Responders find themselves dealing with chronic problems, such as food insecurity and longstanding health needs, as much or more than the immediate effects of the disaster

A Haitian anti-corruption watchdog reported in 2017 that much of the $2bn in Venezuela’s PetroCaribe oil loans – money freed up to be spent on infrastructure, public health, and other needs – had been embezzled during Martelly’s presidency

Well-armed gangs now control crucial transportation routes, including an essential corridor on the only road leading from the capital to the new quake zone. Nearly everyone affected by the disaster is poorer and hungrier than they were 11 years back. These vulnerabilities are not despite those earlier efforts to “help”, but a direct result of them.

but Haiti’s government has become far weaker and more riven by corruption than the one that flailed in the face of that tremor

its proximity to Haiti’s densely populated capital, Port-au-Prince, and the Caribbean country’s lack of preparation in terms of building safety, infrastructure and emergency planning.

corruption has hollowed out the state, armed gangs have expanded their territorial control, and political turmoil has intensified, culminating in the assassination of the president, Jovenel Moïse, in July.

Before 2010, the use of poor-quality construction materials and practices was widespread in Port-au-Prince, including segregation, rock pockets, exposed rebar, poor aggregate shape and grading, and out-of-plumb columns. Many buildings had poor detailing, such as the use of smooth reinforcing bars, lack of column confinement reinforcement, or inadequate lap splices and rebar development length. An alarming number of buildings also had irregularities such as captive columns and soft stories.

at least 80 percent of that destruction and death could have been avoided with the use of simple, earthquake-resistant construction methods

confined masonry construction consisting of weak hollow concrete blocks (HCBs) with lightly reinforced and non-ductile beams and columns.

population’s attitude towards construction hasn’t changed much. Building is happening without regard for existing standards, despite measures of control that are in place and a radio awareness campaign. People still want to do construction their way, without restriction or input from the government.

Disregard for building codes, neglecting to get permits, ignoring government inspectors - who have too little power to be effective - all are common practices in Haiti.

mitigat-ing the risk posed by poor construction is especiallychallenging and perhaps unfeasible in resource-poorsettings where retrofitting buildings and code enforce-ment are both cost-prohibitive and often not a priorityfor local authorities and at risk populations.

in particular hur-ricanes, with little concern for geologic hazards becauseof the lack of significant historical earthquakes

Urbanization increases disaster risk because of the highconcentrations of population and assets that are vulner-able when a major disaster occurs.

much of the devastation and mis-ery caused in Haiti by the earthquake of January 12 wasa product of historical processes set in motion since thetime of independence, and even earlier. These processes,emerging from the international response to the aboli-tion of slavery and the struggle for independence, cumu-latively over time, produced the conditions of profoundvulnerability in which most of Haiti’s population lived.

responsibility of bothinternational forces and local interests in the high vulner-ability of Haiti, which then must be reflected in policiesand practices that address not only the symptoms mani-fested in the destruction, but also thecauses, both proximate and distant,of the disaster

econstructionbecomes a test of the system’s capacity to respond to aclear demonstration that the catastrophic death and de-struction that took place in Haiti were deeply rooted inthe changes enacted in the country’s social and political-economic history, particularly in the 20th century

A million people now without shel-ter await the summer’s torrential rains and the oncominghurricane season in conditions of extreme exposure anddeprivation

aitians were largely unaware of the seismicrisk on the island, although seismologists had been warn-ing of the possibility of a strong earthquake

ack of building codes, together withinformal settlements, widespread undernourishment andhunger, disease, poor access to clean water or electricity,inadequate educational and health facilities and servicesat the national and municipal levels, and crime and cor-ruption led to the construction of extreme vulnerability.

Political in-stability during the last 20 years has also led to a reduc-tion of companies available to offer jobs

demandfor jobs by displaced rural people quickly outstrippedthe supply, deepening the impoverishment of ever denserpopulations in vulnerable locations in cities

destruction of the rural economy andinvestment in urban export production stimulated a mas-sive migration to the nation’s cities, where impoverishedmigrants took up residence in festering slums and hillsideshantytowns with few services of any sort.

