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Tens of thousands have been left homeless in the southern United States since Hurricane Harvey made landfall, with devastating floods in parts of Texas and a state of emergency declared in Louisiana, where Nina Lam analyses how Harvey may also affect those living away from the shore. Last week meanwhile, Typhoon Hato struck Hong Kong and Southern China. Andrew King considers how these tropical storms work and assesses whether climate change might be affecting their behaviour.
Meanwhile, in Vietnam, researchers discover that poverty and poor development are primary causes of the crises that follow natural disasters – a theme that The Conversation has extensively covered throughout the Global South.
Plus read more about HIV taboo in the DRC, mining in the Amazon region and Chile’s shifting abortion laws.
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Two people walk down a flooded section of Interstate 610 in Houston in floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey on Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017.
AP Photo/David J. Phillip
Nina Lam, Louisiana State University
As Hurricane Harvey shows, flooding can happen wherever large storms stall and dumps lots of rain. A new study finds that development is increasing in flood zones inland, where people may not think they are at risk.
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Environment + Energy
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Andrew King, University of Melbourne
The unpredictability of hurricanes makes it hard to say for sure whether climate change is making them worse. But we do know that sea-level rise and increased evaporation will worsen the impacts.
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Beatriz Garcia, Western Sydney University
Last week Brazil opened thousands of kilometres of previously protected Amazon rainforest to mining, in a bid to combat ongoing political and economic disasters.
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Jason von Meding, University of Newcastle; Hang Thai T.M.
Disasters may have 'natural' triggers but why are ethic minorities forced to live under harsh conditions that make them particularly vulnerable to catastrophes?
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Health + Medicine
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Emilie Venables, University of Cape Town
HIV remains a synonym for death in Kinshasa and many leave testing and treatment until it's too late. It's not common knowledge that an infected person can live a normal and healthy life.
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Politics + Society
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Cordelia Freeman, University of Nottingham
After a fierce debate, one of the most restrictive reproductive laws in the world has been eased.
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Pierre Berthelet, Université Laval
Despite the recent terrorist attacks in Spain, the European Union has dramatically improved its counterterrorism efforts. Here's how.
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