Citizen Science, Disasters, and Climate Emergencies

The thematic dossier on Citizen Science, Disasters, and Climate Emergencies addresses a broad spectrum of critical situations resulting from climate change, such as temperature extremes (heatwaves or cold snaps), prolonged droughts, floods, landslides, wildfires, water scarcity, and sea-level rise. These emergencies directly impact ecosystems and the lives of populations—especially the most vulnerable—and demand urgent, integrated, and evidence-based responses from multiple knowledge systems. The dossier aims to highlight how citizen science can contribute to actions involving (1) Risk knowledge, (2) Monitoring and early warning, (3) Communication and dissemination, and (4) Response capacity. It also explores ecosystem-based adaptation and community-based disaster risk management, valuing local knowledge and strengthening collaborative networks for climate action and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). Cover image: North Coast of Paraíba. Credit: Allan Yu Iwama (2022)