This paper evaluates whether mangroves can mitigate the impact of hurricanes on economic activity. The paper assembles a new, regionwide panel data set that measures local economic activity using nightlights, potential hurricane damages using a detailed hurricane windstorm model, and mangrove protection by mapping the width of mangrove forests on …
Tropical Storm Bret formed north of the Bahamas on Sunday and was expected to drench the northernmost islands before curving out into the open Atlantic, forecasters at the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Bret was not expected to strengthen into a hurricane, nor was it forecast to threaten the U.S. …
Large parts of central Mexico face torrential rains once Arlene, the first tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, makes landfall early on Thursday. Mexican emergency services recommended communities in the storm's direct path evacuate and state oil monopoly Pemex was on alert for possible impact to refineries and other …
The Belleplaine test site, located in the island of Guadeloupe (French Lesser Antilles), includes a three-accelerometer vertical array, designed for liquefaction studies. The seismic response of the soil column at the test site is computed using three methods: the spectral ratio method using the vertical array data, a numerical method …
The accident at the Fukushima power plant in Japan has led to much discussion about the future of nuclear power. I believe one important lesson of the accident has been overlooked. Nuclear power is often touted as a solution to climate change, but Fukushima serves as a warning that far …
The intensity of solar storms is expected to peak in 2013 and may devastate critical infrastructure like satellite communications, navigation systems and electrical transmission equipment, a top scientist has warned. Kathryn Sullivan, assistant secretary of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said countries should prepare for
In October 1998, a hurricane visited death and destruction on Honduras, with flooding and mudslides. A case history of a rural community documents how recovery from that event produced socio-economic improvement.
Herman Rosa Chavez counts every day that he has been in office. It’s a point El Salvador’s soft-spoken Minister of Environment and Natural Resources makes in all his conversations, underscoring the urgency with which he views his tasks, both in the domestic and international sphere. “For us climate change is …
Tropical cyclones are expected to cause more damage in the United States and Asia but it could be more than a century before insurers can point to climate change as a factor in losses from storms, scientists say. In a study that focuses on the predicted threat to the United …
At least 280 crocodiles have escaped from a Mexican refuge near the Gulf of Mexico after heavy flooding caused by Hurricane Karl, Mexican media said Tuesday. The endangered Morelet crocodiles were on the roam in six coastal areas in the Mexican state of Veracruz and residents were told not to …
ON JULY 15th a 75-tonne cap closed off the Macondo well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. The flow of oil ceased, for the first time in the three months since a blowout in the well doomed the rig which had drilled it, Deepwater Horizon. The cap is …
STATISTICAL PROOF: From 1995 to 2009, the model predicted a mean of 13.7 named storms of which a mean of 7.8 were hurricanes. In reality, the average during this period was 13.8 named storms with a mean of 7.9 hurricanes. Florida State University scientists who have developed a unique computer …
This paper examines the short and long-run average causal impact of catastrophic natural disasters on economic growth by combining information from comparative case studies. The counterfactual of the cases studied is assessed by constructing synthetic control groups, taking advantage of the fact that the timing of large sudden natural disasters …
Workshop>> Disaster Films • Cuba Five girls and five boys are participating in a workshop to remember the hurricane that devastated Gibara, their hometown in Eastern Cuba, two years ago. They are filming images to make a video message for Haiti’s earthquake-struck children. The material produced by the workshop, part …
Could the devastation caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita have had a silver lining? The sediment washed into New Orleans by the floods accompanying the storms may have blanketed over heavily polluted, lead-laden soil in the city, leading to a decrease in lead levels in the bloodstreams of children across …
Vegetated coastal ecosystems provide goods and services to billions of people. In the aftermath of a series of recent natural disasters, including the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and Cyclone Nargis, coastal vegetation has been widely promoted for the purpose of reducing the impact of large storm surges and tsunami. …
Whether the characteristics of tropical cyclones have changed or will change in a warming climate — and if so, how — has been the subject of considerable investigation, often with conflicting results. Large amplitude fluctuations in the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones greatly complicate both the detection of long-term …
By failing to account for the effects of climate change, long-term projections of extreme weather are providing dangerously inaccurate guidance for critical investments in infrastructure and public safety.
Large natural disasters (LNDs) are ubiquitous phenomena with potentially large impacts on the infrastructure and population of countries and on their economic activity in general. Using a panel of 113 countries and 36 years of data, examine the relationship between different measures of natural disaster impact and long-run economic growth. …
Rescuers glided through several city neighborhoods in fishing boats and canoes on Tuesday, searching water-logged houses for trapped residents and abandoned belongings, after heavy rains flooded Georgia and other parts of the Southeast. The deluge left eight people dead, dozens stranded and thousands without electricity. As the mucky red-brown waters …
