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Critical research in the water-related multi-hazard field

Nature Sustainability volume 5, pages 90–91 (2022)Cite this article

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To the Editor — We believe that the transdisciplinary studies on water-related multi-hazards are innovative and critical research by the water community, thus answering the call of the recent Nature Sustainability Editorial ‘Too much and not enough’1 for water science ideas that are not derivative or stagnant. This domain of water studies focuses on the specific contexts where water-related hazardous events occur simultaneously, in cascade or cumulatively with other events. Characteristic of the field is the intensive collaboration of scientists and practitioners from different disciplines working together to better understand, assess and manage water-related multi-hazards. At the recent Asia Oceania Geosciences Society–European Geosciences Union Joint Conference on New Dimensions for Natural Hazards in Asia, we discussed the statement ‘Too much and not enough’1 and here suggest three reasons why transdisciplinary collaborations have led to many new ideas and notable advancements in the field of water-related multi-hazard research in recent years.

First, collaboration across different natural hazard fields led to approaches for structured comparative analyses that allow general results to be drawn from the assessment of multi-hazard events presented in case studies that can be applied to other contexts. For example, a systematic examination identifying which natural hazards can trigger or amplify the probability of floods (or vice versa) revealed interactions with the following hazards: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, regional subsidence, storms, hail, extreme hot temperatures and wildfires2. Flood and drought experts developed the paired-event approach for undertaking detailed analyses of the contribution of different drivers to changing impacts from floods and droughts3,4. They also identified processes whereby flood or drought risk reduction measures can have (unintended) positive or negative impacts on the risk of the opposite hazard (and vice versa), with important implications for practical flood and drought risk management5.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section Hydrology, German Research Centre for Geosciences, Potsdam, Germany

    Heidi Kreibich

  2. Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Marleen C. de Ruiter

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, Western University, London, Ontario, Canada

    Katsuichiro Goda

  4. Department of Geography, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

    Margreth Keiler

  5. Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Innsbruck, Austria

    Margreth Keiler

  6. International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

    Anawat Suppasri

  7. Department of Geography, King’s College London, London, UK

    Bruce D. Malamud

Authors
  1. Heidi Kreibich
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  2. Marleen C. de Ruiter
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  3. Katsuichiro Goda
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  4. Margreth Keiler
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  5. Anawat Suppasri
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  6. Bruce D. Malamud
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Correspondence to Heidi Kreibich.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Kreibich, H., de Ruiter, M.C., Goda, K. et al. Critical research in the water-related multi-hazard field. Nat Sustain 5, 90–91 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00833-0

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