Geohazards

Dorrik A. V. Stow Editor in Chief, Association of Geoscientists for International Development ( AGID) AGID is particularly pleased to see published this latest hurricanes, floods-that are wreaking havoc, destroying report in its Geosciences in International Development livelihood and lives in some corner of the globe. Series, as a significant contribution to the onset of the UN As geoscientists there are perhaps three concerns that Decade of National Disaster Reduction, and as a mark of should be uppermost in our minds as we join an inter AGID's growing concern over the potential and actual national effort to combat the adverse effects of natural effects of geohazards throughout the developing world. hazards. The first must be to improve our scientific The problem of geohazards is increasing, not because understanding of the nature and causes of such hazards and to work towards more reliable prediction of their the rate of earth processes is accelerating, nor because the occurrence and magnitude.

This book presents a comprehensive analysis of diverse aspects of geohazards. The growing vulnerability and exposure to failures in risk reduction and policy-making increases the severity of geohazard impacts by many folds. Therefore, detailed geohazard analysis, modelling and forecasting are needed to reduce the impacts of extreme events.An interdisciplinary approach to hazard mitigation provides an advanced tool for risk reduction. The book thus summarizes recent modelling and analysis techniques for hazard assessment and risk mitigation. Topics discussed in the book are hazard and risk associated with earthquakes, vulnerability assessment for landslides and avalanches, the assessment of tsunami risk in coastal regions, the implementation of early warning systems to prevent catastrophic consequences, climate change risk modelling and risk communication. The convergent approach with the aspects of natural, engineering, and social sciences attracts a vast audience working to advance disaster science. This book also significantly facilitates the acquisition of policy-relevant knowledge for risk reduction, which is beneficial to the general public.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Earth Observations for Geohazards" that was published in Remote Sensing)

This book is based on the contributions of several authors and attempts to describe the roles human activities play in causing geohazards either directly or indirectly through man-made climate change. The risk of these man-made geohazards and the risk assessment are also discussed in this book. Each chapter keeps the authors' notations that vary from chapter to chapter. These authors' notations have been maintained to reduce unintended confusion and errors. Readers should be aware of this variation.

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Observing Geohazards from Space" that was published in Geosciences

Symposium convened by the US Geological Survey in Menlo Park, Calif., on November 17-18, 1988.