This Guide supports preparation for the IDBP Geography Paper 2 exam, for SL and HL students planning to answer questions on Option D: Hazards and Disasters. Coverage includes: characteristics of hazards; vulnerability; risk and risk assessment; and adjustments and responses to hazards and disasters. Key features: case studies and exercises to help maximise the originality of your exam answers; tips on improving exam performance and on avoiding common mistakes; concise definitions of key terms; and clear and colourful diagrams.

This book presents landslide studies using the geographic information system (GIS), which includes not only the science of GIS and remote sensing, but also technical innovations, such as detailed light detection and ranging profiles, among others. To date most of the research on landslides has been found in journals on topography, geology, geo-technology, landslides, and GIS, and is limited to specific scientific aspects. Although journal articles on GIS using landslide studies are abundant, there are very few books on this topic. This book is designed to fill that gap and show how the latest GIS technology can contribute in terms of landslide studies. In a related development, the GIS Landslide Workshop was established in Japan 7 years ago in order to communicate and solve the scientific as well as technical problems of GIS analyses, such as how to use GIS software and its functions. The workshop has significantly contributed to progress in the field. Included among the chapters of this book are GIS using susceptibility mapping, analyses of deep-seated and shallow landslides, measuring and visualization of landslide distribution in relation to topography, geological facies and structures, rivers, land use, and infrastructures such as roads and streets. Filled with photographs, figures, and tables, this book is of great value to researchers in the fields of geography, geology, seismology, environment, remote sensing, and atmospheric research, as well as to students in these fields.

This is the first book combining research on the Global Environment, Catastrophic Risks and Economic Theory and Policy. Modern economic theory originated in the middle of the twentieth century when industrial expansion coupled with population growth led to a voracious use of natural resources and global environmental concerns. It is uncontested that, for the first time in recorded history, humans dominate the planet, changing the planet's atmosphere, its bodies of water, and the complex web of species that makes life on earth. This radical change in circumstances led to rethinking of the foundations of human organization and, in particular, the industrial economy and the economic theory behind it. This book brings together new approaches on multiple levels: environmental sustainability requires rethinking in terms of economic theory and policy as well as the considerations of catastrophic risk and extremal events. Leading experts address questions of economic governance, risk management, policy decision making and distribution across time and space.

This book reviews and assesses the various methodologies for site characterization and site effect estimation to carry out seismic zonation at micro and macro levels. Readers will learn about the suitability of these methodologies for each level of zoning that needs to be assessed in order to optimize the resources for carrying out seismic zonation. The Indian sub-continent is highly vulnerable to earthquake hazards, and past studies have focused primarily on the Himalayan region (inter-plate zone) and the northeast region (subduction zone). The book improves understanding of the Peninsular India that also has significantly high seismicity and is prone to earthquakes of sizeable magnitude. Particular attention is given to the various methodologies for assessing seismic hazards, the scales at which site characterizations are carried out, and optimal methods for zonation practices using site data and hazard indexes. Aimed at students, this book will be of use to post-graduates and doctoral students researching seismic zonation, hazard assessment and mitigation, and spatial data in earth sciences.

This book highlights the aeolian processes in the desert zone of Kazakhstan and Central Asian Deserts, and analyzes the current status of dust and sand storms in Central Asia and Kazakhstan. It also highlights the analyses, dynamics and long-term observations of storms on the basis of numerous cartographic materials and satellite images. Dust/sand storms are a common and important phenomenon in the arid and semi-arid regions of Kazakhstan and Central Asia as well,especially in its southern parts, where areas are covered by a great variety of deserts and offer a significant source of mineral and salt aerosols. The deserts of Kazakhstan mostly cover lowlands and extend from the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea to the piedmonts of the Tien-Shan Mountain. In Kazakhstan and Central Asia desertification processes due to wind erosion in the form of dust/sand storms were observed in semi-desert and desert landscapes.

This volume presents the history of marine fog research and applications, and discusses the physical processes leading to fog's formation, evolution, and dissipation. A special emphasis is on the challenges and advancements of fog observation and modeling as well as on efforts toward operational fog forecasting and linkages and feedbacks between marine fog and the environment.

