Catastrophic failure of a tailings dam at an iron ore mine complex in Brumadinho, Brazil, on 25th January 2019 released 11.7 million m³ of tailings downstream. Although reportedly monitored using an array of geotechnical techniques, the collapse occurred without any apparent warning. It claimed more than 200 lives and caused considerable environmental damage. Here we present the Intermittent Small Baseline Subset (ISBAS) technique on satellite-based interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data to assess the course of events. We find that parts of the dam wall and tailings were experiencing deformation not consistent with consolidation settlement preceding the collapse. Furthermore, we show that the timing of the dam collapse would have been foreseeable based on this observed precursory deformation. We conclude that satellite-based monitoring techniques may help mitigate similar catastrophes in the future.

This study investigates the major environmental and socio-economic impacts of an increase in the area of rubber plantations and the changing patterns of drivers of land use changes. Using a combination of geospatial techniques and socio-economic methods, we mainly analyzed the rate of increase in area under rubber plantations, the major impacts of land use changes, and the changing drivers of land use changes. Our results show that the area under rubber plantations has increased significantly within the study area, with the area under rubber plantations increasing from 30 to 74% of the total area within five decades. Impact assessment of land use changes based on household surveys showed significant improvement in the socio-economic conditions of the farmers, however, at the expense of severe environmental degradation. Our results also indicate that while areas under rubber plantations continue to increase, the drivers of land use changes have changed over time. Furthermore, it has been observed that in the past, many interventions prioritized social and economic development and placed less emphasis on the ecological stability of the region. Perceptions of farmers revealed that the effects of ecological fragility already affected the economic robustness of the whole area. Therefore, we conclude that government interventions to support additional rubber cultivation should also focus on ecosystem stabilization in order to minimize the risk of an ecological catastrophe that would significantly affect the economic prosperity of the region.

The impacts of climate change‐induced heat stress on workers are most prevalent in sectors with decent work deficits and this requires consideration for sustainable development. This paper focuses on the informal economy of brick kilns in India, a sector reliant on piece‐rate payments to its migrant labour force. We forecast to 2050, through satellite mapping and climate modelling, the number of days with extreme heat, loss of labour capacity, and impact on annual brick production. The high spatial coincidence shown between kiln density and intensity of increase in the number of days of extreme heat, leading to a reduction in labour capacity and brick production, has implications for workers and supply chains. We suggest that as kilns, objects of sustainable development goal intersectionality, become more environmentally sustainable, monitored and regulated, labour, and health conditions should improve and adapting to decent work in the face of climate change becomes more achievable.