Disasters have a devastating effect on the lives of people. The occurrence of a disaster can kill thousands in an instance, injure many others, damage homes and destroy livelihoods. It is of essential importance that the response to a disaster is as effective and adequate as possible to limit and alleviate the suffering of disaster survivors. To this end, affected states can make use of offers of humanitarian assistance made by other states, international (humanitarian) organisations and NGOs. Such international assistance is vital for the effective response to a disaster when the affected state is unable (or unwilling) to respond adequately. When in such cases the affected state refuses to accept international humanitarian assistance, the disaster survivors suffer the consequences.Within public international law there are no legally binding instruments dealing explicitly with the obligations of states in the aftermath of disasters. Rather, a variety of sources can be used as pieces of a puzzle determining to what extent states have an obligation to accept international humanitarian assistance in disaster settings. In the first part of this book, these pieces of the puzzle are put together to create a legal framework explaining the steps an affected state must take in seeking and accepting humanitarian assistance. It becomes clear from the application of this framework that detail is lacking to make the framework of practical use. The needs which disaster survivors are usually deprived of (shelter, food, water and access to basic healthcare) are laid down as human rights in the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The second part of the book will use this human rights instrument to concretise the legal framework, as such setting standards determining when an affected state must accept international humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of a disaster.

Exploring Risk Communication presents a systematic planning approach to risk communication. Risk communication is seen by many as an important tool for managing technological, environmental, and natural risks. The book's goal is to improve risk communication processes in these areas between private and public risk communication sources and the public. The systematic planning approach focuses on research activities which are considered to be diagnostic tools providing insight into the public's reactions to risks and into the public's cognitive abilities to process risk information. These studies give us the necessary ingredients for an adequate risk communication from the audience side of the risk communication process. Evaluation studies are considered necessary to monitor the effectiveness of the communication. Exploring Risk Communication provides a review of current research in risk communication, focusing on perceived trust and credibility of risk communication sources, and arguments in risk messages, risk comparison, and framing of risk. Special attention is paid to the mass media context of risks and its impact on public perception. Finally, the potential of the new interactive media for risk communication is reviewed. The authors have performed several communication studies in the risk area, working from their social psychological background. This results in a monograph interesting to those working on risk communication issues on an academic level, but the systematic planning approach is also a useful frame of reference for risk communication practitioners, or for those who are just interested in the often complex risk communication issues.

Causes of major disasters are many and diverse, and the risks associated with them endanger human lives, property, the environment, the economy, and even the country's political and social well-being. It is clear that, with rapid population growth, environmental degradation, climate change, poorly regulated industries, and continued economic uncertainty, the chances are that communities may become more vulnerable to disasters. The dramatic losses in recent years from volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and landslides, wildland fires, droughts and floods, cyclones and storm surges attest to the fact that we are still a long way from applying even the knowledge we have today to make communities safe. Tackling this problem requires a sound evaluation of disaster mitigation policies and tools. As a contribution to the International Decade for Natural Disasters Reduction (IDNDR), the fifth international symposium HAZARDS-93 was held in Qingdao, P.R. China on 29 August - 3 September, 1993. China is a country frequently hit by almost all kinds of disasters. Its history is one of combating natural disasters and working towards their reduction. More than 250 scientists, engineers and government officials from 20 countries met for the purpose of engaging in a free exchange of knowledge, experience and ideas regarding the scientific and socio-economic aspects of mitigating losses from natural and man- made disasters. A total of 180 papers were presented at 28 sessions covering a very broad range of topics related to disaster management. The twenty-one articles included in this book deal with the scientific and management issues of land-based and marine hazards which cause the most severe economic losses, deaths and environmental degradation in many parts of the world. The book also includes specific recommendations addressed to the IDNDR Secretariat, national governments and scientific experts to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of disaster management. Thus, Land-Based and Marine Hazards: Scientific and Management Issues forms an excellent reference for scientists, engineers, policy-makers and the insurance industry.

This book provides a critical perspective on people's response to disasters in the Philippines. It draws upon an array of case studies to discuss people's vulnerability, capacities and resilience in facing a wide range of different hazards.

Natural hazards such as earthquakes, landslides, floods, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, and hurricanes cause environmental, economic as well as sociological problems worldwide. In recent years, greater availability of information and sensational media reports of natural hazard occurrence -and in particular in terms of property damage or loss oflife caused by these hazards -resulted in an increase of hazard awareness at a societal level. This increase in public awareness has often been misconstrued as an indication that natural hazards have been occurring more frequently with higher magnitudes in recent years/decades, thus causing more damage than in the past. It is still under debate, however, to which extent recent increases in damage can be related to changing frequencies of natural processes, or whether catastrophic events occur at similar rates as they always had. If the latter is the case, the reason for a greater damage can be related to dramatic population growth over the last century, with a substantial augmentation of population density in some regions. Indeed, the implications are more server in underdeveloped and developing countries, where urbanisation has increasingly occurred in hazard prone areas such as coastal zones, alluvial river plains and steep slopes, thus causing an increase in the exposure to natural hazards. Some groups of society in wealthy countries accept higher risks in order to live directly on top of a cliff or on a steep slope to enjoy panoramic views of the landscape.

