Download or read book The Cure for Catastrophe written by Robert Muir-Wood and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2016-09-06 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We can't stop natural disasters but we can stop them being disastrous. One of the world's foremost risk experts tells us how. Year after year, floods wreck people's homes and livelihoods, earthquakes tear communities apart, and tornadoes uproot whole towns. Natural disasters cause destruction and despair. But does it have to be this way? In The Cure for Catastrophe, global risk expert Robert Muir-Wood argues that our natural disasters are in fact human ones: We build in the wrong places and in the wrong way, putting brick buildings in earthquake country, timber ones in fire zones, and coastal cities in the paths of hurricanes. We then blindly trust our flood walls and disaster preparations, and when they fail, catastrophes become even more deadly. No society is immune to the twin dangers of complacency and heedless development. Recognizing how disasters are manufactured gives us the power to act. From the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 to Hurricane Katrina, The Cure for Catastrophe recounts the ingenious ways in which people have fought back against disaster. Muir-Wood shows the power and promise of new predictive technologies, and envisions a future where information and action come together to end the pain and destruction wrought by natural catastrophes. The decisions we make now can save millions of lives in the future. Buzzing with political plots, newfound technologies, and stories of surprising resilience, The Cure for Catastrophe will revolutionize the way we conceive of catastrophes: though natural disasters are inevitable, the death and destruction are optional. As we brace ourselves for deadlier cataclysms, the cure for catastrophe is in our hands.

Download or read book Preparedness and Response for Catastrophic Disasters written by Rick Bissell and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2013-05-29 with total page 407 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on a popular course for the FEMA Higher Education project, Preparedness and Response for Catastrophic Disasters provides important insight into plans to mitigate and respond to the devastation caused by large-scale catastrophic events. Hurricane Katrina provided clear evidence that these occurrences are both qualitatively and quantitatively d

Download or read book Natural Hazards UnNatural Disasters written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2010-11-10 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines how to ensure that the preventive measures are worthwhile and effective, and how people can make decisions individually and collectively at different levels of government.

Download or read book There is No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster written by Gregory Squires and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-01-11 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster is the first comprehensive critical book on the catastrophic impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans. The disaster will go down on record as one of the worst in American history, not least because of the government’s inept and cavalier response. But it is also a huge story for other reasons; the impact of the hurricane was uneven, and race and class were deeply implicated in the unevenness. Hartman and. Squires assemble two dozen critical scholars and activists who present a multifaceted portrait of the social implications of the disaster. The book covers the response to the disaster and the roles that race and class played, its impact on housing and redevelopment, the historical context of urban disasters in America and the future of economic development in the region. It offers strategic guidance for key actors - government agencies, financial institutions, neighbourhood organizations - in efforts to rebuild shattered communities.

Download or read book 100 Most Destructive Natural Disasters written by Anna Claybourne and published by . This book was released on 2015-01-01 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How tall was the biggest tsumani? What causes giant hailstones? How hot is the inside of a volcano? What is a cyclonic storm? Uncover the power of the world's most destructive natural disasters!

Download or read book At Risk written by Piers Blaikie and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-01-21 with total page 492 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The term 'natural disaster' is often used to refer to natural events such as earthquakes, hurricanes or floods. However, the phrase 'natural disaster' suggests an uncritical acceptance of a deeply engrained ideological and cultural myth. At Risk questions this myth and argues that extreme natural events are not disasters until a vulnerable group of people is exposed. The updated new edition confronts a further ten years of ever more expensive and deadly disasters and discusses disaster not as an aberration, but as a signal failure of mainstream 'development'. Two analytical models are provided as tools for understanding vulnerability. One links remote and distant 'root causes' to 'unsafe conditions' in a 'progression of vulnerability'. The other uses the concepts of 'access' and 'livelihood' to understand why some households are more vulnerable than others. Examining key natural events and incorporating strategies to create a safer world, this revised edition is an important resource for those involved in the fields of environment and development studies.

