.

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Regions & Countries

Disasters & accidents, how the political typology groups compare.

Pew Research Center’s political typology sorts Americans into cohesive, like-minded groups based on their values, beliefs, and views about politics and the political system. Use this tool to compare the groups on some key topics and their demographics.

With extreme weather events and other disasters on the rise, how well are Americans prepared?

Powerful storms, wildfires, heat waves and other extreme climate-related events are projected to become more common and affect more people.

Puerto Rico’s population declined sharply after hurricanes Maria and Irma

The population of Puerto Rico stood at 3.2 million in 2018, its lowest point since 1979 and down sharply from 2017.

Facts on Foreign Students in the U.S.

The U.S. has more foreign students enrolled in its colleges and universities than any other country in the world. Explore data about foreign students in the U.S. higher education system.

Remembering Katrina: Wide racial divide over government’s response

Ten years ago this weekend, Hurricane Katrina roared ashore on the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,000 people. From the start, the tragedy had a powerful racial component – images of poor, mostly black New Orleans residents stranded on rooftops and crowded amid fetid conditions in what was then the Louisiana Superdome.

Nearly Half of Public Says ‘Right Amount’ of Malaysian Jet Coverage

Survey Report The public followed news about the missing Malaysia Airlines plane more closely than any other story last week. While the story has attracted extensive news coverage, especially from cable TV outlets, most Americans do not feel there has been too much coverage of the missing jetliner. The latest national survey by the Pew […]

Philippines Disaster Draws Limited Interest, Donations

Survey Report The aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines is drawing less attention from the American public than a number of other major international disasters in recent years. About one-in-three Americans (32%) say they are very closely following news about the deadly typhoon that struck the Philippines on Nov. 8. By comparison, 55% of […]

Twitter served as a lifeline of information during Hurricane Sandy

More than 20 million tweets were posted on Twitter in a five day period covering the approach and aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Most Say Disaster Spending Does Not Require Offsetting Cuts

Overview As Oklahoma recovers from severe damage caused by last week’s tornado, a majority of Americans (59%) say federal spending in response to natural disasters is emergency aid that does not need to be offset by cuts to other programs, while 29% say such spending must be offset by cuts to other programs. While there […]

Citizen eyewitnesses provide majority of top online news videos in Oklahoma tornado disaster

In recent years, natural disasters around the world have been chronicled by a new kind of visual journalism, often produced by citizen eyewitnesses and posted to the video sharing site YouTube. These videos represent a way of “crowdsourcing” a dramatic breaking news event, frequently before professional journalists can arrive on the scene.

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298 Disaster Research Topics & Essay Titles + Examples

Are you looking for a good idea for your presentation, thesis project, dissertation, or other assignment? StudyCorgi has prepared a list of emergency management research topics and essay titles about various disaster-related issues. Below, you’ll also find free A+ essay examples. Read on to get inspired!

🌋 TOP 7 Disaster Management Topics for Presentation

🏆 best natural disaster essay topics, 💡 simple disaster management research topics, 👍 good disaster research topics & essay examples, 📌 easy disaster essay topics, 🔥 hot disaster management topics to write about, ❓ essay questions about natural disasters, 🎓 most interesting disaster research titles, ✍️ disaster essay topics for college, 📝 disaster argumentative essay topics.

