Resilience to disaster: Evidence from American wellbeing data

As the severity and frequency of extreme weather events become more pronounced with climate change and the increased habitation of at-risk areas, it is important to understand people’s resilience to them. We quantify resilience by estimating how disasters in the US impacted individual wellbeing in the initial weeks and months post-disaster, and whether the effect sizes differed by individual- and county-level factors. The methodological approach contrasts changes in wellbeing in counties affected by disasters with that of residents in unaffected counties of the same state. We find that people’s hedonic wellbeing is reduced by approximately 6% of a standard deviation in the first two weeks following the event, with the effect diminishing rapidly thereafter. The negative effects are driven by White, older, and economically advantaged sub-populations, who exhibit less resilience. We find no evidence that existing indices of community resilience moderate impacts. Our conclusion is that most people in the US have a resilient response to extreme weather events.     

A case study of excessive rainfall forecasting

Summary Flash floods have been recognized as one of the most significant natural disaster problems in the world. Within the United States, the annual average flood death toll exceeds one hundred and property damage is on the order of a billion dollars. There has been an increased effort of the meteorological community to improve short term quantitative precipitation forecasting, principally by improving mesoscale numerical weather prediction for heavy rain events. Nevertheless, to date, numerical weather prediction has had rather limited impact on the prediction of the most damaging convective rainstorms.This study examines numerical experiments, including both coarse-mesh and fine-mesh model simulations, of the Enid, Oklahoma flood of 10–11 October 1973. Besides the great concentration of rainfall, the Enid flood was rather unique in comparison with other flash flood cases in that it was part of a much larger area of heavy rainfall which soaked the central Plains over the 24h period ending at 1200 UTC 11 October. The objective is to assess the overall usefulness and limitation of numerical weather prediction models in quantitative precipitation forecasting for this flash flood event.The model experiments reveal that the broad-scale precipitation patterns associated with the front and cyclone are well predicted, but the maximum rainfall amounts around Enid are underpredicted. The fine-mesh model is superior to the coarse-mesh model because of the former's ability to generate many significant mesoscale features in the vicinity of the front. In the fine-mesh model, many convection-related parameters (e.g., moisture flux convergence) are correlated very well temporally and spatially with the observed heavy precipitation scenario.     

The influence of urban development dynamics on community resilience practice in New York City after Superstorm Sandy: Experiences from the Lower East Side and the Rockaways

While (urban) resilience has become an increasingly popular concept, especially in the areas of disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA), it is often still used as an abstract metaphor, with much debate centered on definitions, differences in approaches, and epistemological considerations. Empirical studies examining how community-based organizations (CBOs) “practice” resilience on the ground and what enables these CBOs to organize and mobilize around resilience are lacking. Moreover, in the growing context of competitive and entrepreneurial urbanism and conflicting priorities about urban (re)development, it is unclear how urban development dynamics influence community-based resilience actions. Through empirical research conducted on the Lower East Side, a gentrifying neighborhood in Manhattan, and in Rockaway, a socio-spatially isolated neighborhood in Queens, we investigate community organizing of low-income residents for (climate) resilience in a post-disaster context. Results show that both the operationalization of resilience – how resilience is “practiced” – and the community capacity to organize for the improved resilience of low-income residents are strongly influenced by pre-existing urban development dynamics and civic infrastructure – the socio-spatial networks of community-based organizations – in each neighborhood. The Lower East Side, with its long history of community activism and awareness of gentrification threats, was better able to mobilize broadly and collectively around resilience needs while the more socio-spatially isolated neighborhoods on the Rockaway peninsula were more constrained.     

