Many coastal areas of the United States are at risk for tsunamis. After the catastrophic 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, legislation was passed to expand U.S. tsunami warning capabilities. Since then, the nation has made progress in several related areas on both the federal and state levels. At the federal level, NOAA has improved the ability to detect and forecast tsunamis by expanding the sensor network. Other federal and state activities to increase tsunami safety include: improvements to tsunami hazard and evacuation maps for many coastal communities; vulnerability assessments of some coastal populations in several states; and new efforts to increase public awareness of the hazard and how to respond. Tsunami Warning and Preparedness explores the advances made in tsunami detection and preparedness, and identifies the challenges that still remain. The book describes areas of research and development that would improve tsunami education, preparation, and detection, especially with tsunamis that arrive less than an hour after the triggering event. It asserts that seamless coordination between the two Tsunami Warning Centers and clear communications to local officials and the public could create a timely and effective response to coastal communities facing a pending tsuanami. According to Tsunami Warning and Preparedness, minimizing future losses to the nation from tsunamis requires persistent progress across the broad spectrum of efforts including: risk assessment, public education, government coordination, detection and forecasting, and warning-center operations. The book also suggests designing effective interagency exercises, using professional emergency-management standards to prepare communities, and prioritizing funding based on tsunami risk.

This book is a collection of stories, reflections and advice written by proficient scientists. They address the question of what doing science means to them, and describe attitudes and working practices that have proved effective and rewarding. The book is aimed in particular at young people who are attracted by science or already undertaking undergraduate studies, and who are considering making science their long-term profession. It will also be helpful and revealing to early-career scientists who are searching for their own best route to success. The book serves as a platform for experienced scientists to describe their original inclination, how that subjective disposition found its expression in their way of doing science, whether their expectations were met, and what achievements they can claim. But it is not restricted to success: contributors also share details of the limitations and failures they have encountered. Last but not least they describe how they see science now, how they think it will be in the near future, and what advice they would give to the their much younger colleagues. Readers will appreciate the diversity of the individual paths shaped by different education, motivation, ambition, inclination, intuition, feeling, belief and eligibility. At the same time the stories confirm that science relies on a translation of this subjective level into an objective level, one that is shared and accepted by the international scientific community, and whose results are produced with a commonly accepted and fully rational scientific method of investigation.

This volume contains peer-reviewed papers from the Third World Landslide Forum organized by the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) in June 2014. The complete collection of papers from the Forum is published in three full-color volumes and one mono-color volume.

Probabilistic Tsunami Hazard and Risk Analysis: Towards Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience covers recent calls for advances in quantitative tsunami hazard and risk analyses for the synthesis of broad knowledge basis and solid understanding of interdisciplinary fields, spanning seismology, tsunami science, and coastal engineering. These new approaches are essential for enhanced disaster resilience of society under multiple hazards and changing climate as tsunamis can cause catastrophic loss to coastal cities and communities globally. This is a low-probability high-consequence event, and it is not easy to develop effective disaster risk reduction measures. In particular, uncertainties associated with tsunami hazards and risks are large. The knowledge and skills for quantitative probabilistic tsunami hazard and risk assessments are in high demand and are required in various related fields, including disaster risk management (governments and local communities), and the insurance and reinsurance industry (catastrophe model). - Focuses on fundamentals on probabilistic tsunami hazard and risk analysis - Includes case studies covering a wide range of applications related to tsunami hazard and risk assessments - Covers tsunami disaster risk management

Tsunamis in the European-Mediterranean Region: From Historical Record to Risk Mitigation provides readers with a much needed, reliable, and up-to-date history of the region, including descriptions and parameters of the main events from pre-history to the present that are supported by parametric catalogues, pictorial material, and examples of instrumental records, such as tide-gauge records. The book presents a broader perspective of needed action for local and national governments, and international organizations, and is written by an internationally recognized expert in this field, providing an authoritative account of historical tsunamis in the eastern Mediterranean. It addresses key points of tsunami mitigation, including the systems currently available for tsunami recording, monitoring, and early warning, along with a presentation of the preventative measures that can be applied in all tsunami-vulnerable regions. - Details the systems currently available for tsunami recording, monitoring, and early warning, and the technologies that support them - Contains numerical modeling techniques used for the generation, propagation, and inundation of tsunamis - Presents clear examples of tsunamis in the region and their documentation, as well as comparisons with other regions globally - Includes full-color illustrations that accompany the text

From the beginning of 21st century, there has been an awareness of risk in the environment along with a growing concern for the continuing potential damage caused by hazards. In order to ensure environmental sustainability, a better understanding of natural disasters and their impacts is essential. It has been recognized that a holistic and integrated approach to environmental hazards needs to be attempted using common methodologies, such as risk analysis, which involves risk management and risk assessment. Indeed, risk management means reducing the threats posed by known hazards, whereas at the same time accepting unmanageable risks and maximizing any related benefits. The risk management framework involves evaluating the importance of a risk, either quantitatively or qualitatively. Risk assessment comprises three steps, namely risk identification (data base, event monitoring, statistical inference), risk estimation (magnitude, frequency, economic costs) and risk evaluation (cost-benefit analysis). Nevertheless, the risk management framework also includes a fourth step, risk governance, i.e. the need for a feedback of all the risk assessment undertakings. There is currently a lack of such feedback which constitutes a serious deficiency in the reduction of environmental hazards. This book emphasises methodological approaches and procedures of the three main components in the study of environmental hazards, namely forecasting - nowcasting (before), monitoring (during) and assessment (after), based on geoinformatic technologies and data and simulation through examples and case studies. These are considered within the risk management framework and, in particular, within the three components of risk assessment, namely risk identification, risk estimation and risk evaluation. This approach is a contemporary and innovative procedure and constitutes current research in the field of environmental hazards. Environmental Hazards Methodologies for Risk Assessment and Management covers hydrological hazards (floods, droughts, storms, hail, desertification), biophysical hazards (frost, heat waves, epidemics, forest fires), geological hazards (landslides, snow avalanches), tectonic hazards (earthquakes, volcanoes), and technological hazards. This book provides a text and a resource on environmental hazards for senior undergraduate students, graduate students on all courses related to environmental hazards and risk assessment and management. It is a valuable handbook for researchers and professionals of environmental science, environmental economics and management, and engineering. Editor: Nicolas R. Dalezios, University of Thessaly, Greece