Search Results (97)

In recent decades, there has been a marked increase in the frequency of natural disasters on a global scale. This increase is particularly notable in the context of climatological disasters, such as wildfires, which have become increasingly prevalent and intense in past years. It is evident that as the planet experiences the repercussions of climate change, the severity of these fires will intensify. The present study focuses on the analysis of wildfires that have occurred in Spain in recent years, both in terms of their number and the area affected, using data collected from the national and international databases. Since the beginning of this century, there has been an increasing trend in the number of large wildfires (>500 ha) in this country. In contrast, there has been a decline in the overall number of wildfires. However, when analyzing a more extended period, spanning from 1970 onward, these trends become less discernible. The study also analyzes the differences between some of these databases and notes that, despite the fact that certain databases offer exhaustive documentation of burned areas, others exhibit specific limitations due to a variety of factors. These limitations may include the nature of the recorded data, the resolution of wildfire detection or wildfire perimeter identification detection systems, or the recent initiation of data collection for such events. The development of strategies based on historical data and predictive models is necessary for anticipating future scenarios and mitigating the impacts of wildfires. Full article

Over the past three decades, the United States has experienced a notable increase in weather-related disasters, including hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, wildfires, and severe storms, posing growing challenges to healthcare preparedness and public health systems. This study analyzes Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster declarations from 1989 to 2019 to characterize temporal and geographic trends in weather-related events. Data after 2019 were excluded to avoid confounding effects associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted disaster declarations, resource allocation, and healthcare system demands. Using descriptive statistics, generalized linear mixed models, and spatial clustering techniques, we identified substantial increases and nonlinear patterns in disaster declarations, with variation across hazard types and regions. These trends reflect evolving hazard exposure, regional differences, and policy-driven declaration practices. Although this study does not directly measure health outcomes or social vulnerability, the observed patterns have important implications for healthcare system capacity, workforce preparedness, and populations known to be disproportionately affected by disasters. The findings highlight the need for climate-informed training, data-driven preparedness planning, and integration of disaster trend analysis into nursing education and public health practice. Strengthening the ability of healthcare systems to anticipate and respond to evolving disaster patterns is critical for advancing resilience and promoting equitable health outcomes in the context of climate change. Full article

This study analyses the Master Plan for Analysis, Anticipation and Reaction to Natural Disasters of the Valencian Community (Spain) from the perspective of geographical risk literacy. The research adopts a qualitative methodology based on documentary analysis and conceptual assessment of public policy. The corpus includes Valencian institutional documents, Spanish civil protection and education regulations, international disaster risk reduction frameworks and the scientific literature on geography education, risk perception, social vulnerability and school preparedness. The findings show that the plan can strengthen institutional coordination, public communication and preventive culture through its preventive orientation, phased structure, official sources, attention to vulnerable groups, updated cartography and promotion of drills. However, its social effectiveness will depend on transforming protocols and guides into verifiable citizen capacities: identifying hazards, recognizing local exposure, interpreting warnings and maps, selecting safe routes, preparing households and rehearsing decisions in realistic contexts. The article proposes complementing the plan with a geographical literacy programme for territorial resilience based on local risk sheets, school atlases, evaluated drills, community mediation, accessible viewers and public monitoring indicators. The discussion places the Valencian case within international debates on disaster risk reduction, anticipatory governance, people-centred early warning systems and school safety. Because no empirical implementation data are yet available, the contribution is framed as an analytical and design-oriented framework requiring subsequent validation through pilots, surveys, interviews and evaluated drills. Full article

Urban resilience to earthquakes refers to the capacity of cities to anticipate, absorb, and adapt to seismic shocks through a combination of structural, institutional, and social mechanisms. In the context of Japan, one of the world’s most seismically active countries, this concept has evolved through both post-disaster learning and anticipatory planning. This entry examines two complementary trajectories of urban resilience in Japanese cities: reactive resilience, which develops through adaptation after a destructive event, and proactive resilience, which is embedded in preventive policies and preparedness strategies before a shock occurs. The city of Kobe, following the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, exemplifies a reactive trajectory shaped by institutional reform, community mobilization, and regulatory change. In contrast, Tokyo represents a proactive resilience model based on stringent seismic standards, advanced monitoring and early warning systems, and a widespread culture of disaster preparedness. By comparing these trajectories, the entry outlines a conceptual framework for understanding urban seismic resilience as a dynamic process that integrates social adaptation, governance, and technological innovation. Full article