USAID-ordered slaughterof all of Haiti’s pigs to limit the spread of African swineflu virus.

entire debt was paid off onlyin 1947, after Haiti had took out high-interest loans todo so

Nowhere is this perspective more validated than inHaiti,

ncreased vulnerability of thousands of women who havelost their job or suffered major losses, particularly in the informal sector; the thousands of young peoplewho no longer attend school, and over 100,000 children without the protection of a family following theearthquake, with all the potential risks of violence and exploitation.

environmental indicators were already at warning levels, the earthquake has put furtherpressure on the environment and natural resources, thus increasing the extreme vulnerability of theHaitian people

Existingproblems in providing access to food and basic services have been exacerbated

Biodiversity studies conducted over three summer monthsin 60 Alpine cryoconite samples demonstrated temporal shiftsbetween autotrophic cyanobacteria, dominating after snow-melt, and heterotrophic Sphingobacteriales, being more abun-dant later in the season. Interestingly, sampling time (July,August, and September 2013) had a higher influence on thecomposition of bacterial communities than the local environ-mental conditions prevailing in each cryoconite sample(Franzetti et al. 2017b).

Pearce, I.; Davidson, A.T.; Bell, E.M.; Wright, S. Seasonal changes in the concentration andmetabolic activity of bacteria and viruses at an Antarctic coastal site. Aquat. Microb. Ecol. 2007,47, 11–23.

Peters, E.; Thomas, D.N. Prolonged darkness and diatom mortality I: Marine Antarctic species.J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 1996, 207, 25–41

Robinson, D.; Kolber, Z.; Sullivan, C. Photophysiology and photoacclimation in surface sea icealgae from McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 1997, 147, 243–256

stratification have been predicted to more negatively impact large diatoms compared to smallphytoplankton [142]. Meanwhile a region around the Antarctic Peninsula has seen overall summerphytoplankton abundance decrease by 12% over the past 30 years [143]. Warming temperatures mayalso alter adaptation to other polar conditions, such as darkness [144]

For some time now polar regions have shown an amplified sensitivity to climate change [139].Increased temperatures and winds have increased sea-ice retreat, upper ocean freshening and nutrientupwelling in the relatively shallow Arctic basin; this, in turn, has increased pelagic primary productionbut with a shift from nano to picoplankton populations [140]. Thinning sea-ice, allowing for increasedlight penetration, has also led to large under ice phytoplankton blooms in the Arctic [141]. In theSouthern Ocean increased stratification, resulting in a shallower mixed layer with increased light, hasbeen postulated to favor diatom growth, but at the same time decreases in upwelling also due to

Microalgae community structure, genetic mobility, and nutrient availability are all regulated bybacteria and viruses [131] which are abundant in polar environments [132].

Temperature, light, nutrients, allelopathic and anthropogenic compounds, andchemical-physical processes (e.g., stratification, oxygen minimum zones, carbonate saturation depth)collectively control temporal and spatial taxonomic distributions depending on the biological potentialof organisms (i.e., genetic adaptability).

However, littleis known of physiological mechanisms behind polar overwintering as logistics severely limits australwinter field studies.

Dark adaptation is also important in controlling microalgae seasonal and spatialdistributions [100].

Surprisingly, ribulose-1,6-bisphosphate carboxylase(RUBISCO), which is fundamental to phototrophic carbon fixation, shows an opposite trend of greaterdecreases in activity under cold temperatures when psychrophilic chlorophytes where compared totheir temperate counterpart

Microbes are poikilothermic (i.e., they are in thermal equilibrium with their surroundingenvironment). Thus, bioenergetic demands of the cell must overcome the inhibiting effects of a lowkinetic environment, most notably the freezing of molecules and decreased rates of catalysis

3. Microalgal Mechanisms to Thrive

reezing temperatures, these cold environments coincide with a host of other environmentalchallenges including solar, osmotic, oxidative and nutrient stress which have been well described inprevious reviews

Polar microalgae, which form the base of a largely bottom-up controlled polar foodweb [1] have successfully adapted to the extreme and oscillating polar environmental gradients

High latitudes are characterized by temperatures below thefreezing point, complete darkness in winter and continuous light and high UV in thesummer. Additionally, sea-ice, an ecological niche exploited by microbes during the longwinter seasons when the ocean and land freezes over, is characterized by large salinityfluctuations, limited gas exchange, and highly oxic conditions.

