Civil society organizations (CSOs) have played important roles over the years in the disaster field. Starting from the traditional approach of response and relief, the emphasis has gradually shifted to disaster risk reduction. From international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to national and local NGOs, all stakeholders have recognized the significance of and need for community-based risk reduction. In their different capacities they have endeavored to establish links to the policy options at the local and national levels. There still are many issues that remain untouched by CSOs, however, and local CSOs face special challenges in resources in terms of human, financial, and technical issues. Drawing examples from Asia, this book is structured on the roles of CSOs according to the Hyogo Framework for Action priority areas: policy making, risk assessment, education and training, underlying risk factors, and response-recovery. The primary target groups for this book are students and researchers in the fields of environment, disaster risk reduction, and climate change studies. The book provides a clear view of the current trends of research in the field and furnishes basic knowledge on these important topics. Another target group comprises practitioners and policy makers, who will be able to apply the knowledge collected here to policy and decision making.

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.

This analysis of the aftermath of earthquakes in Japan, Turkey and India reveals important insights into how the outcome of each was affected by the different styles of state-society relationships. Using a comparative approach the book also seeks to draw out patterns and lessons that can be applied more generally to societies in the aftermath of such events. The result is a groundbreaking work that will be of major importance to all those whose work involves them in dealing with the aftermath of disasters and major conflict

This book addresses two common problems encountered by emergency services personnel: the design and implementation of evacuation warning systems to ensure citizen compliance with the directives of authorities and the permanent relocation of families threatened by hazards. The authors pay particular attention to the problems of constructing warning messages; to the citizen's interpretation of message content; the techniques of delivering warning messages; and the management of citizen movements out of threatened areas. Administrative issues related to variations in compliance among ethnic groups are also noted. In the second section, the authors explore the social psychological impact and the logistical, administrative, public policy, and political aspects of relocation. They elaborate a series of principles of positive relocation general enough to apply to a variety of relocation situations.

OSHA (29 CFR 1910.119) has recognized AIChE/DIERS two-phase flow publications as examples of "good engineering practice" for process safety management of highly hazardous materials. The prediction of when two-phase flow venting will occur, and the applicability of various sizing methods for two-phase vapor-liquid flashing flow, is of particular interest when designing emergency relief systems to handle runaway reactions. This comprehensive sourcebook brings together a wealth of information on methods that can be used to safely size emergency relief systems for two-phase vapor-liquid flow for flashing or frozen, viscous or nonviscous fluids. Design methodologies are illustrated by selected sample problems. Written by industrial experts in the safety field, this book will be invaluable to those charged with operating, designing, or managing today's and tomorrow's chemical process industry facilities.

Andrea Simonelli provides the first in-depth evaluation of climate displacement in the field of political science, specifically global governance. She evaluates four intergovernmental organizations (UNHCR, IOM, OCHA and the UNFCCC), and the structural and political constraints regarding their potential expansion to govern this new issue area.

This book sets out to develop a new framework for the analysis and understanding of large natural disasters occurring in developing countries in the last three decades, and their effects on the economy and society. In doing so, it challenges many of the accepted wisdoms of disaster theory upon which policy prescriptions are built. A number of important issues are addressed and analysed within this framework. The reliability of current statistics about disasters is questioned, and the effects of disaster situations on the main economic aggregates are examined. The author also looks at the importance of indirect disaster effects, the motivations of disaster response, and the impact of both capital loss and disaster response on output. He assesses the minimum level of additional investment required to secure a balanced recovery, and the extent to which a society's structure and dynamics determine people's vulnerability to disasters. Finally, the overall effects of disaster situations on economy and society are considered. The author concludes that although disasters are primarily a problem of development, they are not necessarily a problem for development. What we should be looking at are the underlying social and economic processes within developing countries which structure the impact of natural disasters, rather than at disasters as unforeseen events requiring large scale intervention. An important feature of the book is the deconstruction of the notion of disaster. Disasters, the author points out, cannot be analysed in isolation from the particular social and political setting in which they occur.

Assembling a high profile group of scholars and practitioners, this book investigates the interplay of forecasting; warnings about, and responses to, known and unknown transnational risks. It challenges conventional accounts of 'failures' of warning and preventive policy in both the academic literature and public debate.

This valuable edition brings together 26 peer reviewed articles on technical, socio-economic, environmental and policy aspects of flood risk management. These articles contribute to the five sections with the general themes: i) flood risk management practice, ii) flood events and impacts, iii) flood analysis and modelling iv) flood forecasting and v) flood risk management policy. Some emerging technologies are presented and several future challenges are identified.