Media coverage of disasters frequently frames self-interested behavior in contrast to collective responsibility and coordinated response. This study aims to explore how such behavior is emotionally constructed in disaster-related media, using a carefully selected corpus of 12 text-centered news articles focusing on selfish behavior. The analysis combines transformer-based sentence-level emotion classification using the tweetnlp RoBERTa model, which predicts 11 emotion categories, with Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling across single-sentence and three-sentence windows in a small purposively selected corpus. Emotion–topic relationships are quantified by weighting emotion probabilities by topic distributions and visualized using bar charts, network graphs, and heatmaps. The findings suggest that fear and disgust dominate portrayals of self-interested behavior, while anticipation appears in projections of harm and anger is linked to inequality and institutional accountability. Two discursive configurations emerge: Responsibility Across Individuals and Institutions, emphasizing public accountability and authority, and Collective Fear and Self-Protective Practices, reflecting affect-driven responses under uncertainty. Although negative emotions predominate, optimism appears conditionally, signaling coordination and recovery. Overall, disaster reporting constructs selfishness through integrated emotional–semantic patterns that position individual actions within broader social risk and collective responsibility. Full article

This study bridges the existing gaps in quantifying risk and enhancing community defences by applying a cohesive five-pillar risk and resilience framework developed within the C2IMPRESS project. We assessed the anticipated impacts of various C2IMPRESS tools on community resilience across four European case study areas (CSAs): Egaleo (Greece), Mallorca (Spain), Ordu (Turkey), and the Centro Region (Portugal). Methodologically, a targeted survey asked CSA representatives to estimate the expected changes across 42 resilience indicators—encompassing social, institutional, economic, infrastructural, and environmental dimensions—following tool implementation. A public–private-civil partnership (PPCP) framework was also assessed across all sites to enable a comparative analysis. The results indicate that individual vulnerability and emergency preparedness are the most responsive dimensions, exhibiting significant projected improvements alongside institutional capacities and community trust. Conversely, the community economy emerged as the least flexible dimension, exhibiting minimal anticipated change. In conclusion, the C2IMPRESS framework effectively bridges disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation by integrating local knowledge into actionable interventions. However, while social and institutional resilience can be actively enhanced, improving economic resilience requires long-term structural adjustments beyond the scope of these localised tools. Full article

Extreme precipitation constitutes one of the most devastating climatic resulting from global climate change. Jilin Province, a significant commodities grain base in China by a temperate monsoon climate, is particularly susceptible to flood disasters caused by extreme precipitation, usually occurring from late July to early August. The 2010 flood impacted moreover 5.12 million individuals and resulted in direct economic damages amounting to 45.1 billion CNY. However, research on the spatiotemporal characteristics and future trends of extreme precipitation in Jilin Province is still quite inadequate. This study examined the spatiotemporal distribution and future forecasts of extreme precipitation utilizing daily meteorological data from 31 stations (1960–2019) and three CMIP6 models (CanESM5, MPI-ESM1-2-HR, FGOALS-g3) under SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 scenarios. Eleven extreme precipitation indices, as specified by the WMO, were analyzed utilizing linear regression, the Mann–Kendall test, wavelet analysis, and inverse distance weighting interpolation. The findings indicated that from 1960 to 2019, extreme precipitation demonstrated traits of “increased frequency and total amount, decreased intensity”, with a significant decline in CDD (−2.184 d·(10a)⁻¹, p < 0.001), a notable increase in PRCPTOT (1.493 mm·(10a)⁻¹, p < 0.05), and a significant reduction in SD II (−0.016 mm·d⁻¹·(10a)⁻¹, p < 0.01). The majority of indicators had a predominant cycle of 30 to 50 years. A significant northwest-to-southeast gradient characterized most indicators, with PRCPTOT varying from 327.5 mm in Baicheng to 824.3 mm in Tonghua. Future projections (2025–2100) suggested scenario-dependent intensification. Under SSP5-8.5, all three models forecast substantial increases in precipitation amount indices (PRCPTOT: 2.071–2.457 mm·(10a)⁻¹) and SD II (0.010–0.013 mm·d⁻¹·(10a)⁻¹), reversing the past downward trend in intensity. The anticipated alterations exhibited a northwest-to-southeast gradient, with PRCPTOT increases above 230 mm in the central and southeastern regions. These findings offer a scientific basis for flood management and climate change adaptation in Jilin Province and analogous areas. Full article

