Air pollution (AP) is a global environmental threat to human health and development. Day-to-day behaviours contribute to poor air quality (AQ) but limited public understanding of AQ warrants effective communication strategies to promote awareness and empower positive behavioural change. Through the integration of behavioural, science communication, and socio-ecological frameworks, this rapid revie...

Citizen complaints feature prominently in public oversight contexts. The nature and effects of complaints, however, are controversial and poorly understood. Here, authors exploit novel administrative data on over 130,000 environmental citizen complaints in Texas to investigate their observed dynamic effects on regulator behavior. Empirically, complaints are associated with sharp increases in regul...

This perspective critically examines the challenges and opportunities of implementing people-centered multi-hazard early warning systems (MHEWS) in the Global South. Despite global initiatives, such as the Early Warnings for All initiative, operational realities lag behind. By exploring the needs of the most vulnerable and how core concepts of multi-hazard thinking (e.g., hazard interrelationships...

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) launched the Words into Action (WiA) publications as a series of guidelines, based on global expertise, communities of practice and networks of disaster risk reduction (DRR) practitioners. They provide practical, specific advice on implementing a people-centred approach to DRR in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reductio...

This report presents key lessons and areas of good practice from specific examples, along with recommendations and entry points for inclusive, accessible early warning systems (EWS). It is aimed at development practitioners, especially World Bank staff, working with communities and governments to provide evidence-based approaches to enhance inclusion of different social groups in EWS, depending on...

Hazards can be natural or technological (or man-made), and multi-hazard conditions are common. When hazards cascade, they can lead to a large-scale disaster. For example, a severe rainstorm can cause flooding, which may contaminate water sources, which in turn may precipitate a cholera outbreak. Disaster risk can be viewed as a function of multiple factors, including hazard, exposure, vulnerabilit...

The AirNow Fire and Smoke Map provides information that you can use to help protect your health from wildfire smoke. Use this map to see:Current particle pollution air quality information for your location, Fire locations and smoke plumes,Smoke Forecast Outlooks, where available; and,Recommendations for actions to take to protect yourself from smoke. These recommendations were developed by EP...

The negative synergistic effects of air pollution and sensible heat on public health have been noted in numerous studies. While separate, simplified, and public-facing indices have been developed to communicate the risks of unhealthful levels of air pollution and extreme heat, a combined index containing elements of both has rarely been investigated. Utilizing air quality, meteorology, and mortali...

Individuals are constantly making decisions about the risks and benefits of accessing services, and access to information is no different. People affected by crises need to have safe and meaningful access to accurate information to know and exercise their rights and entitlements and participate in decisions that affect them.As a result of denial of access to information, communities affected by cr...

Higher-tier clean cooking (HTC) markets are growing globally and have the potential to address the various harmful impacts of inefficient and polluting cookstoves that are a major cause of deaths among women and children. Polluting cooking fuels also entrench gender and social inequalities because their impacts are largely borne by women who are chiefly responsible for collecting firewood, prepari...