Storm surge evolution and its relationship to climate oscillations at Duck,NC

Coastal communities experience increased vulnerability during storm surge events through the risk of damage to coastal infrastructure, erosion/deposition, and the endangerment of human life. Policy and planning measures attempt to avoid or mitigate storm surge consequences through building codes and setbacks, beach stabilization, insurance rates, and coastal zoning. The coastal emergency management community and public react and respond on shorter time scales, through temporary protection, emergency stockpiling, and evacuation. This study utilizes time series analysis, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test, Pearson’s correlation, and the generalized extreme value (GEV) theorem to make the connection between climate oscillation indices and storm surge characteristics intra-seasonally to inter-annually. Results indicate that an El Niño (+ENSO), negative phase of the NAO, and positive phase of the PNA pattern all support longer duration and hence more powerful surge events, especially in winter. Increased surge duration increases the likelihood of extensive erosion, inland inundation, among other undesirable effects of the surge hazard.     

Possible Effects of Global Warming on Agriculture and Water Resources in Saudi Arabia: Impacts and Responses

This study assesses the possible impact of climatic change on Saudi Arabia's agriculture and water supplies using climatic change scenarios from GCMs (General Circulation Models) and related research. The resulting assessment indicates that an increase in temperature and decrease in precipitation could have a major negative impact on agriculture and water supplies in Saudi Arabia. To find signs of climatic change in Saudi Arabia a preliminaryassessment of systematic changes in temperature and precipitation was made, based on the records of four Saudi weather stations. The analysis of this data, which dates back to 1961, shows no discernable signs of climatic change during the study period. Such data is, however, limited both spatially and temporally and cannot provide conclusive evidence to confirm climatic changes projected by GCMs. Nevertheless, in the light of recent climatic conditions and rapid population growth, Saudi decision-makers are urged to adopt a `no regret' policy. Ideally, such a policy would include measures to avoid future environmental or socioeconomic problems that may occur in the event of significant climatic change.     

Comparison of uncertainty sources for climate change impacts: flood frequency in England

This paper investigates the uncertainty in the impact of climate change on flood frequency in England, through the use of continuous simulation of river flows. Six different sources of uncertainty are discussed: future greenhouse gas emissions; Global Climate Model (GCM) structure; downscaling from GCMs (including Regional Climate Model structure); hydrological model structure; hydrological model parameters and the internal variability of the climate system (sampled by applying different GCM initial conditions). These sources of uncertainty are demonstrated (separately) for two example catchments in England, by propagation through to flood frequency impact. The results suggest that uncertainty from GCM structure is by far the largest source of uncertainty. However, this is due to the extremely large increases in winter rainfall predicted by one of the five GCMs used. Other sources of uncertainty become more significant if the results from this GCM are omitted, although uncertainty from sources relating to modelling of the future climate is generally still larger than that relating to emissions or hydrological modelling. It is also shown that understanding current and future natural variability is critical in assessing the importance of climate change impacts on hydrology.     

Investigating the impact of climate change on New York City’s primary water supply

Future climate scenarios projected by three different General Circulation Models and a delta-change methodology are used as input to the Generalized Watershed Loading Functions – Variable Source Area (GWLF-VSA) watershed model to simulate future inflows to reservoirs that are part of the New York City water supply system (NYCWSS). These inflows are in turn used as part of the NYC OASIS model designed to simulate operations for the NYCWSS. In this study future demands and operation rules are assumed stationary and future climate variability is based on historical data to which change factors were applied in order to develop the future scenarios. Our results for the West of Hudson portion of the NYCWSS suggest that future climate change will impact regional hydrology on a seasonal basis. The combined effect of projected increases in winter air temperatures, increased winter rain, and earlier snowmelt results in more runoff occurring during winter and slightly less runoff in early spring, increased spring and summer evapotranspiration, and reduction in number of days the system is under drought conditions. At subsystem level reservoir storages, water releases and spills appear to be higher and less variable during the winter months and are slightly reduced during summer. Under the projected future climate and assumptions in this study the NYC reservoir system continues to show high resilience, high annual reliability and relatively low vulnerability.     

