Our picksDisasters & “Warning Fatigue” | How to Deradicalize Your Town | Sea Level Rise and Non-Coastal Communities, and more Published 6 September 2021 ·  Highlights of Iran’s Perilous Pursuit of Nuclear Weapons ·  As Flood Alerts Lit Up Phones, Did “Warning Fatigue” Set In? ·  This Seemingly Normal Lightning Cable Will Leak Everything You Type ·  American

ExtremismTwenty Years after 9/11, Germany Still Struggling with Militant Islamists By Matthias von Hein Published 4 September 2021 Twenty years ago, Islamist terror was still largely an unknown for German security authorities. Now, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) has a newly established Islamist-Motivated Terrorism/Extremism Department. Around 500 criminal investigators, scientists, translators, and analysts work

The Russia connectionCatalan Separatists Sought Russia’s Help Published 4 September 2021 Catalan separatists who, in 2019, were trying to break away from Spain and establish an independent Catalonia, sought, and received, Russian help for their efforts. The separatists’ effort to enlist Russia followed a 2017 referendum in Catalonia, which the pro-independence forces won after the

Nuclear wasteFuture Solutions for Spent Nuclear Fuel Published 4 September 2021 Nuclear technology has been used in the United States for decades for national defense, research and development, and carbon-free electric power generation. Nuclear power is a key element of the U.S. response to climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, nuclear energy, as

Coastal challengesFuture Flooding in Venice: Facing Sea Level Rise Published 4 September 2021 A new assessment of flood risk in Venice indicates that the impact of higher emissions on relative sea level rise during this century will be critical in planning future defense infrastructure for Venice and other coastal cities. A new assessment of flood risk

ARGUMENT: Afghanistan rapid collapseHow the Taliban Exploited Afghanistan’s Human Geography Published 3 September 2021 The Taliban managed to seize power so quickly because it used Afghanistan’s human geography to exploit that state’s fragility: The country’s low population density empowers fast-moving and cohesive attackers, for which the poorly trained, disorganized, corrupt, and unmotivated Afghani army was

Infrastructure protectionA Subway Flood Expert Explains What Needs to Be Done to Stop Underground Station Deluges By Klaus Hans Jacob Published 3 September 2021 Subway stations in New York were inundated with water following heavy rain on 1 September 2021, and other cities around the world have also experienced similar inundations. “Climate change isn’t a

Natural hazardsMitigating Hazards with Vulnerability in Mind By Andrew Logan Published 3 September 2021 From tropical storms to landslides, the form and frequency of natural hazards vary widely. To mitigate natural hazards equitably, an MIT Ph.D. candidate is incorporating social vulnerability into resilience engineering and hazard recovery. From tropical storms to landslides, the form and frequency

Climate challengesMore Weather-Related Disasters Over Past 50 Years, Causing More Damage but Fewer Deaths Published 3 September 2021 A disaster related to a weather, climate, or water hazard occurred every day on average over the past 50 years – killing 115 people and causing $ 202 million in losses daily. But while the number of

Water securityAs Western U.S. Is Experiencing a 1,000 Year Drought, Desalination Could Be a Solution By Renee Cho Published 3 September 2021 The Western United States is currently experiencing what one paleoclimatologist called “potentially the worst drought in 1,200 years.” The region has had many droughts in the past, including “megadroughts” that last decades, but