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Books > Earth & environment > The environment > Environmental impact of natural disasters & phenomena
This book is an overview of the National Response Framework (NRF)
and how the nation conducts an all-hazards response. It is built
upon scalable, flexible, and adaptable co-ordinating structures to
align key roles and responsibilities across the nation. It
describes specific authorities and best practices for managing
incidents that range from the serious but purely local, to
large-scale terrorist attacks or catastrophic natural disasters.
This book explains the common discipline and structures that have
been exercised and matured at the local, tribal, state and national
levels over time. It describes key lessons learned from Hurricanes
Katrina and Rita, focusing particularly on how the Federal
Government is organised to support communities and states in
catastrophic incidents. Most importantly, it builds upon the
National Incident Management System (NIMS), which provides a
consistent template for managing incidents. The term "response" as
used in this book includes immediate actions to save lives, protect
property and the environment, and meet basic human needs. Response
also includes the execution of emergency plans and actions to
support short-term recovery. This book is written especially for
government executives, private-sector and non-governmental
organisation (NGO) leaders, and emergency management practitioners.
This book, for the first time, introduces comprehensively all main
topics of lifeline earthquake engineering, including the structure
analysis, network evaluation, and network design. The distinctive
features involved in this book are the construction of theories and
methods for stochastic analysis of structures based the physical
idea, probability analytical algorithms for network evaluation by
employing Boolean Algebra, functional evaluation of water
distribution networks using hydraulic analysis, and network design
methods by employing genetic, simulated annealing, and hybrid
algorithms.
Popular culture is flourishing again, with a renewed interest in
the ET and UFO phenomena. We are inundated with films, TV
programmes and books, plus many conspiracy theories, dealing with
the phenomena. Governments and security agencies are denying any
interest in the issue, yet releasing masses of documents (mostly
unreadable) after being compelled to, by the Freedom of Information
Act. Such speculation and documentation in ancient writings
suggests that an unearthly presence has been in Earth-space for
many generations. The question of this situation must reach a
culminating point sometime in the near future. This book is
concerned with the cultural shock and social disorientation that
would obviously occur with a sudden appearance en-mass of an alien
race finally revealing themselves to humanity and how the people of
Earth would react.
This contributed volume discusses essential topics and the
fundamentals for Big Data Emergency Management and primarily
focusses on the application of Big Data for Emergency Management.
It walks the reader through the state of the art, in different
facets of the big disaster data field. This includes many elements
that are important for these technologies to have real-world
impact. This book brings together different computational
techniques from: machine learning, communication network analysis,
natural language processing, knowledge graphs, data mining, and
information visualization, aiming at methods that are typically
used for processing big emergency data. This book also provides
authoritative insights and highlights valuable lessons by
distinguished authors, who are leaders in this field. Emergencies
are severe, large-scale, non-routine events that disrupt the normal
functioning of a community or a society, causing widespread and
overwhelming losses and impacts. Emergency Management is the
process of planning and taking actions to minimize the social and
physical impact of emergencies and reduces the community's
vulnerability to the consequences of emergencies. Information
exchange before, during and after the disaster periods can greatly
reduce the losses caused by the emergency. This allows people to
make better use of the available resources, such as relief
materials and medical supplies. It also provides a channel through
which reports on casualties and losses in each affected area, can
be delivered expeditiously. Big Data-Driven Emergency Management
refers to applying advanced data collection and analysis
technologies to achieve more effective and responsive
decision-making during emergencies. Researchers, engineers and
computer scientists working in Big Data Emergency Management, who
need to deal with large and complex sets of data will want to
purchase this book. Advanced-level students interested in
data-driven emergency/crisis/disaster management will also want to
purchase this book as a study guide.
This book provides a complete study of the Central Andean volcanism
and its most distinctive features, from the lower Paleozoic to the
Cenozoic times in the framework of its processes, eruptive
mechanisms and geodynamic conditions. It helps readers understand
the nature of the volcanic geology and the volcaniclastic related
deposits linked to the evolution of the Andean continental margin.
Special attention is paid to the analysis of the ancient volcanic
successions and the difficulties in recognition of the original
rock type caused by the effects of deformation, metamorphism and
alteration. The authors use distinctive cases to describe how to
apply different tools in analysis and interpretation. The selected
representative, well exposed and preserved volcanic records of the
Southern Central Andes analyzed in this book open new perspectives
in the understanding of the volcanic processes linked to active
continental margins as the Central Andes. This book will be of
special interest to volcanologists and specialists in the earth
sciences and appeal to both undergraduate and graduate students in
geology.