Relating root causes to local risk conditions: A comparative study of the institutional pathways to small-scale disasters in three urban flood contexts

The continued rise of global disaster losses pushes our attention yet further to the causal factors that drive risks, beyond the frame of standardised risk assessment models. A key gap in our understanding of the causality of disasters remains establishing how spatially and temporally distant factors – ‘root causes’ – drive local risk conditions. This is particularly the case for small-scale but high-impact disasters. It includes understanding the role that institutions play in influencing such pathways of risk production. This paper addresses this question using a holistic approach to risk analysis that links past drivers to contemporary conditions. We apply this in three case studies of coastal flood management in urban areas of differential size and integration within the European Union - Rethymno (Crete), Genoa (Italy) and St Maarten (Dutch Caribbean). The paper reveals the importance of local institutions in mediating the impacts of higher-level economic and political changes on local risks. It provides new empirical evidence of the relationship between austerity, institutional reform and local disaster risk reduction. The analysis supports a stronger causal epistemology of resilience to disasters but also leads to re-consideration of the institutional entry points for risk reduction, and the importance of considering context and trade-offs.     

北京一次冬季极端降水过程中相态转换预报的误差分析

应用多种常规和非常规观测气象资料以及再分析资料对2020年2月13日夜间至14日白天北京地区一次极端雨雪过程的成因进行了分析,并重点探讨了模式降水相态预报的误差及其原因.结果表明:(1)本次降水过程中,低涡系统深厚,强度异常强,移速慢,影响时间长,导致北京地区部分站点降水持续12?h左右.异常偏强的东南风急流向北京西部...     

Mainstreaming local perceptions of hurricane risk into policymaking: A case study of community GIS in Mexico

This article suggests a framework for incorporating and communicating local perceptions of hurricane risk into policymaking through a case study conducted at El Zapotito commune in the State of Veracruz, Mexico. The authors constructed a geographical information system (GIS)-based model to quantify and spatially assess specific household-level vulnerabilities from information generated through interviews. This research developed a household vulnerability index applied to a participatory GIS to map vulnerability to hurricane hazard. The results indicate that infrastructural weaknesses are the most important factor contributing to vulnerability, explaining on their own 72.2% of the variation in the vulnerability patterns. These findings are corroborated by a vulnerability and capacity assessment (VCA), which shows that the community lacks strategies to cope with unsafe housing. It is suggested that linking community participation with modern techniques to analyse risk can empower communities and mobilise their capacities to address very specific vulnerabilities.     

2017 年乌鲁木齐区域数值预报业务系统预报性能检验和评估

基于乌鲁木齐区域数值预报业务系统,运用MET检验工具,对2017年各季节DOGRAFSv1.0预报性能进行客观检验。结果表明：（1）2m温度日间预报温度整体偏低,夜间多数站点预报温度偏高;冬季预报温度偏高,其他三个季节温度预报整体偏低。10m风速冬季模拟性能最差,春季次之;所有季节风速预报均偏大。（2）夏季、秋季高空温度预报误差小,在3.0℃以内,冬季误差最大,温度预报整体呈冷偏差;不同季节高空位势高度随高度增加误差增大,误差约在6.5～12.0gpm,预报高度比实际高度偏低;不同季节高空U、V风随高度增加误差先增大后减小,均方根误差分别为2.4～6.2m/s和1.8～5.2m/s,U风预报整体比实况偏小,V风预报整体比实况偏大。（3）冬季大阈值降水漏报率较高,12.1mm阈值降水Bias评分仅为0.2,秋季大阈值降水空报率较高,12.1mm阈值降水Bias评分在2.0以上,夏季空、漏报率较低;在新疆地区,四个时段中14～20 BJT 、20～次日02 BJT空报站点数多于漏报,14～20 BJT空报率最高,02～08 BJT漏报率最高,08～14BJT晴雨预报以漏报为主;日间Ts评分高于夜间。     

Mitigating the Effects of Climate Change on the Water Resources of the Columbia River Basin

