Disaster By Choice

Author : Ilan Kelman
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0192578286
Total Pages : 192 pages
Book Rating : 4.80/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Disaster by Choice written by Ilan Kelman and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-02-27 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An earthquake shatters Haiti and a hurricane slices through Texas. We hear that nature runs rampant, seeking to destroy us through these 'natural disasters'. Science recounts a different story, however: disasters are not the consequence of natural causes; they are the consequence of human choices and decisions. we put ourselves in harm's way; we fail to take measures which we know would prevent disasters, no matter what the environment does. This can be both hard to accept, and hard to unravel. A complex of factors shape disasters. They arise from the political processes dictating where and what we build, and from social circumstances which create and perpetuate poverty and discrimination. They develop from the social preference to blame nature for the damage wrought, when in fact events such as earthquakes and storms are entirely commonplace environmental processes We feel the need to fight natural forces, to reclaim what we assume is ours, and to protect ourselves from what we perceive to be wrath from outside our communities. This attitude distracts us from the real causes of disasters: humanity's decisions, as societies and as individuals. It stops us accepting the real solutions to disasters: making better decisions. This book explores stories of some of our worst disasters to show how we can and should act to stop people dying when nature unleashes its energies. The disaster is not the tornado, the volcanic eruption, or climate change, but the deaths and injuries, the loss of irreplaceable property, and the lack and even denial of support to affected people, so that a short-term interruption becomes a long-term recovery nightmare. But we can combat this, as Kelman shows, describing inspiring examples of effective human action that limits damage, such as managing flooding in Toronto and villages in Bangladesh, or wildfire in Colorado. Throughout, his message is clear: there is no such thing as a natural disaster. The disaster lies in our inability to deal with the environment and with ourselves.

Author : Ilan Kelman
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN 13 : 0198841345
Total Pages : 180 pages
Book Rating : 4.40/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Disaster by Choice written by Ilan Kelman and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We speak of earthquakes, floods, and wildfires as 'natural disasters'. In this provocative book, Ilan Kelman argues that the true disaster is not caused by natural phenomena, but by human choices which leave people unprepared and at terrible risk. He explores how we can and should act to stop people dying when nature unleashes its powers.

Author : Gregory Squires
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1136084827
Total Pages : 324 pages
Book Rating : 4.29/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

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.

Author : Gordon M. Goldstein
Publisher : Macmillan
ISBN 13 : 0805079718
Total Pages : 318 pages
Book Rating : 4.15/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Lessons in Disaster written by Gordon M. Goldstein and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2008 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 11th Subejct: National Security -- United States-- 20th century.

Author : Susan W. Kieffer
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 0393080951
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.57/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The Dynamics of Disaster written by Susan W. Kieffer and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2013-10-21 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Natural disasters bedevil our planet, and each appears to be a unique event. Leading geologist Susan W. Kieffer shows how all disasters are connected. In 2011, there were fourteen natural calamities that each destroyed over a billion dollars’ worth of property in the United States alone. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy ravaged the East Coast and major earthquakes struck in Italy, the Philippines, Iran, and Afghanistan. In the first half of 2013, the awful drumbeat continued—a monster supertornado struck Moore, Oklahoma; a powerful earthquake shook Sichuan, China; a cyclone ravaged Queensland, Australia; massive floods inundated Jakarta, Indonesia; and the largest wildfire ever engulfed a large part of Colorado. Despite these events, we still behave as if natural disasters are outliers. Why else would we continue to build new communities near active volcanoes, on tectonically active faults, on flood plains, and in areas routinely lashed by vicious storms? A famous historian once observed that “civilization exists by geologic consent, subject to change without notice.” In the pages of this unique book, leading geologist Susan W. Kieffer provides a primer on most types of natural disasters: earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, landslides, hurricanes, cyclones, and tornadoes. By taking us behind the scenes of the underlying geology that causes them, she shows why natural disasters are more common than we realize, and that their impact on us will increase as our growing population crowds us into ever more vulnerable areas. Kieffer describes how natural disasters result from “changes in state” in a geologic system, much as when water turns to steam. By understanding what causes these changes of state, we can begin to understand the dynamics of natural disasters. In the book’s concluding chapter, Kieffer outlines how we might better prepare for, and in some cases prevent, future disasters. She also calls for the creation of an organization, something akin to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but focused on pending natural disasters.

Author : Jamie McGuire
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1476719071
Total Pages : 416 pages
Book Rating : 4.78/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Beautiful Disaster Signed Limited Edition written by Jamie McGuire and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-11-27 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abby Abernathy is re-inventing herself as the good girl as she begins her freshman year at college, which is why she must resist lean, cut, and tattooed Travis Maddox, a classic bad boy.

Author : Bill Gates
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0385546149
Total Pages : 201 pages
Book Rating : 4.40/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book How to Avoid a Climate Disaster written by Bill Gates and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2021-02-16 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • In this urgent, authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical—and accessible—plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid a climate catastrophe. Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science, and finance, he has focused on what must be done in order to stop the planet's slide to certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only explains why we need to work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases, but also details what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal. He gives us a clear-eyed description of the challenges we face. Drawing on his understanding of innovation and what it takes to get new ideas into the market, he describes the areas in which technology is already helping to reduce emissions, where and how the current technology can be made to function more effectively, where breakthrough technologies are needed, and who is working on these essential innovations. Finally, he lays out a concrete, practical plan for achieving the goal of zero emissions—suggesting not only policies that governments should adopt, but what we as individuals can do to keep our government, our employers, and ourselves accountable in this crucial enterprise. As Bill Gates makes clear, achieving zero emissions will not be simple or easy to do, but if we follow the plan he sets out here, it is a goal firmly within our reach.

Author : Karla Vermeulen
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0190061650
Total Pages : 265 pages
Book Rating : 4.54/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Generation Disaster written by Karla Vermeulen and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-08-13 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Generation Disaster: Coming of Age Post-9/11 focuses on the numerous stressors that have had an impact on today's emerging adults including climate change, school shootings, economic recession, and of course, the national trauma of 9/11. Disaster mental health expert Karla Vermeulen draws on a combination of statistics, academic sources, and her own original research, including results from a nationally representative survey, to examine these challenges as they are experienced by emerging adults who continue to fight for their future. The result is a corrective to previous works that dismiss "kids today" as fragile or entitled, and instead emphasizes the generation's strength in the face of unprecedented uncertainties and obstacles.

Author : Havidán Rodríguez
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 331963254X
Total Pages : 619 pages
Book Rating : 4.44/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Handbook of Disaster Research written by Havidán Rodríguez and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-11-16 with total page 619 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This timely Handbook is based on the principle that disasters are social constructions and focuses on social science disaster research. It provides an interdisciplinary approach to disasters with theoretical, methodological, and practical applications. Attention is given to conceptual issues dealing with the concept "disaster" and to methodological issues relating to research on disasters. These include Geographic Information Systems as a useful research tool and its implications for future research. This seminal work is the first interdisciplinary collection of disaster research as it stands now while outlining how the field will continue to grow.

Author : Gary Paulsen
Publisher : Yearling
ISBN 13 : 0375866108
Total Pages : 114 pages
Book Rating : 4.04/5 ( download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Masters of Disaster written by Gary Paulsen and published by Yearling. This book was released on 2011-08-09 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Roped into wacky attempts to break world records, imitate scenes from books, and other inspired ideas, Riley and Reed follow their fearless leader Henry into the wilderness, the bull-riding ring, a haunted house, cataclysmic collision with explosive life forms, and off the roof of a house on a bike.