Unless they research the subject for themselves, many people do not
realise that the origins and development of the human entity are
largely an unresolved mystery. Before the Author's own research, he
was among them. He found that he also had been subtly indoctrinated
with such remarks 'cousins' and 'relatives' with regard to the apes
and assumed like most others, that all the facts where in. When you
read the work, you will find that this is simply not true. So
begins 'The Human Enigma', a truly epic enquiry into the origins of
our world and the creatures that walk upon. In particular, it
examines the human brain as a uniquely wonderful creation which can
be viewed as a gift from God (or was it the gods?) besides
Darwinian evolution and Biblical creation. This book explores the
fanatic proposition that mankind's rapid development with regard to
the human brain may have been influenced by extra terrestrial
sources. This work refers to, and draws together the previous work
of respected scientists and looks at the future scenarios that the
latest genetic and environmental sciences are pointing towards.
This book covers several dimensions of disaster studies as an
emerging discipline. It is the inaugural book in the series
'Disaster Studies and Management' and deals with questions such as
"Is disaster management a field of practice, a profession, or
simply a new area of study?" Exploring intersectionalities, the
book also examines areas of research that could help enhance the
discourse on disaster management from policy and practice
perspectives, revisiting conventional event-centric approaches,
which are the basis for most writings on the subject. Several case
studies and comparative analyses reflect a critical reading of
research and practice concerning disasters and their management.
The book offers valuable insights into various subjects including
the challenge of establishing inter- and multi-disciplinary teams
within the academia involved in disaster studies, and sociological
and anthropological readings of post-disaster memoryscapes. Each of
the contributors has an enduring interest in disaster studies, thus
enriching the book immensely. This book will be of interest to all
the students and scholars of disaster studies and disaster
management, as well as to practitioners and policymakers.
In recent years, much attention has been focused on the roles that
the private sector and federal government play in providing
insurance and financial aid before and after catastrophic events.
In this context, the authors examined (1) the rationale for and
resources of federal and state programs that provide natural
catastrophe insurance; (2) the extent to which Americans living in
catastrophe-prone areas of the United States are uninsured and
underinsured, and the types and amounts of federal payments to such
individuals since the 2005 hurricanes; and (3) public policy
options for revising the federal role in natural catastrophe
insurance markets.
A drought is a period of unusually persistent dry weather that
costs long enough to cause serious problems such as crop damage
and/or water supply shortages. The severity of the drought depends
upon the degree of moisture deficiency, the duration, and the size
of the affected area. There are actually four different ways that
drought can be defined. Meteorological is a measure of departure of
precipitation from normal. Due to climatic differences, what might
be considered a drought in one location of the country may not be a
drought in another location. Agricultural - refers to a situation
where the amount of moisture in the soil no longer meets the needs
of a particular crop. Hydrological - occurs when surface and
subsurface water supplies are below normal. Socioeconomic -- refers
to the situation that occurs when physical water shortages begin to
affect people. This book presents leading research from around the
globe.
This book explains the physics behind seismic ground motions and
seismic waves to graduate and upper undergraduate students as well
as to professionals. Both seismic ground motions and seismic waves
are terms for "shaking" due to earthquakes, but it is common that
shaking in the near-field of an earthquake source is called seismic
ground motion and in the far-field is called seismic waves. Seismic
ground motion is often described by the tensor formula based on the
representation theorem, but in this book explicit formulation is
emphasized beginning with Augustus Edward Hough Love (1863 - 1940).
The book also explains in depth the equations and methods used for
analysis and computation of shaking close to an earthquake source.
In addition, it provides in detail information and knowledge
related to teleseismic body waves, which are frequently used in the
analysis of the source of an earthquake.
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Rhododendron
(Hardcover)
Steve Graeper, Judi Graeper
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R1,018
R814
Discovery Miles 8 140
Save R204 (20%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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This book explains to governments, decision makers and disaster
professionals the potential uses of recent technologies for
disaster monitoring and risk reduction based on the knowledge and
experience of prominent experts/researchers in the relevant fields.
