Environmental Science
The Role of Social Capital in Community Disaster Resilience
Quick fact
Studies of communities after major disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the 2011 Japan earthquake show that neighborhoods with dense social networks had lower mortality rates and faster recovery, sometimes even outperforming wealthier areas.
Why this is interesting
When a disaster strikes, what makes one community bounce back faster than another? It might not be the amount of money or technology, but the strength of trust and connections between neighbors.