Natural Hazards Network
Our Purpose
In the last 40 years, during a period when the nation's population grew by about 50%, costs from natural disasters increased by more than a factor or five (see figure). Many other nations face similar challenges. Hurricane-induced flooding, droughts, and wildfires are increasingly common, while earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides continue to take a heavy toll on vulnerable populations.
Summed annual cost of all US natural disasters between 1980 and 2024 for individual events exceeding $1 B (US), adjusted for inflation to 2024 using the Consumer Price Index. Red curve shows best fit quadratic (constant acceleration) model, y = a + bx + cx2, where y is cost, x is time in years, and a, b and c are constants (a = 3.5399e+5, b = -356.72, c = 0.089875). Hurricanes in 2005 and 2017 generated exceptionally high costs. Katrina remains the single highest cost natural disaster in US history. Data courtesy of NOAA’s National Center for Environmental Information. Note that as of mid-2025 this US federal government data base is no longer available. From Dixon (2026) International Geology Review, 1-18.
USF’s School of Geosciences within the College of Arts and Scienced has a number of faculty engaged in natural hazards research, listed below. This research compliments efforts in other departments within our College, including Communications, History, and Social Science, as well as research in the Colleges of Marine Science, Engineering, and Public Health.