This study examines how destination personality, destination experience, and destination loyalty contribute to perceived resilience in Osaka-Kansai, particularly in the contextual backdrop of Expo 2025. The purpose of the research is to develop a sustainable perspective lens for understanding destination loyalty and perceived destination resilience in vulnerable situations and mega events. The empirical analysis is based on an online survey of 198 Korean travelers who have previously visited the Osaka-Kansai area, one of the most preferred outbound destinations for this market. The study explores perceptions of destination resilience amid post-pandemic recovery, exposure to natural disasters, and the anticipated shift from mega-event driven visibility and overtourism to sustained visitor interest and loyalty. The findings provide a sustainability-oriented framework for understanding relationships and offer both theoretical and practical implications for destination management in contexts characterized by uncertainty and long-term transformation. Full article

Recent projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicate that global warming will turn permanent and further intensify the severity and frequency of extreme weather events (heat waves, rain, and intense droughts), with coastal regions being the most vulnerable to extreme events. Therefore, the risk of natural disasters and the associated regional impacts on water, food, energy, social, and health security represents one of the world’s greatest challenges of this century. However, conventional methodologies for monitoring these regions during extreme events are usually not available to managers and decision-makers with the necessary urgency. The aim of this study was to present a framework concept for assessing extreme flood event impacts in coastal zones using a suite of field data combined with numerical (hydrological, meteorological, and hydrodynamic) and computational (flooding) models in a virtual environment that provides a replica of a natural environment—the Patos Lagoon Digital Twin. The study case was the extreme flood event that occurred in the southernmost region of Brazil in May 2024, considered the largest flooding event in 125 years of data. The hydrodynamic model calculated the water levels around Rio Grande City (MAE ± 0.18 m). These results fed the flooding model, which projected the water over the digital elevation model of the city and produced predictions of flooding conditions on every street (ranging from a few centimeters up to 1.5 m) days before the flooding happened. The results were further customized to attend specific demands from the security forces and municipal civil defense, who evaluated the best alternatives for evacuation strategies and infrastructure safety during the May 2024 extreme flood event. Flood Safety Maps were also generated for all the terminals in the Port of Rio Grande, indicating that the terminals were 0.05 to 2.5 m above the flood level. Overall, this study contributes to a better understanding of the strengths of digital twin models in simulating the impacts of extreme flood events in coastal areas and provides valuable insights into the potential impacts of future climate change in coastal regions, particularly in southern Brazil. This knowledge is crucial for developing targeted strategies to increase regional resilience and sustainability, ensuring that adaptation measures are effectively tailored to anticipated climate impacts. Full article