The potential effects of climate change on the hydrology and water resources of the Columbia River Basin (CRB) were evaluated using simulations from the U.S. Department of Energy and National Center for Atmospheric Research Parallel Climate Model (DOE/NCAR PCM). This study focuses on three climate projections for the 21st century based on a `business as usual' (BAU) global emissions scenario, evaluated with respect to a control climate scenario based on static 1995 emissions. Time-varying monthly PCM temperature and precipitation changes were statistically downscaled and temporally disaggregated to produce daily forcings that drove a macro-scale hydrologic simulation model of the Columbia River basin at 1/4-degree spatial resolution. For comparison with the direct statistical downscaling approach, a dynamical downscaling approach using a regional climate model (RCM) was also used to derive hydrologic model forcings for 20-year subsets from the PCM control climate (1995–2015) scenario and from the three BAU climate(2040–2060) projections. The statistically downscaled PCM scenario results were assessed for three analysis periods (denoted Periods 1–3: 2010–2039,2040–2069, 2070–2098) in which changes in annual average temperature were +0.5,+1.3 and +2.1 °C, respectively, while critical winter season precipitation changes were –3, +5 and +1 percent. For RCM, the predicted temperature change for the 2040–2060 period was +1.2 °C and the average winter precipitation change was –3 percent, relative to the RCM controlclimate. Due to the modest changes in winter precipitation, temperature changes dominated the simulated hydrologic effects by reducing winter snow accumulation, thus shifting summer streamflow to the winter. The hydrologic changes caused increased competition for reservoir storage between firm hydropower and instream flow targets developed pursuant to the Endangered Species Act listing of Columbia River salmonids. We examined several alternative reservoir operating policies designed to mitigate reservoir system performance losses. In general, the combination of earlier reservoir refill with greater storage allocations for instream flow targets mitigated some of the negative impacts to flow, but only with significant losses in firm hydropower production (ranging from –9 percent in Period1 to –35 percent for RCM). Simulated hydropower revenue changes were lessthan 5 percent for all scenarios, however, primarily due to small changes inannual runoff.     

What determines farmers’ resilience towards ENSO-related drought? An empirical assessment in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia

Crop production in the tropics is subject to considerable climate variability caused by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon that is likely to become even more pronounced during the twenty-first century. Little is known about the impact of ENSO-related drought on crop yields and food security, especially at the household level. This paper seeks to contribute to closing this knowledge gap with a case study from Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. Its main objective is to measure household resilience towards drought periods and to identify its influencing factors to deduce policy implications. Using indicators for consumption expenditures, we construct an index measuring household drought resilience; we then apply an asset-based livelihood framework to identify its determinants. Most of the drought-affected farm households are forced to substantially reduce expenditures for food and other basic necessities. Households’ drought resilience is strengthened by the possession of liquid assets, access to credit, and the level of technical efficiency in agricultural production. The results suggest a number of policy recommendations, namely improvement of the farmers’ access to ENSO forecasts, the provision of credit and savings products to facilitate consumption smoothing, and the intensification of agricultural extension in view of low levels of productivity found in agricultural production.     

Informal networks and resilience to climate change impacts: A collective approach to index insurance

This article contributes to the understanding of how to proceed with the development of index-insurance in order to reach extended population coverage with the insurance. The approach is applied to an example from a region in Tanzania. One of the main coping strategies that resource-poor households rely on to manage risks related to fluctuations in income flows is risk-sharing in informal networks. An informal network is an ideal way of managing idiosyncratic shocks, but once such shocks become covariate and affect whole communities, as is the case with most climate change impacts, informal networks become insufficient since the majority of risk-sharers will be affected by the shock at the same time. This paper proposes a collective approach to index-insurance in which the members of an informal network will be insured as one insurance taker. The paper raises a conceptual argument that targeting households through existing informal networks will remove a number of prevailing barriers to the take-up of insurance and consequently the approach has the potential to increase households’ resilience to climate change impacts. The policy implications of the conclusions are significant since the number of covariate shocks is predicted to increase with climate change.     

