Topic: Natural Disasters

First Response Team: Disaster Relief Fund...pay it forward today !!!

Our fellow Americans in the Midwest need our help. This is a bigger disaster than Hurricane Katrina and will affect all of us at some point do to higher costs for corn which is a key ingredient for many things you buy at the store. ...READ»

Could AltaRock's Geothermal Project Start California's Next Earthquake?

Every renewable energy source has its downside--nuclear power uses radioactive material, wind turbines generate noise complaints, solar production can leach chemicals into water supplies, and geothermal projects...cause earthquakes?READ»

Tracking 10 Hurricane Stories Across the Web

It's hurricane season, and that means freakish weather even thousands of miles from the eye of a storm. Trace back the ripple effects of hurricanes, and you'll find a lot more than just rainy days. Just a few degrees away from Katrina ...READ»

It's Never Been This Hard

For a nimble diving company based in Louisiana, Hurricane Katrina posed enormous challenges--and offered huge opportunity.READ»

Tsunami Generator Helps Protect Against Future Tsunamis

It seems slightly counterintuitive: a tsunami generator that protects cities from future tsunamis. But that's exactly what the wave-generating machine located at University College London supposedly does. The machine, developed with ...READ»

Lessons From Chile: Better Building Codes Work, so Why Don't We Have Them?

Chile's seismic construction codes saved lives in the latest quake, but what if the next Big One happens here?READ»

• Megacities Today, Rubble Tomorrow

It's Never Been This Hard

For a nimble diving company based in Louisiana, Hurricane Katrina posed enormous challenges--and offered huge opportunity.READ»

Web 2.0 Community Responds to Hurricane Season

When Hurricane Gustav threatened to crash into New Orleans and bring more destruction to the city that never recovered from Hurricane Katrina, Andy Carvin, a social media strategist for National Public Radio, used his Web 2.0 savvy ...READ»

IT and The Weather Channel

I have come to realize that having Jim Cantore of The Weather Channel broadcasting from your hometown is not necessarily a good thing.  If you live in Florida and it’s during hurricane season, it’s a really bad thing.  I live ...READ»

Evil-Faced Robot Could Have Warned of Haiti Earthquake

The recent earthquake in Haiti has highlighted the need for an accurate earthquake detection system that, unlike Twitter, can predict shaking more than a few seconds in advance. Scientists have long been able to predict earthquakes ...READ»

Fast History: Hurricane Katrina Makes Landfall in New Orleans, 2005

Most Americans remember tuning into the news this morning four years ago to find a beloved American city half immersed in water after Hurricane Katrina’s Category 3-fueled storm surge broke New Orleans fragile levees. Katrina ...READ»

Where There's Smoke It Helps to Have a Smoke Jumper

If you spend too much of your time "putting out fires," then take some advice from master smoke jumper Wayne Williams. He'll teach you how to think clearly, to act decisively, to work precisely -- and to solve problems before they burn out of control.READ»

Konbit: A Skill-Indexing Communications Platform for Haitians

The recent earthquake in Haiti may not be at the forefront of our minds anymore, but the rebuilding process in Port-au-Prince and elsewhere has barely begun. Two students at MIT hope to move things along with Konbit, an interactive ...READ»

Megacities Today, Rubble Tomorrow: Haiti, Chile as Architectural Wake-Up Call [UPDATE]

Disasters in Haiti and Chile show architecture is the problem--and the solution--for earthquake-prone cities.READ»

Can Port-au-Prince Be Saved, or Should Haiti Move the Capital?

The real question facing Haiti isn't whether to rebuild the capital or move it inland; it's how do you build a city that creates opportunities instead of slums?READ»

Penn State's Geospatial Revolution Project: Where Are We, and How Did We Get Here?

Penn State University's new project isn't exactly existential, but it does answer some of life's big questions: Where are we? How did we get here? Where are we going? Turns out all those answers can be answered through GPS.READ»

New Floodplain Maps Cause Need for Homeowners to Add Flood Coverage

Thousands of Florida residents may have to pay more for their homeowner’s insurance. The federal government has just made changes to its floodplain map, causing many Florida homeowners to acquire flood insurance. A recent ...READ»

Social Media Responds to Chile's Earthquake: We Can Help

As Chilean and international rescue forces work through the rubble cause by the massive 8.8-magnitude earthquake that hit near Concepcion, Chile's second-largest city, users of social media the world over have undertaken their own ...READ»

Disaster Strikes Pennsylvania: A Very Special AT&T Doomsday Simulation

Today and tomorrow, AT&T will simulate a full-scale network disaster outside of Philly.READ»

The Storm After the Storm

Tulane University President Scott Cowen was at the tail end of a respected career when Katrina hit. The hurricane almost destroyed his institution--and gave him the chance to reinvent it.READ»

Obama Climate Change Report: The Outlook Is Dire, the Time to Innovate Is Now

The Obama White House has released its first climate change report, and it doesn't say anything we don't already know. It says it, however, in stronger language than any presidency that came before, with statements like ...READ»

International Symposium on Geo-information for Disaster Management

To cope with a natural disaster, you'll probably want food, shelter, and clothing. But what you really need, according to University of Georgia geographer Marguerite Madden, is ... geomatics? "For a long time, it was hard to ...READ»

Prize-Winning Vizualizations of the Disaster in Haiti

GOOD recently asked its readers to create an infographic that shows both the devastation of the recent Haiti earthquake along with aid efforts thus far. Emily Schwartzman won the contest for her hard-hitting design, which clearly ...READ»

Rebuilding New Orleans: Ten Coolest Innovators

Three years after Katrina, the nation's most expensive hurricane, which cost insurers an estimated $44 billion, came Gustav. As if New Orleans needed its rebuilding project to get any harder. And yet, there’s hope. To underscore how far the city has come since 2005, alldaybuffet, a group of creative professionals focused on social innovation, created the New Orleans 100, a list of projects that are bringing new creative energy, attracting tourism, rebuilding homes, overhauling the educational system, and stimulating economic activity. Here are 10 of the most innovative ventures.READ»

• 10 Coolest Innovators Rebuilding New Orleans

IBM Technology Offers Real-Time Analysis of Forest Fires

Climate change has increased the unpredictability of weather patterns, and as residents of the Western U.S. know, that means a jump in the number of forest fires. In the past year alone, 76,000 individual fires have consumed 5.8 ...READ»