The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) has released its Annual Report for 2023, showcasing a year of significant achievements and transformative initiatives. The report highlights UNOOSA's efforts in capacity building, advancing gender equality, ensuring space sustainability, enhancing disaster preparedness, and fostering international cooperation in space activities.

Today marks Desertification and Drought Day, an observance dedicated to raising awareness about the critical issues of desertification, land degradation, and drought. The theme for 2024, “United for Land. Our Legacy. Our Future”, underscores the need for global solidarity in promoting sustainable land use practices to ensure a healthy future for coming generations.

NASA has unveiled its Disaster Response Coordination System (DRCS), designed to support global disaster response efforts using NASA’s advanced science, technology, and data. Launched on 13 June 2024, this system is part of NASA’s Earth Science Division’s Disasters Program and aims to provide timely, actionable information to aid decision-makers during crises such as floods, earthquakes, and hurricanes.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and its partners have unveiled a new capability within the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System, designed to rapidly characterize large earthquakes and provide faster notifications. This enhancement incorporates satellite-based sensors to detect earth-surface movements, complementing the system's existing network of over 1500 seismic sensors.

The Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update is issued annually by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). It provides a synthesis of the global annual to decadal predictions produced by the WMO-designated Global Producing Centres and other contributing centres for 2024-2028.

Researchers from the University of Melbourne, in collaboration with Tribhuvan University in Nepal and the University of Florence, are helping villagers in Nepal predict and prepare for landslides with a cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) system. This initiative, supported by the Government of Nepal and Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, aims to mitigate the devastating impacts of landslides in a region highly susceptible to such disasters.