• Chernobyl Disaster and Engineering Ethics
• Earthquakes’ Impacts on Society
• 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami
• Disaster Management in Nursing Practice
• Flooding and Ways to Survive in It
• A Natural Disaster Preparation Plan
• Hurricane Katrina: Government Ethical Dilemmas
• Community Health: Disaster Recovery Plan Healthy People 2020 is a government initiative aimed at improving health for all groups. Its objectives are raising length and quality of life, achieving health equity.
• Nurse’s Role in Disaster Planning and Preparedness Public health officials play an important role in disaster planning and emergency preparedness. Nurses are involved in disaster planning, preparedness, response and recovery.
• Forest Fires as a Global Environmental Hazard Every year, uncontrolled fire kills a large number of people and animals and also has a long-term effect on the environment.
• Natural Disasters and Their Effects on Supply Chains This paper identifies emerging global supply chains and uses the cases of Thailand and Japan to explain the impacts of natural disasters on global supply chains.
• Floods: Stages, Types, Effects, and Prevention Flood is the most regularly occurring and the most destructive natural disaster. The most flood-prone area in the world is Asia, but the US has its own share of floods.
• Human Factors In Aviation: Tenerife Air Disaster The probability of mistake linked to the issue estimates around 30%, which is too high for aviation. For this reason, there is a need for an enhanced understanding of the problem.
• Effect of Flooding on Cultures in Egypt and Mesopotamia The effects of Tigris and Euphrates river largely impacted on the Mesopotamian culture more so with regard to its frequent and destructive floods.
• Mississippi’ Disaster: Hurricane Katrina Crisis Strategy The primary strength of the crisis plan adopted by the authorities in Mississippi is the commitment of the authorities respond faster than they did during Hurricane Katrina.
• Comparison of the Loma Prieta California Earthquake and Armenia An earthquake is a tremor in the earth’s crust that results to seismic waves as a result of the sudden energy realized from the earths bowels.
• Disaster Triage and Nursing Utilitarian Ethics Utilitarian moral principles are applicable to a wide range of extreme situations. One of the most relatable ethical issues in this context would be disaster triage.
• Earthquakes: Effects on People’s Health Earthquakes are one of the global environmental health issues that hugely impact people’s lives in certain geographical areas and communities.
• Dell Technologies Company’s Disaster Recovery Plan The goals of Dell Technologies include not only succeeding in its target market and attracting new customers but also demonstrating that its technology can be safer.
• Strategies Applicable to the Hurricane Katrina The Mississippi Crisis Plan many focuses on public information in order to ensure more communities and populations are aware of possible disasters.
• Mining as a Cause of Environmental Disaster Mining does great damage to the environment and biological diversity of the planet. The negative consequences of mining indicates the gravity of the present ecological situation.
• Natural Disasters and Disaster Management in Katmandu This paper identifies the major disasters in the Kathmandu valley, suggested strategies to mitigate them, and the government’s move toward disaster management.
• The Flood in Genesis and Lessons Learnt The story of the Flood in Genesis is fascinating because it is illustrative of the new beginning and a chance to achieve a different result for humanity.
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• Henderson Flood Hazard and Risk Assessment A proper understanding of the disasters capable of disorienting the lives of the people of Henderson can guide different agencies to formulate interventions.
• Earthquake: Definition, Stages, and Monitoring An earthquake is a term used to describe the tremors and vibrations of the Earth’s surface; they are the result of sudden natural displacements and ruptures in the Earth’s crust.
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• Galveston Hurricane of 1900 The paper discusses Galveston, the 1900 hurricane. It remains the deadliest in terms of natural disasters ever witnessed in the history of America.
• Disaster Recovery Plan At Vila Health At Vila Health, the use of inadequate protocols caused confusion, staff overload, and excessive use of resources, so an improved Disaster Recovery plan is needed.
• Media Coverage of the China 2008 Earthquake The Television and Video News websites used animate visuals to capture the aspects of the devastating epidemic of earthquake that struck China SiChuan region.
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• Links Between Natural Disasters, Humanitarian Assistance, and Disaster Risk Reduction: A Critical Perspective
• Global Warming: The Overlooked Man-Made Disaster Assignment
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• Natural Disaster, Policy Action, and Mental Well-Being: The Case of Fukushima
• Natural Disaster Equals Economic Turmoil – Trade Deficit
• Disaster and Political Trust: The Japan Tsunami and Earthquake of 2011
• Minamata Mercury Pollution Disaster
• Natural Disaster Damages and Their Link to Coping Strategy Choices: Field Survey Findings From Post‐Earthquake Nepal
• Flood Forecasting: Disaster Risk Management
• Disaster Relief for People and Their Pets
• Man-Made Natural Disaster: Acid Rain
• What Spiritual Issues Surrounding a Disaster Can Arise for Individuals, Communities, and Health Care Providers
• Natural Disaster Management Strategy for Common People
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• Disaster Relief and the United Nation’s Style of Leadership
• India’s 1984 Bhopal Disaster Analysis
• The National Disaster Management Authority
• Natural Disaster Insurance and the Equity-Efficiency Trade-off
• What the Puerto Rican Hurricanes Make Visible: Chronicle of a Public Health Disaster Foretold
• Disaster, Aid, and Preferences: The Long-Run Impact of the Tsunami on Giving in Sri Lanka
• Natural Disaster Early Warning Systems
• Disaster Preparedness for Travis County Texas
• Establishing Disaster Resilience Indicators for Tan-SUI River Basin in Taiwan
• Natural Disaster Death and Socio-Economic Factors in Selected Asian Countries
• Managing the Arsenic Disaster in Water Supply: Risk Measurement, Costs of Illness and Policy Choices for Bangladesh
• Large-Scale Natural Disaster Risk Scenario Analysis: A Case Study of Wenzhou City, China
• Hurricane Katrina: Natural Disaster or Human Error
• Disaster Relief and the American Red Cross
• Extreme Natural Events Mitigation: An Analysis of the National Disaster Funds in Latin America
• The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster and Its Effects on the World
• Earthquake Mitigation Measures for Oregon Oregon could prepare for the earthquake by using earthquake-proof construction technologies and training people.