This edited volume is an up-to-date guide for students, policy makers and engineers on earthquake engineering, including methods and technologies for seismic hazard detection and mitigation. The book was written in honour of the late Professor Jai Krishna, who was a pioneer in teaching and research in the field of earthquake engineering in India during his decades-long work at the University of Roorkee (now the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee). The book comprehensively covers the historical development of earthquake engineering in India, and uses this background knowledge to address the need for current advances in earthquake engineering, especially in developing countries. After discussing the history and growth of earthquake engineering in India from the past 50 years, the book addresses the present status of earthquake engineering in regards to the seismic resistant designs of bridges, buildings, railways, and other infrastructures. Specific topics include response spectrum superposition methods, design philosophy, system identification approaches, retaining walls, and shallow foundations. Readers will learn about developments in earthquake engineering over the past 50 years, and how new methods and technologies can be applied towards seismic risk and hazard identification and mitigation.

Puerto Rico lies approximately 1,000 miles southeast of Miami and 1,500 miles from Washington, DC. Despite being far outside the continental United States, the island has played a significant role in American politics and policy since the United States acquired Puerto Rico from Spain in 1898. On 20 September 2017, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm with sustained wind speeds of over 155 miles per hour. At that time, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico was already in recovery mode following the glancing blow struck by Hurricane Irma on 6 September 2017, which left 70% of electricity customers without power. Chapter 1 deals with the challenges to recovery in Puerto Rico and the role of the Financial Oversight and Management Board. Even before the 2017 hurricane season, Puerto Ricos electric power infrastructure was known to be in poor condition, due largely to underinvestment and the perceived poor maintenance practices of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA).Chapter 2 focuses on the recovery of Puerto Rico from the hurricanes, and the restoration of power. The two hurricanes that hit may have been historic, but they exposed a state of affairs in Puerto Rico that existed well before any of the hurricanes made landfall. Decades of mismanagement led to a paralyzing debt burden. Chapter 3 describes the factors that contributed to Puerto Ricos financial condition and levels of debt and federal actions that could address these factors. Chapter 4 examines the economic conditions in Puerto Rico as of the end of 2016, and (2) assesses the potential effects of applying the 2016 Overtime Rule to Puerto Rico. Chapter 5 provides policy and historical background about Puerto Ricos political status -- referring to the relationship between the federal government and a territorial one. Congress has not altered the islands status since 1952, when it approved a territorial constitution.

This book explores the common language of politics, ecology and risk, and crosses their conceptual divides. It seeks to shed light on the underlying structural factors, processes, players and interactions in the risk scenario, all of which influence decision-making that both increases and reduces disaster risk. The first section explores risk governance under conditions of increasing complexity, diversity and change. The discussion includes chapters on The problem of governance in the risk society; Making sense of decentralization; Understanding and conceptualizing risk in large-scale social-ecological systems; The disaster epidemic and Structure, process, and agency in the evaluation of risk governance. Part II, focused on governance in regions and domains of risk, includes nine chapters with discussion of Climate governance and climate change and society; Climate change and the politics of uncertainty; Risk complexity and governance in mountain environments; On the edge: Coastal governance and risk and Governance of megacity disaster risks, among other important topics. Part III discusses directions for further advancement in risk governance, with ten chapters on such topics as the transition From risk society to security society; Governing risk tolerability; Risk and adaptive planning for coastal cities; Profiling risk governance in natural hazards contexts; Confronting the risk of large disasters in nature and Transitions into and out of a crisis mode of socio-ecological systems. The book presents a comprehensive examination of the complexity of both risk and environmental policy-making and of their multiple-and not always visible-interactions in the context of social-ecological systems. Just as important, it also addresses unseen and neglected complementarities between regulatory policy-making and ordinary individual decision-making through the actions of nongovernmental actors. A range of distinguished scholars from a diverse set of disciplines have contributed to the book with their expertise in many areas, including disaster studies, emergency planning and management, ecology, sustainability, environmental planning and management, climate change, geography, spatial planning, development studies, economy, political sciences, public administration, communication, as well as physics and geology.