The resilience paradox: flooding experience,coping and climate change mitigation intentions

Climate change is projected to increase the frequency, intensity and unpredictability of extreme weather events across the globe and these events are likely to have significant mental health implications. The mental health literature broadly characterises negative emotional reactions to extreme weather experiences as undesirable impacts on wellbeing. Yet, other research in psychology suggests that negative emotional responses to extreme weather are an important motivation for personal action on climate change. This article addresses the intersection of mental health and functional perspectives on negative emotions, with a specific focus on the potential that reduced negative emotional responses to extreme weather may also translate to diminished motivation to undertake climate change mitigation actions – which we term the ‘resilience paradox’. Using survey data gathered in the aftermath of severe flooding across the UK in winter 2013/2014, we present new evidence indicating that self-appraised coping ability moderates the link between flooding experience and negative emotions and thereby attenuates the indirect link between flooding experience and climate change mitigation intentions. We conclude that support for flood victims should extend beyond addressing emotional, physical and financial stresses to include acknowledgement of the involvement of climate change and communication of the need for action to combat future climate risks.

Key policy insights

• Psychological resilience to flooding and other extreme weather events can translate to diminished motivation to mitigate climate change

• Negative emotional reactions need to occur at an optimal level to enable people to respond appropriately to climate risks.

• Flood victims’ subjective appraisal of their ability to cope does not necessarily encompass consideration of the role played by climate change. Therefore, support for victims of extreme weather should include explicit acknowledgement of the involvement of climate change and the need for action to mitigate future climate risks.

     

Use of variability modes to evaluate AR4 climate models over the Euro-Atlantic region

This paper analyzes the ability of the multi-model simulations from the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to simulate the main leading modes of variability over the Euro-Atlantic region in winter: the North-Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the Scandinavian mode (SCAND), the East/Atlantic Oscillation (EA) and the East Atlantic/Western Russia mode (EA/WR). These modes of variability have been evaluated both spatially, by analyzing the intensity and location of their anomaly centres, as well as temporally, by focusing on the probability density functions and e-folding time scales. The choice of variability modes as a tool for climate model assessment can be justified by the fact that modes of variability determine local climatic conditions and their likely change may have important implications for future climate changes. It is found that all the models considered are able to simulate reasonably well these four variability modes, the SCAND being the mode which is best spatially simulated. From a temporal point of view the NAO and SCAND modes are the best simulated. UKMO-HadGEM1 and CGCM3.1(T63) are the models best at reproducing spatial characteristics, whereas CCSM3 and CGCM3.1(T63) are the best ones with regard to the temporal features. GISS-AOM is the model showing the worst performance, in terms of both spatial and temporal features. These results may bring new insight into the selection and use of specific models to simulate Euro-Atlantic climate, with some models being clearly more successful in simulating patterns of temporal and spatial variability than others.     

Spatial and temporal variability of winter and summer precipitation over Serbia and Montenegro

Summary The main characteristics of the spatial and temporal variability of winter and summer precipitation observed at 30 stations in Serbia and Montenegro were analysed for the period 1951–2000. The rainfall series were examined spatially by means of Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOF) and temporally by means of the Mann-Kendall test and spectral analysis. The Alexandersson test was used to detect the inhomogeneity of the data set.The EOF analysis gave three winter and summer dominant modes of variations, which explained 89.7% and 70.4% of the variance, respectively. The time series associated with the first pattern showed a decreasing trend in winter precipitation. The spectral analysis showed a 16-year oscillation for the dominant winter pattern, around a 3-year oscillation for the dominant summer pattern, and a quasi-cycle of 2.5 years for the winter third pattern.     

