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October 26, 2023

NCDP 20th Anniversary Reflections and Impacts

Shortly after the 9/11 attacks and the anthrax exposures, centers throughout the United States were set up to prepare for and make our nation more resilient. In 2003, the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP), Columbia University, was founded to provide an academically based, interdisciplinary center focused on the capacity to prevent, respond to, and …

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Training Solutions: Enhancing Tribal Nations’ Readiness and Resilience

U.S. Tribal Nations have historically been disproportionately affected by disasters but without access to vital resources before, during, and after calamitous events. The risks to Tribal Nations only increase in the face of climate change, which will further exacerbate inequities and pose new challenges for Tribal communities. The National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) of …

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Executive Action Alone Won’t Save Us from Climate Change

President Biden stopped short of declaring a national emergency for climate change in his most recent executive actions. But he may still do so in the future, and some of his advisors have indicated that he will do so, although it is unclear if this is still in play with the recent passage of the …

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Deadly extreme weather is the new normal

This piece was originally published on May 23, 2019, in The Hill. The extreme weather events this week in the Midwest are both alarming and tragic. It is estimated that at least 30 tornados touched down in Kansas, Missouri, and elsewhere on Tuesday alone. Unfortunately, there have also been at least four fatalities, with more injuries reported. Flooding …

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The water shortage may be coming to your neighborhood

This post was originally published on March 5, 2018 in CNN. Cape Town, South Africa, is set to run out of fresh water for its 4 million citizens on July 15. On that day — known as “Day Zero” — the city plans to set up 200 water access points for gathering 6.6 gallons of water per …

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Climate Change and Geopolitics: What’s Really at Stake

This post was originally published on February 9, 2016 in The Huffington Post blog. By most accounts, December’s international climate conference in Paris was an unexpected and landmark success. Virtually every nation on earth now understands what’s at stake and all have reached common understanding about what needs to be done to slow the advance …

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Climate Change, Disasters and Adaptation Preparedness

Climate Change as a Human Factor Climate change is defined as change in global or regional climate patterns, which may include increases and decreases in temperature as well as changes in severe weather events. These changes in severe weather may increase both the frequency and intensity of disasters and the likelihood of mega disasters. Climate …

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