Read complete books and articles on: Natural Disasters

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15 of the Best Books and Articles on: Natural Disasters

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Doomsday: The Science of Catastrophic Events » Read Now
by Antony Milne. 194 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

Milne provides a concise review of catastrophism in its historical, cosmic, scientific, and earth-shattering sense. Within this one volume a wide range of up-to-date scientific facts and concepts are reviewed and chronicle, with dates and places, marking the end of a turbulent 2,000 years.
2.

Due to the Weather: Ways the Elements Affect Our Lives » Read Now
by Abraham Resnick. 228 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

Students can use this unique guide to discover not only what causes particular weather events such as avalanches and droughts but also how the weather affects such aspects of our daily lives as business and health. Hundreds of meteorological events, expository facts and fascinating anecdotes are...
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Students can use this unique guide to discover not only what causes particular weather events such as avalanches and droughts but also how the weather affects such aspects of our daily lives as business and health. Hundreds of meteorological events, expository facts and fascinating anecdotes are presented to demonstrate the diverse methods people take in coping with or adjusting to the weather. Facts about such events as the worst tornadoes in history, as well as climographs depicting the weather patterns in different parts of the world help to provide the reader with a wealth of unusual information pertaining to the elements.
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3.

Catastrophic Coastal Storms: Hazard Mitigation and Development Management » Read Now
by David R. Godschalk, David J. Brower, Timothy Beatley. 278 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...unparalleled national disasters. A study of natural hazard management in...area affects only the natural environment; for a...et al. 1976. Natural Hazard Management...
4.

Bad Tidings: Communication and Catastrophe » Read Now
by Lee Wilkins, Tim Walters, Lynne Masel Walters. 198 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...personnel in six cities that had natural disasters. Jensen 1972 did a content...are many severely damaging natural disasters in Latin American, Asia, and...hurricanes...
5.

Illusions of Safety: Culture and Earthquake Hazard Response in California and Japan » Read Now
by Risa Palm, John Carroll. 119 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...of vulnerability to natural disasters, this practice nonetheless...cosmology suggested that natural disasters were caused by bad...vulnerability from future disasters...
6.

Acts of God: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America » Read Now
by Theodore Steinberg. 298 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Incredibly, the ten most costly catastrophes in U.S. history have all been natural disasters--seven of them hurricanes--and all have occurred since 1989, a period, ironically, that Congress has dubbed the Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. Why this tremendous plague on our houses? While some...
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Incredibly, the ten most costly catastrophes in U.S. history have all been natural disasters--seven of them hurricanes--and all have occurred since 1989, a period, ironically, that Congress has dubbed the Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction. Why this tremendous plague on our houses? While some claim that nature is the problem, in fact, as environmental historian Ted Steinberg explains, historically speaking, much of the death and destruction has been well within the realm of human control. Surveying more than a century of losses from weather and seismic extremes, Steinberg exposes the fallacy of seeing such calamities as simply random events. Acts of God explores the unnatural history of natural calamity, the decisions of business leaders and government officials that have paved the way for the greater losses of life and property, especially among those least able to withstand such blows--America's poor, elderly, and minorities. Seeing nature or God as the primary culprit, Steinberg argues, has helped to paper over the fact that, in truth, some Americans are better protected from the violence of nature than their counterparts lower down the socioeconomic ladder. How else can we explain that the hardest hit areas have been mobile home parks and other low-income neighborhoods? Beginning with the 1886 Charleston and 1906 San Francisco earthquakes, and continuing to the present, Steinberg spotlights the defective approach to natural hazards taken by real estate interests, the media, and policymakers. By understating the extent of storm damage in news reports and offering quick repairs and cosmetic solutions to damaged property, fundamental flaws in the status quo go unremedied, class divisions are maintained, and unsafe practices continue unquestioned. Even today, with our increased scientific knowledge, he shows that reckless building continues unabated in seismically active areas and flood-prone coastal plains, often at taxpayer expense. Sure to provoke discussion, Acts of God is a call to action that must be heard before the next disaster hits.
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7.

Natural Disasters and Development: In a Globalizing World » Read Now
by Mark Pelling. 255 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

The number of humanitarian disasters triggered by a natural hazard has doubled every decade since the 1960s. At the same time, the global economic growth rate per capita is twice its 1960s value. Does this mean economic growth is independent of the impacts of natural disaster?Natural Disaster and...
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The number of humanitarian disasters triggered by a natural hazard has doubled every decade since the 1960s. At the same time, the global economic growth rate per capita is twice its 1960s value. Does this mean economic growth is independent of the impacts of natural disaster?Natural Disaster and Development in a Globalizing World is the first book to acknowledge the full implications of globalization for disaster and development. The contributors to this book fully examine:- global processes and how they might affect disaster risk at the global scale.- links between international issues - such as diplomatic relations, the growth of non-governmental organizations and the health of the international insurance industry - and disaster risk- the interaction of these large scale forces with local conditions through case study analysis of individual disaster events.In his revealing work, author Pelling makes clear the links between global scale processes and local experiences of disaster, and underlies the difficulty of attributing blame for individual disasters on specific global pressures. He argues that action to reduce disaster must be coordinated at the local, national and global scales and that there is a need for greater integration across the physical and social sciences. In this context, the human rights agenda is seen as a way of moving disaster reduction efforts forward.
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8.