Background: Healthcare systems worldwide face growing challenges in anticipating and managing patient surges, particularly in times of public health crises, natural disasters, or seasonal peaks. The ability of healthcare organisations to forecast and respond to such demand fluctuations—referred to as organisational readiness for patient capacity surge—has become a critical determinant of service continuity and patient outcomes. Despite the urgency, there remains a lack of consolidated evidence on how healthcare authorities measure, evaluate, and operationalise this readiness. This systematic review aims to identify and synthesise existing literature that presents case studies, methodologies, and strategic frameworks used to evaluate organisational preparedness for patient surge capacity. It also explores resource allocation mechanisms, hospital capacity planning algorithms, and temporary facility strategies documented in healthcare settings. Methods: The review was conducted across two major scientific repositories, i.e., PubMed and Web of Science (WoS). A set of four structured search queries were formulated to capture the breadth of the topic, focusing on demand forecasting, hospital capacity planning, workforce models, and resource management within the context of healthcare surge demand. The search was limited to publications from the last 10 years (2014–2024) to ensure the inclusion of contemporary practices and technologies. Results: A total of 142 articles were selected for detailed analysis. The articles were categorised into six thematic groups: (i) empirical case studies on healthcare surge management; (ii) hospital resources and capacity scaling; (iii) ethical frameworks guiding surge response; (iv) IT-driven algorithms and forecasting tools; (v) policy evaluations and actionable lessons learned; and (vi) existing systematic reviews in related domains. Notably, several articles provided evidence-based frameworks and simulation models supporting predictive planning, while others highlighted real-world implementation of temporary care facilities and staff redeployment protocols. Conclusions: The review underscores the fragmented yet growing body of literature addressing the multidimensional nature of surge preparedness in healthcare. While algorithmic forecasting and capacity modelling are advancing, gaps remain in standardising metrics for organisational readiness and incorporating ethical considerations in surge planning. Limitations of this review include potential selection bias and the subjective categorisation of articles. Future research should aim to develop integrative frameworks that couple technical, operational, and ethical readiness for patient surge scenarios. Full article

Background and Aim: Natural hazard-related disasters such as wildfires, hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods pose significant risks to older adults, individuals with disabilities, and those with chronic health conditions. Transportation-related challenges during and after evacuation can severely impact their safety, mobility, and recovery. This scoping review examines the current evidence to identify research gaps and inform strategies to improve evacuation outcomes and long-term resilience for these at-risk groups. The STEPS framework (Spatial, Temporal, Economic, Physiological, Social) was applied to guide the analysis and interpretation of findings. Methods: This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines and searched five databases, including PubMed, APA PsycINFO, CINAHL Complete, EMBASE, and Web of Science for primary studies on transportation and disaster evacuation among vulnerable populations. Results: Twenty studies were included. Four key areas of concern were identified: (1) immediate transportation barriers during evacuation, (2) prolonged transportation disruptions post-disaster, (3) anticipated logistical challenges in future evacuation planning, and (4) inconsistent and inaccessible communication of transportation-related information during emergencies. These challenges intersected with all five STEPS dimensions. Conclusions: Transportation barriers remain a persistent and under-addressed risk factor in disaster contexts for vulnerable groups. The STEPS framework helped reveal the multidimensional nature of these issues, emphasizing the need for integrated planning, assistive transport options, inclusive communication systems, and stronger public–private coordination. Future research should focus on collecting disaggregated data, evaluating interventions, and supporting inclusive policy reforms tailored to each type of disaster. Full article

The Personal Care Products (PCP) industry, encompassing cosmetics, hygiene, and personal care items, serves millions of consumers daily and operates under constant pressure for innovation, agility, and sustainability. Within this context, supply chains are viewed as complex and integrated systems, composed of interrelated elements whose interactions determine overall performance and are influenced by external factors. Disruptions—particularly those involving indirect suppliers—can propagate throughout the network, affecting operations, reputation, and business outcomes. Despite the importance of the topic, empirical studies that systematically identify and prioritize these risks in the PCP sector remain scarce, which motivated the conduct of this study. Thus, the aim of this research is to identify, analyze, and evaluate the main supply risks faced by the PCP industry, considering severity, occurrence, and detection capability. Methodologically, the research employed an exploratory multi-case design, carried out in three steps: a literature review to identify key supply chain risks; structured interviews with industry experts to analyze and evaluate these risks; and the application of Gray Relational Analysis (GRA) to aggregate expert judgments and construct a prioritized risk ranking. This combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques provided a detailed foundation for analyzing and interpreting the main risks in the Brazilian PCP sector. The results indicate that indirect supplier failure is the most critical risk, prioritized by 70% of the companies studied. Other significant risks include the inability to meet changes in demand, import issues, lack of supply chain visibility, natural and social disasters, and sustainability or reputational concerns. Consequently, this study contributes to a systemic understanding of risk management in the PCP industry supply chain, providing managers with a practical mapping of critical points and highlighting concrete opportunities to strengthen integration, anticipate disruptions, and enhance operational resilience and performance across the sector. Full article

