“Residents interviewed through the city said that the cries that they heard emanating from many collapsed buildings in the initial hours after the quake had begun to soften, if not quiet completely.” New York Times (Jan 15, 2010)

Earthquake response teams in Port-au-Prince explain that there is a 72-hour period in which people trapped under collapsed buildings can be rescued alive. We’re now at 67 hours. While there are still people under the rubble and homeless children searching for their families in the streets, it may be too soon to reflect upon the horrible aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti. However, after donating as much as we can and still feeling helpless at the sight of the images in the news, this may be the best time. (more…)

The World Resources Institute (WRI) Vulnerability and Adaptation Project works to prepare nations around the world to mitigate and manage the effects of climate change through informed policy.

Quoted: National development policies that take the changing climate into account will provide an essential foundation for enabling effective action on adaptation.  WRI’s Vulnerability and Adaptation (V&A) project tackles questions of how policy design can respond to the range of challenges raised by climate vulnerability.

This World Resources Institute review of a report from the World Conservation Union (IUCN) shows how the intelligent preservation and management of ecosystems can ease the effects of natural disasters. The picture on the left depicts a fishing boat damaged by the 2004 tsunami in Koh Phra Thong, Thailand (IUCN Photo Library © IUCN/Jeff McNeely). The picture on the right is of mangrove trees in Bangladesh (IUCN Photo Library, © IUCN/Nicolas Van Ingen and Jean-François Hellio).