• The Role of Nurses in Disaster Management Taking action in the event of adversities and helping out communities in recuperation is a central part of public health nurses.
• Prevention of Nuclear Disasters The paper reports on the mechanical and engineering failures that sparked a nuclear meltdown in the Three Mile power plant, its effects and the ways to improve safety.
• Hurricane Katrina’s Mental Health Impact on Populations The occurrence of Hurricane Katrina and Tsunami disasters called for the development of specialized techniques that would respond to a crisis.
• The 1900 Galveston Hurricane: Disaster Management Failure Isaac Cline, who by then was the director of the Galveston Weather Bureau, placed his arguments which were based on the statements saying that the city of Galveston did not require a seawall.
• Hurricane Katrina as One of the Worst National Disasters in the USA This paper illustrates the reasons why american levees failed to control the flooding problems during the Katrina hurricane what attributed to engineering ethics and the precaution.
• Natural Sciences. 1996 Mount Everest Disaster The events of spring 1996 are now remembered as one of the most unfortunate as fifteen individuals lost their lives during the summit to the Everest.
• Earthquakes: History and Studies Earthquakes are sudden movements of the earth’s surface caused by the abrupt release of energy into the earth’s crust. The earliest earthquake took place in China in 1411 BC.
• Chornobyl Disaster: Exploring Radiation Measurement After Fukushima The event is the Chornobyl disaster. A flawed reactor design caused it (Westmore, 2020). It resulted in the discharge of radioactive particles.
• Earthquake’s Intensity and Magnitude Intensity measures earthquakes’ strength and indicates how much the ground shook. An earthquake’s magnitude quantifies its size.
• Lake Oroville Disaster: Analysis Water released from the lake through the spillway was halted to assess the damage, which caused the quick rise of Lake Oroville water levels.
• Disasters and Emergency Response in the Community The onset of a disaster prompts the nation, region, or community affected to depend on the emergency response team.
• Disasters Caused by Climate Change This paper focuses on several recent natural disasters caused by climate change – simultaneous fires in Russia and floods in Pakistan.
• The Importance of Disaster Recovery The paper aims at providing a Disaster Recovery Plan for the Vila Health community and presenting evidence-based strategies to enhance the recovery effort.
• Disaster, PTSD, and Psychological First Aid Psychological first aid should be consistent and evidence-based, practically applicable in the field, appropriate, and culturally flexible.
• Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster: Causes of the Tragedy and the Measures to Be Taken On January 28, 1986, the Challenger was launched to explode 73 seconds after its lift-off. The tragedy is commonly called “the worst disaster in the history of the space program”.
• Stop Disasters Game: Learning, Entertainment, or Both? It is worth mentioning that the game seems to be informative in helping the player understand how to get prepared for natural calamities.
• Disaster Planning and Health Information Management This paper discusses promising measures and practices to help the organization to avoid situations with loosing all health information in case of future disastrous events.
• Riverbend City’s Flood Disaster Communication Both communication and leadership styles can have profound effects on the behavior and productivity of individuals in their circles. This work analyzes the Riverbend City scenario.
• Disaster Recovery Team and Disaster Recovery Strategy In order to be able to tackle any disaster promptly and efficiently, the disaster recovery roster of any organization should include a number of critically substantial individuals.
• Emergency Operations Plan During Earthquake Timeliness and quality of response to environmental challenges are the primary factors that can save the lives of thousands of people.
• Ethics of the Flixborough Chemical Plant Disaster The Flixborough chemical plant disaster exposed some problematic ethical issues found in the engineering industry.
• Disaster: Typhoon in Philipines Developing countries struggle to receive equal access to the same options. States like the Philippines do not have enough resources to invest in resilience and prevention measures.
• The Tohoku Earthquake: Tsunami Entry The paper discusses the Tohoku earthquake. The tsunami evacuation can be described as one that was preceded by warning, preparation, and knowledge.
• Preparedness Planning in Case of Flooding According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a preparedness plan for floods is divided into multiple steps that meet a national preparedness goal.
• Earthquakes as the Natural Disaster Posing the Greatest Danger to Societies The scope of irreparable damage, human losses, and paralyzed infrastructure due to earthquakes causes high economic costs for rescuing, preventing, reconstructing, rehabilitating.
• Hurricane Katrina: Improvised Communication Plan This article seeks to highlight improvised communication plans adopted by the victims in the shelter at the Houston Astrodome.
• William Mulholland and the St. Francis Dam Disaster The 1928 St. Francis dam disaster in Los Angeles, California is one of the most devastating man-made failures in the history of the United States.
• Lazarus Island: Disaster Systems Analysis and Design This paper aims to develop a web-based emergency management system for the government of Lazarus Island. This system will be used at the response stage of disaster management.
• Disaster and People Behavior Changes Some of the behavioral changes that occur due to the presence of a disaster relying from research from sources across the world on the countries affected by the disasters.
• Causes of the Haiti Earthquake This paper defines what an earthquake is, then discusses and reviews the causes of the Haiti Earthquake and the possibility of another Earthquake.
• Environmental Disaster Education: Incorporation Into the University Curriculum Naturally, disasters occur without any notification. Depending on the type of disaster, it is always important to approach the problem with immediate effect.
• Hurricane Hanna, Aftermath and Community Recovery The consequences of the hurricane Hanna that were described by the Federal Emergency Management Agency suggest possible long-lasting environmental issues.
• India’s, Indonesia’s, Haiti’s, Japan’s Earthquakes In 2001, the major tremor hit the Indian state Gujarat. It was reported as the most significant earthquake in the region in the last several decades.
• The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster Factors One of the causes of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster is that NASA put more emphasis on the timeframe of the project as compared to the quality standards of the project.
• Concrete Homes Your Fortress in a Natural Disaster
• II-the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster the Year
• Hurricane Katrin Human-Made Disaster
• Hurricane Sandy: Lessons Learned From the Natural Disaster