Some of our most disturbing images of Hurricane Katrina involve the very old, trapped in flooded nursing homes, and the very young, sick in toxic trailers. Using the Katrina-Rita nexus as its reference point, Lifespan Perspectives on Natural Disasters takes the developmental long view on human strengths and vulnerabilities during large-scale devastation and crisis. An expert panel of behavioral scientists and first responders analyzes the psychological impact of natural disasters on-and coping faculties associated with-children, adolescents, and young, middle-aged, older, young-old and late-life oldest-old adults. This timely information is invaluable both to mental health service providers and to those tasked with developing age-appropriate disaster preparedness, intervention, and recovery programs. In addition, the book references other deadly storms as well as other major catastrophic events (e.g., the September 11 attacks, the Indian Ocean Tsunami), and includes such topics as:

• Young children's understanding of hurricanes.
• Positive adjustment in youth after Katrina.
• How families make meaning out of disaster.
• Disaster recovery in the workplace.
• Recovery services for the frail elderly.
• Coping and health in late life.
• Preparation and training mental health personnel for disasters.

Unique in the disaster literature, Lifespan Perspectives on Natural Disasters serves as a research reference and idea book for professionals and graduate-level students in psychology, social work, and disaster preparedness and services.

Comprising a selection of articles dedicated to disaster management this volume focuses on the challenges arising from extreme natural phenomena and descriptions of methods for assessing their occurrence probability and of measures for mitigating their intensity and detrimental effects.The first group of articles describes general strategies for risk assessment and mitigation, providing examples in the context of various kinds of natural disasters. The economic impact of mitigation measures, communities' differing coping capabilities, human attitudes towards relocation and possible links to climate change are among the topics considered. Natural strategies are outlined in the contexts of Turkey, Brazil and United Arab Emirates.The second part of the book is concerned with disasters from specific natural causes starting with a group of ten articles on floods.The corresponding contributions address flood frequency, vulnerability and resilience of communities, response of small and medium enterprises, risk in terms of financial losses, private investment participation to mitigation measures, assessment of design solutions against flood hazard, sleeper dykes as a means of reducing risk, preparedness of hospitals, causes of highway flooding and their relative importance, and impact of floods on poor communities. The third set of articles are related to earthquake-related hazards describing, in particular, an analysis tool providing integrated risk, coping capacity and management output, a method for assessing vulnerability considering key contributing factors, a technique for urban aftershock management and damage assessment, and neural network modelling to estimate tsunami damage.Finally, a group of three articles address issues related to landslides, namely, slope management as a means of reducing risk and losses, early warning based on rainfall data, and hazard prediction using favourability function modelling and spatial target mapping software.Providing a unique global perspective this volume focuses on recent developments over a wide range of topics that cannot be found in similar, currently available, publications in this field.This is a valuable addition to the relevant literature available to researchers and engineers working on risk assessment and mitigation of natural disaster intensity and consequences. It will appeal of those working in academic and research environments as well as governmental, professional, national and international organisations.

Innovation in the world's institutions and global politics as well as in the physical environment and practices of the contemporary societies has raised the need for specific and up-to-date knowledge about the politics and policies of relief, aid and reconstruction. This book advances the political analysis of international disaster policies which have been mostly in the domain of other social sciences. Exploring the formation of this field of study, this collection analyses the most recent disaster events including the Haiti earthquake, the tsunami in the Pacific Ocean and the genocide in Rwanda and Former Yugoslavia. Broadly linked to constructivism and neo-institutionalism, this book also looks at the impact of these cooperation policies on the governance of the present global system.

The news media has become a key arena for staging environmental conflicts. Through a range of illuminating examples ranging from climate change to oil spills, Media, Environment and the Network Society provides a timely and far-reaching analysis of the media politics of contemporary environmental debates.

b>'ROBERT FISK HAS BEEN REPORTING FROM THE MIDDLE EAST WITH INCOMPARABLE DEPTH AND UNDERSTANDING…AND EXTRAORDINARY COURAGE' NOAM CHOMSKY

In this final work from renowned journalist Robert Fisk, he picks up reporting on the Middle East where his internationally bestselling The Great War of Civilisation left off.

From the Arab uprisings and the Syrian civil war to Israel’s conflicts with Palestine and Lebanon, Fisk condemns the West’s ongoing hypocrisy and interference while revealing the horrific truth of life on the ground. Unafraid to criticise authority and unpick complex truths, hecreates a compelling narrative of passionate and engaging journalism, historical analysis and eyewitness reporting.

With a Postscript by Nelofer Pazira-Fisk and a foreword by Patrick Cockburn, Night of Power delivers an essential and prophetic account of the last twenty years, which exposes the inescapable consequences of colonial oppression and violence in the Middle East.

‘This is a masterly work by a unique and gifted “historian of the present”, who was unafraid to criticise authority while revealing the horrific realities of life and death on the ground’ Conor O’Clery, Irish Times

‘Every sentence of Robert Fisk radiates his loathe of wars and the inevitable dehumanization they produce, which makes his (sadly) last book an everlasting warning, beyond its value as a meticulous historical recount and analysis of today's events’ Amira Hass, journalist, Haaretz

'Fisk's reporting is clear-eyed and unflinching, a model for what journalists should aspire to practice in their ever more important and widely threatened craft' Anthony Arnove, editor, Iraq Under Siege and author, Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal

‘I was at the funeral of a friend of mine, in Kilternan cemetery … I came across Robert Fisk’s grave. Someone has to bear witness to the unspeakable, and he did it, whatever the cost to himself’ Neil Jordan, film director and writer