Getting Through It

As Dr. Jones always says, what has happened, will happen again. How do we know what earthquakes will happen in 2022? In this episode, Dr. Jones discusses the likelihood of a big earthquake in 2022 and how we can manage that risk.

In this episode, Dr. Jones looks at the recent Netflix movie, Don't Look Up, and explains what would happen when an asteroid of that size hits the earth. She shares how it has happened in the past, and how we're likely to survive (or not).

In this episode, Dr. Jones breaks down how COVID-19 variants form, how Omicron might play out, and her approach to managing an increase risk of getting infected.

In the central part of the U.S., there are about ten times as many tornadoes as anywhere else in the world. But even if you don’t live in this “tornado alley”, a tornado can still form — even in Los Angeles! This week, with the reminder of how devastating tornadoes can be, Dr. Jones explains how tornadoes form and the impact of climate change on tornado "outbreaks".

We tend to think of risk as an objective quantity, but actually risk is a human construct. It can help us make decisions and manage any danger we face. In this episode, Dr. Jones assesses risk as emotions, risk as analysis, and risk as politics— and we need all three to take action!

“Earthquake weather” is one of the oldest and most pervasive earthquake myths. Even though surface weather and earthquakes are not related, they are constantly put in the same mental category. In this episode, we travel back in time to explore the origins of this misconception, from Aristotle's theory about the Earth’s structure, to The Great Lisbon Earthquake and more.

This week, as we celebrate Thanksgiving, we take a look at what we can be thankful for in the face of calamity and uncertainty in the last year. And some of it might surprise you!

We have lost the collective memory of what major floods can do to California and so flood risk is always underestimated. In this final episode of our four part series on the impacts of rain, flooding, and cascading disasters that come from it, Dr. Jones explains our normalization bias and how we should be thinking about upcoming storm events influenced by climate change.

In the third episode of our four part series about the impacts of rain, flooding, and cascading disasters that come from it, and what it means for California, Dr. Jones discusses what a repeat of California’s worst flood in written history could look like today. Using a model, ARkStorm, to create synthetic storm conditions based on California’s past flooding events, we can anticipate the staggerin...

The “Big Ones" are not just big disasters; they fundamentally change society. This episode is the second in our four part series about the impacts of rain, flooding, and cascading disasters that come from it, and what it means for California. In this second episode, Dr. Jones explains what happened in the flood of 1861-62, the worst flood in California’s written history, and how it changed the sta...

Rain is something we don’t fear in California, but we should. This episode is the first in a four part series about the impacts of rain, flooding, and cascading disasters that come from it, and what it means for California. This first episode reveals the true reality of floods, atmospheric rivers, and storms in California. 

Post-fire debris flows are lesser known, but are just as dangerous as other more commonly known disasters. In this episode, Dr Jones defines what debris flows are and talks about her experience studying their impacts in Southern California.

What does oil cost? This includes costs that are not only monetary, but also concern health and quality of life. With a recent oil spill impacting beaches across southern California, this episode looks at what the cost and impact oil has on the planet.

A study found that younger people will be facing more disasters than the generations preceding them. To understand this study, Dr. Jones defines risk as the consequence of the disaster to human beings and our constructs. It is calculated by multiplying hazard by exposure by fragility. This equation shows us that to decrease our risk, we have to decrease our fragility by building our society to han...

What is the disaster cycle and how do we get out of it? This episode breaks it down and gives insights on how each of us should approach a disaster so we can work to minimize its impact on us.

Unlike earthquakes, volcanoes have some key precursors to let you know what is imminent. Unfortunately, assumptions based on simple models reported by the media and lack of reporting on the change in the science can lead to misconceptions of what is possible in an eruption event. As Dr. Jones reminds us in this episode: the scientific process is more than one, peer-reviewed paper.

Earthquakes can happen almost anywhere, but they have to happen on a fault. To explain when it is important to note on which fault an earthquake occurred, Dr Jones defines what a fault is, the difference between active and inactive faults, and how Paleoseismology can reveal the history of a fault. 

Science is a process, not a result, to discern reality. And while there are accepted theories that few people argue, there are new models and datasets that may challenge what we know based on this process. In this episode, Dr. Jones explains the process and how she approaches new scientific information.

In this episode, Dr. Jones discusses the basics of hurricanes, how they get categorized, and their impacts on communities around the country. She explains the fundamentals of where and how they form, as well as what we can expect in the future from these potentially devastating events.

Human activity has changed wildfire ecology across the globe. Wildfires are natural processes that are fundamental to many ecosystems, but their rate, intensity, and impact are being altered by human-caused climate change. In this episode, Dr. Jones discusses fire suppression, ignition sources, and what you can do to slow the rate we are damaging our forests.

The large earthquake in Haiti on August 14th, 2021 reminds us how much we really know about the next disaster. And the answer is: a lot.  Why are disasters such a shock, then? Science gives us the tools and the knowledge for better response, improving survival and recovery time.

We cannot stop natural processes like earthquakes from occurring, but we can plan to manage them and protect our communities. Having insurance is a form of this community protection: you build funds by withstanding the smaller, more likely events and share the risk for the rarer, worse events. In this episode, Dr. Jones discusses the flaws in our current disaster insurance system and how a federal...

The foundation for building resilience is understanding and applying the science to natural hazards with and for your community. The culture of “rugged individualism” in the US has contributed to its citizens limiting their actions in service of the community good. In a pandemic, earthquakes, and other disasters, we all can be safer from individual action done for the community as a whole. 

Nearly all the people getting infected now with COVID-19 are not vaccinated, but there are still fully vaccinated people getting infected. This episode explores why, statistically, this is happening and why we shouldn’t see being vaccinated as perfect, but as our chance to decrease our risk. As Dr. Jones says, in response to earthquakes, wildfires, and the COVID-19 pandemic, it is both with and fo...

Floods used to be one of the biggest risks people would face. While there have been major engineering improvements to dams and drainage to prevent the impacts of flooding, there is always a flood that will overwhelm the flood controls. Further, climate change is driving disasters like flooding to increase in both intensity and quantity. In this episode, Dr. Jones discusses flood perception and pre...