• Thomas Drabek and Crisis and Disaster Management
• Disaster Management: The Cases of Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, and Hurricane Ike
• Natural Disaster, Environmental Concerns, Well-Being and Policy Action
• Improving the American Red Cross Disaster Relief
• Union Carbide Disaster: Bhopal, India
• Managing Risk the Disaster Plan That You Will Need
• Disasters: Disaster Management Cycle and Major Disasters in India in the Year 2017
• Ready for the Storm: Education for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation
• Fire Prevention and Basic Disaster Management
• Japan Tsunami Disaster March 2011 Present the Earthquake-Tsunami Hit Japan
• Indian Ocean Tsunami: Disaster, Generosity, and Recovery
• Gauley Bridge Disaster and Bhopal Disaster
• Natural Disaster Shocks and Macroeconomic Growth in Asia: Evidence for Typhoons and Droughts
• Disaster Recovery Toms River After Sandy
• The History About the Bhopal Disaster Construction
• The Black Death Was the Largest Disaster of European History
• Middle Tennessee Disaster Analysis
• Living With the Merapi Volcano: Risks and Disaster Microinsurance
• Natural Disaster Risk Management in the Philippines: Reducing Vulnerability
• Korea’s Neoliberal Restructuring: Miracle or Disaster
• The Indian Ocean Tsunami: Economic Impact, Disaster Management, and Lessons
• Modeling the Regional Impact of Natural Disaster and Recovery
• Knowledge Management Systems and Disaster Management in Malaysia
• Disaster Planning and Emergency Response
• Disaster Vulnerability and Evacuation Readiness: Coastal Mobile Home Residents in Florida
• Hurricane Katrin Disaster Response and Recovery System
• Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response Health Care practitioners play a very important role in hurricane preparation initiatives and disaster response.
• Hurricane Katrina, Its Economic and Social Impact Hurricane Katrina is one of the worst disasters that ever happened on the territory of the US, and the magnitude of the damage that it has caused is nearly impossible to measure.
• Tornado and Hurricane Comparison Both a tornado and a hurricane are fraught with terrible consequences, both in terms of material damage and the possible injuries. Hurricanes causes impressively lesser damage.
• Environmental Studies: The Chernobyl Disaster On April 26, 1986, The Chernobyl Unit 4 Reactor was undergoing a test on the system that was meant to provide electric power in case of a power outage.
• Nuclear Disasters: Fukushima and Chernobyl Both Fukushima and Chernobyl disasters were nuclear crises that occurred accidentally in Japan and Ukraine respectively.
• A Hurricane Threat: A Risk Communication Plan The paper discusses a risk communication plan for the residents of New Orleans about a hurricane threat. It addresses disaster scenarios and introduces the risk communication plan.
• Why the Hurricane Katrina Response Failed Hurricane Katrina was the most destructive hurricane in US history, hit in late August 2005. The most severe damage from Hurricane Katrina was caused to New Orleans in Louisiana.
• The US Disaster Recovery System’s Analysis The US disaster recovery system is operating below its potential, hence there is a need to review performance in past disaster incidents.
• Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Recovery in the US PDD-39 and HSPD-5 are very similar safety directives, united by the provisions concerning terrorism as a world problem and the attitude of the United States towards it.
• An Agent-Based Model of Flood Risk and Insurance This paper provides all essential information concerning the nature of property and liability insurance along with its core principles.
• Hurricane Maria and Community Response to Hazard Hurricane Maria, which took place in the United States, Puerto Rico, and Dominica on September 20, 2017, is believed to be one of the most devastating natural disasters.
• Discussion of Managing Disasters in the USA People in the United States of America are constantly in danger of natural disasters, such as storms and tornadoes.
• FEMA Assistance to Man-Made and Natural Disasters The Federal Emergency Management Agency can provide financial assistance to individuals and families who, as a result of natural disasters, have incurred expenses.
• Hurricane Response Plan: Analysis The City of Baton Rouge Emergency Services has developed a five-step detailed response plan in the event of a major hurricane to reduce risks to civilians and city infrastructure.
• The Hurricane Katrina: Consequences Hurricane Katrina is one of the unprecedented disasters that led to deaths and the destruction of economic resources.
• The Possibility of Agroterrorism: Disaster Management Efforts The U.S. needs to prepare for the possibility of agroterrorism. Local administrators are responsible for disaster management efforts.
• Earthquakes Preventions in USA and Japan The article clarifies the issue of earthquakes in the United States, investigate the weaknesses of the American system, and explore the benefits of the Japanese technique.
• Aspects of Hurricane Irma: Analysis The paper examines Hurricane Irma and the responses of the country, state, and Monroe County to the disaster. Irma was one of the most powerful hurricanes.
• Earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand The earthquake is considered one of the costliest natural disasters in history. Thousands of buildings, cars, and other property were damaged or destroyed completely.
• Researching of Record-Breaking Floods Floods are natural disasters, usually caused by excessive precipitation, leading to severe consequences. The most significant flood in the world occurred in 1931 in China
• Bhopal Disaster: Analytical Evaluation The Bhopal accident occurred in India almost 40 years ago, on December 2, 1984. This disaster claimed the lives of 3800 people.
• Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans Hurricane Katrina made landfall in New Orleans, on the United States Gulf Coast, on August 29, 2005, leaving a path of devastation and flooding in her wake.
• “Emergency Management”: Building Disaster-Resilient Communities “Emergency Management” exemplifies the opportunities available currently in regard to building disaster-resilient communities to strengthen emergency management in the US.
• Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster: Results After the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, NASA identified the management failure elements that led to the disaster and substituted them with sustainable alternatives.
• Hurricane Vince: The Tropical Cyclone Hurricane Vince is a tropical cyclone that formed and developed in the eastern region of the Atlantic Ocean in 2005, near the Iberian Peninsula.
• Disaster Recovery Plan in Overcoming Disparities Health services are a social determinant and barrier that affects community health, safety, and recovery efforts.
• Consequences of Northridge Earthquake The paper discusses Northridge Earthquake. A blind thrust fault provoked an earthquake of a magnitude of 6.7, which is high for such a natural phenomenon.
