The term ‘water pocket’ describes invisible en- and subglacial water reservoirs that can cause sudden glacial outburst floods. However, there is currently no consensus on its definition and the formation and rupture mechanisms of water pockets remain poorly understood. This study aims to understand the mechanisms behind water pocket outburst floods (WPOFs) from alpine glaciers by analyzing their spatial and temporal distribution, pre-event meteorological conditions and the glacio-geomorphic features of the glaciers from which the floods originate. To this end, we updated an inventory of known WPOFs in the Swiss Alps to 91 events from 37 individual glaciers. Most WPOFs occurred between June and September, likely linked to meltwater input. Meteorological data indicate anomalously high temperatures during the days preceding most events and heavy precipitation on 25% of days for which WPOFs occur, indicating that water pockets typically rupture during periods of high water input. We propose four mechanisms of water pocket formation: temporary subglacial channel blockage (which is the mechanism suggested most often for our inventory), hydraulic barriers, water-filled crevasses and accumulation of liquid water behind barriers of cold ice (thermal barriers). Overall, our analysis highlights the challenge of understanding WPOFs due to the subsurface nature of water pockets, emphasizing the need for field-based research to improve their detection and monitoring.

When using machine learning to model environmental systems, it is often a model’s ability to predict extreme behaviors that yields the highest practical value to policy makers. However, most existing error metrics used to evaluate the performance of environmental machine learning models weigh error equally across test data. Thus, routine performance is prioritized over a model’s ability to robustly quantify extreme behaviors. In this work, we present a new error metric, termed Reflective Error, which quantifies the degree at which our model error is distributed around our extremes, in contrast to existing model evaluation methods that aggregate error over all events. The suitability of our proposed metric is demonstrated on a real-world hydrological modeling problem, where extreme values are of particular concern.

To meet the challenges of hazards impacting coastal communities, demand is growing for more equitable coastal natural hazard adaptation and disaster mitigation approaches, supported by co-productive research partnerships. This review paper outlines contemporary advances in hazard adaptation and disaster mitigation with attention to how an equity and justice framework can address the uneven impacts of hazards on marginalized and underserved communities. Drawing upon the allied concepts of distributive, procedural, systemic, and recognitional equity and justice, we illustrate how these concepts form the basis for equitable coastal resilience. To demonstrate how equitable resilience can effectively advance contemporary adaptation and mitigation strategies, we present two vignettes where collaborative partnerships underscore how equitable coastal hazard planning and response practices complement these processes in coastal zones subject to large earthquakes and tsunamis. The first vignette focuses on disaster response and takes place in the Tohoku region of Japan, with diverse gender and sexual minority community members’ experiences of, and responses to, the 2011 Tohoku disasters. The second vignette centers on hazard planning and takes place on the U.S. Pacific Northwest coast along the Cascadia Subduction Zone to demonstrate how principles of distributive, procedural, systemic, and recognitional equity can inform the co-production of alternative coastal futures that prioritize equitable resilience. From this discussion, we suggest applying an equity lens to research processes, including alternative futures modeling frameworks, to ensure that the benefits of hazard adaptation and disaster mitigation strategies are equitably applied and shared.

Do large-scale and unexpected events, such as natural disasters, affect elections? This article studies the political dimension of the 19-S earthquake that hit Mexico City in 2017, a few months before the 2018 elections. Using fine-grained geospatial data, the results show that candidates from the city-level incumbent Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD) had a small increase in vote share in 2018 compared to the previous election in precincts more exposed to damaged caused by the earthquake (in terms of both distance-based and per capita measures), accounting for the seismic profile and socioeconomic characteristics of the neighborhood. The article shows that the implementation of disaster-recovery policy explains part of this relationship. Moreover, voters were as electorally responsive to a future risk reduction strategy as to a reconstruction credit.

Natural hazards are increasing because of climate change, and they disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. Prior reviews of the mental health consequences of natural hazard events have not focused on the particular experiences of vulnerable groups. Based on the expected increase in fires and droughts in the coming years, the aim of this systematic review is to synthesize the global evidence about the mental health of vulnerable populations after experiencing natural hazards. We searched databases such as Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and Ovid PsycInfo using a systematic strategy, which yielded 3,401 publications. We identified 18 eligible studies conducted in five different countries with 15,959 participants. The most common vulnerabilities were living in a rural area, occupying a low socioeconomic position, being a member of an ethnic minority and having a medical condition. Common experiences reported by vulnerable individuals affected by drought included worry, hopelessness, isolation and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Those affected by fire reported experiencing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anger. These mental health problems exacerbated existing health and socioeconomic challenges. The evidence base about mental health in vulnerable communities affected by natural hazards can be improved by including standardized measures and comparison groups, examining the role of intersectional vulnerabilities, and disaggregating data routinely to allow for analyses of the particular experiences of vulnerable communities. Such efforts will help ensure that programs are informed by an understanding of the unique needs of these communities.

Schools have a significant role in disaster education to children. This study investigates the research works about school-based education programs in order to discover challenges and best practices. We conducted a systematic review of English language papers published in peer-review journals.

