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Why 'natural' disasters aren't as natural as their name suggests

People walk through high water in front of the Superdome August 30, 2005 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Thousands of people are left homeless after Hurricane Katrina hit the area yesterday morning.
Mark Wilson
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Getty Images North America
People walk through high water in front of the Superdome August 30, 2005 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Thousands of people are left homeless after Hurricane Katrina hit the area yesterday morning.

Listening to the news, it feels like there are more natural disasters than ever. This hour, as we reflect on 20 years since Hurricane Katrina, we return to conversations about why flooding and droughts are becoming so common and how the word "disaster" affects the way we view an event. First, explains why understanding disasters involves looking at the decisions people made before the devastation, sometimes decades before. And breaks down the science behind how climate change is causing an increase in extreme weather.

GUESTS:

  • Andy Horowitz: Associate Professor of History at UConn, ºÚÁÏÐÂÎÅ State Historian, author of ''
  • Mohammed Ombadi: Assistant Professor in the department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan

Special thanks to interns Lateshia Peters and Joey Morgan.

This episode originally aired on November 8, 2023.

Disrupted is available as a podcast on , , , , , or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode.

Kevin Chang Barnum is a producer for ºÚÁÏÐÂÎÅ Radio’s weekly show Disrupted. Kevin grew up in ºÚÁÏÐÂÎÅ and started his radio work at his graduate university’s radio station, KUCI. He has also worked for HRN, a network of food and beverage podcasts.
Wayne Edwards is a freelance producer at ºÚÁÏÐÂÎÅ contributing to multi-platform productions, including ‘Disrupted’, ‘Where Art Thou?’, and ‘Cutline in the Community’.

Dr. Khalilah L. Brown-Dean is an award-winning scholar at Wesleyan University, author, and host of 'Disrupted' on ºÚÁÏÐÂÎÅ.
Meg Dalton is the director of audio storytelling and talk shows for ºÚÁÏÐÂÎÅ where she oversees the station’s talk shows and podcasts, including the limited series 'In Absentia'.
Catie Talarski was a senior director of storytelling and radio programming at ºÚÁÏÐÂÎÅ.

Funding provided by:
The ºÚÁÏÐÂÎÅ Office of Film, Television and Digital Media