Hazards

NIWA scientists scan Lake Tekapo with the aim of finding out if submarine landslides can create a tsunami hazard for the Lake Tekapo township and hydropower infrastructure.

There was a common factor in the floods that hit swathes of New Zealand midway through this year – they were all forecastable.

Rob Bell is happiest occupying the high ground. With a 35-year career in researching, modeling and monitoring natural hazards, such as king tides, coastal inundation, storms and tsunami, he knows that elevation from coastal margins is the only true protection from a potentially turbulent future.

Cyclone Pam’s furious flight path across the South Pacific in March this year illustrated the danger natural hazards pose to life, livelihoods and infrastructural development in the region.

We are using modern techniques to map seafloor surrounding Kapiti Island, an area of significant cultural and environmental value to New Zealand.

New Zealanders have just experienced one of the driest summers on record – great for beachgoers and cricket lovers, but far from ideal for farmers and orchardists relying on rain to maintain productivity.

A unique pilot project to help Samoa’s largest village better cope with natural disaster is the focus of an upcoming exhibition at the Museum of Samoa timed to coincide with a major United Nations conference in Apia.

New Zealand will get hotter, have more heavy rainfalls, and experience more days when the fire risk is extreme, the latest international report on climate change impacts reveals.

Surveying work carried out by NIWA scientists this week is helping provide new insights into the tsunami risk from undersea landslides in the Kaikoura Canyon.