Download or read book Unbreakable written by Stephane Hallegatte and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2016-11-24 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Economic losses from natural disasters totaled $92 billion in 2015.' Such statements, all too commonplace, assess the severity of disasters by no other measure than the damage inflicted on buildings, infrastructure, and agricultural production. But $1 in losses does not mean the same thing to a rich person that it does to a poor person; the gravity of a $92 billion loss depends on who experiences it. By focusing on aggregate losses—the traditional approach to disaster risk—we restrict our consideration to how disasters affect those wealthy enough to have assets to lose in the first place, and largely ignore the plight of poor people. This report moves beyond asset and production losses and shifts its attention to how natural disasters affect people’s well-being. Disasters are far greater threats to well-being than traditional estimates suggest. This approach provides a more nuanced view of natural disasters than usual reporting, and a perspective that takes fuller account of poor people’s vulnerabilities. Poor people suffer only a fraction of economic losses caused by disasters, but they bear the brunt of their consequences. Understanding the disproportionate vulnerability of poor people also makes the case for setting new intervention priorities to lessen the impact of natural disasters on the world’s poor, such as expanding financial inclusion, disaster risk and health insurance, social protection and adaptive safety nets, contingent finance and reserve funds, and universal access to early warning systems. Efforts to reduce disaster risk and poverty go hand in hand. Because disasters impoverish so many, disaster risk management is inseparable from poverty reduction policy, and vice versa. As climate change magnifies natural hazards, and because protection infrastructure alone cannot eliminate risk, a more resilient population has never been more critical to breaking the cycle of disaster-induced poverty.

Download or read book A Safer Future written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1991-02-01 with total page 85 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Initial priorities for U.S. participation in the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, declared by the United Nations, are contained in this volume. It focuses on seven issues: hazard and risk assessment; awareness and education; mitigation; preparedness for emergency response; recovery and reconstruction; prediction and warning; learning from disasters; and U.S. participation internationally. The committee presents its philosophy of calls for broad public and private participation to reduce the toll of disasters.

Download or read book Disasters written by Brenda Z. Guiberson and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2010-06-08 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Natural and man-made disasters have the power to destroy thousands of lives very quickly. Both as they unfold and in the aftermath, these forces of nature astonish the rest of the world with their incredible devastation and magnitude. In this collection of ten well-known catastrophes ... Brenda Guiberson explores the causes and effects, as well as the local and global reverberations of these calamitous events."--Barnesandnoble.com.

Download or read book Disasters by Design written by Dennis Mileti and published by Joseph Henry Press. This book was released on 1999-06-18 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Disasters by Design provides an alternative and sustainable way to view, study, and manage hazards in the United States that would result in disaster-resilient communities, higher environmental quality, inter- and intragenerational equity, economic sustainability, and improved quality of life. This volume provides an overview of what is known about natural hazards, disasters, recovery, and mitigation, how research findings have been translated into policies and programs; and a sustainable hazard mitigation research agenda. Also provided is an examination of past disaster losses and hazards management over the past 20 years, including factorsâ€"demographic, climate, socialâ€"that influence loss. This volume summarizes and sets the stage for the more detailed books in the series.

Download or read book Psychological Effects of Catastrophic Disasters written by Leon A. Schein and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 980 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Psychological Effects of Catastrophic Disasters: Group Approaches to Treatment comprehensively discusses the basic information about the psychological effects of traumatic disasters and what can be done to treat them in group settings. Internationally renowned authorities thoroughly explore medical treatment and numerous evidence-based group interventions, providing expert suggestions and revealing examples as illustration. This essential source provides a quick reference for mental health and health professionals prospectively facing the traumatic aftermath of terrorist disasters and other catastrophic events. The royalties from this book shall be donated to organizations which provide direct services to those who continue to be affected by the events of September 11th, 2001 and Hurricane Katrina (August 29th, 2005).

Download or read book Disasters and Democracy written by Rutherford H. Platt and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2012-07-16 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, the number of presidential declarations of “major disasters” has skyrocketed. Such declarations make stricken areas eligible for federal emergency relief funds that greatly reduce their costs. But is federalizing the costs of disasters helping to lighten the overall burden of disasters or is it making matters worse? Does it remove incentives for individuals and local communities to take measures to protect themselves? Are people more likely to invest in property in hazardous locations in the belief that, if worse comes to worst, the federal government will bail them out? Disasters and Democracy addresses the political response to natural disasters, focusing specifically on the changing role of the federal government from distant observer to immediate responder and principal financier of disaster costs.

