U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, right, and Dr. Dang Kieu Nhan, left, wave goodbye after Kerry spoke in Tan An Tay along the Mekong River Delta Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013.  (AP Photo/Brian Snyder, Pool) (The Associated Press)

nytimes.com - By Coral Davenport - January 2, 2014

As a young naval officer in Vietnam, John Kerry commanded a Swift boat up the dangerous rivers of the Mekong Delta. But when he returned there last month as secretary of state for the first time since 1969, he spoke not of past firefights but of climate change.

“Decades ago, on these very waters, I was one of many who witnessed the difficult period in our shared history,” Mr. Kerry told students gathered on the banks of the Cai Nuoc River. He drew a connection from the Mekong Delta’s troubled past to its imperiled future. “This is one of the two or three most potentially impacted areas in the world with respect to the effects of climate change,” he said.

submitted by Nguyen Ninh

vnexpress.net - 18/12/2013

Tuyết phủ trắng đèo Ô Quý Hồ (Lào Cai) mấy ngày nay khiến hàng trăm xe tải, xe khách kẹt cứng. Tài xế và hành khách trải qua những ngày khó quên trên núi tuyết.

Dòng xe ùn tắc trên đèo Ô Quý Hồ sáng 18/12. Kể từ khi Sapa xuất hiện mưa tuyết hôm 15/12, xe ôtô không thể di chuyển qua con đèo nối liền Sapa (Lào Cai) và tỉnh Lai Châu do lớp tuyết đóng dày từ mấy ngày trước và lớp băng hình thành khi tuyết tan khiến đường trơn trượt rất nguy hiểm.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

Cây đổ ở Hà Nội sau bão Haiyan
Ảnh hưởng của cơn bão Haiyan, Hà Nội từ đêm qua có mưa to và gió thổi mạnh
http://vnexpress.net/tin-tuc/thoi-su/cay-do-o-ha-noi-sau-bao-haiyan-2908333.html

Trực tiếp: Bão số 14 đã làm 13 người thiệt mạng
VOV.VN- Tại các địa phương ảnh hưởng của bão số 14 đã có 13 người chết và 81 người bị thương...
http://vov.vn/Doi-song/Truc-tiep-Sau-can-quet-Quang-Ninh-bao-huong-vao-Trung-Quoc/290460.vov

Tâm bão Haiyan đang ở địa đầu Móng Cái (Quảng Ninh)
http://tuoitre.vn/Chinh-tri-Xa-hoi/579503/tam-bao%C2%A0haiyan-dang-o-huyen-dia-dau-mong-cai-quang-ninh.html#ad-image-0

Haiyan makes landfall, weakens into depression
http://english.vov.vn/Society/Haiyan-makes-landfall-weakens-into-depression/266984.vov

gdacs.org - November 7, 2013

Tropical Cyclone HAIYAN-13 can have a high humanitarian impact based on the Maximum sustained wind speed and the affected population and their vulnerability.

Updated: this report is based on advisory number 20.

• Tropical Cyclone Hurricane/Typhoon > 150 mph (maximum wind speed of 315 km/h)
• from 04/11/2013 00:00 UTC to 08/11/2013 00:00 UTC
• Population affected by Category 1 (120 km/h) wind speeds or higher is 17.7 million
• Vulnerability: High

(CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION)

CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM THE JOINT TYPHOON WARNING CENTER (JTWC)

CLICK HERE - GDACS Tropical Cyclones - Joint Research Centre

CLICK HERE - Tropical Cyclone Information - Japan Meteorological Agency

flickr.com - Governor Neil Abercrombie - May 7, 2013

State of Hawaii - House of Representatives - Presentation of Certificate to Dr. Nguyen Huu Ninh

For significant contributions to the field of environmental science, and in appreciation for his extraordinary efforts to increase global awareness and understanding of climate change.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/neilabercrombie/8719554852/in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/neilabercrombie/8719554746/in/photostream

http://www.flickr.com/photos/neilabercrombie/8719554886/in/photostream

submitted by Samuel Bendett

homelandsecuritynewswire.com - February 18, 2013

Mounting scientific evidence indicates climate change will lead to more frequent and intense extreme weather that affects larger areas and lasts longer. We can reduce the risk of weather-related disasters, however, with a variety of measures. Experts say that a good strategy should include a variety of actions such as communicating risk and transferring it through vehicles such as insurance, taking a multi-hazard management approach, linking local and global management, and taking an iterative approach as opposed to starting with a master plan.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

economictimes.indiatimes.com - Reuters
September 26, 2012

(CLICK ON "READ MORE" AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST FOR LINKS TO THE REPORT )

LONDON: More than 100 million people will die and global economic growth will be cut by 3.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030 if the world fails to tackle climate change, a report commissioned by 20 governments said on Wednesday.

As global average temperatures rise due to greenhouse gas emissions, the effects on the planet, such as melting ice caps, extreme weather, drought and rising sea levels, will threaten populations and livelihoods, said the report conducted by humanitarian organisation DARA.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

28 March 2012

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Special Report on Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation (SREX) on 28 March. The report assesses the evidence that climate change has led to changes in climate extremes and the extent to which policies to avoid, prepare for, respond to and recover from the risks of disaster can reduce the impact of such events. Please click here for an IPCC press release on the report, and here for the report itself.

http://www.ipcc.ch/news_and_events/news.shtml#.T3UOlfXh98F

Special Report - Overview

http://ipcc-wg2.gov/SREX/

Special Report - Press Release (4 page .PDF file)

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Mumbai is among the densely populated cities that scientists say is at great risk. (Photo: Getty Images)

by Seth Borenstein - Associated Press - yahoo.com - March 28, 2012

WASHINGTON — Global warming is leading to such severe storms, droughts, and heat waves that nations should prepare for an unprecedented onslaught of deadly and costly weather disasters, an international panel of climate scientists said in a new report issued Wednesday.

The greatest threat from extreme weather is to highly populated, poor regions of the world, the report warns, but no corner of the globe — from Mumbai to Miami — is immune. The document by a Nobel Prize-winning panel of climate scientists forecasts stronger tropical cyclones and more frequent heat waves, deluges, and droughts.

(READ COMPLETE ARTICLE)

First, there is great value in a systems approach as a heuristic for understanding interlocked social-ecological-technological processes, and in analysis across multiple scales. Yet we need to move beyond both systems as portrayed in resilience thinking, and the focus on actors in work on vulnerability, to analyse networks and relationships, as well as to attend to the diverse framings, narratives, imaginations and discourses that different actors bring to bear.

For More:

http://resilienturbanism.tumblr.com/post/7573475902/reframing-resilience

There are many definitions of resilience from simple deterministic views of resilience anchored in Newtonian mechanics to far more dynamic views of resilience from a systems perspective, including insights from quantum mechanics and the sciences of complexity.  One baseline perspective of resilience sees it in terms of the viability of socio-ecological systems as the foundation for sustainability.  For those that are ready to look beyond resilience as the ability to return to the "normal state" before a disaster, take a look at:

http://www.resalliance.org/