This volume is dedicated to the memory of Barclay G. Jones, Professor of City and Regional Planning and Regional Science at Cornell University. Over a decade ago, Barclay took on a fledgling area of study - economic modeling of disasters - and nurtured its early development. He served as the social science program director at the National Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (NCEER), a university consortium sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the United States. In this capacity, Barclay shepherded and attracted a number of regional scientists to the study of disasters. He organized a conference, held in the ill-fated World Trade Center in September 1995, on "The Economic Consequences of Earthquakes: Preparing for the Unexpected. " He persistently advocated the importance of social science research in an establishment dominated by less-than-sympathetic natural scientists and engineers. In 1993, Barclay organized the first of a series of sessions on "Measuring Regional Economic Effects of Unscheduled Events" at the North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International (RSAI). This unusual nomenclature brought attention to the challenge that disasters -largely unanticipated, often sudden, and always disorderly - pose to the regional science modeling tradition. The sessions provided an annual forum for a growing coalition of researchers, where previously the literature had been fragmentary, scattered, and episodic. Since Barclay's unexpected passing in 1997, we have continued this effort in his tradition.

Disasters are part of the modern condition, a source of physical anxiety and existential angst, and they are increasing in frequency, cost and severity. Drawing on both disaster research and social theory, this book offers a critical examination of their causes, consequences and future avoidance.

This study explores the role of refugees in international relations by looking at the largest involuntary migration of Ukrainians in history. Using both Western and newly-available Soviet sources it sheds light on Grand Alliance policies towards World War II Ukrainian refugees. It demonstrates how the activities of this particular group of refugees had an impact on international refugee policy and provides insight into the origins of the Cold War.

In 1997 disastrous flooding running through the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany took the lives of a great number of people and caused economic damage estimated in tens of billions of dollars. Flooding of the Yangtze river in 1998 killed more than 3000 people, dislocated 230 million souls, and caused direct damage of more than $ 45 billion. Both the general public and the experts are asking what we can learn from these recent events to reduce loss of life and flood damage. The 1997 floods were dealt with by experts from the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany, who presented timely reports on combatting floods, both success stories and shortcomings. This experience is further extended by reports from experts drawn from 13 other countries, developing a broad overview of flood risk management, covering the ecosystem approach to flood management, including socioeconomic issues, flood impacts on water quality, human health, and natural ecosystems.

Just as the sinking of the Titanic is embedded in the public consciousness in the English-speaking world, so the crash of JAL flight JL123 is part of the Japanese collective memory. The 1985 crash involved the largest loss of life for any single air crash in the world. 520 people, many of whom had been returning to their ancestral home for the Obon religious festival, were killed; there were only four survivors. This book tells the story of the crash, discusses the many controversial issues surrounding it, and considers why it has come to have such importance for many Japanese. It shows how the Japanese responded to the disaster: trying to comprehend how a faulty repair may have caused the crash, and the fact that rescue services took such a long time to reach the remote crash site; how the bereaved dealt with their loss; how the media in Japan and in the wider world reported the disaster; and how the disaster is remembered and commemorated. The book highlights the media coverage of anniversary events and the Japanese books and films about the crash; the very particular memorialization process in Japan, alongside Japanese attitudes to death and religion; it points out in what ways this crash both reflects typical Japanese behaviour and in what ways the crash is unique.

At the present time, the deepening of our understanding about the nature of extreme and catastrophic natural and man-induced events, in particular hydrologic ones, becomes very topical. This book addresses the development of advanced methods for the prediction, the estimation of occurrence probabilities and the risk related to extreme hydrological events. Reduction of the vulnerability of social, economic, and engineering systems to extreme hydrologic events and the decrease of their effects on such systems is also being discussed in this book.

Early in the Covid-19 pandemic, Salim S. Abdool Karim was catapulted into a prominent position in the media and on television as the face of South African science in the country's response to the pandemic. Up to that point, his groundbreaking research on AIDS had garnered many awards, leading to his recognition as one of the world’s leading epidemiologists, making him ideally positioned to take the scientific lead in the Covid-19 response.

Standing Up for Science is Abdool Karim’s personal, behind-the-scenes account of the first three years of the Covid-19 pandemic. It is inspiring and informative, shedding light on the difficulties in providing scientific advice, on the international co-operation that was integral to responding to the pandemic, as well as giving insight to some of the controversies in the science-to-policy process, and drawing lessons from Covid-19 to prepare for future pandemics.

Beyond the recent events in which the story is grounded, the book is an ode to the value of science and its power to help us tackle some of the world's biggest problems.

The terror attacks of 9.11 signalled that people are increasingly put at risk of not only terrorism but natural and technological disasters as well. Since 9.11 scholars have been asking new questions about catastrophe and made important and interesting innovations in methods, concepts, and theories regarding disaster and terror. This volume brings together a creative set of papers, most of which are about the 9.11 attacks. They draw from several disciplines to address key questions: what lessons does the response to the collapse of the World Trade Center have for disaster planning? what has 9.11 meant for civil liberties in the US? how will survivors react over the long run? and how do we conceptualize panic and mass response?

