Decision Support for Emergency Response to Multiple Natural Hazards : CHALLENGES AND NEEDS

Abstract

Global warming exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels will very likely lead to unavoidable increases of several climate hazards in the coming decades. Climate change phenomena can increase the risk of several extreme weather events, leading to risks of what is commonly considered as natural hazards, for instance landslides and forest fires. These chains or networks of events are termed natural multi-hazards or compound natural events, referring to a primary event or a driver that directly triggers or increases the probability of one or more secondary events by changing the environment. The very likely increase of single and compound natural hazards due to climate change require increased attention since it may imply new challenges to emergency response systems and new threats to society. Especially, how emergency response systems can prepare for and respond to these hazards by using knowledge of the interactions between different natural events.