R. Pielke, (2019, in press). Tracking Progress on the Economic Costs of Disasters Under the Indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals, Environmental Hazards.

Abstract: The Sustainable Development Goals indicator framework identifies as an indicator of progress the objective of reducing disaster losses as a proportion of global gross domestic product. This short analysis presents data on this indicator from 1990. In constant 2017 US dollars, both weather-related and non-weather related catastrophe losses have increased, with a 74% increase in the former and 182% increase in the latter since 1990. However, since 1990 both overall and weather/climate losses have decreased as proportion of global GDP, indicating progress with respect to the SDG indicator. Extending this trend into the future will require vigilance to exposure, vulnerability and resilience in the face of uncertainty about the future frequency and magnitude of extreme events.

The University of Colorado Boulder is a great university in many respects. Over the past year or so the campus has engaged in a soul-searching exercise called Academic Futures. yesterday, the campus released a report from this exercise, which can be found here.

The campus has asked for 2-page response papers to the report, and I have submitted one. It is titled “The Absence of a Public Policy Program [at CU Boulder] is a Major Obstacle to the Academic Futures Vision.” You can read it here in PDF.  You can also read it in full after the break.

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Above is a 53 minute video of my lecture in Lyon this past summer titled “Scientific Authority and Political Myth.” You can see the slides on Twitter and as a PDF.