2015/2016厄尔尼诺事件的衰减位相及其对应的西北太平洋环流异常

利用季节平均Had ISST海温、CMAP降水及NCEP风场数据,分析了2015/2016超级厄尔尼诺衰减期的特征及其对应的西北太平洋大气环流异常。结果表明:2015/2016厄尔尼诺事件除了成熟位相冬季强度大以外,还具有在随后春季衰减快,到夏季就消亡的特征。伴随着厄尔尼诺的迅速衰减,西北太平洋有较强的反气旋环流异常维持。厄尔尼诺衰减位相与西太反气旋异常存在相互作用。一方面,由于此次厄尔尼诺事件强度强,衰减期热带印度洋有显著的暖海温异常从冬季一直维持到夏季,有利于西太反气旋的增强和维持。另一方面,西太反气旋环流异常的维持及其南侧东风异常的发展使得中东太平洋正海温异常减弱,令厄尔尼诺事件快速衰退。此外,通过与1982/1983和1997/1998年比较发现,这三次超强厄尔尼诺事件虽强度相当,但衰减位相及与之相联系的西太反气旋异常都不尽相同。1982/1983事件衰减慢,维持时间长,对应的西太反气旋强度弱。而1997/1998事件衰减快,维持时间短,对应的西太反气旋强度在春季和夏季都强盛维持。2015/2016事件的衰减速度明显快于1982/1983事件,对应的西太反气旋也强于1982/1983事件,由于2015/2016事件增暖中心偏向于中东太平洋,而这里是厄尔尼诺衰减过程中负海温异常最先出现的区域,因此尽管2015/2016事件中西太反气旋异常的强度弱于1997/1998事件,但衰减速度及衰减位相维持时间与1997/1998相当。本文研究结果表明厄尔尼诺衰减与西太反气旋异常之间的关系较为复杂,需进一步研究。     

Archival explorations of climate variability and social vulnerability in colonial Mexico

In this paper, unpublished archival documentary sources are used to explore the vulnerability to–and implications of–climatic variability and extreme weather events in colonial Mexico. Attention focuses on three regions covering a variety of environmental, social, economic, and political contexts and histories and located at key points along a north-south rainfall gradient: Chihuahua in the arid north, Oaxaca in the wetter south and Guanajuato located in the central Mexican highlands. A number of themes are considered. First, the significance of successive, prolonged, or combined climate events as triggers of agrarian crisis. Second, a case study demonstrating the national and regional impacts of a particularly devastating climate induced famine, culminating with the so-called ‘Year of Hunger’ between 1785 and 1786, is presented. The way in which social networks and community engagement were rallied as a means of fortifying social resilience to this and other crises will be highlighted. Third, the impacts of selected historical flood events are explored in order to highlight how the degree of impact of a flood was a function of public expectation, preparedness and also the particular socio-economic and environmental context in which the event took place. An overview of the spatial and temporal variations in vulnerability and resilience to climatic variability and extreme weather events in colonial Mexico is then provided, considering those recorded events that could potentially relate to broader scale, possibly global, climate changes.     

气候恢复力及其在极端天气气候灾害管理中的应用

恢复力（resilience）一词自1973年进入生态学领域以来,在生态环境和自然资源管理以及社会经济可持续发展相关研究和实践中得到了广泛应用。随着人类对全球气候变化及其影响的认识不断加深,气候恢复力也逐渐成为应对气候变化的一个重要理念。本文首先系统阐述了气候恢复力概念的实质及与其密切相关的其他几个重要概念,然后在系统评估恢复力概念及其内涵的历史演变基础上,提出了一个实施气候恢复力建设的通用框架。尽管气候恢复力涉及行动主体的不同方面,而且还关系到不同部门和/或不同层次/尺度的优先选项,但希望此框架仍能对各部门、各尺度/层次的气候恢复力建设提供重要借鉴。最后以极端天气气候灾害管理为例,通过对英国皇家学会发布的《极端天气恢复力》报告进行述评,并对中国应对极端天气气候灾害的管理框架进行分析,进一步探讨了该框架的实用性。