Although the circuits of capital model emphasizes the part played by the overaccumulation of capital at the core of capitalistic development, scientific research has seldom used this framework for analysing rural dynamics. After proposing a theoretical approach involving circuits of capital, rural areas and the socio-ecological fix, we draw on different historical sources, semi-directive interviews and press articles to understand how circuits of capital largely altered the socio-ecosystem of France's upper Saone valley until the mid-nineteenth century before being directed instead towards other more urban areas. The marginalizing of this rural space by the third circuit of capital tended to reduce the socio-ecological transformations expected of capitalistic development in the twentieth century. Political actors at all levels then played a decisive role in the circulation of capital and the shaping of the river and its floodplain. Inclusion in the fourth circuit of capital is an objective for some political actors today who are developing strategies for branding and marketing the local area. If it develops successfully, this fourth circuit of capital will make a sizeable impact on the urbanization of this rural area, setting it on a new trajectory in terms of transformations of the river. It seems that each generation of circuit of capital involves greater socio-ecological impacts than the previous one, forming a palimpsest of capitalistic development.

We present a historical record of landfalling tropical cyclones (TCs, 85 events) over the Mascarene Islands (southern Indian Ocean) since the 17th century to evaluate interannual-to-decadal-scale changes in past TC variability, from the cooler Little Ice Age (LIA) to the present warming world, and to contextualize present and future changes in risk estimates. For the Mascarene Islands, we observe a mean fourfold increase in regional landfalling TCs, beginning around 1940. Before this date, the historical TC data exhibit clear decadal cycles, which mirror solar radiative forcing. This historical record demonstrates how enhanced understanding of past variability can improve baseline risk estimates of TCs making landfall in the SW Indian Ocean basin.

In France, flooding is the most common and damaging natural hazard (CCR, 2021). Global warming is expected to exacerbate flood risk and could be more pronounced in the European Alps which are experiencing a high warming rate, likely to lead to heavier rainfall events. Alpine valleys are densely populated, potentially increasing exposure and vulnerability to flood hazard. The study of historical records is highly relevant to understand long-term flood occurrence and related socio-economic impacts in relation to changes in the flood risk components (i.e. hazard, exposure and vulnerability). To this aim we introduce the newly constituted database of Historical Impacts of Floods in the Arve Valley (HIFAVa) located in the French northern Alps starting in 1850. This quite unique database reports historical impacts related to impact events occurrences in a well-documented Alpine catchment that encompasses both hydrological and socio-economical diversity. After a complete description of the database (collection, content and structure), we explore the distribution of the recorded impacts with respect to their characteristics and evolution in both time and space. The analysis reveals that small mountain streams and particularly glacial streams caused more impacts (67 %) than the main river. While an increase in heavy rainfall and ice melt are expected to enhance flood hazard in small Alpine catchments, this finding calls for greater attention to flood risk assessment and management in small catchments. The analysis also reveals an increasing occurrence of impacts from 1920 onwards, for which possible factors are discussed. Further work is, however, needed to conclude on the respective contribution of the source effect, the increase in flood hazard, or the exposure of goods and people.

