The Age-Old Tale of Less Quake, More Damage

Earthquakes are far from equal, and so are the disasters they spawn. That was the case recently when seismic events in Japan and Ecuador provided a textbook case for how the built environment can exacerbate (or not) the impacts of disaster.

We’ll Be Back after Thanksgiving

Looking Through the Lens of Environmental Justice

The Flint water crisis highlights how vulnerability to risk and the disproportionate impacts of hazards can become environmental justice issues. The crisis—and other environmental hazards that have come to light since—raise questions about the influences of government preparedness, accountability, and response that are critical for addressing these crises and preventing similar ones in the future.

The Martian's lead character, Mark Watney, survived on the Red Planet because he was part of a larger group of people learning under conditions of extreme stress, availing themselves to new ideas, suspending existing procedures, and developing new ones. Similarly, the mariners on 9/11 successfully performed a Dunkirk-like boatlift of approximately 500,000 people because their community shared the same features.

Reassessing the Oso Landslide

Two years after a devastating landslide in Oso, Washington, scientists are still trying to interpret what factors lead to the deadly event.