The relationship between El Niño Southern Oscillations and cereal production in Sahel

The effect of drought on crop yield and water resources has been an important socio-economic concern in the Sahel region of Africa. The most severe droughts in the Sahel region occurred during the strong El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. There is thus increased need to understand the stochastic relationship between such physical mechanism like ENSO and crop yield. In this paper, such a relationship is investigated using a wavelet approach. Our result shows that a statistically significant relationship exists between ENSO and cereal production in the region. In particular, El Niño events are devastation to millet yield with little or no impact on maize and sorghum production. This can be attributed to the lower length of growing period for maize and sorghum compared to millet. On the other hand La Niña events favor cereal production and mirrored sorghum yield during the La Niña years of 1973–1976. The potential value of ENSO-based rainfall forecast and socio-economic impact on local population in Sahel region are discussed.     

An unforgettable event: a qualitative study of the 1997–98 El Niño in northern Peru

During the 1997–98 El Niño, Tumbes, Peru received 16 times the annual average rainfall. This study explores how Tumbes residents perceived the impact of the El Niño event on basic necessities, transport, health care, jobs and migration. Forty‐five individuals from five rural communities, some of which were isolated from the rest of Tumbes during the event, participated in five focus groups; six of these individuals constructed nutrition diaries. When asked about events in the past 20 years, participants identified the 1997–98 El Niño as a major negative event. The El Niño disaster situation induced a decrease in access to transport and health care and the rise in infectious diseases was swiftly contained. Residents needed more time to rebuild housing; recover agriculture, livestock and income stability; and return to eating sufficient animal protein. Although large‐scale assistance minimized effects of the disaster, residents needed more support. Residents' perspectives on their risk of flooding should be considered in generating effective assistance policies and programmes.     

ENSO and Disaster: Droughts, Floods and El Niño/Southern Oscillation Warm Events

The connection between El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events and precipitation and temperature variability worldwide is increasingly well understood. ENSO has been linked to droughts and flooding in some regions. This paper uses the disaster history database of the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance to examine the link between ENSO events and droughts or floods of sufficient magnitude to trigger international disasters. Worldwide, disasters triggered by droughts are twice as frequent during year two of ENSO warm events than during other years. No such relationship is apparent in the case of flood disasters. Drought disasters occur during year two of ENSO warm events significantly more frequently than in other years in Southern Africa and Southeast Asia. No regional pattern emerges from a comparable analysis of flood disasters. Those places likely to be affected by ENSO-triggered droughts can take proactive measures to mitigate the impacts.     

Institutional, policy and farmer responses to drought: El Niño events and rice in the Philippines

Droughts are common recurring natural hazards in Asia, and El Niño events are particularly severe in the Philippines. This paper explores responses by farm households, irrigation system managers, and macro policymakers in the Philippines to El Niño. In response to the large 1997–98 El Niño, farmers in one major irrigation system significantly diversified their economic activities, hut the drought was so acute that many of these activities were not successful. Communication between meteorologists and irrigation system managers is strong, and irrigation system managers are aware of El Niño events in advance. Communication between irrigation system managers and farmer irrigation associations is also strong, and together they have developed response options that attempt to augment supplies of and more efficiently allocate scarce water. Water pricing is not used, however, and lack of cooperation among farmers results in sub-optimal outcomes. Macro-level policy responses in terms of rice imports and buffer stock management to protect poor consumers have improved substantially over time.     

2009年秋至2010年春我国西南地区干旱及与历史场次干旱对比分析

2009年10月至2010年4月,我国西南地区由于受厄尔尼诺影响,气温偏高、降雨偏少,发生了秋冬春三季连旱,耕地受旱面积占全国同期耕地受旱面积的78%,受灾人口和大牲畜饮水困难头数都达到了近十年来该地区的最高水平.通过对比本次和历史场次干旱发现,西南干旱并非稀遇现象,195l～1990年的40年间该地区曾发生干旱12次...     