Supply chain resilience is a growing concern as risk becomes increasingly challenging to interpret and anticipate due to sudden global events that disrupt the core of global supply chains. This paper discusses the use of advanced technologies to enhance supply chain resilience, proposing a two-step hybrid fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) and the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) approach that evaluates a set of different supply chain KPIs or criteria that trigger possible supply chain risks, with a focus on transportation disruptions. Using FAHP, the highest potential risks from disasters are identified, and TOPSIS is used to rank alternative solutions that enhance supply chain resilience. The approach is tested on real-world applications across multiple supply chain systems involving various companies and experts to demonstrate its validity, feasibility, and applicability. Based on five criteria and six alternatives per case study, the findings showed that for manufacturing supply chains, the highest risk was attributed to travel time (46%), and the most effective solution to mitigate it was found to be strengthening highway networks (0.72). For transportation, delivery time (56%) was the primary risk, addressed by green logistics and sustainability (0.89). Full article

Environmental complexities and continuously evolving scenarios like natural disaster, political instabilities, pandemics have become a major challenge for construction organisations. Since no system or organisation can be designed to anticipate all possible risks, resilience has become a fundamental necessity. To achieve resilience at the organisational level, it is vital to consider, assess and utilise individual resilience of employees as they constitute the core of the organisational system. Though the concept of individual resilience has been extensively applied across a plethora of academic fields, there is a lack of unified understanding of the relationship between individual resilience and organisational resilience. While prior research has acknowledged both constructs independently, their interplay within high-risk sectors such as construction remains underexplored. Thus, the current study employs qualitative research methods, including case studies and semi-structured interviews with 20 construction professionals from various construction organisations of New Zealand. The collected data were analysed through NVivo to identify crucial factors and mechanisms involved between resilient individuals and resilient organisations. The results include mediating factors and a relevant model that can help in establishing the link between individual resilience and organisational resilience of the New Zealand construction industry. The study contributes theoretically by re-conceptualising resilience as a dynamic-mediated construct, and practically by offering targeted strategies for resilience-building within project-based environments. Future studies may explore the gap between resourcefulness and resilience to formulate robust plans and policies to support organisations, government, and other stakeholders during setbacks. Full article

In early 2025, the Santorini–Amorgos area (Aegean Volcanic Arc, Greece) experienced a seismic swarm, with dozens of M ≥ 4.0 earthquakes and a maximum magnitude of M = 5.2. Beyond its seismological interest, the sequence was notable for triggering rare increased preparedness actions by Greek Civil Protection operational structures in anticipation of an imminent destructive earthquake. These actions included (i) risk communication, (ii) the reinforcement of operational structures with additional personnel and equipment on the affected islands, (iii) updates to local emergency plans, (iv) the dissemination of self-protection guidance, (v) the activation of emergency alert systems, and (vi) volunteer mobilization, including first aid and mental health first aid courses. Although it was in line with contingency plans, public participation was limited. Volunteers helped bridge this gap, focusing on vulnerable groups. The implemented actions in Greece are also compared with increased preparedness during the 2024–2025 seismic swarms in Ethiopia, as well as preparedness before the highly anticipated major earthquake in Istanbul (Turkey). In Greece and Turkey, legal and technical frameworks enabled swift institutional responses. In contrast, Ethiopia highlighted the risks of limited preparedness and the need to embed disaster risk reduction in national development strategies. All cases affirm that preparedness, through infrastructure, planning, communication, and community engagement, is vital to reducing earthquake impacts. Full article