This book focuses on the links between deep earth (mantle) and shallow processes in areas of active tectonics in the Arabian Plate and Surrounding Areas. It also provides key information for energy resources in these areas. The book is a compilation of selected papers from the Task Force of the International Lithosphere Program (ILP). It comprises a set of research studies from the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean domain focusing on (1) the architecture, geodynamic evolution and modelling of the Red Sea rift system and its surroundings, and tectonics and sedimentation in the Gulf of Corinth, (2) the crustal architecture and georesources of the North Algerian Offshore, (3) Reservoirs, aquifers and fluid transfers in Saudi Basins, Petroleum systems and salt tectonics in Yemen and (4) Cretaceous-Eocene foreland inversions in Saudi Arabia.

This volume provides in-depth coverage of the latest in remote sensing of hydrological extremes: both floods and droughts. The book is divided into two distinct sections - floods and droughts - and offers a variety of techniques for monitoring each. With rapid advances in computer modelling and observing systems, floods and droughts are studied with greater precision today than ever before. Land surface models, especially over the entire Continental United States, can map the hydrological cycle at kilometre and sub-kilometre scales. In the case of smaller areas there is even higher spatial resolution and the only limiting factor is the resolution of input data. In-situ sensors are automated and the data is directly relayed to the world wide web for many hydrological variables such as precipitation, soil moisture, surface temperature and heat fluxes. In addition, satellite remote sensing has advanced to providing twice a day repeat observations at kilometre to ten-kilometre spatial scales. We are at a critical juncture in the study of hydrological extremes, and the GPM and SMAP missions as well as the MODIS and GRACE sensors give us more tools and data than were ever available before. A global variety of chapter authors provides wide-ranging perspectives and case studies that will make this book an indispensable resource for researchers, engineers, and even emergency management and insurance professionals who study and/or manage hydrological extremes.

These proceedings contain a selection of peer-reviewed papers presented at the International Symposium on Geodesy for Earthquake and Natural Hazards (GENAH), Matsushima, Japan, 22-26 July, 2014. The scientific sessions focused on monitoring temporal and spatial changes in Earth's lithosphere and atmosphere using geodetic satellite systems, high rate GNSS as well as high resolution imaging (InSAR, Lidar). Researchers in various fields of geodesy discussed the role of geodesy in disaster mitigation and how groups with different techniques can collaborate toward such a goal.

Why aren't we investing more in disaster resilience, despite the rising costs of disaster events? This book argues that decision-makers in governments, businesses, households, and development agencies tend to focus on avoiding losses from disasters, and perceive the return on investment as uncertain - only realised if a somewhat unlikely disaster event actually happens. This book develops a new business case for investment based on the multiple dividends of resilience. This looks beyond only avoided losses (the first dividend) to the wider benefits gained independently of whether or not the disaster event occurs. These include unleashing entrepreneurial activities and productive investments by lowering the looming threat of losses from disasters and enabling businesses, farmers and homeowners to take positive risks (the second dividend); and co-benefits of resilience measures beyond just disaster risk (the third dividend), such as flood embankments in Bangladesh that double as roads, or wetlands in Colombo that reduce urban heat extremes.

This book analyses the state of the natural environment and the causes of its degradation using the biosphere approach. Further, those issues that must be resolved immediately on the global level are identified following the ideas defined by V.I. Vernadsky, and new principles of Man-Nature interaction are pursued. The modern world currently faces three global trends inducing biosphere degradation and the aggravation of ecological hazards, namely: a) rapid and uncontrolled growth of human population on the Earth and insufficient natural resources to sustain it; (b) technogenesis development; and (c) global climate change and the aggravation of natural disasters. Ecological safety and military security are becoming the crucial conditions for the survival of modern civilization. To mitigate the ecological strain on the Earth, the technogenesis strategy should be changed and many other pressing issues must be resolved. These problems should be addressed using the biosphere approach, because the individual human being is the biosphere constituent, and his or her safety cannot be provided without maintaining the entire natural system on our planet.

This book is based on more than a decade of research the authors have pursued on the pseudo-seismic migration imaging of the transient electromagnetic method, and provides a series of important findings on the theory and applications in this area. It present and analyzes transforming principles, TEM wave field methods, characteristics of the TEM virtual wave field and studies on many significant related technologies. The coverage is supplemented by a wealth of 1-D, 2-D and 3-D figures to illustrate pseudo-seismic theory. The book offers a valuable resource for teachers, students, researchers and engineers in the fields of geophysics, earth exploration and information technology.

