- US nearly detonated atomic bomb over North Carolina – secret document – New evidence emerges of how close the United States came to nuclear disaster. Check out this simulation to see what might have been the outcome.
- Two Qantas jets involved in serious mid-air ‘near miss’ and Adelaide fall-out: Airservices is dangerously incompetent – Aviation expert Ben Sandilands reviews the recent near miss involving two Qantas jets near Adelaide. He writes that a continued pattern of loss-of-separation incidents demonstrate severe deficiencies in Airservices Australia air traffic control and that if allowed to continue it is only a matter of time before a devastating mid-air collision.
- Seconds From Disaster: Collision At 35,000 Feet – This episode of Seconds from Disaster shows what can happen when incompetent air traffic control is paired with an over-reliance on Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS).
- Why We Don’t Design Our Cities To Withstand 1000-Year Floods – In the wake of the Colorado floods Alissa Walker in Gizmodo on the history of flood risk management in the United States.
- Hong Kong flights to be halted Sunday evening as super typhoon Usagi roars in – Check out the coverage of the South China Morning Post on Typhoon Usagi. You can also stay up to date with the latest position and warnings from the Hong Kong Observatory.
- Mind the risk: cities under threat from natural disasters – Swiss Re has a new report out on urban hazards, ranking cities around the world according to their exposure. I’ll try and do a post on it in the upcoming days.
Casus Calamitas 