Natural Disasters in a Global Environment - Softcover

Penna, Anthony N.; Rivers, Jennifer S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1118252330 ISBN 13: 9781118252338

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013

Synopsis

Natural Disasters in a Global Environment is a transnational, global and environmental history of natural and man-made disasters. Detailed case studies of past and present events are presented in a historical narrative, making use of the most recent scholarship.

• Examines a range of disasters including volcanoes, earthquakes, floods, landslides, hurricanes, famines, and more
• Highlights the role of science in studying natural disasters and describes the mechanisms responsible for them
• Features a range of case studies which can be used in conjunction with one another or as standalone examples
• Covers scientific material in a lucid and accessible style suited to  undergraduate students or those outside of scientific disciplines
• Traces the transition of our understanding of disasters, from religious and superstitious explanations to contemporary scientific accounts

About this title

About the Author

Anthony N. Penna is Professor Emeritus at Northeastern University. He is the author of Nature’s Bounty: Historical and Modern Environmental Perspectives (1999), Remaking Boston: An Environmental History of the City and Its Surroundings (co-edited with Conrad Edick Wright, 2009), and The Human Footprint: A Global Environmental History (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009).

Jennifer S. Rivers is Professor and Director of the Environmental Studies program at Northeastern University. She holds a PhD from Syracuse University in Earth Science and has over thirty published articles in the field of Environmental Science.

From the Back Cover

Natural Disasters in a Global Environment is a trans-national, global and environmental history of natural and man-made disasters. In order to provide students with the clearest and most powerful accounts of each disaster, the authors employ detailed case studies of past and present events; each case study is written as a historical narrative while making use of the most recent scholarship surrounding these cases. Personal narratives, which appear throughout the text, fully engage students in an appreciation of the complexity - and devastation - of these events.

The text also traces human responses to these occurrences and the historical transition from natural disasters being viewed as acts of a vengeful God to contemporary scientific explanations describing these events as a collection of scientific phenomena resulting from natural forces. This book takes the unique approach of highlighting the role of science and describes the mechanisms responsible for these disasters in lucid and accessible terms in order to provide a better understanding of why they occur.

From the Inside Flap

Natural Disasters in a Global Environment is a trans-national, global and environmental history of natural and man-made disasters. In order to provide students with the clearest and most powerful accounts of each disaster, the authors employ detailed case studies of past and present events; each case study is written as a historical narrative while making use of the most recent scholarship surrounding these cases. Personal narratives, which appear throughout the text, fully engage students in an appreciation of the complexity - and devastation - of these events.

The text also traces human responses to these occurrences and the historical transition from natural disasters being viewed as acts of a vengeful God to contemporary scientific explanations describing these events as a collection of scientific phenomena resulting from natural forces.  This book takes the unique approach of highlighting the role of science and describes the mechanisms responsible for these disasters in lucid and accessible terms in order to provide a better understanding of why they occur.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1118252330
• ISBN 13: 9781118252338
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 360