Floods, Famines, and Emperors: El Nino and the Fate of Civilizations » Read Now
by Brian Fagan. 284 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

In 1997-98, El Nino disrupted weather patterns the world over. Europe suffered a record freeze, the American West was hit by terrible floods and snowstorms, and drought brought famine to East Africa and forest fires to Southeast Asia.
In this groundbreaking work of "historical meteorology", Brian...
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In 1997-98, El Nino disrupted weather patterns the world over. Europe suffered a record freeze, the American West was hit by terrible floods and snowstorms, and drought brought famine to East Africa and forest fires to Southeast Asia.
In this groundbreaking work of "historical meteorology", Brian Fagan shows that these events were neither isolated nor new: El Nino has been wreaking intermittent havoc for at least five millennia. Integrating weather science, archeology, and the narrative gifts of a born storyteller, Fagan shows how dramatic shifts in climate have shaped peoples, places, and history since the dawn of time.
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9.

Early American Hurricanes, 1492-1870 » Read Now
by David M. Ludlum. 198 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...of 33 lines calls attention to various natural calamities which had afflicted diverse...planets happening this year, have had a natural influence into the mentioned...
10.

Cartographies of Danger: Mapping Hazards in America » Read Now
by Mark Monmonier. 363 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

No place is perfectly safe, but some places are more dangerous than others. Whether we live on a floodplain or in "Tornado Alley," near a nuclear facility or in a neighborhood poorly lit at night, we all co-exist uneasily with natural and man-made hazards. As Mark Monmonier shows in this...
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No place is perfectly safe, but some places are more dangerous than others. Whether we live on a floodplain or in "Tornado Alley," near a nuclear facility or in a neighborhood poorly lit at night, we all co-exist uneasily with natural and man-made hazards. As Mark Monmonier shows in this entertaining and immensely informative book, maps can tell us a lot about where we can anticipate certain hazards, but they can also be dangerously misleading. California, for example, takes earthquakes seriously, with a comprehensive program of seismic mapping, whereas Washington has been comparatively lax about earthquakes in Puget Sound. But as the Northridge earthquake in January 1994 demonstrated all too clearly to Californians, even reliable seismic-hazard maps can deceive anyone who misinterprets "known fault-lines" as the only places vulnerable to earthquakes. Important as it is to predict and prepare for catastrophic natural hazards, more subtle and persistent phenomena such as pollution and crime also pose serious dangers that we have to cope with on a daily basis. Hazard-zone maps highlight these more insidious hazards and raise awareness about them among planners, local officials, and the public. With the help of many maps illustrating examples from all corners of the United States, Monmonier demonstrates how hazard mapping reflects not just scientific understanding of hazards but also perceptions of risk and how risk can be reduced. Whether you live on a faultline or a coastline, near a toxic waste dump or an EMF-generating power line, you ignore this book's plain-language advice on geographic hazards and how to avoid them at your own peril. "No one should buy a home, rent an apartment, or even drink the local water without having read this fascinating cartographic alert on the dangers that lurk in our everyday lives. . . . Who has not asked where it is safe to live? Cartographies of Danger provides the answer."--H. J. de Blij, NBC News "Even if you're not interested in maps, you're almost certainly interested in hazards. And this book is one of the best places I've seen to learn about them in a highly entertaining and informative fashion."--John Casti, New Scientist
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11.

The Great Flood of 1993: Causes, Impacts, and Responses » Read Now
by Stanley A. Changnon. 321 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...communication, and media coverage of hazards, disasters, and risk. Her study of media coverage...has been a long-time affiliate of the Natural Hazards Center. James M...
12.

The Crisis Manager: Facing Risk and Responsibility (Chap. 4 "Natural Crises") » Read Now
by Otto Lerbinger. 384 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...A Procession of Recent Natural Disasters 58 Emergency...railcar derailed, as well as to natural disasters, such as the 1993 flooding...year the news media report on...
13.

Natural Hazards in Puerto Rico, in The Geographical Review » Read Now
by Risa Palm, Michael E. Hodgson. 10 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...Yet Puerto Rico also has a sizable potential for natural disasters. Each year, from July to November, a series of hurricanes...high level of concern exists among Puerto...
14.

Natural Hazards Risk in the Kullu District, Himachal Pradesh, India, in The Geographical Review » Read Now
by James S. Gardner. 25 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...Living with the risk of natural hazards is part of everyday...subcontinent has been prone to disasters of great scope for generations...evaluations of floods and other...
15.

The Lisbon Earthquake » Read Now
by T. D. Kendrick. 255 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...really frequent and familiar natural events; it was all very well...that even in the most ghastly disasters, for instance the earthquake...thought herself immune from...