It discusses the application of recent technological developments
for emerging disaster risks in today's societies and deliberates on
the various aspects of disaster risk reduction strategies,
especially through sustainable community resilience and responses.
This book consists of selected invited papers on disaster
management, which focus on community resilience and responses
towards disaster risk reduction based on experiences, and closely
examines the coordinated research activities involving all
stakeholders, especially the communities at risk. Many regions of
the world and aspects of disaster risk and its management are
covered. It is described how recent technologies will support
better understanding and action to reduce the number and impact of
disasters in future. The principal audience for this book is
researchers, urban planners, policy makers, as well as students.
This book provides hands-on conceptual, theoretical, and case study
discussions on vulnerability and resilience in the global south.
This book covers the core of adaptation strategies in developing
countries context in an easy-to-follow theoretical and empirical
examples. This book shares contemporary approaches on
vulnerability, adaptation strategies, and resilience, which aim to
assist its targeted audience (academics, policymakers, and
practitioners) to understand and make informed decisions in a wide
variety of real-world resilience situations.
In China's 4,000-year-long history and modern development, natural
disaster management has been about not only human combat against
devastating natural forces, but also institutional building,
political struggle, and economic interest redistribution among
different institutional players. A significant payoff for social
scientists studying disasters is that they can reveal much of the
hidden nature of political and economic processes and structures,
particularly those in non-democracies, which are normally covered
up with great care. This book reviews the problems and progress in
the politics of China's disaster management. It analyses the
factors in China's governance and political process that restrains
its capacity to manage disasters. The book helps the audience
better understand the dynamic relationship among various interest
groups and civic forces in modern China's disaster politics, with
special emphasis on the process of pluralization, decentralization
and fragmentation.
This book is a collection of works written by young scientists
involved in the Integrated Disaster Risk Research (IRDR).
Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) is a decade-long
research programme co-sponsored by the International Science
Council (merged by International Council for Science (ICSU), the
International Social Science Council (ISSC), and the United Nations
Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). It is a global,
multi-disciplinary approach to dealing with the challenges brought
by natural disasters, mitigating their impacts, and improving
related policy-making mechanisms. The book examines
multidisciplinary research and actions related to disaster risk
reduction internationally. The Integrated Research on Disaster Risk
(IRDR) Young Scientists programme is: * A sub-programme within IRDR
which promotes capacity building of young professionals and
encourages them to undertake innovative and need-based research
which makes science-policy and science-practice linkages stronger.
* IRDR Young Scientists Programme was started in late 2016.
Currently, it is a community of 115 young researchers from over 40
countries after 3 batches of application. * IRDR network and
partners provide academic advice and training courses, workshops,
and programmes for IRDR young scientists. * IRDR young scientists
contribute to innovative research in the field of disaster risk
reduction and participate in conferences and/or social media as the
ambassador of IRDR. The book is of interest to researchers and
scholars in the field of governance of sustainability and
environmental governance. Postgraduate students will benefit this
book within courses on environmental governance, on climate change
governance, and on transformation and social change processes.
Societal actors in climate change adaptation and other
environmental governance fields on local, national, and
international levels can benefit from the focus on societally
relevant findings in the past 10 years of research on adaptiveness.
This book provides an introduction to the critical role of
ecosystem-based disaster risk resilience (Eco-DRR) for building
community resilience to multiple environmental risks such as rising
heat, water stress, and pollution. Blue-green infrastructure (BGI)
is an Eco-DRR tool that is an under-explored paradigm and can
respond as one common strategy to targets set by the Sustainable
Development Goals (UNDP), Climate Agreements (UNEP), the Sendai
Framework (UNISDR), and the New Urban Agenda (UNCHS). Highlighted
here in a systematic way is the importance of blue-green
infrastructures in resilience building. The purpose is to introduce
readers to the challenging context of development and opportunity
creation for Eco-DRR. The roles of policy, scientific research, and
implementation are presented cohesively. An attractive proposition
of the book is a collection of case studies from different parts of
the world where integration of BGI is experimented with at various
levels of success. It envisages that shared tacit experiences from
the realm of practice will further strengthen explicit knowledge.
The focus in this book is on need and context building, policy and
science (investigation, analysis, and design), case studies, and a
road map for the future in four successive parts. Each part is
self-sufficient yet linked to its predecessor, successor, or both,
as the case may be.
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