News in Japan - August

USA

Adaptation to climate risks: Political affiliation matters. Study takes into account perceptions of New York City residents after Superstorm Sandy A new study reveals that those who affiliate with the Democratic Party have different views than those who vote Republican on the following issues: the likelihood of floods occurring, adopting protection measures, and expectations of disaster relief from the government. Key findings:

• Democrats' perception of their probability of experiencing flood damage is significantly higher than Republicans'. They are also more likely to expect climate change to increase the flood risk they face in the future.
• Democrats are also more likely to invest in individual flood protection measures.
• Less than half of Democrats and a third of Republicans trust the government to address the flood risk posed in their area of residence.
• 50% more Democrats than Republicans in the study expect to receive federal disaster relief after a major flood.

Interestingly, given the above, the researchers find no difference in flood insurance adoption.

Hurricanes are worse, but experience, gender and politics determine if you believe it Despite ample evidence that Atlantic hurricanes are getting stronger, research found that people's view of future storm threat is based on their hurricane experience, gender and political affiliation. This could affect how policymakers and scientists communicate the increasing deadliness of hurricanes as a result of climate change.

For those displaced in historic Louisiana floods, an uncertain future

Other

New meta-analysis shows engineered hard shorelines are a threat to ecosystems (global)  Hardened shorelines reduce species diversity, abundance. "Biodiversity was 23% lower along shorelines with seawalls when compared with that of natural shorelines," observed the authors. Moreover, Gittman and her colleagues noted that overall organism abundance was 45% lower in seawalled areas. One potentially encouraging finding was that biological diversity and the abundance of organisms were not demonstrably altered by other forms of shoreline hardening, such as riprap and breakwaters. The authors report that "some shore-protection structures may serve as surrogate habitats for native epibiota where natural hard substrates, such as oyster reefs and mussel beds, have been lost to overharvest, erosion, and poor water quality." However, Gittman and her colleagues caution that such structures may enable invasive species or have other unintended consequences.

Flooding and drought in opposing mountain ranges

Geological data provide support for legendary Chinese flood

A film about flooding, and what we can do now (UK)

Published paper

The Journal of Disaster Research has published an article by Nasif Ahsan, myself, and others, titled "A Systematic Review of the Factors Affecting the Cyclone Evacuation Decision Process in Bangladesh". It is freely available at the JDR website, after creating a free account.

Abstract

Researchers are investigating a broad spectrum of factors affecting positively and/or negatively the evacuation decision-making process occurring after people at risk receive cyclone warnings and advisories. Previous studies suggest that early warnings themselves do not propagate evacuation processes to be investigated but, rather, that human risk perceptions do so. This in turn encourages the socio-psychological dimensions of risk perception to be evaluated, which must be done within a country’s own cultural context. In applying content analysis here, we review the literature on evacuation decision-making processes during rapid onset hazards, i.e., tropical cyclones, in coastal Bangladesh. We focus on three broad overlapping themes – early warning, risk perception, and evacuation decision-making. Major content-analysis findings suggest that two things – a lack of credibility in early warning messages and an inefficient dissemination process – tend to affect the risk perception of people at risk and are likely to eventually determine the success of evacuation decision-making. Findings also show that different socioeconomic and socio-cultural issues related to risk perception appear to be more influential than formal warning messages in propagating decisions to evacuate during a cyclone. Based on these results, we suggest specific policy recommendations for improving local evacuation efficiency.

Journal ref: Journal of Disaster Research, August 2016, 11(4), 742-753
Received: 31 May 2016
Accepted: 14 July 2016
Released: 1 August 2016
DOI: 10.20965/jdr.2016.p0742
Impact Factor pending