The number of UK universities reporting financial shortfalls for the past academic year continues to climb as some pay out millions in redundancy costs; dropoff in international students major factor www.timeshighereducation.com/news/foreign...

New #article from Afzal et al: Assessing Livelihood Vulnerability in Flood-prone Communities through Systems Thinking and the Sustainable Livelihood Framework: A case study of Rajanpur District, Pakistan TL;DR: flood policies maladaptive www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

New #chapter from Devassy et al: Community-Centric Flood Management: Insights from a Citizen-Led Case Study TL;DR: weather warning systems = a series of community-monitored rain and river gauges, weather stations and social media platforms. link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

New #artilce from Sanchez-Galvan et al: Resiliencia Territorial: Articulacion de recursos, capital social y adaptabilidad en mciroempresas ganaders de Tantoyuca, Veracruz TL;DR: resilience based on local resources +relational assets and community networks www.revista-asyd.org/index.php/as...

Fire sale on my book Black Wave. Individuals and communities with stronger networks and better governance, had higher survival rates and accelerated recoveries. Less-connected communities faced harder recovery processes and lower survival rates. www.amazon.com/Black-Wave-N...

As we face unprecedented shocks and disasters, what factors help us survive and thrive? In my PrepTalk for @FEMA I argue that #socialcapital - the ties between us - are critical www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7A8...

Tech cornucopiasts need to step down: we cannot innovate our way out of climate change. We need system change and political will, not new apps or environmentally damaging AI www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Renewable energy - considered crucial to limiting climate change - produced a record amount of electricity in Great Britain in 2025, BBC analysis shows. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Some claims should be checked

Google is set to acquire the solar and storage developer, arming itself with the tools to bypass grid bottlenecks and build the projects that will power its AI datacenters pv-magazine-usa.com/2026/01/02/g...

95.9% of cars sold in Norway have no fossil power at all (up from 88.9% in 2024), and 97.5% have a plug. electrek.co/2026/01/02/n...

New #chapter from Marije Luitjens: Defining Obstacles to and Capacities for Peace in Medellín TL;DR: most interviewees agree they currently do not live in peace link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

New #article from Asror et al: Social Resilience Among The Rubble : How Communities Construct New Identities After Disasters TL;DR: social resilience is not a static but process shaped through narratives, solidarity practices, and symbolic action ejournal-nawalaedu.com/index.php/SJ...

New #article from Devassy et al: Community-Centric Flood Management: Insights from a Citizen-Led Case Study TL;DR: community-led action, technology, and real-time information sharing represents an important shift in flood management approaches link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...

Trump administration is abruptly cutting dozens of staff who are at the forefront of disaster response and recovery at the Federal Emergency Management Agency this week, according to internal emails obtained by CNN and sources familiar with the plan www.cnn.com/2026/01/01/p...

Our hope is that the guidelines can elevate the importance of social connection to the same level as basic public health practices such as exercising, not smoking and relying on a designated driver when you go out drinking with friends. theconversation.com/we-created-h...

The Markle Foundation announces an #AI initiative focused on emergency preparedness, response, and recovery www.markle.org/about-markle...

Hybrid warfare: Finnish police on Wednesday seized a ship sailing from Russia on suspicion of sabotaging an undersea telecoms cable running from Helsinki to Estonia across the Gulf of Finland, an area hit by a string of similar incidents in recent years www.nbcnews.com/world/europe...

Beijing doubles down on its ambitions for the region just as Trump tries to assert dominance over the Western Hemisphere www.wsj.com/world/americ...

New #article from Velasco et al: The State of Local Governance and Public Finance in Disaster Risk Research: A Structural Topic Modelling Analysis TL;DR: DRR research would benefit from greater emphasis on governance and public finance. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

New #article from Adhikari et al: Resilience of women-led agro-based small businesses to the COVID-19 in Nepal TL;DR: resilience of women-led small businesses during pandemic contingent to social capital, the strength of social networks, connections w govt newangle.sias-southasia.org/index.php/ne...

Profiting by withdrawing: some of the world’s largest reinsurance companies boosted profitability this year after they reduced coverage to limit their risk from catastrophic events such as flooding and increased prices for their policies. www.ft.com/content/4623...