The mid-17th century is characterized by a cluster of explosive volcanic eruptions in the 1630s and 1640s, climatic conditions culminating in the Maunder Minimum, and political instability and famine in regions of western and northern Europe as well as China and Japan. This contribution investigates the sources of the eruptions of the 1630s and 1640s and their possible impact on contemporary climate using ice core, tree-ring, and historical evidence but will also look into the socio-political context in which they occurred and the human responses they may have triggered. Three distinct sulfur peaks are found in the Greenland ice core record in 1637, 1641–1642, and 1646. In Antarctica, only one unambiguous sulfate spike is recorded, peaking in 1642. The resulting bipolar sulfur peak in 1641–1642 can likely be ascribed to the eruption of Mount Parker (6∘ N, Philippines) on 26 December 1640, but sulfate emitted from Komaga-take (42∘ N, Japan) volcano on 31 July 1641 has potentially also contributed to the sulfate concentrations observed in Greenland at this time. The smaller peaks in 1637 and 1646 can be potentially attributed to the eruptions of Hekla (63∘ N, Iceland) and Shiveluch (56∘ N, Russia), respectively. To date, however, none of the candidate volcanoes for the mid-17th century sulfate peaks have been confirmed with tephra preserved in ice cores. Tree-ring and written sources point to cold conditions in the late 1630s and early 1640s in various parts of Europe and to poor harvests. Yet the early 17th century was also characterized by widespread warfare across Europe – and in particular the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) – rendering any attribution of socio-economic crisis to volcanism challenging. In China and Japan, historical sources point to extreme droughts and famines starting in 1638 (China) and 1640 (Japan), thereby preceding the eruptions of Komaga-take (31 July 1640) and Mount Parker (4 January 1641). The case of the eruption cluster between 1637 and 1646 and the climatic and societal conditions recorded in its aftermath thus offer a textbook example of difficulties in (i) unambiguously distinguishing volcanically induced cooling, wetting, or drying from natural climate variability and (ii) attributing political instability, harvest failure, and famines solely to volcanic climatic impacts. This example shows that while the impacts of past volcanism must always be studied within the contemporary socio-economic contexts, it is also time to move past reductive framings and sometimes reactionary oppositional stances in which climate (and environment more broadly) either is or is not deemed an important contributor to major historical events.

L’approche climatique appliquée aux mondes des villes est encore dans les limbes en matière de travaux d’histoire urbaine. Pourtant, la ville offre de multiples opportunités à même d’enrichir considérablement la réflexion des historiens. D’emblée, il convient de s’interroger sur les paradoxes de cette marginalisation perceptible à travers l’historiographie urbaine en rappelant les enjeux sociétaux liés à ce type de recherche et aux réalités sémantiques que recouvre le mot climat dans les mondes urbains des cinq derniers siècles. Contre toute attente, la ville recèle de véritables trésors documentaires qu’il est nécessaire d’aborder tant les filons disponibles sont nombreux et riches en termes de contenu. L’exploitation de cette exceptionnelle documentation ouvre des pistes neuves quand il s’agit de mieux comprendre les modes de gouvernances et les perceptions qui résultèrent des aléas et fluctuations climatiques du petit âge glaciaire.

PurposeThe paper focuses on an aspect of disaster often overlooked by experts: that of disaster memory both as a prevention tool and one potentially contributing to the resilience of vulnerable communities in Japan. The objective is, more specifically, to explore one specific source of disaster memory in Japan, namely the disaster-related stone monuments scattered throughout the archipelago.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve the goals, the authors have studied several types of materials. First, the authors have used the “Natural Disaster Monument” online database compiled by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GIS), data upon which the authors based the field research study, focused on water-related disaster in Otsu city (Shiga Prefecture). Simultaneously, the authors have systematically searched Japanese newspapers since the middle of the 19th century as well as the archives of Shiga prefecture in order to collect additional information on the statistical reality of these monuments, the context of their creation and in order to better estimate the severity of our case studies.FindingsFirst, the findings show that stone monuments are indeed structuring elements of disaster memory in Japan. Not only are they present throughout the archipelago, but in addition, they are still for the most part visited by local communities. Second, the findings show how this material culture of disaster, as a vector of disaster memory, could be used as a tool to better understand and bring awareness to the occurrence of specific hazards, especially to future generations.Originality/valueThe authors promote an interdisciplinary approach by associating anthropology and history. The study offers a new and original character about an object of study relating to both the cultural and historical fields but still often neglected as a tool and object of research in DDR. The authors provide a method and suggest ways to integrate these stone monuments into DDR policies. Finally, the authors propose to better integrate these monuments into the overall reflection on disaster awareness and disaster mitigation.

Ce travail étudie l’impact qu’eurent les fluctuations et les extrêmes météorologiques du 18 e siècle sur l’activité du « Français ». Plus précisément, l’exploitation des fonds inédits des archives de la Comédie Française, tels que les recettes, les relevés de séance concernant le choix des acteurs, les dépenses et les actes administratifs, traduisent de manière remarquable les conséquences culturelles et politiques des aléas climatiques de ce siècle sur cette prestigieuse troupe.