Volcanic hazard or economic destitution: hard choices in Banños,Ecuador

In 1999, the entire population of tourism-dependent Baños, Ecuador, some 16,000 people, was evacuated in anticipation of a violent eruption of Mount Tungurahua. Subsequently, many areas in the risk zone experienced heavy ash falls, lahars, and landslides, although no cataclysmic events occurred. Many small rural communities were also evacuated. While these communities became impacted by the hazard, Baños avoided most direct effects. Conditions for all evacuees were grim, and their conditions compounded because Ecuador was simultaneously undergoing profound economic and political crises. Absent livelihood alternatives, community leaders from Baños organized a return to their town even though it remained under an evacuation order. An aggressive campaign brought tourists and more residents back and Baños revived economically; however, this was achieved at the cost of hazard awareness among both groups, tourists and residents, and public safety became compromised.     

ENSO对我国江南及印度降水影响的比较

根据近百年我国江南和印度的降水资料,对比分析了其各季降水与ＥＮＳＯ的关系。统计表明,Ｅ１Ｎｉｎｏ发生时印度夏季和秋季降水的减少最显著,分别比多年平均减少４．５％和６．０％,Ｌａ Ｎｉｎａ时则分别增加６．６％和８．１％。对我国江南降水影响最显著的是冬季,在Ｅ１ Ｎｉｎｏ事件时降水比多年平均偏多１８．５％,Ｌａ Ｎｉｎａ时则偏低了１７．７％。降水的年代际变化可以影响ＥＮＳＯ与降水的关系。９０年代江南处     

Normalised insurance losses from Australian natural disasters: 1966–2017

ABSTRACT

The paper updates normalisation of the Insurance Council of Australia’s Disaster List in the light of debate about the contribution of global warming to the rising cost of natural disasters. Normalisation estimates losses from historical events in a common year, here ‘season’ 2017 defined as the 12-month period from 1 July 2017. The number and nominal cost of new residential dwellings are key normalising factors and post-1974 improvements in construction standards in tropical cyclone-prone parts of the country are explicitly allowed for. 94% of the normalised losses arise from weather-related perils – bushfires, tropical cyclones, floods and severe storms – with the 1999 Sydney hailstorm the most costly single event (AUD5.6 billion). When aggregated by season, there is no trend in normalised losses from weather-related perils; in other words, after we normalise for changes we know to have taken place, no residual signal remains to be explained by changes in the occurrence of extreme weather events, regardless of cause. In sum, the rising cost of natural disasters is being driven by where and how we chose to live and with more people living in vulnerable locations with more to lose, natural disasters remain an important problem irrespective of a warming climate.     

Vehicle-occupant deaths caused by tornadoes in the United States, 1900–1998

Abstract

Occupants of vehicles encounter an uncertain degree of risk during tornadic storms. The current National Weather Service guidelines suggest we abandon vehicles to lie in a ditch if no sturdy shelter is available. However, these guidelines were developed without the benefit of supporting research. As we are an increasingly vehicle-dependent society, it is important to explore the historical record of vehicle-occupant deaths to see if the National Weather Service guidance is appropriate. The objective of this paper is to investigate the number, distribution, and broad spatial and temporal trends associated with vehicle-occupant deaths that have occurred as a result of tornadoes, and to define the proportion of tornado-induced deaths that have occurred in vehicles.

There were 15,047 deaths caused by tornadoes from 1900 through 1998. Of those, 5685 occurred at a defined site, and 270 were known to have occurred in vehicles. The number of vehicle-occupant deaths, as a proportion of all site-known, tornado-induced deaths, was constant from 1959–1979, but decreased significantly between 1980–1998. The number of deaths was related to several influencing factors. Linear regressions and correlations were employed to determine the degree of relationship between the number of deaths and several explanatory factors. While population, number of vehicle registrations, and number of tornadoes all seemed to influence the number of deaths to some degree, the most significant factor to influence the number of deaths appeared to be vehicle safety features. Most vehicle-occupant deaths occurred during rare F4 tornadoes, when vehicles where thrown from roadways. Regionally, the Great Plains had the highest number of vehicle-occupant deaths from tornadoes.     

