Natural Disasters

Why you should care about volcanoes as global temperatures increase

There are pink and purple skies nearing sunset. A massive volcanic lava eruption fills the skies.

If you have kept up with the news in recent months, you are likely to have seen some striking images and videos of volcanic eruptions around the globe. No one can deny that volcanic eruptions are an astonishing, yet terrifying, sight.  Despite a global effort from universities and research centres to monitor volcanoes, it can be an expensive task. There are around…

Extreme weather events and climate change: a look back at 2021

Scene of a wildfire on a hill at night. Houses are visible on the hillside. The sky is filled with an orange glow from the flames and smoke.

Almost all of us will have seen the many news articles throughout 2021 about extreme weather events. From record breaking high temperatures resulting in wildfires to unexpected summer rain leading to flooding, the continuous stream of “unprecedented” weather events felt relentless.  Unfortunately, this is the new normal – extreme weather events will increase in frequency, severity and impact in coming years due…

Earth’s Extreme Weather Events, Before & After – in pictures

What’s Going On Here? Nasa has released a new collection of satellite pictures in the stunning ‘Images of Change’ project. The interactive gallery presents before and after shots of areas hit by extreme weather events and natural phenomenon. What Does This Mean? The new images capture impacts from the climate crisis such as flooding, wildfires and droughts in recent years. See the…

Australia’s Bushfires: A Summary

What’s Going On Here? Australia is suffering its worst bushfire season in living memory causing loss of life and devastation to homes, landscapes, and biodiversity. What Does This Mean? The size of the bushfires is hard to comprehend, with over 10.7 million hectares of land burnt so far – an area larger than the Amazon and Californian bushfires combined. To date 28 people have been killed, over 2,204 houses have been…

Are “Day Zeroes” becoming a thing of the climate crisis?

What’s Going On Here? Experts at the World Resources Institute (WRI) have warned that extreme water stress could increase the number of “day zeroes”: the day in which a city’s water supplies quite literally run dry. What Does This Mean? The report released by the WRI this week ranked the world’s countries from least to most water-stressed, with 17 countries (that’s nearly 1.8 billion people,…