Disasters collide at the intersection of extreme weather and infectious diseases

Abstract

Five of the top 13 global risks are environmental in nature, more than any of the other threat categories, which concern economic, geopolitical, societal, and technological risks, respectively (World Economic Forum, 2022). Anthropogenic global changes, including both climate and social changes along with high human population in disturbance-prone areas, are resulting in changes in the intensity of catastrophic weather events like flash floods and hurricanes, wildfire, epidemics of emerging infectious diseases like COVID-19, and other humanitarian disasters (Kossin et al., 2020;Stephens et al., 2014).

A natural disaster exacerbates and redistributes disease risk across free-ranging macaques by altering social structure

“…While the impact of natural disasters on human health are relatively well-understood 53,54 , their influence on the resilience of animal populations remains understudied. By applying epidemiological simulations to empirically-derived social networks pre- and post-hurricane, we provide a first demonstration of how natural disasters can alter infection disease risk via changes in social structure.…”

Designing the Distribution Network of Essential Items in the Critical Conditions of Earthquakes and COVID-19 Simultaneously

“…Constraint (6) guarantees that the backup warehouse will meet the required demand if the primary DC is destroyed. Constraint (7) calculates the shortage of relief items at demand points. Constraints (8) and ( 9) limit the maximum storage capacity of relief items at DCs.…”

“…These occurrences have far-reaching economic, social, environmental, and political outcomes for society. However, some societies are significantly more prone to devastating incidents [7]; Turkey is a prime example. Turkey is a developing country and ranks 19th globally, with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of around USD 906 billion.…”

Impacts of household vulnerability on hurricane logistics evacuation under COVID-19: The case of U.S. Hampton Roads

“…Statistics from 2020 shows a spike in COVID-19 cases right after severe weather events both in the U.S. and internationally ( Shultz et al, 2020c , Walton et al, 2021 ). In fact, simulation research suggests an increase in COVID-19 cases both in the origin and destination of evacuation routes ( Pei et al, 2020 , Drake et al, 2023 ). However, some authors suggest that transmission may be limited in local evacuations.…”