preparedness

The Guardian: Officials worry that residents will be more likely to ignore evacuation orders as wildfires become more routine. For example, Butte County, California has been evacuated at least five times in two years. As evacuations become more frequent, people may be desensitized and become less…

There are major concerns for low-lying countries if the temperature rises more than 1.5 degrees Celsius this century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been working for about three years to set up a body of work including the causes, impacts, and possible solutions to the…

Security Magazine: Making company security more than just a part of company culture is a highly necessary reality. Many companies value security, but do not necessarily go far enough in making it part of day-to-day operations, leaving many at risk. The article suggests that every company make a…

According to this Telegraph article, Bill Gates warned world leaders at the Munich Security Conference of the often underestimated risks of bioterrorism. Because of rapid advances in genetic engineering, using biological weapons can easily lead to a pandemic. Gates’ foundation is currently funding…

According to this Science Daily article, a new and faster Zika virus diagnostic test is being developed. This new method will test a patient’s saliva rather than blood, which will allow a diagnosis to be made within minutes. While the virus is not detectable in blood after a couple of weeks, it…

Texas Tribune: Months before Hurricane Harvey hit Houston, an updated disaster preparedness plan was approved. Unfortunately, when the disaster hit many of the protocols made in the plan were not able to be carried out. Resources ran extremely low and emergency-official response time was slow.…

Harvard Business Review: The risk of intelligent devices will soon be greater than the risk posed by natural disasters, according to the article. Our growing dependence on artificial intelligence (AI) is pointing more and more towards the possibility of large-scale shutdowns. Natural disaster…