• Humanitarian Assistance After 2010 Haiti Earthquake This paper aims to discuss how the people of Haiti experienced the earthquake, as well as how humanitarian aid from various organizations helped make a difference for Haitians.
• Disasters Influenced by Technology Depending on the natural environment of a community, social and building systems could either be strong or weak and vulnerable to a disaster.
• Destructive Atlantic Hurricane Season in 2017 The deadly and destructive 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season affected many people in society as it made people lose over 200 billion dollars.
• Earthquakes: Determination of the Risk There is a need to create awareness and knowledge about earthquake disasters and how to mitigate and respond to such disasters.
• Disaster Management and Analysis of Information The assessment and analysis of a disaster help understand the main problem, causes, and effects on human safety and security.
• Disasters and Actions of Rapid Response Services The collaborative work of rapid response services in emergencies is crucial for the rapid and effective elimination of their consequences and for saving people’s lives.
• Earthquake Threats in Bakersfield Earthquakes and dam failures are the most severe threats to Bakersfield, both of which can result in gas leaks and power disruptions.
• The Mississippi Floods of 2020, Its Impact and the Requisite Solution for the Future For numerous years, the Mississippi River has been prone to flooding incidents proved quite inconvenient for the local communities.
• How Can We Prevent Natural Disasters?
• What Is the Relationship Between Disaster Risk and Climate Change?
• How Does Disaster Affect Our Lives?
• Where Do Natural Disasters Happen?
• What Natural Disasters Are Caused by Climate Change?
• How Can We Communicate Without a Phone or Internet in a Disaster?
• What Is the Difference Between Crisis Management and Disaster Recovery?
• Can Natural Disasters Be Prevented?
• How Can We Reduce Disaster Risk?
• Are Natural Disaster Situations a Formidable Obstacle to Economic Growth?
• Why Is Communication Important in Disaster Management?
• How Do Natural Disasters Help the Earth?
• What Are the Principles of Disaster Management?
• Are There Any Aspects of BP’s Ethical Culture That Could Have Contributed to the Gulf Coast Oil Spill Disaster?
• Why Is Governance Important in Disaster Management?
• How Does Weak Governance Affect Disaster Risk?
• What Are the 5 Important Elements of Disaster Preparedness?
• How Can Climate Change Affect Natural Disasters?
• What Is Alternative Communication System During Disaster?
• How to Cope With the Stress of Natural Disasters?
• Does Economic Growth Really Reduce Disaster Damages?
• Who Is Responsible for Disaster Management?
• What Is the Importance of Disaster Risk Assessment?
• How Important Is Disaster Awareness and Preparedness?
• Does Natural Disaster Only Harm Humankind?
• Hurricane Katrina: Military and Civilian Response One of the three most dramatic catastrophes of the millennium, hurricane Katrina highlighted weak points of government and military forces.
• The Haiti Quake and Disaster Aid The experience of Haiti with earthquakes supports the opinion of researchers that there are factors that might prevent entities from assisting the populations.
• Disaster Recovery Plan for the Vila Health Community The Vila Health community has significant limitations as it has many elderly patients with complex health conditions, with shelters for the homeless running at capacity.
• Flood Environmental Issues in the Netherlands With the current constantly rising sea levels, the Netherlands is at constant risk of floods, and those calamities were harsh incentives for the country’s development.
• Hurricane Katrina and Failures of Emergency Management Operations Hurricane Katrina came from the coast of Louisiana on August 29, 2005, immediately resulting in a Category 3 storm as winds reached the speed of over 120 miles per hour.
• Incident Command System and Disaster Response The significance of successfully deploying the Incident Command System to any type or scale of emergency response situation cannot be overestimated.
• Communities and Disaster Preparedness: Limiting the Spread of COVID-19 This paper focuses on communicating the necessary rules children must follow to limit the spread of COVID-19 as much as possible.
• Preventing Forest Fires in California with Forestry Changes From the beginning of the 21st century, California has been experiencing an increase in forest fires, destroying citizens’ lives and property.
• Disaster Planning for Public Health: Darby Township Case The present paper is devoted to flood preparedness and planning in Darby Township (DT) located in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
• Hurricane: How Human Actions Affect It To prevent the frequent occurrence of hurricanes, it is necessary to understand the process of their occurrence and how human actions affect it.
• “Measuring Inequality in Community Resilience to Natural Disasters” by Hong et al. This paper analyzes the scientific study “Measuring inequality in community resilience to natural disasters using large-scale mobility data” and the content of the article.
• Natural Disaster Preparedness in Texas: Nursing Response Southeast Texas is the territory largely affected by hurricanes. In addition to property damage, hurricanes pose threats to public and individual health in different ways.
• Overpopulation’s and Environmental Disasters’ Connection This essay focuses on evaluating overpopulation as one of the greatest environmental threats, the relationship between the problem of overpopulation and harm to harmony in nature.
• Nursing and Natural Disasters: An Emergency Planning Project The purpose of this paper is to describe the role of the nurse in an emergency situation (an earthquake) by listing priorities, resources, describing the nursing process.
• Hurricane Katrina: Hazards Management This paper explores the events of Hurricane Katrina in regard to the arguments for and against rebuilding along the shorelines.
• Disaster Preparedness Experience It is essential to conduct such training for water damage, which can come from floods or even a small leak that goes undetected for some time.
• Noah’s Floods: Development of the Grand Canyon Rocks The paper discusses Noah’s floods. Developing a distinction between the sole causes for the development of the Grand Canyon rocks is still a daunting task.
• Drought as an Extremely Dangerous Natural Disaster On our planet, especially in places with an arid climate, drought itself, like the dry winds that cause it, are not uncommon.
• Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Information technology disaster recovery management procedures remain an important element of the overall corporate strategy.
• Adopting Smart Grid to Mitigate the Blackout Disaster The author proposes the creation of a smart grid for effective blackout monitoring and mitigation the blackout disasters.
