Overall Score:

Target Readership	Secondary					For help with criteria, click here
Presentation/Style
Content
Literature
Originality
Overall

Return to main review page

Contents:

1 - Hazard in the environment; 2 - Dimensions of disaster; 3 - Risk assessment and management; 4 - Reducing the impacts of disaster; 5 - Tectonic hazards: earthquakes; 6 - Tectonic hazards: volcanoes; 7 - Mass movement hazards; 8 - Severe storm hazards; 9 - Biophysical hazards; 10: Hydrological hazards: floods; 11 - Hydrological hazards: droughts; 12 - Technological hazards; 13 - Context hazards.

Review:

You can argue that a subject is starting to get noticed when a major business starts commenting on it. In this case, one of the world's largest re-insurers, Munich Re, is constantly reminding us of the problems we face with hazards. Add to this the evidence linking increasing hazard severity with global environmental change and you can see that any text focussed on this area is going to be useful.

In this case we have a more unusual text. In a subject not often considered by those outside to be moving fast, this is the fourth edition in about 15 years. It suggests a growth both of the subject and the material within it. Although this aspect has changed the original idea - to provide a good introductory text - has not. The text is divided into two equating roughly with theory and practice. Chapter one starts with an overview of the idea of hazard - a useful point because our perspectives have changed. This moves on to look at the types of events covered and the degree of severity needed to become a hazard. It's an important point: a rain shower is not a hazard until it becomes a storm but the basic processes are still the same. Chapter two looks at the dimensions of disaster i.e. patterns of type, location, severity and time. Hazards, almost be definition, are risky events. At what stage a concern becomes alarm and a natural process becomes a hazard is the subject of chapter three. Sadly, there is no easy answer: hazard is a cultural phenomenon as much as anything else and risk management is a new subject spin-off from this. Since hazards have much more force than any human-induced event it follows that the best we can do is to reduce their impact - mitigation in terms of chapter four. Having gained some idea of the complexity of hazard study we move to the second part which is sub-titled 'the experience and reduction of hazard'. Although there were frequent cases in part one, here each hazard is dealt with in turn along with notable cases. The first hazard is earthquakes. The first stage is to describe the formation of the hazard and what it does when it strikes. Usefully, the author uses the idea of primary and secondary effects i.e. those caused by the hazard and those caused as a result of what the hazard does. This is not always done in other texts but it gives the reader a chance to see where the dangers lie. All of this takes up about half of the chapter with the remainder being given over to mitigation and protection measures. Chapter six looks at volcanoes. At the time of writing, Mt St Helens is threatening to erupt again, providing a useful case to the material added here. Chapter 7 looks at mass movement - landslides and avalanches. As with the previous case we get causes and effects along with mitigation and protection measures. Chapter 8 examines the nature and impact of storms (a candidate for increased activity under a greenhouse world). Chapter 9 comprises those cases which need mentioning but which have less widespread impact. Grouped as biophysical hazards it includes, wildfires, disease and heat/cold. Chapters 10 and 11 are linked through water: either too much (10) or too little (11). Either way, there are problems dealing with such natural forces. As the world runs short of clean drinking water, such issues will become increasingly important. Chapter 12 changes course to look, briefly, as the hazards we create ourselves especially in terms of radiation, pesticides etc. A final chapter deals with 'context' hazards. These are the hazards that are important only in one setting or are low-key at present but threatening to become larger over time. It includes global warming, El Nino, and meteorite.

This is an excellent text. It is very clearly written and gives both framework and substance to those starting to study the topic. There are numerous cases from around the world each one with all the necessary detail to allow the reader to see what is happening. A select range of key texts is given for each chapter. Although there are a few texts on the market in this area , this text wins by virtue of clarity of ideas and breadth of study: a good purchase for both institute and personal library.