In France, flooding is the most common and damaging natural hazard. Due to global warming, it is expected to globally exacerbate, and it could be even more pronounced in the European Alps that warm at a rate twice as high in the Northern Hemisphere. The Alps are densely populated, increasing exposure and vulnerability to flood hazard. To approach long-term evolutions of past flood occurrence and related socio-economic impacts in relation to changes in the flood risk components (i.e. hazard, exposure and vulnerability), the study of historical records is highly relevant. To this aim we build and analyze the newly constituted database of Historical Impacts of Floods in the Arve Valley (HIFAVa), located in French Northern Alps and starting in 1850. The database reports flood occurrences and impacts in a well-documented Alpine catchment that encompasses both a hydrological and societal diversity. We analyze past impacts in regard to their characteristics and evolution in both time and space. Our results show an increasing occurrence of impacts from 1920 onwards, which is more likely related to indirect source effects and/or increasing exposure of goods and people rather than hydrological changes. The analysis reveals that small mountain streams and particularly glacial streams caused more impacts (67%) than the main river. While increase in heavy rainfall and ice melt are expected to enhance flood hazard in small Alpine catchments, this finding calls to pay a particular attention to flood risk assessment and management in small catchments.

In France, flooding is the most common and damaging natural hazard. Due to global warming, it is expected to globally exacerbate, and it could be even more pronounced in the European Alps that warm at a rate twice as high in the Northern Hemisphere. The Alps are densely populated, increasing exposure and vulnerability to flood hazard. To approach long-term evolutions of past flood occurrence and related socio-economic impacts in relation to changes in the flood risk components (i.e. hazard, exposure and vulnerability), the study of historical records is highly relevant. To this aim we build and analyze the newly constituted database of Historical Impacts of Floods in the Arve Valley (HIFAVa), located in French Northern Alps and starting in 1850. The database reports flood occurrences and impacts in a well-documented Alpine catchment that encompasses both a hydrological and societal diversity. We analyze past impacts in regard to their characteristics and evolution in both time and space. Our results show an increasing occurrence of impacts from 1920 onwards, which is more likely related to indirect source effects and/or increasing exposure of goods and people rather than hydrological changes. The analysis reveals that small mountain streams and particularly glacial streams caused more impacts (67%) than the main river. While increase in heavy rainfall and ice melt are expected to enhance flood hazard in small Alpine catchments, this finding calls to pay a particular attention to flood risk assessment and management in small catchments.

Several tsunami record catalogues have been developed for extensive tsunami research. However, completeness analysis of tsunami catalogues, an important step in using these catalogues for tsunami research, has not received sufficient attention. This could result in many biases and incorrect results. In this study, two methods proposed are employed and applied to quantitatively, credibly, and accurately estimate the completeness of a global and regional tsunami catalogue. The results show that: (1) The tsunami runup catalogue for runup-height intervals 0.1 ~ 0.5, 0.5 ~ 1, 1 ~ 5, and 5 ~ 10 m, are complete and homogeneous since the 1950s, which coincides with the extensive development of tide-gauge technology. The catalogue for 10 ~ 20 is complete and homogeneous since the 1930s, which may be related to the end of the global economic crisis that occurred from 1928 to 1933. And the catalogue for 20 m and more is complete and homogenous since the 1890s, the beginning of the age of electricity. For runup-height heights from 0.1 to 5 m, the completeness starting time exhibits minimal variation among six regions (Europe region, Indian region, South America, North America, South Pacific, and East Asia), which is related to the rapid economic development period of the world and the establishment of tsunami warning systems. For runup-height intervals, 5 ~ 10, 10 ~ 20, and 20 ~ , the completeness starting time varies considerably among regions. The completeness starting time in the EU was earlier than that in other regions, which is related to the level of economic and political development after the Enlightenment of early Europe.

Climate proxy data are required for improved understanding of climate variability and change in the pre-instrumental period. We present the first international initiative to compile and share information on pro pluvia rogation ceremonies, which is a well-studied proxy of agricultural drought. Currently, the database has more than 3500 dates of celebration of rogation ceremonies, providing information for 153 locations across 11 countries spanning the period from 1333 to 1949. This product provides data for better understanding of the pre-instrumental drought variability, validating natural proxies and model simulations, and multi-proxy rainfall reconstructions, amongst other climatic exercises. The database is freely available and can be easily accessed and visualized via http://inpro.unizar.es/ .

