How 12 Readers Prepare for Natural Disasters

“People usually don’t recover from disasters. If they’re lucky, they survive them.”

 How natural disasters benefit rich people but make the poor poorer – an illustrated story

Government programs that help people recover their wealth after natural disasters end up reinforcing inequality.

 How Science Has Battled Natural Disasters

From the Popular Science archives, the hurricane house, the seismograph camera, the forest-fire-fighting dirigible, and more.

‘Historic’ weather: why a cocktail of natural disasters is battering the US

As the world heats up, weather events will increase and overlap, testing the limits of nation’s resiliency and recovery.

Climate Change Doesn’t Cause All Disasters

Warming annually causes about 120,000 heat deaths but prevents nearly 300,000 cold deaths.

Climate Change Is Making Natural Disasters Worse — Along With Our Mental Health

And if it seems like natural disasters are happening more and more often, that's because they are: Climate change has helped drive a fivefold increase in the number of weather-related disasters in the last 50 years. Climate change means disasters are happening simultaneously, too.

Floods are natural, but human decisions make disasters. We need to reflect on the endless cycles of blame

What’s the solution? We should have agencies focused on disaster response and others that focus on disaster preparation: both would require ongoing, substantial funding. As climate change accelerates, we will see more “unprecedented” disasters, from record-breaking flooding to megafires. Blame will follow. Inquiries will be launched. We will ask, again and again, why we cannot seem to prepare. When the next one hits, remember we arrived at this point by design.

How Safe Am I From a Natural Disaster?

Napa Valley gets struck by the largest earthquake in 25 years. Hurricanes churn through the Atlantic. Floods claim four lives as they sweep through parts of the Northeast. Every region in America faces its own dangers (those three are just from August), but when you account for all kinds of natural disasters–from earthquakes to winter storms to tornados–what place is safest of them all?

In California, Marking Time With Natural Disasters

Californians’ formative memories center on earthquakes, fires and floods.

It’s Not Just Climate: Are We Ignoring Other Causes of Disasters?

Focusing only on climate can end up absolving policymakers of their failures to climate-proof their citizens.

Natural disasters hit disadvantaged people the hardest, but we can lessen the impact

As the planet warms, we will unfortunately face more natural disasters. We need to anticipate and plan for future disasters to minimise their impact and prevent them from compounding disadvantage.

Some Good News—About Natural Disasters, of All Things

In half a century, the average number of annual fatalities declined more than 80%.

The Best Reads on Worst-Case Scenarios

A reading list of horrific realities, from those who have imagined the bleakest outcomes and those who have borne witness to the unimaginable.

There’s actually no such thing as a natural disaster

Hazards are natural; disasters are manmade.

There’s No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster

It is generally accepted among environmental geographers that there is no such thing as a natural disaster. In every phase and aspect of a disaster—causes, vulnerability, preparedness, results and response, and reconstruction—the contours of disaster and the difference between who lives and who dies is to a greater or lesser extent a social calculus.

Treating natural disasters like war zones hurts survivors

The media's search for "bad guys" after hurricanes gets us angry about all the wrong things.

We’re Safer From Climate Disasters Than Ever Before

Though it receives little mention from activists or the media, weather-related deaths have fallen dramatically.

What to read to understand the biggest natural disasters

Six books that examine the human, social and political fallout from the worst natural calamities.

What Was the Most Significant Environmental Catastrophe of All Time?

The worst environmental catastrophe in Earth’s history occurred 66 million years ago, when an asteroid struck, killing an estimated 70 percent of all species. Nothing humans have done compares. But the 1930s Dust Bowl was the worst catastrophe in America’s history, and such a phenomenon may become global as the world’s climate changes.

You Have to Evacuate Your Home Due to a Natural Disaster. What Do You Take With You?

Facing hurricanes or wildfires, these evacuees made some hard choices about what to take. And even with limited car space, they typically found room for the sentimental stuff.

“Climate Change Did It!” Is a Convenient Excuse

Yes, climate change will exacerbate disasters, but the underlying problems are still worth addressing.