Mainstreaming DRR into policies and practices are not born overnight. With this in mind, for mainstreaming to effectively take place, an understanding of gaps and opportunities in existing legal frameworks should be thoroughly understood...

The Tokyo Earthquake Research Institute estimates that there is a 70 percent chance that a major earthquake would shake the Tokyo area within the next 30 years, reports Deutsche Welle. But the city has been preparing with regular drills, compulsory building resistance tests, long-life generators and earthquake proof buildings...

'We are making plans under a multi-step strategy to respond to hazard. The first one is to check the risk, and second is to reduce risk, make people aware and develop community groups for immediate response,' said hadga Sen Oli, advocacy officer at the National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal...

'Across most of southern Australia, the projections of the future are for warmer and drier conditions, so when we experience warm and dry conditions, growing those crops, canola, wheat, barley, etc. will be more challenging in the future,' said CSIRO climate applications scientist Steve Crimp...

Better land use can ensure protection of life and property against onslaught of disasters, said Senator Gregorio 'Gringo' Honasan, during his dialogue with media, government information officers, and the academe in Iloilo city...

A Department of Building Inspection special report published in the San Francisco Public Press lists about 3,000 seismically unfit buildings in the city - homes of 58,000 people. The 'soft-story' buildings on the list have weak ground floors, thus, they may be similar to those that suffered the most damage in the 1989 earthquake in the region...

Instead of building walls to keep floods out, developers are beginning to wonder – why not open up, and let the water in? 'We see the water as a friend, rather than foe. The aim is to manage the incoming water, and direct it where we want it to go – if needs be, into the development's car parks or garden squares. The fact is, traditional...

As heatwaves are scorching and bushfires devastate parts of Australia, the Climate Commission, Australia's climate change authority has released it's report: Off the charts: Extreme Australian summer heat, reports the Global Mail...

'We did this map to understand impacts on our infrastructure. In the big picture, this isn't just about sea-level rise. It's about drinking water, urban flooding, and how we design new projects,' explained Paul Fleming, manager of climate and sustainability for Seattle Public Utilities...

'The private [business] sector is the perfect advocate for resilient thinking because of its direct relationship with customers, suppliers and everyone in between,' said Margareta Wahlstrom, who heads UNISDR and is the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, reports PR Newswire...

'We are well past the time of niceties, of avoiding the dire nature of what is unfolding, and politely trying not to scare the public. The unparalleled setting of new heat extremes is forcing the continual upwards trending of warming predictions for the future, and the timescale is contracting,' warned Liz Hanna at the Australian National...

'By their nature, global risks do not respect national borders, as highlighted in the Global Risks 2013 report. And we now know that extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change will not limit their effects to countries that are major greenhouse gas emitters, says Professor Klaus Schwab, the founder of the World Economic Forum...

Experts say that developing nations could require more than $100 billion for adaptation each year. Developed countries say that they have already delivered more than $33 billion so far towards this climate adaptation funding...

China has released an official statement on the lives lost and economic damage caused by natural disasters in 2012. 290 million people were affected by the disasters, and over 1300 people died due to natural disasters. Floods, geological disasters, typhoons and hail were the major adverse conditions and droughts, snowstorms, sandstorms, forest fires...

This study 'demonstrates the value and potential of this approach for a wide range of similar problems in climate change research, where past data and current numerical modelling have significant limitations when it comes to forecasting future trends and patterns,' said Professor Jonathan Bamber, one of the researchers...

'As part of the sorely-needed aid package to help victims of Hurricane Sandy, Congress is also considering spending billions on ill-advised and environmentally damaging beach and coastal rebuilding projects that ignore the looming threats of rising seas and intensifying storms,' according to Professor Rob Young of Yale University...

'Climate change will continue to threaten the livelihoods of billions of small-scale holders farmers in West Africa, and other part of the world, and will remain on the top of priorities of national, regional and international agendas,' said Chairman Thomas Rosswall in his concluding remarks...

Temperatures will keep getting higher, droughts will persist, artic ice coverage will be low, the summer will be longer and low/lying coastal areas will be threatened by storms and sea level rise in 2013, according to the predictions of PolicyMic...

The findings of the assessment will also provide information on climate compatible development options in these sectors to address these risks, to help the government to strategically consider options for climate compatible development pathways...

'As storms such as Hurricane Sandy have shown, it is vital that we commit our resources and expertise to create a ready and resilient Maryland by taking the necessary steps to adapt to the rising sea and unpredictable weather,' Governor O'Malley said...