The search identified 2577 publications and 61 articles meeting selection criteria and included in the review. Reviewed studies indicated that disaster education in schools is effective but yet insufficient in many countries. Lack of equipment, financial resources, policy gaps, and teachers’ knowledge are common problems in programs. Main outcomes of this systematic review are showing methods used for health emergency preparedness of children of different ages and gender differences in school-based disaster preparedness, as well as the difference in their lifesaving skills in disasters.

This study shows that some disaster education programs reported in the papers reviewed were not high-quality enough, which may lead to insufficient preparedness of children in disasters and consequently may put their health at risk, considering the increasing number of natural hazards.

Tsunamis and storms instigate sedimentological and geomorphological changes to the coastal system, both long-term and ephemeral. To accurately predict future coastal hazards, one must identify the records that are generated by the processes associated with these hazards and recognize what will be preserved. Using eyewitness accounts, photographs, and sedimentology, this study documents pre- and post-tsunami conditions and constrains the timing and process of depositional events during and following the 11 March 2011 Tohoku tsunami in the coastal system at El Garrapatero, Galapagos Islands. While the tsunami acted as both an erosional and depositional agent, the thick, fan-like sand sheet in El Garrapatero was primarily emplaced by overwash deposition during high tide from swell waves occurring between 19–25 March and 17–22 April 2011. The swell waves were only able to access the terrestrial coastal system via a channel carved by the 2011 Tohoku tsunami through the barrier sand dune. This combined deposit could result in an overestimation of the hazard if interpreted to be the result of only one event (either tsunami or wind-generated waves). An analogous sand layer, younger than 1390–1530 calyr BP, may record a similar, prior event.

A landslide debris field covering ~ 31 km2, the presence of large sediment blocks up to hundreds of meters long, and the exposure of deposits of a single landslide along the incised course of the Quyon River are evidence of a massive failure of sensitive Champlain Sea glaciomarine sediments along the lower Quyon Valley, southwestern Quebec, Canada. Seventeen radiocarbon ages indicate that the failure occurred between 980 and 1060 cal yr BP. Twenty-four additional radiocarbon ages reveal that nine landslides within a 65-km belt in the Quyon"Ottawa area also occurred at approximately this time. In combination, the contemporaneous occurrence of ten landslides between 980 and 1060 cal yr BP, the setting or morphology of five of the other failures, and the close proximity of two of the failures to the Quyon Valley landslide provide circumstantial evidence of a paleoearthquake-triggering mechanism. The paleoearthquake is estimated to be M w ~ 6.1 or larger, with the epicenter within the West Quebec Seismic Zone. A common earthquake-triggering mechanism for the three largest landslides in eastern Canada suggests a close link between massive failures of sensitive glaciomarine sediments and the regional seismicity.

Australia regularly suffers floods, droughts, bushfires and cyclones, which are predicted to increase and/or intensify in the future due to climate change. While school-aged children are among the most vulnerable to natural disasters, they can be empowered through education to prepare for and respond to disasters. School disaster education is essential to raise awareness among students and their communities and to encourage preparedness action. However, evaluation of Australian school-based disaster education programs has been limited. This article presents the results of a critical literature review of peer-reviewed publications on disaster education programs in Australian schools conducted through Scopus, A Plus, PsycINFO and the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) databases. Results highlight a significant dearth of studies examining disaster education programs in Australian schools. Recommendations for future research are proposed to bridge knowledge gaps and establish disaster preparedness resources that support children's knowledge and preparedness for disasters.

This article examines how personal beliefs about hazard events interact with social context factors to influence how individuals interpret their relationship with their environment, assign meaning to natural hazards and their consequences, and make preparedness decisions. Building on earlier work applying the same theoretical model to volcanic hazard preparedness, this article examines earthquake and flood hazard preparedness. The study incorporates both quantitative and qualitative approaches to elicit more detailed information regarding the influences underlying individuals' decisions to adopt preparation activities to minimise the effects of natural hazards. Findings indicate that preparedness decisions are not made in isolation. Through community level discourse and processes importance is attached to natural hazards and protective measures. It is only when natural hazards are perceived as having greater salience than other threats that people are motivated to prepare for their effects. A major finding is a distinction between trust and distrust of civic authorities. The data suggest that preparedness decisions were strongly influenced by the relevance people attached to information provided by these civic authorities. Delivering hazard mitigation strategies involves engaging with community members in order to understand their needs and to render meaningful assistance to their preparedness decisions.

The August 2007 earthquake in Peru resulted in the loss of critical health infrastructure and resource capacity. A regionally located United States Military Mobile Surgical Team was deployed and operational within 48 hours. However, a post-mission analysis confirmed a low yield from the military surgical resource. The experience of the team suggests that non-surgical medical, transportation, and logistical resources filled essential gaps in health assessment, evacuation, and essential primary care in an otherwise resource-poor surge response capability. Due to an absence of outcomes data, the true effect of the mission on population health remains unknown. Militaries should focus their disaster response efforts on employment of logistics, primary medical care, and transportation/evacuation. Future response strategies should be evidence-based and incorporate a means of quantifying outcomes.