• Loss Prevention and How It Was Affected by Hurricane Katrina The most damaging flood in United States’ history, is known as the 2005 Great New Orleans Flood or Katrina. It is estimated that the damages were incurred in 2005.
• A Report on Earthquakes Using Scientific Terms The current essay is a report on earthquakes using scientific terms from the course. Moment magnitude or moment magnitude scale refers to the relative size of an earthquake.
• Nuclear Disaster Prevention and Related Challenges The article addresses the role of transparency in monitoring nuclear arsenals as well as the varied approaches for identifying challenges.
• Chernobyl and Fukushima Disasters: Their Impact on the Ecology The fallout’s impact poses a danger to animal and plant life because of the half-life of the released isotopes. Longer exposure to radiation may lead to the burning of the skin.
• Information Technology Disaster Recovery Planning Disaster recovery planning is the procedure and policies set aside by a given organization to ensure their continuity and recovery from a natural or human-caused disaster.
• Disaster Responses: Improving the State of Affairs Despite technological improvements and increased knowledge, humanity is still struggling against disasters because they cannot either predict them or respond to them appropriately.
• Disaster Preparedness: Miami, Florida The development of a disaster preparedness plan is a priority for all states, and Miami, Florida, is no exception to the rule.
• Emergency and Disaster Preparedness in Healthcare The impromptu nature of emergency and disaster occurrence makes it almost impossible to prepare for emergencies and other challenges.
• Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and Hurricane Harvey The coast of the United States in general and Texas in particular experiences tropical storms on a regular basis. Hurricanes hit the Texas coastline, often causing property damage.
• “Manual Dosage and Infusion Rate Calculations During Disasters” by Wilmes The article “Manual dosage and infusion rate calculations during disasters” written by Wilmes, highlights the importance of manual calculation skills in nurses.
• Earthquake Resistant Building Technology & Ethics Foreign engineers aimed to replace Japanese architecture with a more solid one with masonry houses, new railroads, iron bridges and other European technological advances.
• Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Data loss is the center of focus of business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR), as this is the lifeblood of business operations today.
• Fire Disaster Plan For a Skilled Nursing Facility The purpose of this fire disaster plan is to provide guidance to the skilled nursing facility on fire emergency procedures to protect the lives and property of staff, residents.
• Southern Europe Flash Floods: Disaster Overview Southern Europe flash floods are the most recent significant event. People need to learn about the cause and effects of flooding and apply the knowledge to protect themselves.
• The Atlantic Hurricane Season Explained The Atlantic hurricane occurs from June 1 to November 30. It peaks sharply from late August to September; in most cases, the season is at the highest point around September 10.
• Community Disaster Preparedness in Nassau County, New York
• Article Review: “The Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Trust in Government”
• International and South Africa’s Disaster Management
• Organizational Behavior and Motivation in Hurricane Response
• All-Hazards Disaster Preparedness: The Role of the Nurse
• Disaster, Crisis, Trauma: Interview with a Victim
• Effects of Earthquakes: Differences in the Magnitude of Damage Caused by Earthquakes
• How Natural Disasters Impact Systems at Various Levels?
• Disasters’ Benefits to People Who Experience Them
• Chernobyl Disaster’s Socio-Economic and Environmental Impact
• Was the BP Oil Spill Disaster in the Gulf Avoidable
• Managing Change, the Challenger and Columbia Shuttle Disasters
• Ethical and Legal Issues During Catastrophes or Disasters
• Has the Media Changed the Response to Natural Disasters?
• Managing Emergencies and Disasters
• Energy Safety and Earthquake Hazards Program
• Recovery Efforts During 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina
• Destructive Force: Earthquake in Aquila, Italy
• Hurricane Katrina and the USA’s South
• International Studies: Global Disasters
• Historical Perspective and Disasters as a Process
• Hurricane Katrina: Determining Management Approach
• Scientific Responsibility for Earthquakes in Japan
• Disaster Recovery. Automated Management System
• Vulnerability of Hazardville to Flooding Disasters
• The Climate Tragedy and Adaptation to Disasters
• Potential Disasters’ Impact on Nursing Community
• Teaching Experience in Disaster Management Among Teenage Students
• National Guidance During Hurricane Katrina
• Disaster Operations and Decision Making
• Psychological Issues After a Crisis or Disaster
• Disaster Management and Training for Emergency
• Hurricane Katrina and Public Administration Action
• Decision-Making in the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster
• Emergency Planner’s Role in Disaster Preparedness
• Disaster Recovery Plan: Business Impact Analysis
• The “New Normal” Concept After Disaster
• Disaster Management: Evacuations from Gulf Coast Hurricanes
• American and European Disaster Relief Agencies
• Flooding in Houston and New Life After It
• Deepwater Horizon Disaster and Prevention Plan
• Emergency and Disaster Management Legal Framework
• Disaster Support by Miami and Federal Emergency Management Agency
• 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina in Psychological Aspect
• Disaster Plan Activation and Healthcare Staff
• Hurricane Katrina and Emergency Planning Lessons
• Family Self-Care and Disaster Management Plan
• How Can the Negative Effects of Disasters Be Avoided?
• Disaster Management: Terrorism and Emergency Situations
• Defence Against Coastal Flooding in Florida
• Evaluation as Part of a Disaster Management Plan
• World Trade Center Disaster and Anti-Terrorism
• Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Post-Disaster Fraud
• Structural Violence and Hurricane Matthew in Haiti
• Risk Management Model and Disaster Recovery Plan
• Kendall Regional Medical Center’s Disaster Plan
• Houston’s Revitalization After Harvey Hurricane
• Hurricane Katrina: Facts, Impacts and Prognosis
• Nonprofit Organizations’ Disaster Management
• Philadelphia Winter Snow Disaster and Its Impact
• Fukushima and Chernobyl’ Nuclear Disasters Comparison
• Natural Disasters Effects on the Supply Chain
• Natural Disasters: The Budalangi Flood
• Homeland Security: Fast Response to Disasters and Terrorism
• Geology: Iquique Earthquake in Chile
• The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
• Hurricane Katrina’ Meaning: Mental, Economic, and Geographical Impact
• Preparing for Terrorism and Disasters in the New Age of Health Care
• Healthcare Facilities Standards and Disaster Management
• Hurricane Katrina Emergency Management
• Planning Disaster Management in the Urban Context
• Strategic Preparedness for Disasters
• Hurricane Katrina and the US Emergency Management

