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Updated every Friday.

Friday, March 3, 2017

March 3, 2017


What happened this week?
Canada. Three minor earthquakes in the past three days off the coast of B.C. and Washington state serve as a reminder that B.C. has entered “slip season”, when one expert says we should be the most prepared for “The Big One.".... Read more
 
Chile. Millions without water in Santiago after floods and landslides cause havoc in Chile. Three people are dead and 19 others are missing after heavy rains struck Chile over the weekend during the country's usually dry summer months... Read more

Guatemala. El Nino: Drought threatens Guatemala’s rural population. Nearly one million Guatemalans are at risk of going hungry. The weather phenomenon, El Nino, is being blamed for a lack of rain over the past two years. Rural families are running low on food, and some now depend on food aid.... Read more

 United States.
  1. A landslide as partially stranded homeowners in a rural part of Contra Costa County and there's a growing fear fire and rescue crews will not be able to get to them if there is an emergency...Read more
  2. Severe thunderstorms left swaths of destruction for a second straight day in parts of the Midwest and Southeast after a string of tornadoes ripped through several states...Read more.
Interesting Facts

A strange physical phenomenon is helping scientists predict where massive earthquakes will strike. Now, thanks to new research, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania believe they've found a new insight into why earthquakes happen, helping them to predict where they might occur. Their results were published in the journal Physical Review Letters...Read more
Colorado River drought woes could affect 41 million Americans. Residents of the Southwest US will almost certainly face drought because of water loss in the Colorado River caused by global warming, according to scientists. By mid-century the water levels will drop by 5 million acre-feet, a new study says...Read more

Stunning new tornado simulation may help meteorologists unlock their secrets. Weather experts are calling it the most realistic computer simulation of a tornado ever created.  Dr. Cathy Finely at Saint Louis University played a big role in making it happen. She is part of a team of meteorologists from around the country that are working together to bring this simulated tornado to life...Read more
The U.S. Geological Survey hails an early spring — and ties it to climate change. As the nation basks in some of the warmest February weather it's seen in decades, the U.S. Geological Survey has been quick to point out that the early spring conditions are just another symptom of climate change...Read more
 
Vancouver summers could get as warm as San Diego by 2050. The report used current climate model outcomes to provide a “best guess” snapshot of how climate change will unfold in Metro Vancouver over the coming decades...Read more
Will California's Giant Sequoias Survive The Next Drought? Although though the skies have finally opened and the rains have started to fall on California, more than 100 million trees died during the state's historic five-year drought...Read more

What's new in Disaster Risk Reduction?

A winter's worth of storms prompts Gov. Jerry Brown to ask for $437 million in flood and emergency relief. arning that it will only amount to a small down payment on a large and costly problem, Gov. Jerry Brown unveiled a $437-million request Friday to speed up flood control efforts in Northern California and boost the readiness of the state’s emergency operations...Read more
DRR critical to Haiti recovery effort. The Americas region meets next week to discuss the best way forward to reduce disaster losses as a new Post Disaster Needs Analysis (PDNA) demonstrates the full impact of the devastation wrought on Haiti by Hurricane Matthew in October last year...Read more

Technology and communities key to curbing tsunami risk. Deploying the power of technology worldwide and ensuring that communities know how to act in an emergency are the keys to curbing the risks posed by tsunamis, experts said this week...Read more

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