Description
Reports of natural disasters fill the media with regularity. Places in the world are affected by natural disaster events every day. Such events include earthquakes, cyclones, tsunamis, wildfires – the list could go on for considerable length. In the 1990s there was a concentrated focus on natural disaster information and mitigation during the International Decade for Natural Disasters Reduction (IDNDR). The information was technical and provided the basis for major initiatives in building structures designed for seismic safety, slope stability, severe storm warning systems, and global monitoring and reporting. Mitigation, or planning in the event that natural hazards prevalent in a region would suddenly become natural disasters, was a major goal of the decade-long program. During the IDNDR, this book was conceptualized, and planning for its completion began. The editors saw the need for a book that would reach a broad range of readers who were not actively or directly engaged in natural disasters relief or mitigation planning, but who were in decision-making positions that provided an open window for addressing natural disaster issues. Those people were largely elected public officials, teachers, non-governmental organization staff, and staff of faith-based organizations. Those people, for the most part, come to know very well the human and physical characteristics of the place in which they are based. With that local outreach in mind, the editors intended the book to encourage readers to: 1. Preface.- Acknowledgments.- Introduction by Joseph P. Stoltman, John Lidstone, and Lisa M. DeChano.- Chapter 1: Earthquakes by Walter Hays.- Chapter 2: Volcanoes by Raymundo S. Punongbayan.- Chapter 3: Windstorms by Tony Gibbs.- Chapter 4: Global Flooding by John Handmer.- Chapter 5: Wildfires by Steven Yool.- Chapter 6: Mass Movement by isa M. DeChano.- Chapter 7: Drought by D.A. Wilhite.- Chapter 8: Natural Hazards in Japan by Hiroshi Sasaki and Shuji Yamakawa.- Chapter 9: Natural Disasters in China by Yang Hua Ting.- Chapter 10: Natural Disasters in Oceania by George Pararas-Carayannis.- Chapter 11: Hazard Mitigation in South and Southeast Asia by Nehal Karim.- Chapter 12: Natural Disasters in Africa by Belinda Dodson.- Chapter 13: Natural Disasters in Russia by V.M. Kotlyakov.- Chapter 14: Natural Disasters in Europe by Lea Houtsonen and Arvo Peltonen.- Chapter 15: Natural Disasters and Their Impact in Latin America by James J. Biles and Daniel Cobos.- Chapter 16: Disaster Impacts on the Caribbean by Jeremy Collymore.- Chapter 17: A Perspective on North American Natural Disasters by Joseph Scanlon.- Chapter 18: Teaching and Learning to Live with the Environment by Kath Murdoch.- Chapter 19: Educational Aims and the Question of Priorities by Graham Haydon.- Chapter 20: The Experience of Natural Disasters: Psychological Perspectives and Understandings by Joseph P. Reser.- Chapter 21: Curriculum Innovation for Natural Disaster Reduction: Lessons from the Commonwealth Caribbean by Michael Morrissey.- Chapter 22: Curriculum Adaptation and Disaster Prevention in Colombia by Omar D. Cardona.-Chapter 23: Current Curriculum Initiatives and Perspectives in Education for Natural Disaster Reduction in India by R.B. Singh.- Chapter 24: Disaster Education in New Zealand by John Macaulay.- Chapter 25: Natural Disasters and the Role of Women by Jacqueline Sims.- Chapter 26: Natural Hazards and Disaster Information on the Internet by John A. Cross and Yasuyo Makido.- Chapter 27: Capacity Building, Education, and Technical Training by Joseph P. Stoltman, John Lidstone, and Lisa M. DeChano.- Index.- List of Figures on CD-ROM.- CD-ROM of All Figures by Chapter: Inside Back Cover
