Andreas Rechkemmer

Virginia Tech | VT · School of Public and International Affairs

With its in-depth investigation of the opportunities and obstacles facing the region, this book offers data-driven assessments and policy recommendations to guide the process of energy transition in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the current state of carbon reduction initiatives in the GCC and the...

This handbook is currently in development, with individual articles publishing online in advance of print publication. At this time, we cannot add information about unpublished articles in this handbook, however the table of contents will continue to grow as additional articles pass through the review process and are added to the site. Please note...

This handbook is currently in development, with individual articles publishing online in advance of print publication. At this time, we cannot add information about unpublished articles in this handbook, however the table of contents will continue to grow as additional articles pass through the review process and are added to the site. Please note...

Colombia has been a global leader in its embrace and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In recent years, Colombia has advanced its peace initiatives with armed actors, leading to partial resolution of 52 years of armed insurgency. Exemplary progress has been made in the achievement of multiple SDG benchmarks. However, progr...

Climate change is increasingly forcing population displacement, better described by the phrase environmentally induced forced migration . Rising global temperatures, rising sea levels, increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters, and progressive depletion of life-sustaining resources are among the drivers that stimulate population mobili...

Recently, humans have negatively altered ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any other time in human history, contributing to gains in well-being and economic development for some, while threatening the security of most, particularly oppressed populations. We comprehensively reviewed recent social work literature (2010–2015) to examine...

In the 21st century, global issues are increasingly characterized by inter-connectedness and complexity. Global environmental change, and climate change in particular, have become a powerful driver and catalyst of forced migration and internal displacement of people. Environmental migrants may by far outnumber any other group of displaced people an...

Background. Hurricane Matthew was the most powerful tropical cyclone of the 2016 Atlantic Basin season, bringing severe impacts to multiple nations including direct landfalls in Cuba, Haiti, Bahamas, and the United States. However, Haiti experienced the greatest loss of life and population disruption. Methods. An established trauma signature (TSIG)...

This Disaster Health Briefing focuses on the work of an expanding team of researchers that is exploring the dynamics of fear-related behaviors in situations of mass threat. Fear-related behaviors are individual or collective behaviors and actions initiated in response to fear reactions that are triggered by a perceived threat or actual exposure to...

The 2013–2016 West Africa Ebola virus disease pandemic was the largest, longest, deadliest, and most geographically expansive outbreak in the 40-year interval since Ebola was first identified. Fear-related behaviors played an important role in shaping the outbreak. Fear-related behaviors are defined as “individual or collective behaviors and action...

The 2013-2016 West Africa Ebola virus disease epidemic was notable for its scope, scale, and complexity. This briefing presents a series of distinguishing epidemiological features that set this outbreak apart. Compared to one concurrent and 23 previous outbreaks of the disease over 40 years, this was the only occurrence of Ebola virus disease invol...

As illustrated powerfully by the 2013–2016 Ebola outbreak in western Africa, infectious diseases create fear and psychological reactions. Frequently, fear transforms into action – or inaction – and manifests as “fear-related behaviors” capable of amplifying the spread of disease, impeding lifesaving medical care for Ebola-infected persons and patie...

This disaster complexity case study examines Spain’s deadliest train derailment that occurred on July 24, 2013 on the outskirts of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. Train derailments are typically survivable. However, in this case, human error was a primary factor as the train driver powered the Alvia train into a left curve at more than twic...

Introduction. On July 6, 2013, an unmanned runaway train hurled downhill into the town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, Canada where 63 tank cars derailed, rupturing and sending surging flows of Bakken Formation crude oil along the rails. The oil ignited explosively and the ensuing inferno raged for 2 days, killing 47 citizens and razing large sections of...

Human actions dominate the Earth’s great biophysical and geochemical cycles and consequently lie at the very heart of every effort to come to terms with the phenomenology of global environmental change. Research on the so-called human dimensions of global change concerns human activities that alter the Earth’s natural environment, the sources or ca...

In a world that is becoming more and more exposed and vulnerable to the effects of global climate change, combining integrated risk assessment tools with effective strategies for both mitigation and adaptation is a key prerogative for policy-making. With the focus of both researchers and decision-makers gradually shifting from observing and assessi...

Global environmental change affects all societies and their environments at various spatial and temporal scales. The linking of natural ecosystems to social ones is of central importance for the analysis, mitigation of and adaptation to any action or issue related to sustainability and global change. When examining the human dimensions of environmen...

In its preamble the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) points to the significant impact of desertification-induced displacement and migration on sustainable development.

This discussion paper is about the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) - one of the multilateral agreements that came out of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. UNCCD is based on a conceptualization of international relations that transcends to a large extent the tradition...

'Der institutionelle Rahmen globaler Umweltpolitik stellt sich heute als fragmentierte Architektur von diversen VN-Organen, Regimen und zwischenstaatlichen Ausschüsse dar. Allein 900 multilaterale Übereinkommen zum Umweltschutz (MEAs) werden gezählt; auf keinem anderen Politikfeld hat es je eine solch große Zahl an Vertragsstaaten- und Folgeprozess...