This doctoral thesis applies measurements of ground deformation from satellite radar using their potential to play a key role in understanding volcanic and magmatic processes throughout the eruption cycle. However, making these measurements is often problematic, and the processes driving ground deformation are commonly poorly understood. These problems are approached in this thesis in the context of the Cascades Volcanic Arc. From a technical perspective, the thesis develops a new way of using regional-scale weather models to assess a priori the influence of atmospheric uncertainties on satellite measurements of volcano deformation, providing key parameters for volcano monitoring. Next, it presents detailed geodetic studies of two volcanoes in northern California: Medicine Lake Volcano and Lassen Volcanic Centre. Finally, the thesis combines geodetic constraints with petrological inputs to develop a thermal model of cooling magma intrusions. The novelty and range of topics covered in this thesis mean that it is a seminal work in volcanic and magmatic studies.

This book begins with the dynamic characteristics of the covering layerbedrock type slope, containing monitoring data of the seismic array, shaking table tests, numerical analysis and theoretical derivation. Then it focuses on the landslide mechanism and assessment method. It also proposes a model that assessing the hazard area based on the field investigations. Many questions, exercises and solutions are given. Researchers and engineers in the field of Geotechnical Engineering and Anti-seismic Engineering can benefit from it.

This open access book provides a comprehensive overview of volcanic crisis research, the goal being to establish ways of successfully applying volcanology in practice and to identify areas that need to be addressed for future progress. It shows how volcano crises are managed in practice, and helps to establish best practices. Consequently the book brings together authors from all over the globe who work with volcanoes, ranging from observatory volcanologists, disaster practitioners and government officials to NGO-based and government practitioners to address three key aspects of volcanic crises. First, the book explores the unique nature of volcanic hazards, which makes them a particularly challenging threat to forecast and manage, due in part to their varying spatial and temporal characteristics. Second, it presents lessons learned on how to best manage volcanic events based on a number of crises that have shaped our understanding of volcanic hazards and crises management. Third, it discusses the diverse and wide-ranging aspects of communication involved in crises, which merge old practices and new technologies to accommodate an increasingly challenging and globalised world. The information and insights presented here are essential to tapping established knowledge, moving towards more robust volcanic crises management, and understanding how the volcanic world is perceived from a range of standpoints and contexts around the globe.

This book is a collection of papers presented at the International Workshop on Geotechnical Natural Hazards held July 12-15, 2014, in Kitakyushu, Japan. The workshop was the sixth in the series of Japan-Taiwan Joint Workshops on Geotechnical Hazards from Large Earthquakes and Heavy Rainfalls, held under the auspices of the Asian Technical Committee No. 3 on Geotechnology for Natural Hazards of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. It was co-organized by the Japanese Geotechnical Society and the Taiwanese Geotechnical Society. The contents of this book focus on geotechnical and natural hazard-related issues in Asia such as earthquakes, tsunami, rainfall-induced debris flows, slope failures, and landslides. The book contains the latest information and mitigation technology on earthquake- and rainfall-induced geotechnical natural hazards. By dissemination of the latest state-of-the-art research in the area, the information contained in this book will help researchers, designers, consultants, government officials, and academicians involved in the mitigation of natural hazards. The findings and other information provided here is expected to contribute toward the development of a new chapter in disaster prevention and mitigation of geotechnical structures.

This book explores the nexus among food, energy and water in peri-urban areas, demonstrating how relevant this nexus is for environmental sustainability. In particular it examines the effective management of the nexus in the face of the risks and trade-offs of mitigation policies, and as a mean to create resilience to climate change. The book delineates strategies and actions necessary to develop and protect our natural resources and improve the functionality of the nexus, such as: integrated management of the major resources that characterize the metabolism of a city, stronger coordination among stakeholders who often weight differently the services that are relevant to their individual concerns, integration of efforts towards environmental protection, adaptation to and prevention of climate change and disaster risks mitigation.