气候异常与中国小麦白粉病灾害流行关系的研究

分析了厄尔尼诺事件与我国冬小麦白粉病发病面积的相关关系。结果表明：在厄尔尼诺出现的起始年，冬小麦白粉病发病面积相对较小；在厄尔诺起始年至下一个厄尔诺起始年前的前一年，冬小麦白粉病发病面积趋势逐年增大，并在下一个厄尔尼诺起始年前一年达到最大值；在连续出现厄尔尼诺的年份，冬小麦白粉病发生面积逐年降低。厄尔尼诺事件通过引发主要麦区的诱水、温度异常来影响小麦白粉病的流行程度。造成厄尔尼诺年我国小麦白粉病发病面向相对较低的原因，与厄尔尼诺起始年前的冬半年寒潮活动加强造成冬小麦冻害严重，大大降低了小麦白粉菌的越冬基数及春季干旱不利于小麦白粉菌的侵染有关。     

广西春旱的时空分布特征及成因分析

利用广西具有气候代表性的32个站点1961-2007年逐日降水量资料,引入季节无雨日作为划分干旱的标准,采用EOF分析等方法,分析了广西春旱的时空分布特征;并用NCEP再分析资料、NOAA海温资料、国家气候中心的74项环流特征量资料等,对广西春旱的成因进行了分析。结果表明:从时间变化看,广西春旱的趋势变化不明显,主要以年际、年代际变化为主,从空间分布看,广西春旱以全区一致性型为主要空间分布型;在春旱年,广西上空对流层低层出现偏南-西南气流距平强辐散异常,伴随有明显的水汽通量辐散异常,同时东亚大槽偏弱,阿留申低压明显减弱,中纬度大陆高压减弱,中高纬环流平直,不利于冷空气南下华南;广西春旱年前冬阿留申低压明显增强,大陆高压也增强,冷空气活动频繁,当前冬印缅槽偏弱时,广西春季发生干旱的可能性较大。     

厄尔尼诺事件对河南省降水的可能影响

本文采用小波变换方法分析了近50年来赤道东太平洋月海温距平序列和河南省月降水量距平序列的多层次时间尺度结构，对厄尔尼诺事件和河南降水的周期变化规律进行了对比分析，并讨论了厄尔尼诺对河南降水的可能影响。结果表明，厄尔尼诺事件对河南降水有一定程度的影响；表现为厄尔尼诺年大多对应河南雨涝年，而反厄尔诺年大多对应干旱年；NINO海区SST的冷暖结构和河南降水的旱涝变化之间具有较好的对应关系，而且两者都存在准2年和4－8年的周期变化。     

Diet and Nutrition during Drought-An Indian Experience

In 1987 India experienced one of the century's worst droughts with two-thirds of its sown area receiving 'scanty' or 'deficient' rainfall. Delayed rains in some parts, though to some extent they relieved the water scarcity, did not brighten the prospects of agricultural production. In order to assess the diet and nutritional situation of the vulnerable population in the severely affected areas, rapid surveys were undertaken by the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, in five States of the country, namely Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Orissa and Gujarat, during the months of October-December 1987. Results obtained during the current surveys are compared with the dietary situation observed in earlier droughts in the 1960s and 1970s, and it is concluded that the widespread hunger and its consequences encountered in earlier droughts could be averted, due mainly to the better food security and distribution mechanisms now available in the country.     

The resilience of households to famine in el fasher, Sudan, 1982-89

This paper examines issues related to famine resilience and describes the results of a survey of households who migrated from famine affected rural communities in Northern Darfur to the provincial capital, El Fasher, in western Sudan. It reveals that asset wealth did not enhance household resilience to famine; rather, the data indicate that households who reportedly practiced more numerous survival strategies before migrating to El Fasher were on the whole able to stay longer in their villages before migrating. The data also suggest that some households might have been better able to endure the deteriorating rural conditions by participating in intra-communal practices of sharing resources. An additional issue influencing the timing of migration to El Fasher is previous familiarity with the economic opportunities in the provincial capital.     

The global distribution of human population and recent volcanism

Abstract

This study quantifies the spatial relationship between the global distribution of human population and recent volcanism. Using recently compiled databases of population and Holocene volcanoes, we estimate that almost 9% (455 × 10⁶ people) of the world's 1990 population lived within 100km of an historically active volcano and 12% within 100km of a volcano believed to have been active during the last 10,000 years. The analysis also indicates that average population density generally decreases with distance from these volcanoes (within 200 km). In tropical areas, the elevation and fertile soils associated with volcanic regions can provide incentives for agrarian populations to settle close to potentially active volcanoes. In Southeast Asia and Central America higher population densities lie in closer proximity to volcanoes than in other volcanic regions. In Japan and Chile, population density tends to increase with distance from volcanoes. The current trends of rapid urbanization and sustained population growth in tropical developing countries, combined with agricultural intensification of fertile volcanic terrains could alter the relationship between humans and volcanoes so as to increase both local and global consequences of volcanic eruptions in the future.     