This study investigates an oil spill which involved an ironworks factory in Saga prefecture, during the severe flooding that hit southwestern Japan in late August 2019. The aim of the study is to provide an overview of the accident, highlighting the causes and the consequences of this compound disaster. Furthermore, the study analyses the emergency response and clean-up activities in order to identify lessons learned, and propose recommendations for future flood triggered oil spills. The work presented is based on the integration of information available in newspaper articles, government documents and reports, and data and interviews collected during two field trips in the affected area. The permanence of oil and the strong oil odour in adjacent crops as well as on irrigation canals and citizens' houses was revealed during the first field trip, about one month after the accident. The analysis of the documentation on metal working oil revealed that it might have long-lasting impact in terms of environmental pollution. The presence of oil impacted also the implemented emergency response actions, since vertical evacuation, practiced by many residents during the disaster, actually put many of them in more danger as they ended up trapped in oil-covered floodwaters with strong vapours that were reported to cause nausea and skin irritation. Remarkably, it was also found that a previous oil spill had already occurred at the same site following a severe flooding event, highlighting the need to improve preparedness and develop more effective strategies for accident prevention. Disaster preparedness that specifically considers both the natural hazard and the potential for related technological scenarios should be enhanced, in particular regarding chemical accidents triggered by floods. Japan, as well as other parts of the World, is experiencing stronger rainfall events due to a changing climate leading to unprecedented flooding. Therefore, industry, government and citizens should consider the possibility of an increase of weather-related compound disasters in planning and implementation of climate change adaptation strategies.

With the aim of extracting lessons learned, this study investigated a large oil spill at an ironworks factory in Saga prefecture, during the severe flooding that hit southwestern Japan in late August 2019. The oil spill dispersed by the flood waters contaminated adjacent crops, irrigation canals and citizens’ homes in a large area of Omachi town. Many citizens had practiced vertical evacuation. Due to the oil spill, the pumping of flood waters had to be stopped to prevent further contamination, resulting in oil stagnating in the area for several days. This meant that residents had to be rescued from their homes in the middle of strong oil vapours. The oil spil’s possible long-lasting impact in terms of health and environmental pollution requires monitoring and further investigation. The study found that oil spills caused by floods had already occurred at the same site, highlighting the need to improve risk management of chemical hazards, develop flood risk maps that consider the potential for these types of secondary events and other compound disasters, and propose more effective strategies for emergency planning and response.

We hypothesized that Cholera (Vibrio cholerae) that appeared along Lake Kivu in the African Rift in the seventies, might be controlled by volcano-tectonic activity, which, by increasing surface water and groundwater salinity and temperature, may partly rule the water characteristics of Lake Kivu and promote V. cholerae proliferation. Volcanic activity (assessed weekly by the SO2 flux of Nyiragongo volcano plume over the 2007-2012 period) is highly positively correlated with the water conductivity, salinity and temperature of the Kivu lake. Over the 2007-2012 period, these three parameters were highly positively correlated with the temporal dynamics of cholera cases in the Katana health zone that border the lake. Meteorological variables (air temperature and rainfall), and the other water characteristics (namely pH and dissolved oxygen concentration in lake water) were unrelated to cholera dynamics over the same period. Over the 2016-2018 period, we sampled weekly lake water salinity and conductivity, and twice a month vibrio occurrence in lake water and fish. The abundance of V. cholerae in the lake was positively correlated with lake salinity, temperature, and the number of cholera cases in the population of the Katana health zone. V. cholerae abundance in fishes was positively correlated with V. cholerae abundance in lake water, suggesting that their consumption directly contaminate humans. The activity of the volcano, by controlling the physico-chemical characteristics of Lake Kivu, is therefore a major determinant of the presence of the bacillus in the lake. SO2 fluxes in the volcano plume can be used as a tool to predict epidemic risks.