News

[November 20, 2014] Special Session on Extreme Geohazards at GEORisk 2014: A Special Session on Extreme Geohazards was organized at the GEORisk 2014 Conference in Madrid, Spain. Four presentations addressed the high risk associated with extreme volcanic eruptions and discussed options for improved monitoring and international governance for risk reduction. A panel discussion engaged the audience in developing ways to address the risk associated with low-probability high-impact events.

[August 29, 2014] White Paper discussed at IDRC 2014: A special session was organized at the International Disaster and Risk Conference in Davos, Switzerland. Five presentations addressed the high risk associated with an extreme volcanic eruption and options for improved monitoring, an international panel to assess global risks, and first steps leading to improved risk governance.

[May 2, 2014] White Paper presented at EGU meeting: A presentation on the White Paper on extreme geohazards was presented at the annual meeting of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) held in Vienna, Austria. Download the keynote presentation ...

[May 1, 2014] GHCP Meetings took place at EGU: In two splinter meetings at the annual assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) in Vienna, Austria, two splinter meeting were organized by the GHCP. In the first meeting, the progress of the GHCP and its relation to the GEO Task DI-01 was discussed. The second meeting focused on the white paper on extreme geohazards. For more information see workshop page ...

[January 13, 2014] White Paper present at Workshop in Disasters: The main conclusions of the White Paper on extreme geohazards were presented in the side event "Natural Disaster Mitigation and Earth Observations: a GEOSS perspective" held on Monday, January 13, 2014 co-located with the 10th GEO Plenary and a Ministerial Summit on Earth Observations. For more information see the event page ...

[December 15, 2013] White Paper Summary presented at AGU Fall Meeting: 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]White Paper Leaflet at AGU Science Policy Conference: 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. Download the leaflet (77MB) ...

[13 April 2013]Poster on White Paper at EGU: A poster introducing the White Paper was presented at the EGU Assembly in Vienna. Read the poster (16 MB) ...

[16 February 2013]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 ....

[19 July 2012] 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 ...

[15 July 2012] 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.

[23 May 2012] 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 ....

[19 May 2012] 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 ...

[10 May 2012] The First IUGG GRC Conference on “Extreme Natural Hazards and Their Impacts”: The First IUGG GRC Conference on extreme natural hazards and their impacts will take place on December 8-12, 2012, at the Chapman University, Orange, California, USA. See web page ... for more details.

[22 April 2012] Concept for GGIS-DRR to be developed: The GHCP agreed to develop the concept for a “Global Geohazards Information System for Disaster Risk Reduction” (GGIS-DRR). GGIS-DRR will be a scalable, globally available cyber infrastructure providing information from global to local levels to a wide range of users from the public and decision makers to scientists, allowing experts to share data, information, and best practices, and facilitating information collection through crowd sourcing. Read more ...

[20 March 2012] International Forum on Satellite Earth Observation for Geohazard Risk Management, May 21st-23rd, Santorini: The European Space Agency is organising the International Forum on Satellite Earth Observation for Geohazard Risk Management on May 21st-23rd, 2012 at the Santorini Convention Centre, Greece. Event attendance is open to geo-science, users and experts working in the field of geohazard risk assessment and management. Visit the forum web page ...; See the announcement ...

[7 March 2012] Conference report published: A brief report on the ESF/COST Conference on extreme geohazards organized under the lead of the co-chairs of the GHCP has been published in the GEO Newsletter No. 18. Read the article ...

[27 January 2012] Meeting of the GHCP at EGU: The GHCP is convening a meeting collocated with the Annual Meeting of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) in Vienna. The GHCP meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 25, 2012 from 8:30 to 12:30. Read more .... The objective of the meeting is to make progress toward the implementation of the GHCP Roadmap and the Declaration of the ESF/COST Science conference Understanding Extreme Geohazards: The Science of the Disaster Risk Management Cycle.

[25 January 2012] Conference Declaration available: The declaration of the ESF/COST Conference Understanding Extreme Geohazards: The Science of the Disaster Risk Management Cycle is now available here ... The declaration emphasizes outreach and education as well as risk reduction through reduced exposure and vulnerability as key components of the disaster risk management cycle.

[8 December 2011] AGU Session on major geohazards: The GHCP contributed to the organization of Sessions NH31A (poster) and NH34A (oral) on “Characterizing Risk and Extent of Major Disasters Caused by Geohazards” at the AGU Fall Meeting. In the oral session, several invited papers addressed aspects of risk management and disaster reduction related to geohazards. Likewise, several posters were also focusing on the impacts of disasters caused by extreme geohazards on society.

Program of oral Session NH34A.

Program of poster Session NH31A.

[2 December 2011] ESF Conference on extreme geohazards: The European Science Foundation (ESF) conference on “Understanding Extreme Geohazards: The Science of the Disaster Risk Management Cycle” was held on November 28 to December 1, 2011 in Sant Feliu de Guixols, Spain (near Barcelona). The conference brought together 55 leading experts and young researchers from four continents, who discussed scientific and societal aspects of the four phases of the risk management cycle (preparedness, early warning, response, and recovery) as they relate to disasters caused by extreme geohazards. The conference was organized under the lead of the GHCP. For details see the conference page.

Participants of the European Science Conference on "Understanding Extreme Geohazards: The Science of the Disaster Risk Management Cycle."

[1 September 2011] GHCP organizes Conference on extreme geohazards: 3rd and final Call for Papers published: The last CfP for the ESF Conference on Understanding Extreme Geohazards: The Science of the Disaster Risk Management Cycle has been published here. Deadline for applications and abstract submission is September 18, 2011. For more details, see the Conference web page.

[4 July 2011] GHCP organizes AGU Session on major geohazards: The GHCP is organizing Session “NH04. Characterizing Major Disasters Caused by Geohazards” at the AGU Fall Meeting. See the session description. Deadline for abstract submission is August 4, 2011.

[3 June 2011] ESF Conference will address extreme geohazards: A European Science Foundation conference to be held on November 28 to December 1, 2011 in Sant Feliu de Guixols, Spain (near Barcelona) will address extreme geohazards. The conference titled Understanding Extreme Geohazards: The Science of the Disaster Risk Management Cycle will bring together leading experts to discuss the four phases of the risk management cycle (preparedness, early warning, response, and recovery) as they relate to disasters caused by extreme geohazards. The conference is organized under the lead of the GHCP. For details see the conference page.

[20 April 2011] GHCP Workshop postponed: The 2^nd Workshop of the GHCP, which was scheduled to take place on May 6, 2011, in Antalya, Turkey, has been postponed. The workshop will take place in the August/September time frame. Besides discussing the implementation of the GHCP Road Map, a main focus will be on characterization of major disasters and the Supersite Initiative. Dates and location of the workshop will be made available here in the near future.

[14 October 2010] 2^nd Workshop of the GHCP: The 2^nd Workshop of the GHCP will take place on May 6, 2011, in Antalya, Turkey. The workshop is co-located with the Gi4DM 2011 conference. The focus of the GHCP Workshop will be on the finalization and acceptance of the GHCP Road Map and steps toward the implementation of this road map. For more information see the workshop web page.

[14 October 2010] GHCP Poster for Ministerial Summit: A GHCP poster has been prepared for the Exhibition co-located with the 7th GEO Plenary and the Ministerial Summit on Earth Observations to be held in Beijing, China, on November 2-5, 2010. Download the complete poster as pdf.