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StudyCorgi. (2021, September 9). 298 Disaster Research Topics & Essay Titles + Examples. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/disaster-essay-topics/

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StudyCorgi . "298 Disaster Research Topics & Essay Titles + Examples." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/disaster-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2021. "298 Disaster Research Topics & Essay Titles + Examples." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/disaster-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Disaster were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on January 22, 2024 .

Research examines tweets during Hurricane María to analyze social media use during disasters

Social media can be a useful tool for communicating during extreme weather events. Omar Pérez Figueroa, an urban and regional planning professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, examined how Twitter (now X) was used when Hurricane María hit Puerto Rico in 2017.

His findings are published in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences .

Pérez Figueroa studies how impoverished and marginalized communities address environmental inequalities, water governance and disaster resilience.

For his research on social media and risk communication, he collected data from Twitter before the platform changed its name, so he continued to refer to it as Twitter for his study. He analyzed a sample of more than 2,000 tweets from before Hurricane María made landfall to six months after the storm to determine "what the event tells us about the reactions and behavior of people, and what is useful to understand to be better prepared."

Pérez Figueroa analyzed the timing of the tweets and their geographic distribution. Most of them were made prior to landfall, with smaller peaks of activity at later times -- for example, when the Federal Emergency Management Agency deleted Puerto Rican disaster statistics from its website. In the U.S., those tweeting about the hurricane were highly concentrated in Florida, California, New York and Texas, all areas with large Puerto Rican populations.

The sample included tweets from Puerto Rico, despite the collapse of the island's power grid. Pérez Figueroa said Twitter doesn't require a strong signal, making sending messages under disaster conditions more accessible.

He identified three main categories of messages: information about what was happening on the ground in Puerto Rico; understanding the social and political conditions that turned the hurricane into a disaster; and emotional messages seeking help or expressing support. Those in Puerto Rico used social media to inform others about their condition and location, ask for and receive help, and document the disaster.

Pérez Figueroa wrote that many tweets about the sociopolitical causes of the disaster blamed local and federal governments for their slow and inefficient response. He said it underscored the use of social media in solidarity and grassroots recovery efforts; as a tool to pressure for prompt government response and the development of policies that address vulnerabilities; and to communicate needs and raise awareness among people not directly affected by the local event about where to donate.

The tweets included information about the Guajataca Dam failure as it occurred.

"Being able to access critical data during and after a disaster can provide the difference between life and death, especially for those on the ground. Recognizing the increasing use of social media for disaster response and aid can increase communities' disaster resilience, especially when the communities hardest hit have limited communication and are remote, like the case of Puerto Rico," Pérez Figueroa wrote.

In addition to aiding in preparedness and recovery for future disasters, the research served as a case study to test and refine a framework for examining disaster social media communication, Pérez Figueroa said.

"Understanding how individuals use Twitter during disasters and in the immediate aftermath will be important as hurricanes occur more frequently, and as the public continues to turn to social media as a mainstream news source. Public health and disaster response organizations will benefit from a more detailed understanding as to who and how communication on social media can play a role in mitigating the public health burdens that result from disaster events," he wrote.

Pérez Figueroa said areas for future research include how traditional media can influence discussions on social media, how narratives on the two differ, whether social media influences emergency responders and policymakers to improve disaster response, and how groups from different socioeconomic levels use social media during disasters.

• Natural Disasters
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Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau . Original written by Jodi Heckel. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference :

• Omar Pérez-Figueroa, Nícola Ulibarrí, Suellen Hopfer. A content analysis of social media discourse during Hurricane María: filling a void when traditional media are silent . Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences , 2024; DOI: 10.1007/s13412-024-00909-1

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April 6, 2024

New Books Help Parents Explain Climate Disasters to Kids

Books are becoming a key part of disaster recovery, helping toddlers—and their parents—cope with increasing hurricanes, earthquakes and wildfires

By Ariel Wittenberg & E&E News

A recovery vehicle drives past burned structures and cars two months after a devastating wildfire Oct. 9, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii.

Tama/Getty Images

CLIMATEWIRE | Watching the Maui wildfires break out on the local news last August, Elizabeth Hartline realized there was something she could do to help: write.

