Science Alert September 6, 2022 According to researchers in the UK over the next century, large-scale volcanic eruptions are hundreds of times more likely to occur than are asteroid and comet impacts, put together. The peril posed by volcanoes may also be greater. In a 2021 study based on data from ancient ice cores, researchers found the intervals between catastrophic eruptions are hundreds or even thousands of years shorter than previously believed. The history of many volcanoes remains murky, making it hard to anticipate future eruptions and focus resources where risks are highest. According to the researchers we need more […]
Tag Archives: Global disasters
Tonga Volcanic Explosion Was Strong Enough to Send Gravitational Waves to the Atmosphere
Nature World News January 22, 2022 Tonga’s population has suffered a huge disaster due to a volcanic eruption and following tsunami on the South Pacific Island country. On January 15, 2022, the volcano that had been erupting since December 2021 burst spectacularly. The shock wave from the blast was so powerful that it was detected as far away as Antarctica according to Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization in Vienna, Austria, which oversees an international network of remote monitoring stations. Even days after the eruption the network can still detect the faint echo of the shock wave as it orbits Earth’s atmosphere. […]
Researchers develop a method for predicting unprecedented events
Science Daily July 23, 2020 Challenging the quintessentially unpredictable nature of black swan events researchers at Stanford University developed a forecasting method based on natural systems. They leveraged increasingly available long-term high-frequency ecological tracking data, to analyze multiple natural and experimental ecosystems (marine plankton, deciduous forest), and recovered hidden linearity embedded in universal ‘scaling laws’ of species dynamics. They developed a method using these scaling laws to reduce data dependence in ecological forecasting and accurately predict extreme events beyond the span of historical observations in diverse ecosystems. They would like to expand the application of their method to other systems […]
Scientists Are Deeply Concerned These 5 Cascading Crises Threaten Future Generations
Science Alert February 17, 2020 Our Future on Earth, 2020 – a report published by Future Earth, an international sustainability research network, includes a survey of 222 leading scientists from 52 countries who identified five global risks: failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation; extreme weather events; major biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse; food crises; and water crises. They identified these risks as the most severe in terms of impact on planetary health – the health of human civilization and the state of the natural systems on which it depends. It also highlights where progress is being made, such as […]