Jardine, A. orcid.org/0000-0002-1443-8471, Selby, K.A. orcid.org/0000-0002-3055-2872 and Higgins, D. orcid.org/0000-0001-8136-6466 (2025) The window of opportunity: Linking climate history and storms. Geo: Geography and Environment, 12 (2). e70018. ISSN: 2054-4049
Abstract
High magnitude storms have impacted coastal maritime communities, instigating national government responses. Storm catastrophes can open a ‘window of opportunity’ that enables the implementation of new long-term disaster risk reduction measures. Analysis of historical storm events using written newspaper records identified the Royal Charter storm of 1859 as a catastrophe that opened a window of opportunity. The resulting actions prompted the first national (UK) storm early warning systems which continue today as the Meteorological Office forecasts. This historical case study demonstrates how the effective use of the window of opportunity can instigate beneficial long-term change that decreases vulnerability. However, policies emerging from such windows of opportunity must consider the diverse cause of catastrophe and avoid overreliance on top-down technocracy, instead promoting community engagement and autonomy for sustained success. Environmental history can contribute to improving the understanding of the limitations of technocracy and the importance of community agency in enhancing hazard understanding and effective early warning systems.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2025 The Author(s). Geo: Geography and Environment published by the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made. |
Keywords: | climate history, disaster, risk, storms, weather, 'window of opportunity' |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of English (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 07 Aug 2025 08:49 |
Last Modified: | 07 Aug 2025 08:49 |
Published Version: | https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.100... |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/geo2.70018 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:230169 |
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Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0