A new United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) report confirms how extreme weather events have come to dominate the disaster landscape at the beginning of 21st century. Floods and storms were the most prevalent disaster events, followed by…
Heavy rains and floods since the beginning of the month have left at least 28 people dead and hundreds of thousands affected in Southeast Asian countries of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. Most of the fatalities were in Vietnam and Cambodia, where thousands…
Wildfires have been tearing through parts of South America this year, particularly Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay, causing 'total destruction' in some parts of the continent, according to primatologist Martin Kowalewski, who measured the scale of…
A slow-moving landslide of an entire mountainside in Alaska's Barry Arm area may generate a mega-tsunami if the land suddenly collapses into the narrow fjord. Research findings show that the collapse would generate 11 times more energy and release 16 times more…
A large, "impressive" landslide occurred in the Eyjafordur area of northern Iceland on Tuesday, October 6, 2020. Local reports said a similar landslide has not occurred in the area since 2006. Slope failures continue to occur at the site as of Friday,…
Hurricane "Delta" made landfall near Creole, Louisiana at 23:00 UTC on October 9, 2020, with maximum sustained winds of 155 km/h (100 mph), making it a Category 2 hurricane. The storm had a minimum central pressure of 970 hPa at the time of landfall and…
Mysterious toxic pollution along a 40 km (25 miles) stretch of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula has killed 95 percent of seabed creatures in the area and caused health issues among surfers since September 2020. The marine pollution was first reported by local…
A period of increased volcanic activity started at Guatemala's Pacaya volcano on Thursday, October 8, 2020, with intense Strombolian activity ejecting volcanic material up to 300 m (984 feet), ash emissions and at least 4 lava flows. Pacaya is a highly active…
A powerful thunderstorm hit New York's Capital District on Wednesday, October 7, 2020, leaving more than 200 000 customers without power and killing at least two people. The storm was described as an "unusual event" wit winds of 109 km/h (68 mph) –…
A waterspout was spotted off the coast of Mumbai on Monday morning, October 5, 2020. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) called it a rare phenomenon, particularly because it occurred near the coast. Malabar Hill resident Darshan Khatau captured the waterspout…