Physical infrastructure should never be our core strategy: infrastructure has grown fragile decades after Japan’s industrial boom. Chronic shortages of funding and labor make it especially hard for regional communities to maintain and rebuild structures www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Six photovoltaic systems installed between 1987 and 1993 across the country’s dramatically different climates — temperate valleys, snowy mountain huts, and high-altitude research stations perched above the clouds -are still reliably producing electricity. www.zmescience.com/ecology/rene...

Our new #article with Matsunaga et al: Crossing the fairness threshold: skepticism, risk and zero-sum thinking in Fukushima’s decommissioning TL;DR: fairness reduces both risk perception and zero-sum thinking which subsequently influence policy skepticism www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Magnitude 6 earthquake strikes off coast of Japan's Noda region www.reuters.com/business/env...

New #chapter from Mitchell Berg: Achieving Tribal, Municipal, and County Cooperation in the US TL;DR: leaders that invested in trust building, mutual respect, and interpersonal ties (social capital) were more successful in achieving agreement www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

Protective coloration? Crew members aboard the aging, rusted oil tanker that the US has been pursuing at sea for nearly two weeks appear to have painted a crude image of a Russian flag on the ship’s hull www.cnn.com/2025/12/31/p...

When operating at full capacity, the project is expected to generate approximately 1.78 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. That’s enough to cover the annual needs of 2.67 million urban residents and 60% of Kenli District’s electricity demand. electrek.co/2025/12/30/c...

Y'all need to read more

New #article from Arce et al: What makes Guatemalan citizens green? TL;DR: ‘climate bads’ – e.g. when disasters cause temporary relocation of households because of damaged homes – are consistent drivers of green citizen actions www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

New #article from Khan et al: Integrating Social Support and Digital Technologies to Boost Coping Mechanisms and Collective Action During Extreme Disasters TL;DR: social support moderates the relationship between risk awareness and coping appraisal onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

New #article from Cruz et al: The Role of social infrastructure in climate adaptation strategies TL;DR: dual role of climate shelters as protective infrastructure + as catalysts for social cohesion, climate literacy and public engagement www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

New #article from Kurniati et al: Cultural sensitivity in disaster response: Implications for children’s wellbeing TL;DR: how cultural perspectives inform both the vulnerabilities and the resilience of children during and after disasters. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

New #article from Michelen et al: Bridging Work: Community Health Workers’ Role as a Continuum of Building, Guiding, Sustaining the Path to Health Equity TL;DR: do not overlook the dynamic and relational aspects of work beyond simple liaison functions www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

New #article from Viskupic at el: Attitudes toward annual COVID-19 vaccination TL;DR: people with higher trust in government, and self-identified Democrats were more likely to receive annual COVID-19 vaccination. link.springer.com/article/10.1...

New #article from Haris et al: Revitalizing Badoncekand Jimpitan: Culture-Based Approaches to Waqf Fundraising in Indonesia TL;DR: enable rapid fund collection, strengthen social cohesion, and maintain community engagement journal.uinsi.ac.id/index.php/ma...

Working together on restoration projects creates what they call “camaraderie”, a form of friendship that is grounded in doing things together, rather than in the reflection on interior feelings that has become an increasing expectation of modern intimacy. theconversation.com/heritage-rai...

A prominent group of Japanese executives has put its planned visit to Beijing on hold, a sign that a diplomatic feud is chilling commercial ties between Asia’s two largest economies. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Small Modular Reactors will produce higher levels of nuclear waste than traditional plants. The volume of waste could be double or as much as 30 times bigger, due to the use of chemically reactive fuels and coolants. Security, too, remains paramount. www.ft.com/content/567a...

Today, solar and battery systems are deployed across a variety of businesses — auto factories and wineries, gold mines and shopping malls. And they are changing everyday life, trade and industry in Africa’s biggest economy www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/c...

New #article from Joseph G. Kabiru: The Role of Social Capital in Promoting Sustainable Livelihoods in Urban Informal Settlements in Nairobi, Kenya TL;DR: social capital manages socio-economic pressures in urban settings, fostering resilience and cohesion journals.unesco.go.ke/index.php/jk...

Climate change accelerates privatization. Whatever their intentions, such measures are a consequence — and sometimes a cause — of the corrosion of public institutions originally intended to safeguard Americans. grist.org/economics/wh...

In my PrepTalk for FEMA, I argue that rather than focusing on aid, damage, and other external factors, the core driver for #resilience comes from the ties that we have with each other www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7A8...