Indonesia plans to build a "giant sea wall," more than 500 kilometers long, to defend Java's north coast from rising sea levels.
A study of one of the world's longest-running disaster warning systems—desert locust monitoring—finds surveillance limits damages and generates returns of up to 680 times the investment. The new study, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research as part of its working papers series, measures how valuable early warning systems could be in limiting the damage caused by natural disasters. Using three decades of data, it evaluates one of the earliest and longest-running disaster monitoring systems: monitoring for the desert locust, one of the world's most destructive agricultural pests.
Educators and researchers around the world, especially in countries with limited resources, need cost-effective, scalable tools for assessing early child development. Direct assessments, a commonly used approach, require children to complete a range of activities that measure academic, physical, and social-emotional skills. These assessments paint a nuanced picture of early child development and are useful to evaluate programs and policies. However, administering direct assessments often takes 30 or more minutes, making them impractical for measuring large populations. Practitioners and researchers need more practical methods.
Stored in an open-air warehouse in tropical Darwin, Australia, are dozens of trays containing cylindrical cores of rock. They are from drill holes bored hundreds of meters below the surface by mineral exploration companies decades ago.
In less than a millionth of a second after a nuclear detonation or a severe nuclear reactor accident, an enormous burst of energy heats the surrounding air and materials. Everything in the vicinity is vaporized into a hot, glowing cloud of gas and plasma. As that nuclear fireball expands, it mixes with air, begins to cool and condenses into tiny solid particles—creating nuclear fallout.
When people think about wildfires, they usually think about flames, smoke and evacuations. However, for many communities, some of the most important damage begins after the fire has passed.