Our data provide aquantitative link between mineral-derived nutrients and glacieralgae blooms, and demonstrate that mineral dust is an essentialnutrient source for glacier algae.

Bloominitiation depends on bare ice exposure following snowpackretreat, as indicated by glacier algal cell counts for the samelocations 9 , and the fact that growth of cryophilic algae can bestimulated by the presence of liquid wate

factors controlling the timing, spatial extent, andintensity of algal blooms remain knowledge gaps limiting ourability to project biological albedo reduction and melt

. In spite of its dominance bymass, mineral dust is not the primary cause of ice surface dar-kening in the GrIS Dark Zone. In situ spectral reflectance mea-surements at Site 4 combined with refractive index and mineraldust grain-size distribution measurements in a radiative transfermodel indicate that mineral dust has a negligible effect on albedoreduction compared to pigmented glacier algae

mineral dust facilitates glacier algal bloom development by sup-plying the needed P to the supraglacial algal communities.

Examining the composition of the microbial communitiesalong the transect revealed that the algal (18 S), bacterial (16 S),and fungal (ITS2) community compositions clustered accordingto sampling sites but exhibited spatial variability across the DarkZone

important link between mineral dust andglacier algal blooms because it contains bio-essential phos-phorus

that phosphorus is a limiting nutrient for glacier algae in theDark Zone.

pressing need to better quantify the parameters thatcontrol glacier algal growth and constrain the impact of theseblooms on ice sheet albedo, melting, and contributions to sea-level rise.

While glacier algal blooms can cover up to 78% of theice surface 16 , they exhibit a high degree of interannual variabilityin intensity and spatial extent7 that is yet to be understood.

t nutrients from mineral dust likely drive glacier ice algal

hanges in supra-glacial stream chemistry have indicated that the uptake ofNH4+from snowmelt principally occurs during the early meltseason [Wynn et al., 2007;Hodson et al., 2009], consistentwith the highest TIN concentrations of this study occurringwithin slush zone samples (Figure

Nitrogen fixation is significantly negatively corre-lated to both DIN and TIN (Figure 2), indicating thatavailable inorganic nitrogen is a strong control on thepresence or absence of nitrogen fixation in cryoconite holes.

he detection of nitrogen fixation in over half of thesampled cryoconite holes during the middle to late meltseason (16 of 30 holes; section 3.2.1) demonstrates thatnitrogen fixation can be a source of assimilatory nitrogen tosupraglacial microbial communities when alternative sour-ces of nitrogen become limited

anthropo-genic pollution from western Europe

anthropogenic pollution impacts on glacier and icesheet ecology.

cold and nutrient‐poor supraglacial environment

However, nitrogen fixation can be important forsupporting microbial growth on the glaciers during the middle to late melt season after thesnowline has retreated upslope

Clearly, the migrationprocess has changed the traditional dichotomy of identities shaped by hukou status, andeconomic status has a greater influence on formation of a new identity.

advantages to having local urban hukou. It is still important in local urbanwelfare schemes. Although several cities are attempting to expand the coverage to rural–urban migrants, none of the policies eliminates the demarcation between local urbanitesand outsiders. Individuals without local urban hukou are covered by different insuranceprograms in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai but are still excluded from the local wel-fare schemes. Other government-subsidized programs like minimum living safety net arenot open to outsiders

Other occupations like garbage collectors, domestic maids, restaurant waiters and streetvendors have difficulty in regularly contributing to the welfare system. In this respect,eligibility to welfare schemes mirrors access to the formal labour market in urban China.Therefore, the demarcation line is not between migrants and local urbanites, but betweenformal workers and informal workers.