The preschool director had for years written "social stories," explaining in simple terms the changes a toddler might go through in early life — from going to school for the first time to learning to use the potty. The same type of story, she thought, could help when disaster strikes.

“I just thought, this is what I can contribute, this is what I can do to help people process the trauma of what has happened,” said Hartline, who is director of Honolulu Community College’s Alani Children’s Center.

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Hartline's story, " There Was A Fire ," is now posted on the Hawaii Department of Health's website for easy access by wildfire victims. It's not the only story deployed in the wake of a disaster: The United Way, government agencies and other organizations have distributed tens of thousands of books to children after hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires and extreme weather.

Childhood trauma experts say that telling stories about climate-fueled disasters can help small children cope with their experiences. Such books can become an important tool in strengthening the emotional and mental resilience of toddlers — and their parents — during disaster recovery, a time where formal mental health care might be inaccessible.

“There are times in disasters where we want to shield kids from the worst moments of the event, but sometimes they went through it,” said Melissa Brymer, director of terrorism and disaster programs at UCLA’s National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, who has worked on other disaster stories for kids. “And these stories help kids process it and give parents the language to talk about it even with very young children.”

Hartline’s story explains that winds are usually safe for people, as are wildfires because firefighters can contain them. But this time, Hartline wrote, "the big winds combined with the big fire” in Maui to make it spread faster than firefighters could put it out. The book also says that some people lost their homes, or jumped in the ocean to escape the fire and died.

The narrative is coupled with prompts for children to draw what they have seen or how they are feeling, and with coping mechanisms they can use to feel safe if they are scared, like asking for a hug or taking three slow breaths.

“The big goal of social stories is that it’s very helpful to have language to describe what you’re experiencing, and that’s what trauma can take away from you,” Hartline said. “So it is giving kids a framework to understand what happened and to know that even though it was scary, it’s OK to talk about.”

In drafting the story, Hartline faced a choice of whether to mention that the fire killed people.

“We don’t want to tell children anything more than we have to,” she said. “We don’t want to put anything new in their head that will scare them.

“But ultimately, I decided that these kids know about this, they were hearing about it, it was all over the news, and if we didn’t name it, it would become taboo and kids would think it was off-limits to talk about,” she said.

Hurricanes and earthquakes, too

Hartline isn’t the only one who has used storytelling to help kids cope with climate disasters.

Chandra Ghosh Ippen, a child psychologist at the University of California, San Francisco, was partnering with colleagues in New Orleans to address early childhood trauma when Hurricane Katrina hit. In the aftermath, she said, it quickly became clear “there was just not enough mental health support for families.”

The resulting book — “Trinka and Sam and the Rainy Windy Day" — tells the story of two mice who recently experienced a bad hurricane in their community and become afraid similar destruction could repeat during a less intense rainstorm. The book shows Trinka and Sam being comforted by their parents, and includes a “guide” at the end to help adults talk to kids about disaster-related fears.

When she wrote it, Ghosh Ippen thought the book was a one-off side project.

“Little did we know how many hurricanes there would be,” she said. “It’s really hard to think about how much more these little mice are needed now than when we started."

Since then, the little mice have helped children cope with tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires and Covid-19. The books — which are available at no cost thanks to grants from the Early Trauma Treatment Network, National Child Traumatic Stress Network, and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration — have been deployed by the government of Nepal and United Way in Puerto Rico to help families cope with earthquakes and hurricanes.

Ghosh Ippen, whose husband illustrates the books, is currently working on a new story about flooding.

Reading the books is sometimes the first time parents broach the topic of a disaster with their children, said Brymer at the UCLA National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, who has contributed to some of the more recent volumes.

"We often hear from parents, 'Well, my kids aren't talking about this thing we just went through, so I'm assuming that they are just resilient and weren't effected,'" she said. "But then as they read the story, their child will say, 'I feel like this character.' And the parent can also use the story to describe how they felt during the disaster. Reading the book shows your child, ‘OK, I'm here for you, we can talk about this.’"

Ghosh Ippen has sometimes worked with communities to help tailor the stories to conditions in their area. For example, following Hurricane Maria, the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Puerto Rico chapter reached out asking if she could change the mice’s names to something easier to pronounce in Spanish.

So "Trinka and Sam" became "Trinka y Juan."

Cindy Calderon, who was president of the chapter at the time, said she was also initially concerned that a story centering on mice could send the wrong message to children who, following the storm, were being told to steer clear of vermin due to concerns about infectious disease spreading through contact with rats.

“I was worried about how the kids would relate to it, but Chandra explained to me that they would see Trinka y Juan like Mickey Mouse,” she said.

United Way ultimately distributed more than 22,000 copies of the updated story across the island, complete with a survey. Calderon used the story in trainings she held for preschool and day care providers about how toddlers’ behaviors may have been affected by what they experienced during the storm and its aftermath.

“In a disaster, emotional and mental health for kids is an afterthought, because you are in crisis and your life and your resources are threatened,” Calderon said. “But now we have a whole population that has been very effected that needs to learn to cope.”

During one training, which took place during a rainstorm, a parent told Calderon about heightened anxiety she felt any time there was inclement weather following the hurricane.

“I was able to use the book to say, ‘That’s exactly how your kids feel. But they don’t have the same reasoning as you to know why this rain is different or why this windy day is different,’” she said. “The book helps them feel safe again.”

Reprinted from E&E News with permission from POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2024. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environment professionals.