Just as the sinking of the Titanic is embedded in the public consciousness in the English-speaking world, so the crash of JAL flight JL123 is part of the Japanese collective memory. The 1985 crash involved the largest loss of life for any single air crash in the world. 520 people, many of whom had been returning to their ancestral home for the Obon religious festival, were killed; there were only four survivors.

This book tells the story of the crash, discusses the many controversial issues surrounding it, and considers why it has come to have such importance for many Japanese. It shows how the Japanese responded to the disaster: trying to comprehend how a faulty repair may have caused the crash, and the fact that rescue services took such a long time to reach the remote crash site; how the bereaved dealt with their loss; how the media in Japan and in the wider world reported the disaster; and how the disaster is remembered and commemorated. The book highlights the media coverage of anniversary events and the Japanese books and films about the crash; the very particular memorialization process in Japan, alongside Japanese attitudes to death and religion; it points out in what ways this crash both reflects typical Japanese behaviour and in what ways the crash is unique.

First published in 1989, Chernobyl: The Long Shadow offers a balanced review of what happened there, why and how it happened, and what the main lessons and implications of the accident are.

It looks back on events during and after the disaster, in particular reviewing how it and the radiation fallout were dealt with in different countries and looks forward to how the incident might affect the nuclear power industry around the world. The book explores the significance of the accident within the Soviet Union, considers its impact on public confidence in nuclear power, and reviews what improvements are necessary in emergency planning throughout the rest of the world.

It is written from an inter-disciplinary perspective; based on detailedscienctific research, which is described in non-specialist terms, it considers themes like attitudes to nuclear power and political reaction to the accident itself. It sets the Chernobyl accident into a proper context.

Chernobyl: The Long Shadow will appeal to students and teachers of geography, environmental science, international politics, nuclear physics, and to anyone interested in current affairs and environmental problems.

"Told through the voices of local community leaders, this book analyzes how communities respond to natural disasters and how outsiders contribute positively--or negatively--to their response, promoting debate on the role of aid and the media in times of crisis"--

Henry Giroux continues his critique of the US political and popular culture 's influence on the lives of our children.

In his controversial new book, Giroux argues that the US is at war with young people. No longer seen as the future of a democratic society, youth are now derided by politicians looking for quick-fix solutions to crime and demonized by the popular media. This perception of fear and disdain is being translated into social policy . Instead of providing a decent education to young people, we offer them the increasing potential of being incarcerated. Instead of guaranteeing them decent health care, we serve them more standardized tests. There's a war on in the US these days, and Giroux sees our youth as the target.

Landmines, cluster-bombs, chemical pollutants, and other remnants of war continue to cause death to humans and damage to the environment long after the guns have fallen silent. From the jungles of Vietnam to the arctic tundra of Russia, no region has escaped the legacy of warfare.

To understand the legacy of modern militarism, this book presents an overview of post-conflict societies, with an emphasis on the human toll exacted by modern warfare.

On 24 February 2022, the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, armoured vehicles approached the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine. It was the most direct way for them to reach the capital - and an extraordinarily reckless plan after the disaster that had taken place there three decades earlier. Russian occupation of the plant had begun. It would last thirty-five days.

Closely reported and narrated from multiple perspectives, this is the story of the Ukrainians who were held hostage and worked shifts for weeks instead of days to spare the world a new nuclear accident. We meet Valentyn Heiko, the foreman who had also been there for the clean-up of the Chernobyl accident in 1986 and turned sixty during the occupation; plant workers who found a way to celebrate International Women’s Day despite all odds; Russian officers who had no knowledge of nuclear reactors; and four stalkers who were caught in the middle and stood in for the overworked cook.

Gripping and unforgettable, Chernobyl Roulette sounds the alarm about the dangers of nuclear sites in an unprecedented time, when plant workers are left to fight on their own while the world holds its breath. In a book that reads like a thriller, Serhii Plokhy tells a remarkable story about human nature, uncertainty and courage.

Since the end of the cold war, civil wars and state violence have escalated, resulting in thousands of deaths. This book provides a toolbox for donors, international agencies, and developing countries to prevent humanitarian emergencies. The emphasis is on long-term development policies rather than mediation or reconstruction after the conflict ensues. Policies include democratization, reforming institutions, strengthening civil society, improving the state's administrative capability, agrarian reform, accelerating economic growth through stabilization and adjustment, reducing inequalities, and redesigning aid to be more stable.

Climate Change: Observed Impacts on Planet Earth, Third Edition, brings together top global researchers across many disciplines to provide a comprehensive review on the complex issue of climate change and weather patterns. The third edition continues its tradition of focusing on the science and evidence on this highly politicized topic. Every chapter is updated, with this new edition featuring new chapters on topics such as glacier melt, the impacts of rising temperatures, extreme weather, modeling techniques, biodiversity, and more. This book is essential for researchers, environmental managers, engineers, and those whose work is impacted by, or tied to, climate change and global warming.