Formal employment is the guarantee of contributionsto the welfare schemes. This study shows that individuals without a formal contract, withno stable working location or those who are self-employed are easily excluded from thewelfare system

The mechanism of social exclusion of rural labour-ers is becoming more dependent on market competition, where human capital plays an

The division betweenlocal and non-local makes more difference than the division

In theurban labour market, rural–urban migrants’ lack of certain social networks excludes themfrom better employment opportunities.

and rural outsiders have difficulty accessing certain jobs or positionsbecause of the lack of local networks.

social network

Access to the urban labour markethas improved since the economic reform, with hundreds of thousands of jobs in manu-facturing, construction, transportation and services being created by the rapid emergenceof multiple ownership enterprises and ‘hukou status’ no longer being a prerequisite formost employment.

High-priced urban living standards exclude them from equal access to the housing marketand other urban resources

Geographical isolationOne of the most striking features of the social exclusion of rural residents during the statesocialist period was the restriction on geographical mobility unless they were granted offi-cial approval. Rural people had to follow complicated procedures to leave the villages(Wang 2005), with permanent migration even more difficult (Christiansen 1990, Chan1994, Wu and Treiman 2004). Geographical isolation obstructed communication with theoutside world and decreased the opportunities available to rural people.

geographical,

However, Job centres or local labour markets often charge fees for providinginformation to rural workers.

The role of policy factors should not be underestimated. It does not only providethe basis for differential treatment to citizens from different backgrounds interms of entitlement to job opportunities and social protection, but alsoencourages discrimination of some urban citizens against “the others”, such as

The experiences in China offer a very good exampleof the different abilities of people from different backgrounds in influencing theprocess of policymaking or rule rewriting. Where a certain group of people doesnot have a voice in policy-making process and where they are not politicallyrepresented, they may be left out in the long run

geographicalscholarshipisalreadybringingto bear on understanding the nature and workings ofthe unfolding COVID-19pandemic crisis.

pressing need for geographers and other scholars to critically examine itsfallout.

he global healthcrisis unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic has been compounded by political, economic, and social crisesthat have exacerbated existing inequalities and disproportionately affected the most vulnerable segments ofsociety.

Indices of social vulnerability are place-based variables that incorporate factors such as race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status to encode the vulnerability to adverse health outcomes and other types of hazards (39).

Spatial transportation and mobility data can play an important role in forecasting disease prevalence, where, for example, the effect of nonpharmaceutical interventions (eg, restrictions on mobility) on city-level transmission of COVID-19 in China was analyzed using mobility data harvested from mobile telephone location-based services. This method allows one to parameterize the local contact rate and forecast the geographic distribution of disease prevalence under different intervention timing scenarios (37).

). Recent research leveraged these approaches in demonstrating the spatial heterogeneity in the relationships among observed COVID-19 cases and mortality with georeferenced socioeconomic and environmental variables (22,29,30) and found that the influence of area-based socioeconomic status, pre-existing health conditions, and environmental characteristics on disease transmission may vary from place to place.

This research found, for example, that lower income and income inequality (22), higher temperature and humidity (23), exposure to fine particulate air pollution (24), and mobility and transportation networks (25,26) were associated with a higher prevalence of COVID-19 cases or mortality.

A strength of GIS is the ability to integrate diverse spatial data sets based on georeferencing, facilitating the integration of health data with contextual characteristics

The room number and type (eg, classroom, laboratory, bathroom), the date and time completed, and the product used for disinfection appear in a pop-up on the dashboard when the user selects a building.

The spread of infectious disease is inherently a spatial process; therefore, geospatial data, technologies, and analytical methods play a critical role in understanding and responding to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

According to Chen et al. (2020), COVID-19 transmission is significantly affected by surrounding air temperature and humidity conditions, agreed by Shi et al. (2020), on the occasion of major outbreak in mainland of China

potential climatological implications of the disease and whether warm season transition in the Northern Hemisphere would halt the spread of coronavirus.

