Environmental Geography And Natural Hazards

Case study of Himachal Pradesh, India.

Topics include : risk assessment, disaster management, adjustment to the hazard (accepting, sharing, reducing loss), earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, snow avalances, storms, biophysical hazards (extreme temperatures, epidemics, frost, wildlifires), floods, droughts, technological hazards (i.e. Bhopal and Chernobyl), etc.

This volume synthesizes critical environmental challenges of dynamic earth and human environment systems in South Asia emphasizing geographical dimensions. It deals with spaceborne monitoring, climate, ecohydrology, forests and biodiversity, land-use and land-cover change (LUCC), natural hazards, and disasters in order to contribute towards a sustainable future. The contributions range from traditional field techniques to the use of remote sensing and geographic information systems. The book integrates environmental attributes relating the past, present, and future of South Asia broadly based on biophysical and human dimensions in spatio-temporal perspectives. The monitoring of natural hazards and climate issues is considered a vital component in the context of environmental geography, especially in observation and understanding of climate and water-induced disasters. It is important to communicate the advances in geoscience techniques to increase the resilience of the vulnerable society of South Asia and to promote livelihood security. The sustainability of South Asia depends strongly on the earth environment, and thus the development of geo-environmental monitoring is critical for a better understanding of our living environment. The aim of the book is to present dynamic aspects of environmental geography to contribute to future earth initiatives in South Asia.

What can we learn from the spatial patterns of disasters? What human and structural factors need to be addressed to explain hazard vulnerability? As populations grow and the climate warms, how can natural hazards be mitigated? Thoroughly revised and updated, and now with a more global perspective, the second edition of this accessible text provides an integrated framework for understanding and managing natural hazards. Numerous case studies from around the world illustrate the complexities of extreme geophysical events and highlight their physical, social, political, and economic dimensions. The text identifies essential principles for tackling the fundamental causes of differential vulnerabilities that perpetuate human distress, and for promoting recovery and resilience. New to This Edition *New frameworks for understanding human resilience and adaptive capacity in recovery, dynamics of risk and uncertainty, and more. *Chapter on spatial and temporal aspects of hazards. *Discussions of cutting-edge topics, such as chronic disasters, controversies in international aid, and how hazards affect regions differentially. *Many new case studies, including Hurricanes Katrina and Charley, Superstorm Sandy, the 2011 Japan tsunami, Ecuador's chronic volcanic hazard, and others. *Reflects 20 years of research advances across the physical and social sciences, development trends, new technologies, and ongoing global climate change.

The Environment as Hazard offers an understanding of how people around the world deal with dramatic fluctuations in the local natural systems of air, water, and terrain. Reviewing recent theoretical and methodological changes in the investigation of natural hazards, the authors describe how research findings are being incorporated into public policy, particularly research on slow cumulative events, technological hazards, the role played by social systems, and the relation of hazards theory to risk analysis. Through vivid examples from a broad sample of countries, this volume illuminates the range of experiences associated with natural hazards. The authors show how modes of coping change with levels of economic development by contrasting hazards in developing countries with those in high income countries - comparing the results of hurricanes in Bangladesh and the United States, and earthquakes in Nicaragua and California. In new introductory and concluding chapters that supplement the original text, the authors present new global data sets, as well as a trenchant discussion of implications of hazards research for the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction and for attempts by the world community to come to grips with the threats of climate change.

The seventh edition of Environmental Hazards provides a much expanded and fully up-to-date overview of all the extreme environmental events that threaten people and what they value in the 21st century globally. It integrates cutting-edge materials to provide an interdisciplinary approach to environmental hazards and their management, illustrating how natural and human systems interact to place communities of all sizes, and at all stages of economic development, at risk. Part 1 defines basic concepts of hazard, risk, vulnerability and disaster and explores the evolution of hazards theory. Part 2 employs a consistent chapter structure to demonstrate how individual hazards occur, their impacts and how the risks can be assessed and managed. This extensively revised edition includes: Fresh perspectives on the reliability of disaster data, disaster risk reduction, risk and disaster perception and communication, and new technologies available to assist with environmental hazard management The addition of several new environmental hazards including landslide and avalanches, cryospheric hazards, karst and subsidence hazards, and hazards of the Anthropocene More boxed sections with a focus on both generic issues and the lessons to be learned from a carefully selected range of up-to-date extreme events An annotated list of key resources, including further reading and relevant websites, for all chapters More colour diagrams and photographs, and more than 1,000 references to some of the most significant and recent published material New exercises to assist teaching in the classroom, or self-learning This carefully structured and balanced textbook captures the complexity and dynamism of environmental hazards and is essential reading for students across many disciplines including geography, environmental science, environmental studies and natural resources.

Environmental Hazards and Disasters: Contexts, Perspectives and Management focuses on manifested threats to humans and their welfare as a result of natural disasters. The book uses an integrative approach to address socio-cultural, political and physical components of the disaster process. Human and social vulnerability as well as risk to environmental hazards are explored within the comprehensive context of diverse natural hazards and disasters. In addition to scientific explanations of disastrous occurrences, people and governments of hazard-prone countries often have their own interpretations for why natural disasters occur. In such interpretations they often either blame others, in order to conceal their inability to protect themselves, or they blame themselves, attributing the events to either real or imagined misdeeds. The book contains a chapter devoted to the neglected topic of such reactions and explanations. Includes chapters on key topics such as the application of GIS in hazard studies; resiliency; disasters and poverty; climate change and sustainability and development. This book is designed as a primary text for an interdisciplinary course on hazards for upper-level undergraduate and Graduate students. Although not targeted for an introductory hazards course, students in such a course may find it very useful as well. Additionally, emergency managers, planners, and both public and private organizations involved in disaster response, and mitigation could benefit from this book along with hazard researchers. It not only includes traditional and popular hazard topics (e.g., disaster cycles, disaster relief, and risk and vulnerability), it also includes neglected topics, such as the positive impacts of disasters, disaster myths and different accounts of disasters, and disasters and gender.

The world is currently experiencing changes in climate and environment that often lead to natural disasters. Nearly three million people worldwide may have been killed in the past 20 years by natural disasters. In total, 90% of the natural disasters and 95% of all disaster-related deaths occur in the developing countries. Recently such problems have accelerated due to LULC change, biodiversity degradation, increased tourism, urbanization and climate change. This book, consisting of 27 chapters, explores the topics of climate, environment and natural disasters in developing countries. It is essential to discuss these diverse issues in the field of geography as it encompasses interdisciplinary topics. The range of issues on national, regional and local dimensions is not only confined to geography but also concerned to other disciplines as well. Therefore, this book is a valuable source for scientists and researchers in allied fields such as climatology, disaster management, environmental science, hydrology, agriculture, and land use studies, among other areas. Furthermore, this book can be of immense help to the planners and decision-makers engaged in dealing with the problems of climate, environmental change and natural disasters in developing countries.