CATWeek Issue

CATWeek Your source for catastrophe news and information

Week Ending January 16^th

CAT Events | Science and Engineering | Industry News | Legal and Regulatory

Feature Story

U.S. weather in 2011: unprecedented rains and wet/dry extremes
Weather Underground, January 11
Rains unprecedented in 117 years of record keeping set new yearly precipitation totals in seven states during 2011, NOAA's National Climatic Data Center revealed in its preliminary year-end report for 2011. An extraordinary twenty major U.S. cities had their wettest year on record during 2011.
http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2012

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CAT Events

Cyclone "Andrea" rages in western Austria
Austrian Times, January 6
The effects of cyclone "Andrea" were felt around Austria yesterday (Thurs). Parts of the country have been left without power, fallen trees cover the streets and more than 100 call outs for the fire brigade have been recorded by the emergency services. The regions of Vorarlberg and Tyrol were particularly badly affected.
http://austriantimes.at/news/General_News/2012-01-06/38587/Cyclone_%22Andrea%22_rages_in_western_Austria

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Science and Engineering News

Global Risks 2012
World Economic Forum, January 11
The World Economic Forum's Global Risks 2012 report is based on a survey of 469 experts from industry, government, academia and civil society that examines 50 global risks across five categories. The report emphasizes the singular effect of a particular constellation of global risks rather than focusing on a single existential risk. Three distinct constellations of risks that present a very serious threat to our future prosperity and security emerged from a review of this year's set of risks.
http://reports.weforum.org/global-risks-2012/

Latest models 'could give Asia ten-day flood warnings'
SciDev, January 10
An ensemble of climate and weather simulations could help developing countries better prepare for extreme events such as tropical cyclones, droughts and floods, scientists have said.
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/natural-disasters/news/latest-models-could-give-asia-ten-day-flood-warnings-.html

Simulated Disasters Provide Earthquake Data
VOA News, January 9
Research professor Heather Savage fires up a machine that simulates, in miniature, real earthquake conditions – the rubbing, slipping and sliding of the Earth's massive plates, generating data for analysis.
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/science-technology/Simulated-Mini-Disasters-Provide-Earthquake-Data--136655828.html

Researchers can predict Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation
PhysOrg, January 9
Climate scientists around Dr. Daniela Matei and Prof. Dr. Jochem Marotzke from the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology and Prof. Dr. Johanna Baehr from Hamburg University have now shown for the first time that the strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at 26.5 degress North can be skillfully predicted for up to four years. Their results have been recently published in Science.
http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-atlantic-meridional-overturning-circulation.html

Newly discovered earthquake fault lines means Valley is on shakier ground than originally thought
Yakima Herald Republic, January 8
Sherrod said recently geologists have been able to map a series of fault lines stretching across the Cascades -- including a group of faults along ridges between Yakima and Ellensburg that connect to faults as far away as Vancouver Island. Their discoveries are changing the way geologists see the relationships between earthquakes on different sides of the state.
http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2012/01/08/newly-discovered-earthquake-fault-lines-means-valley-is-on-shakier-ground-than-originally-thought

2011 was the driest year on record in Texas
Reuters, January 7
It's official: 2011 was the driest year on record in Texas, according to the National Weather Service. It was also the second-hottest ever.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/08/us-weather-record-texas-idUSTRE80700920120108

New data finds regions of North America have remained extremely stable for more than one billion years
PhysOrg, January 6
In a new paper published today in Science, researchers at MIT have reconstructed the ancient history of the Wyoming Province, one of the oldest fragments within the North American craton. The team found that at this site, the continental crust experienced a short, intense period of erosion between 1.8 and 1.5 billion years ago before settling into a more stable period that has persisted to the present day. They did this by developing a novel technique to pinpoint when continents transition from high to low rates of erosion, which they say could also be used in other parts of the world to reconstruct similar histories.
http://www.physorg.com/news/2012-01-regions-north-america-extremely-stable.html

Warm weather threatens to extend U.S. drought
Reuters, January 5
A New Year's Eve "heat wave" melted away welcomed winter snow that had brought some drought relief to the U.S. Plains, reviving fears that harmfully warm and dry conditions will persist into 2012, U.S. climatologists said in a report issued Thursday.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/05/us-drought-idUSTRE8041RH20120105

'No evidence' of links between mega-earthquakes
SciDev, January 5
Scientists have rejected fears that a series of highly destructive large-scale earthquakes in the past few years, in countries bordering the Pacific and Indian oceans, signal an increased global risk of these deadly events.
http://www.scidev.net/en/agriculture-and-environment/natural-disasters/news/-no-evidence-of-links-between-mega-earthquakes.html

Chilean Engineer's Designs Help Santiago's Skyscrapers Endure Earthquakes
Bloomberg, January 3
Sirve's shock-absorbing steel dampers were built into every third floor on two sides of the oblong Titanium Tower. The X-shaped, story-high devices twisted in every direction with the quake, absorbing roughly 40 percent of the earth's movement before returning to their original shape.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-03/chilean-engineer-s-designs-help-santiago-s-skyscrapers-endure-earthquakes.html

Research questions urban development planning relating to flooding
CE News, January 3
Extreme weather can result in a violent act of nature, and in the past year much attention has been paid to the disastrous impacts of flooding during the spring and summer. For example, residents of cities and agricultural farmland found themselves at odds when the Army Corps of Engineers wrestled with opening floodgates to channel water away from the metropolitan areas of New Orleans and Baton Rouge in May 2011, and instead direct the floodwaters to small Louisiana towns and farms.
http://www.cenews.com/news-research_questions_urban_development_planning_relating_to_flooding-1874.html

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Industry News

Bermuda Stock Exchange breaks record for insurance-linked securities listings
Artemis, January 9
The Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX) has issued a press release concerning the volume of catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities that the exchange now plays host to.
http://www.artemis.bm/blog/2012/01/09/bermuda-stock-exchange-breaks-record-for-insurance-linked-securities-listings/

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