Geography is unique in bridging the social sciences and the natural sciences

There are further inequalities in people’s capacity to comply with social distancing measures, particularly for those on low incomes, in insecure employment, and living in overcrowded homes. Such groups are therefore both more likely to be exposed to infection and more likely to be sanctioned for violating regulations.

the odds of depression and anxiety were around two and a half times higher among those on low incomes compared with those in the highest income bracket

High levels of mental distress in disadvantaged and vulnerable groups during periods of social restrictions relate particularly to uncertainties around work, income, housing, and access to food. Policies designed to alleviate these uncertainties may mitigate mental distress and burden.

disparities are especially pronounced at the intersections of multiple vulnerabilities and disadvantages, for example, those with low income, insecure employment and minority ethnic group status

The proportion of adults who were worried (very or somewhat) about the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) on their life right now also fell to 66% this week compared with 71% last wee

a lowest level recorded on this survey in January (6.4 in the periods 13 to 31 January). The level of anxiety (4.0 this week) also appears to have gradually improved since a recent high in early January (4.6 in the period 7 to 10 January).

While the COVID-19 pandemic was initially perceived as a public health crisis, its effects are rippling through society and will be long-lived. COVID-19 is precipitating an economic emergency that has effects both pervasive and growing. This secondary emergency is enmeshed with other social challenges, notably widespread homelessness.

The app made information on more than a thousand businesses quickly available, helping those businesses stay open, keep staff employed, and retain customers.

. It supplied up-to-date information on grocery inventories of essential items, special hours for at risk people, how crowded stores were, and how well social distancing practices were being followed for area stores. Current data was fed into the app by crowdsourcing data from residents who used Survey123 for ArcGIS to fill out surveys on stores. A story map on the site contained infor-mation on area food pantries and government assistance.

Local government, which is the face of government for most people, had to cope with social and economic impacts that originated far away but had close-to-home impacts

Combined with the ability of the ArcGIS plat-form to rapidly ingest, integrate, analyze, and visualize data from sensor, telemetry, and other real-time data sources, organizations could accurately capture the constantly changing picture of the unfolding crisis.

excellent way to present significant amounts of information so it can be quickly and easily interpreted. As such, mapping is being used to collect, collate, integrate and share critical information with frontline NHS staff, GPs and health authority managers.

‘Other uses cases are predicting health needs and spikes; supporting the delivery of vital PPE and facilitating the delivery of food parcels and medicines to vulnerable residents.

used to show how, over time, the virus is spreading across the world. It is also being deployed for contact tracking and tracing.

standard component of mass notification systems, enabling community leaders to send out messages to staff, partners, or the public - based on appropriate geographic boundaries.’

‘Through data visualisation and narrative, story maps contextualise important factors such as age and social vulnerability. Many local governments are producing story maps to show residents what's happening in their area.

,itsspatial analysis and spatiotem-poral dimensions, its geographical impact on decision-making and ev-eryday life, and predictive modelling of the evolution of the disease.For these reasons, the use of geospatial and statistical tools has becomeparticularly relevant with the declaration of COVID-19 as a globalpandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic is full of unknowns, and manyof them havea spatial dimension that lead to understanding the phenomenon as geo-graphical and potentially mappable.

impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on online retail grocery in Germany. Although the pandemic and ‘stay at home’ practices opened up a window of opportunity for 'e‐grocery', results so far indicate no structural transition to online shopping.

key processes of disease diffusion to explain the spatial patterns of the COVID‐19 outbreak in Germany. Their study underlines the value of combining relational thinking with geographic analysis to better understand epidemic outbreaks in contemporary societies.

Patrick Adler, Richard Florida and Maxwell Hartt argue that mega‐regions in the United States are more exposed to diseases earlier in pandemics because they are more connected nationally and internationally. They use the economic geography notions of ‘local buzz’ and ‘global pipelines’ to explain these patterns.

Geographical tracking and mapping of coronavirus