Cascading hazards and compound disasters

The twenty-first century has ushered in an era of unprecedented global interdependence. Environmental degradation, climate change, rapid urbanization, poverty, technological systems, and geopolitical volatility now intersect in ways that reshape the production, amplification, and consequences of disaster risk. Disasters are no longer defined by natural extremes; instead, they are increasingly the product of complex interactions among multiple hazards, entrenched social vulnerabilities, and systemic governance failures.