Download or read book Management of Natural Disasters written by S. Syngellakis and published by WIT Press. This book was released on 2016-12-12 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comprising a selection of articles dedicated to disaster management this volume focuses on the challenges arising from extreme natural phenomena and descriptions of methods for assessing their occurrence probability and of measures for mitigating their intensity and detrimental effects. The first group of articles describes general strategies for risk assessment and mitigation, providing examples in the context of various kinds of natural disasters. The economic impact of mitigation measures, communities’ differing coping capabilities, human attitudes towards relocation and possible links to climate change are among the topics considered. Natural strategies are outlined in the contexts of Turkey, Brazil and United Arab Emirates. The second part of the book is concerned with disasters from specific natural causes starting with a group of ten articles on floods. The corresponding contributions address flood frequency, vulnerability and resilience of communities, response of small and medium enterprises, risk in terms of financial losses, private investment participation to mitigation measures, assessment of design solutions against flood hazard, sleeper dykes as a means of reducing risk, preparedness of hospitals, causes of highway flooding and their relative importance, and impact of floods on poor communities. The third set of articles are related to earthquake-related hazards describing, in particular, an analysis tool providing integrated risk, coping capacity and management output, a method for assessing vulnerability considering key contributing factors, a technique for urban aftershock management and damage assessment, and neural network modelling to estimate tsunami damage. Finally, a group of three articles address issues related to landslides, namely, slope management as a means of reducing risk and losses, early warning based on rainfall data, and hazard prediction using favourability function modelling and spatial target mapping software. Providing a unique global perspective this volume focuses on recent developments over a wide range of topics that cannot be found in similar, currently available, publications in this field. This is a valuable addition to the relevant literature available to researchers and engineers working on risk assessment and mitigation of natural disaster intensity and consequences. It will appeal of those working in academic and research environments as well as governmental, professional, national and international organisations.

Download or read book Devastation written by Lesley Newson and published by DK Publishing (Dorling Kindersley). This book was released on 1998 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Easy-to-follow explanations help you understand the underlying causes of all types of disasters.

Download or read book ISE Natural Disasters written by Patrick Leon Abbott and published by . This book was released on 2019-02-21 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Natural Disasters and Climate Change written by Stéphane Hallegatte and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-09-17 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores economic concepts related to disaster losses, describes mechanisms that determine the economic consequences of a disaster, and reviews methodologies for making decisions regarding risk management and adaptation. The author addresses the need for better understanding of the consequences of disasters and reviews and analyzes three scientific debates on linkage between disaster risk management and adaptation to climate change. The first involves the existence and magnitude of long-term economic impact of natural disasters on development. The second is the disagreement over whether any development is the proper solution to high vulnerability to disaster risk. The third debate involves the difficulty of drawing connections between natural disasters and climate change and the challenge in managing them through an integrated strategy. The introduction describes economic views of disaster, including direct and indirect costs, output and welfare losses, and use of econometric tools to measure losses. The next section defines disaster risk, delineates between “good” and “bad” risk-taking, and discusses a pathway to balanced growth. A section entitled “Trends in Hazards and the Role of Climate Change” sets scenarios for climate change analysis, discusses statistical and physical models for downscaling global climate scenarios to extreme event scenarios, and considers how to consider extremes of hot and cold, storms, wind, drought and flood. Another section analyzes case studies on hurricanes and the US coastline; sea-level rises and storm surge in Copenhagen; and heavy precipitation in Mumbai. A section on Methodologies for disaster risk management includes a study on cost-benefit analysis of coastal protections in New Orleans, and one on early-warning systems in developing countries. The next section outlines decision-making in disaster risk management, including robust decision-making, No-regret and No-risk strategies; and strategies that reduce time horizons for decision-making. Among the conclusions is the assertion that risk management policies must recognize the benefits of risk-taking and avoid suppressing it entirely. The main message is that a combination of disaster-risk-reduction, resilience-building and adaptation policies can yield large potential gains and synergies.

Download or read book The Impacts of Natural Disasters written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1999-05-06 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We in the United States have almost come to accept natural disasters as part of our nation's social fabric. News of property damage, economic and social disruption, and injuries follow earthquakes, fires, floods and hurricanes. Surprisingly, however, the total losses that follow these natural disasters are not consistently calculated. We have no formal system in either the public or private sector for compiling this information. The National Academies recommends what types of data should be assembled and tracked.