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Vulnerability refers to a community’s physical, economic, social, environmental, or institutional weakness in the face of a hazardous event. In other words, it is the degree to which a population is at risk of suffering damage and loss when disaster strikes. This explains why the same event can have drastically different impacts in different regions. In some places, a powerful disaster may cause minimal damage, while in others, even a less intense event can be devastating. Unfortunately, this was evident in the March 28 earthquake, which struck parts of Southeast Asia, with Myanmar (Burma) at its epicenter. With a magnitude of 7.7, the earthquake severely affected Myanmar and neighboring areas, exposing the critical need for resilient infrastructure. In regions where buildings are not designed to withstand seismic activity and where socioeconomic conditions are fragile, the destruction and loss of life tend to be much greater. Although this natural disaster is not directly related to climate change and its effects, they contribute to worsening disaster management.This event is a stark reminder that the impact of disasters is not only about their strength, but also about how prepared a society is to withstand them. Source: Natural hazards. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.theia-land.fr/en/natural-hazards/

January 2025 has been one of the warmest on record, accompanied by a reduction in ice cover as a consequence of the average increase in temperatures. The first month of 2025 was the warmest, continuing the series of record-breaking temperatures observed over the past two years. According to the January 2025 monthly bulletin from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the global average surface temperature, based on the ERA5 reanalysis dataset, was 13.23°C, which is 0.79°C above the January climatological average for the 1991-2020 period. Additionally, the Arctic recorded the lowest sea ice extent ever observed in January. Source: January 2025: warmest January and lowest Arctic sea ice extent for the month. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://climate.copernicus.eu/january-2025-warmest-january-and-lowest-arctic-sea-ice-extent-month Compared to the 1850-1900 average, which is designated as the pre-industrial reference period, January 2025 was 1.75°C warmer than the average for that month. During this period, the Arctic saw the lowest sea ice extent for January, 6% below the 1991-2020 average. Source: https://climate.copernicus.eu/january-2025-warmest-january-and-lowest-arctic-sea-ice-extent-month

Climate change is disrupting weather patterns worldwide, increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme events like heat waves, storms, floods, and droughts. Once rare, these events are now more common and dangerous, impacting millions of people and ecosystems around the world. Some key factors are the rising global temperature, including the warming of the air and ocean surfaces, which worsens weather events that would otherwise be less severe. This growing instability makes extreme weather more frequent. For example, recent heavy rainfall in Spain has triggered severe flooding, even though the Valencian Community recently experienced a “cold drop” episode in October. As we can see, the instability caused by the new climatic conditions on our planet makes these events increasingly frequent. Sources: https://www.euronews.com/2025/03/18/rainstorm-in-spain-leaves-at-least-one-dead-areas-flooded-and-hundreds-evacuated