From 12-13 June 2024, the vibrant city of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, hosted the 3rd International Conference on Natural Hazards and Risks in a Changing World: Addressing Compound and Multi-Hazard Risk. This esteemed conference, organized by MYRIAD-EU, Risk KAN, and NatRiskChange, brought together leading experts, researchers, and practitioners to discuss and advance the understanding of natural hazards in our evolving world.
A key highlight of the conference was the presentation titled “Reclassifying Historical Disasters: From Single to Multi-Hazards”, showcased by Christopher J. White and co-authors from the MEDiate project.
This presentation offered groundbreaking insights into the significant threat posed by multi-hazard events due to their cumulative and cascading effects. Identifying these events is challenging due to the complex nature of natural hazard interactions and limited multi-hazard observations. Based on a recently published article, the presentation introduced an approach for identifying multi-hazard events over the past 123 years (1900-2023) using the EM-DAT disaster database. The study detected and assessed multi-hazard events regarding their frequency, impact on human lives and assets, and reporting trends. Floods, storms, and earthquakes were the most common primary hazards, with landslides being the predominant secondary hazard.
In addition to this, the conference featured a poster presentation titled “Compound Occurrence of Heat Waves and Drought and Impacts: A Case Study of Nice, France”, presented by Marcello Arosio, Natalia Castillo and co-authors.
The conference facilitated discussions, networking opportunities, and the sharing of innovative research, contributing to the global effort to mitigate and manage the risks associated with natural hazards.