Are floods getting worse in the Ganges,Brahmaputra and Meghna basins?

Abstract

The Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna/Barak rivers are lifelines for millions of people in South Asia in Nepal, India, Bhutan and Bangladesh. They supply water for food and fibre production and for industrial and domestic purposes. They are also sources of disastrous floods that cause substantial damage to agriculture and infrastructure in these countries. There are claims that flood discharges, areal extent, and damage-costs are getting worse in the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna/Barak basins. The validity of these claims was examined by applying four different statistical tests to the peak discharge time series and flooded areas. The results indicate that no conclusive changes have occurred over the last few decades. Reports of increased flood damage may be due to a combination of other factors, such as improved damage assessment techniques, and the expansion and intensification of settlement in flood-prone areas, but this was not tested in this paper and should be top priority for future research.     

Land use and land cover dynamics in the Keleta watershed,Awash River basin,Ethiopia

Unprecedented pace and magnitude of land use/land cover (LULC) change in the Ethiopian highlands is a key problem threatening the natural ecosystem and creates vulnerability to an environmental hazard. A combination of remote sensing, field observations and focus group discussions were used to analyze the dynamics and drivers of LULC change from 1985 to 2011 in the Keleta watershed, Ethiopia. Supervised image classification was used to map LULC classes. Focus group discussions and ranking were used to explain the drivers and causes linked to the changes. The result showed rapid expansion of farmland and settlement (36%), shrublands cover shrinking by 50%, while the size of degraded land increased by 45%. Rapid population growth, rainfall variability and soil fertility decline, lack of fuelwood and shortage of cultivation land were ranked as the main causes of LULC change in the watershed according to the focus group discussion. Further effort is needed to improve the creation of new job opportunity, promotion of improved technologies to boost productivity and soil fertility, provide credit facility, extra push on irrigation infrastructure development and soil, water and natural ecosystem conservation practices. Generally, better community-based land resource management will need to ensure sustainable rural livelihoods.     

Knowing better and losing even more: the use of knowledge in hazards management

Abstract

Although loss of life from natural hazards has been declining, the property losses from those causes have been increasing. At the same time the volume of research on natural hazards and the books reviewing findings on the subject have also increased. Several major changes have occurred in the topics addressed. Emphasis has shifted from hazards to disasters. There has been increasing attention to vulnerability. Views of causation have changed. Four possible explanations are examined for the situation in which more is lost while more is known: (1) knowledge continues to be flawed by areas of ignorance; (2) knowledge is available but not used effectively; (3) knowledge is used effectively but takes a long time to have effect; and (4) knowledge is used effectively in some respects but is overwhelmed by increases in vulnerability and in population, wealth, and poverty.     

江苏省典型年梅雨洪涝灾害对比分析

梅雨期降水形成的洪涝和枯梅年产生的干旱是江苏省主要的气象灾害.为了能客观地划分各年梅雨的旱涝等级,从而为防灾减灾决策提供依据,利用江苏省近50年来的梅雨资料,考虑梅期持时长短、梅期平均日雨量及暴雨日数等3个因子,给出了梅雨强度计算模型及梅期旱涝指标,较好地反映了江苏省每年各地的梅期旱涝状况.结合实际灾情,确定了典型梅雨洪涝年的标准.针对1954,1991和2003年3个比较典型的梅雨洪涝年,进行了详细的比较分析,结果表明:(1)长江及淮河流域上游的客水、入梅之前的降水量和梅期降水会直接影响该省梅雨期的洪涝灾情;(2)1991年的洪涝是历年来最为严重的,1954年的洪涝稍重于2003年;(3)3个典型梅雨洪涝年中全省最涝的地区都位于沿淮地区或江淮之间地区的北部,淮北地区这3年中都出现了较重的涝灾,淮北南部的灾情重于北部.