Simulating medium–small avalanches operationally on a mine service road allows avalanche hazard to be assessed on the mine transportation route. Using accurate data from the snow cover and the avalanche paths, the avalanche dynamic model developed can calculate the avalanche runout distances and snow volumes of the deposits. The model does not predict whether the avalanche is coming or not, but if it comes, the model will predict runout distances and mass of the deposits.

Kinetic theory describes granular material under rapid motion. Macroscopic phenomena are determined by statistically describing collisions between particles. Recently, the theory has been extended to slow motion and quasi-static cases. Simplifications allow to apply this theory to snow avalanche simulations, where friction models with similar structure have been developed. Different test cases, comparing simulation and measurement data prove the applicability and highlight the improvements.

August 2014 saw a major landslide strike in a densely populated district 80 km northeast of Kathmandu, in Sindhupalchok district. This study combines evidence from surveys and interviews to assess impacts and preventive and coping measures taken. The impacts relative to annual income show that lower-income households lost up to 14 times their annual income, as opposed to 3 times for the wealthier. The implications of these findings for discussions surrounding loss and damage are discussed.

The 2011 Puyehue volcano eruption also caused persisting chemical impacts. By 2012, dental fluorosis in deer appeared, with bone fluoride increasing > 38-fold. Livestock also succumbed to fluorosis. As exposure of ruminants continued, bone fluoride reached 10 396 ppm, by 2014 caused skeletal fluorosis, reduced wool growth, and caused major losses among periparturient cattle. Peculiarities of digestive processes make ruminants susceptible to fluoride-containing ashes.

This study addresses the impact of wind, waves, tidal forcing and baroclinicity on the sea level of the German Bight during extreme storm events. The role of wave-induced processes, tides and baroclinicity is quantified, and the results are compared with in situ measurements and satellite data. Considering a wave-dependent approach and baroclinicity, the surge is significantly enhanced in the coastal areas and the model results are closer to observations, especially during the extreme storm.

This paper describes an approach to derive probabilistic predictions of local winter storm damage occurrences. Such predictions are subject to large uncertainty due to meteorological forecast uncertainty and uncertainties in modelling weather impacts. The paper aims to quantify these uncertainties and demonstrate that valuable predictions can be made on the district level several days ahead.

Public–private partnerships (PPPs) have gained importance as a means of providing sustainable, equitable and affordable catastrophic natural hazard insurance. This paper reviews and summarizes the manifold legal background that influences the provision of insurance against natural catastrophes and examines how PPPs designed for sharing and transferring risk operate within the European regulatory constraints, illustrated on the example of the UK Flood Reinsurance Scheme.

In Hungary wind erosion causes serious problems in agricultural production as well as in soil and environmental quality. Our aim was to provide a nationwide spatially detailed assessment of the susceptibility of land in Hungary to wind erosion, integrating different databases. According to the resulting map of wind erosion susceptibility, about 10% of the total area of Hungary can be identified as susceptible to wind erosion.

A new type of spillway structure with lateral contraction was proposed to distribute debris flows after the check dam storage filled up. Experiments were performed to investigate debris flow movement, the scour feature, and some related hydraulic characteristics of debris flows under this new structure. The results indicate that this type of structure can help extend debris-flow nappe, dissipate flow energy, and reduce the scour depth downriver of a check dam.

In 1984, several seismic events, caused one fatality, 12 injuries and produced serious damage in eastern flank of Mt. Etna. We inverted ground deformation (EDM) data finding that in 1980–84 period, the Fiandaca Fault was affected by a strike slip and normal dip slip of ca. 20.4 and 12.7 cm. This is consistent with field observations (ground ruptures) but it it is notably large compared to displacements estimated by seismicity, then suggesting that most of most of the slip was aseismic.