Hazard Risk Resilience Magazine Volume 1 Issue1 | Page 2

INTRO | HIGHLIGHTS | FEATURES | FOCUS | PERSPECTIVES | BIOS EDITORS Dave Petley and Brett Cherry COPY EDITOR Krysia Johnson CONTRIBUTORS Victoria Ridley Md Nadiruzzaman Brett Cherry Dave Petley Matthew Kearnes David Divine COVERS: Rebuilding the embankment in Padma Pakur, Bangladesh after Cyclone Alia ravaged the area in 2009. Villagers form a human chain to carry mud up the embankment to defend against sea level rise that affects hundreds of thousands of people living on islands in south Bangladesh. Where migration is not an option for people living on the low-lying islands, adaptation is imperative for survival. Katie Oven Peter Swift Jack Barnard JD Asquith Folarin Akinbami Mylène Riva RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS Dave Petley Its aim is to provide information about the research that we and others are undertaking across the broad areas of hazard, risk and resilience, especially the findings. We hope that this magazine will be interesting and informative, and needless to say we welcome any feedback that you might have, good or bad. We intend to produce two issues per year, one in the summer and one in the winter, supplementing multimedia communications available via our website and blog. As I write this editorial, issues of science communication are once again in the news, especially in relation to the threats posed by the changing climate. It is clear that the communication of this important issue is becoming increasingly difficult as various parties become more deeply entrenched in their views. It is intensely frustrating to watch the media debate on climate change, which reflects very poorly the reach and significance of the scientific evidence that underpins our understanding of the ways in which humans are causing the atmosphere and the oceans to warm. Indeed, there is little doubt that the United Nations body that reports on the state of the science of climate change, the IPCC, is conservative in its reporting of the magnitude of observed and anticipated changes to the climate system. However, it is also clear that parts of the scientific community are proving to be somewhat unhelpful in the public comments that they make about climate change. There has been a tendency amongst some to express the processes and risks associated with climate change in what at times approaches apocalyptic terms. Indeed, the term “catastrophic” is frequently over used in describing climate change, and its likely impacts, to the detriment of wider understanding of the issues. This is not to say that the threats are not real or serious – they are certainly that – but using language that at times is almost religious in its fervour to describe those threats is at best deeply unhelpful. There is a clear need for scientists to be measured and considered in their communication of these threats, and to ensure that the focus is on the probable, not the improbable, effects. There is also a need to emphasise that the threats associated with climate change are important primarily not of its own right but in the context of other major changes in the global system, including population growth, water resource depletion, ecosystem simplification, increased urbanisation and reducing food security. It is combinations of these and other challenges that represents the greatest challenge to modern societies. Of course the same style of language is also sometimes used in the description of other hazards, including geophysical hazards and security threats. It is incumbent upon the research community to give an honest and open appraisal of these threats, but to do so in a well-considered and measured manner. This magazine seeks to provide insight into research in many of these key areas, and to do so in a manner that illuminates our levels of understanding, and in some cases our lack of understanding of these important issues. DAVE PETLEY Executive Director, Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience, Durham University Brett Cherry Alex Densmore Sarah Curtis IHRR MANAGEMENT BOARD Prof Dave Petley, Executive Director of IHRR Prof Sarah Curtis, Director of Frontier Knowledge Dr Alex Densmore, Director of Hazards Research Prof Lena Dominelli, Director of Vulnerabilities and Resilience Dr Claire Horwell, Lecturer, Department of Earth Sciences DESIGN www.wearewarm.com PRINT Alphagraphics Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience Durham University DH1 3LE [phone] [email protected] www.durham.ac.uk/ihrr © Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience, Durham University 2012. All articles may not be reproduced without written permission.