The Environment As Hazard, Second Edition

The disastrous effects of natural hazards such as earthquakes, floods, and hurricanes are often called “Acts of God.”' Challenging that view, this work depicts natural hazards as extreme events in nature that are made even more dangerous by the acts or the neglect of people. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the toll on society resulting from such environmental episodes has changed significantly in several ways--while fatalities from major events have decreased, the number of reported events causing 100 or more deaths, as well as the extent of property damage, has risen steadily. Providing a framework for examining these trends, this volume offers an understanding of how people around the world deal with fluctuations in the local natural systems of air, water, and terrain.

Table of Contents:
Preface to Second Edition, 1 Is the Environment becoming more hazardous? 2 Hazard, Response and Choice 3 The Range of Experience 4 Individual Choice 5 Collective Action 6 National Policy 7 International action 8 Natural Extremes and Social resilience 9 Emerging Synthesis

About the Author :
Ian Burton, Robert W. Kates, Gilbert F. White

Review :
I believe that scientists, architects, engineers, urban planners, emergency managers, and health care specialists involved in natural-disaster-risk management can benefit significantly by reading this book. Planners, emergency managers, medical service specialists, architects, engineers, and scientists have important roles in reducing the risk from natural hazards in their community. Urban planners plan the way groups of engineered and non-engineered buildings will be combined to form streets and ultimately the urban center. Medical service specialists and emergency managers organize the human and material resources of the community for emergency response and recovery. Architects design individual buildings, focusing mainly on the building configuration, non-structural elements, and occupant safety. Engineers, architects, and scientists work together to ensure that new buildings will meet the requirements of the local building and land use regulations and withstand the physical effects of the hazards. --Walter W. Hays, Deputy for Research Applications, United States Department of the Interior This second edition is the long-awaited and much anticipated revision of the 1978 classic, The Environment as Hazard. The superbly written book retains much of the original material, attesting to its relevance decades later, as well as an updated introduction and references. A newly-written chapter that chronicles the merging synthesis of research in the hazards field during the last 15 years provides a broad-based view from the pioneers in the field. Just as the original volume charted the course for hazards research in the 1980s, this revision takes us well into the 21st century. The Environment as Hazard (2E) is yet another triumph for the indefatigable team of Ian Burton, Bob Kates, and Gilbert White. --Susan L. Cutter, Ph.D., Rutgers University No book has had a more profound and lasting impact on the community of hazard scholars and practitioners than The Environment as Hazard. This revision updates and extends the first edition in two important ways--by considering recent trends in the incidence of natural hazards and the means for coping with them, and by examining new research on such issues as vulnerability, hunger, and global environmental change. This welcome reappearance of a benchmark work reaffirms the value of broad-ranging science in the service of a more sustainable and equitable world. --Roger E. Kasperson, Ph.D., Clark University The reference section alone is worth the price--a who's who of national hazards research. There is no hazards book that even matches it. The perspective is so broad that it awakens my students to complexities and inequities in natural hazards. The authors bring the human component into natural hazards. I have yet to find anything that's better. --Jerry Reynolds, Ph.D., University of Central Arkansas, Associate Professor, Geography Dept., (Class: Geography of Natural Hazards, undergrad) Very readable....I can't think of anyone in my graduate seminar who didn't enjoy and benefit from the book....Any graduate student in geography interested in hazards and the environment who hasn't read this book hasn't done [his or her] homework. --Kent B. Barnes, Ph.D., Towson State University The Environment as Hazard provides the overview and definitive statement of extreme hazard perception and mitigation that is comprehensible to the undergraduate student....It can be used as the initial statement and organizing framework for a course on hazards or, as in our case, it can provide a perfect complementary statement as a major section in a more broad-based environmental perception course. --Leo Zonn, Ph.D., East Carolina University - ...The Environment as Hazard is essential reading in any course on natural hazards. --Progress in Physical Geography, 4/11/1993