Because a 1755 quake shook thinkers and movers into serious action. Most of the population of Lisbon was in church when the first quake hit. It was the morning of All Saints Day, 1755, and this was the most prominent city in one of the world’s most powerful countries. None of that mattered, of course, when the shaking started. The Lisbon quake is still a … Continue reading OZY: HOW PORTUGAL’S BIGGEST DISASTER LAUNCHED A SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINE

  Wealthy Americans have stepped up investment in New Zealand. Parliament votes to ban foreigners from buying bolt-hole homes. Years of doomsday talk at Silicon Valley dinner parties has turned to action. In recent months, two 150-ton survival bunkers journeyed by land and sea from a Texas warehouse to the shores of New Zealand, where they’re buried 11 feet underground. Seven Silicon Valley entrepreneurs have … Continue reading Bloomberg: The Super Rich of Silicon Valley Have a Doomsday Escape Plan

All air, from arid deserts to humid cities, contains water vapour – globally, an estimated 3,100 cubic miles (12,900 cubic kilometres) of water is suspended as humidity in the air around us. That’s more than all the water in Lake Superior, the largest lake in North America (11,600 cubic km), or five Lake Victoria’s (Africa’s great lake, at 2,700 cubic km). Or a whopping 418 times the … Continue reading BBC: How to Drink from Enormous Lakes in the Air

not only Lava flows….  The aftermath of a large landslide in Atsuma. Photograph: Jiji Press/EPA A 6.7-magnitude quake has struck the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, causing multiple landslides in Atsuma and Sapporo and widespread power cuts Landslides trap residents in their homes Thu 6 Sep 2018 13.03 BST Continue reading Guardian: Earthquake triggers landslides in Hokkaido, Japan – in pictures

T AGITPROP 12 Artists On: Climate Change A dozen artistic responses to one of the greatest threats of our time. By Zoë Lescaze Aug. 22, 2018 Human-induced climate change, which certain politicians deny and many of us choose to ignore, threatens the survival of every species on Earth. If emissions continue at their current rate, scientists anticipate widespread coastal land loss, agricultural and economic collapse, food … Continue reading NYTimes: 12 Artists On: Climate Change

Scientists say thinning of the sea ice has reached even the coldest parts of the Arctic. Photograph: Nick Cobbing/Greenpeace Jonathan Watts Tue 21 Aug 2018 09.35 BST The oldest and thickest sea ice in the Arctic has started to break up, opening waters north of Greenland that are normally frozen, even in summer. This phenomenon – which has never been recorded before – has occurred twice this year … Continue reading Guardian: Arctic’s strongest sea ice breaks up for first time on record

Michael Safi in Delhi The death toll from floods in the southern Indian state of Kerala has jumped to 164 and could grow further, with more rain predicted and thousands of people still awaiting rescue. Roads are damaged, mobile phone networks are down, an international airport has been closed and more than 150,000 people have been left homeless after unusually heavy rain this month caused the … Continue reading Guardian: Kerala floods: death toll reaches 164 in worst monsoon in nearly a century

  MATI, Greece — Four days after the wildfire that raced down from the mountains, incinerating all before it, cars were once again tangled up in traffic jams in this seaside resort’s narrow streets. Search parties combed ruined homes for bodies; volunteers sought out injured and frightened pets. The nation was in mourning, shocked by the magnitude of the disaster, shaken by the stories of … Continue reading New York Times Op Page on the Fires of Mati

This documentary produced by the Guardian includes some very significant issues regarding politics and poverty in this region under the volcano. Iman Amrani, Max Duncan, Ken Macfarlane, Richard Sprenger, Marina Costa and Mustafa Khalili, Source: The Guardian Tue 17 Jul 2018 11.36 BST On 3 June, the Fuego volcano in Guatemala erupted, killing at least 113 people and leaving 332 missing. Thousands of victims have been displaced and are still living … Continue reading The Guardian: Life in the shadow of Guatemala’s Volcano of Fire – video

OBSERVER EDITORIAL It’s hot. Very hot. And as ever in the UK when the sun comes out for more than a few, fleeting summer afternoons, there is talk of water shortages, rationing and hosepipe bans. It is a pity the millionaire bosses of privatised water companies do not spend more time lining leaking pipes and less time lining their pockets. Yet despite this and other … Continue reading The Observer view on why we shouldn’t waste a drop of increasingly vital and valuable water