[May 3, 2016]: There is mounting evidence that both the Greenland and parts of the Antarctic ice sheets may melt much faster than previously estimated. This posses a global threat to a growing, increasingly coastal urban civilization. For more information, see, for example, the discussions in the Washington Post and the New York Times, which refer to the relevant scientific publications.
[August 26, 2015]: In an article in the New York Times, W. J. Broad refers to several publications and statements of scientists that underline the severe impacts of the Mt. Tambora eruption in 1815 and the threat such an eruption would be for modern society.
[June 24, 2015]: The main outcomes of the Science Position Paper on extreme geohazards were presented in aUnion Session at the IUGG General Assembly in Prague. Comparing extreme geohazards to the impact of modern society on the planet, it appears that humanity is comparable to the most extreme geohazards. The presentation is available as keynote and pptx version.
[May 1, 2015]: Many are supporting the victims of the Nepal earthquakes, see, e.g., GHI; BBB; NYT for more information. For scientific data, see UNAVCO's page ...
[April 15, 2015]: The Science Position Paper on extreme geohazards was launched in a Splinter meeting at EGU, Vienna, Austria. The Panel included several authors, Topo-EUROPE, UN_Spider, and EPOS. The ESF press release resulted in numerous articles.
[April 11, 2015]: The Science Position Paper on extreme geohazards has been finalized and printed. The paper is to be presented at a special session during the European Geosciences Union General Assembly (EGU) in Vienna on Tuesday 14 April 2015, 13:30 - 15:00. Read the press release ...
[November 19, 2014]: With support from, and in coordination with, the European Science Foundation, the GHCP organized a special event on extreme geohazards at the GEORisk 2014 Conference in Madrid, Spain. This conference was the second in a sequence held by the IUGGGeorisk Commission. More information on the special event is available here ...
[August 28, 2014]: The GHCP organized a session on extreme geohazards at the IDRC 2014 in Davos, Switzerland. More information is available here ...
[January 28, 2014]: The GHCP is organizing two splinter meetings at the 2014 EGU Meeting in Vienna on Thursday, May 1, 2014. These meetings will review the joint GHCP and GEO DI-01 activities and consider the recommendations of the White Paper on Extreme Geohazards. See the workshop page for details ...
[January 17, 2014]: A poster summarizing the White Paper and another poster giving an overview of the activities of the GHCP were presented in the IEEE booth at the exhibition colocated with the 10th GEO Plenary and Ministerial Summit held in Geneva, January 14-17, 2014. The White Paper was also presented orally at the Disaster Workshop and the joint DI-01 and GHCP meeting. Download the WP Poster; the GHCP Poster; or the WP presentation (ppt) ...
[December 15, 2013]: In an oral presentation at the AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, a summary of the White Paper on extreme geohazards was presented. Read the abstract. Download the presentation ...
[June 27, 2013]: A leafet summarizing the White Paper on extreme geohazards was distributed at the AGU Science Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., where a session on mega disasters considered large floods, solar storms, and asteroids as potential causes for mega disasters, but did not mention the very real threat from large volcanic eruptions. See the leaflet (77MB) ...
[April 13, 2013]: A poster introducing the White Paper was presented at the EGU Assembly in Vienna. See the poster ...
Not a Geohazard, but ...: The meteorid that exploded on Friday, 15 Februray 2013 over the Russian city Chelyabinsk is not considered a geohazard, but it illustrated the power and impact a much larger asteroid would. It also underlined the possibility of surprises, both in form of large asteroids, extreme volcano eruption, extensive floods, and long droughts. All of these 500-year or 1000-year events could happen any time. We are not prepared for these rare, high impact events. It is interesting to note that when the explosion was visible, many people went to the most dangerous place to be: the window. The delayed shock wave exposed them to a storm of glas particles. Watch the meteorite, Read the NYT article ....
GEO Communities of Practice meeting in Bonn, Germany: A meeting of the GEO Communities of Practice is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, August 28, 2012 prior to the 2nd Geoss Science and Technology Stakeholder Workshop. Both the Stakeholder Workshop and the CoP meeting is of interest for the GHCP. Read the invitation of the director of the GEO Secretariat ...
GHCP Session on Extreme Geohazards at GeoRisk 2012: A session on “Extreme Geohazards: Reducing Uncertainties and Disaster Risk” will be organized by the GHCP at the First IUGG GRC Conference on “Extreme Natural Hazards and Their Impacts” (GeoRisk 2012), which will take place December 8-12, 2012, at Chapman University, Orange, California, USA (see the Announcement for details).
GHCP presented at International Forum: The GHCP was presented at the International Forum on Satellite Earth Observation for Geohazard Risk Management, which took place on May 21-23, 2012 in Santorini, Greece. Visit the forum web page ...; See the presentation ....
White Paper on Extreme Geohazards started: The GHCP has started to develop a white paper on extreme geohazards and disaster risk reduction. This project receives partial funding from the European Science Foundation. The goal is to have the white paper ready by the end of 2012. There will be two rounds of solicitating input from the community. Read more ...