This book addresses different aspects of natural hazards and vulnerabilities, with a focus on prevention and protection. It consists of nine chapters, five on flood events addressing vulnerabilities, risk assessments, impacts, sensitivity analyses, and mitigation measures, two on climate change and reconstruction of natural hazard events such as avalanches and rockslides, and two on tsunamis and volcanoes. All chapters provide relevant information and useful elements for readers interested and concerned about the lack of action or its ineffectiveness in containing the vulnerabilities and risks of possible natural hazards worldwide.

Publication of volumes 4 and 5 from the June 1997 conference were significantly delayed (the first three volumes were published in 1997). Volume 5 contains general reports and post-symposium proceedings, including late contributions on engineering geology and geomorphological processes, natural and man-made hazards, urban and regional planning, and protections of geological, geographical, historical, and architectural heritage. Also includedd: a report stemming from a field trip to the Sterea Hellas and Corinth Canal, on the geological and geotechnical conditions of those areas; and the opening and closing speeches. There is no subject index. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR

Catastrophes, it seems, are becoming more frequent in the twenty-first century. According to UN statistics, every year approximately two hundred million people are directly affected by natural disasters_seven times the number of people who are affected by war. Discussions about global warming and fatal disasters such as Katrina and the Tsunami of 2004 have heightened our awareness of natural disasters and of their impact on both local and global communities. Hollywood has also produced numerous disaster movies in recent years, some of which have become blockbusters. This volume demonstrates that natural catastrophes_earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, etc._have exercised a vast impact on humans throughout history and in almost every part of the world. It argues that human attitudes toward catastrophes have changed over time. Surprisingly, this has not necessarily led to a reduction of exposure or risk. The organization of the book resembles a journey around the globe_from Europe to North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, and from the Pacific through South America and Mexico to the United States. While natural disasters appear everywhere on the globe, different cultures, societies, and nations have adopted specific styles for coping with disaster. Indeed, how humans deal with catastrophes depends largely on social and cultural patterns, values, religious belief systems, political institutions, and economic structures. The roles that catastrophes play in society and the meanings they are given vary from one region to the next; they differ_and this is one of the principal arguments of this book_from one cultural, political, and geographic space to the next. The essays collected here help us to understand not only how people in different times throughout history have learned to cope with disaster but also how humans in different parts of the world have developed specific cultural, social, and technological strategies for doing so.

An evaluation carried out by the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG), an autonomous body reporting directly to the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank Group to assess the effectiveness of the Bank's development efforts, and one of the most comprehensive reviews of disaster preparedness and response ever conducted. Calls for new thinking that integrates predictable disaster risks into development programs. Concludes that it is possible to anticipate where many natural disasters will strike, yet expresses concerns that the World Bank's disaster assistance efforts are underutilizing these vital lifesaving forecasts.

Covers natural disaster risk in modern societies and policies for natural disaster reduction in modern societies. Topics include: disaster management in metropolitan areas, urban environmental degradation and vulnerability to disasters, use of mobile satellite communications in disaster management mitigation, application of satellite remote sensing for natural disaster reduction in developing countries, role of non-life insurance in disaster management systems, and much more. Photos, charts and tables.

This unique, multilingual, encyclopedic dictionary in two volumes covers terms regularly used in landscape and urban planning, as well as environmental protection. The languages are American and British English, Spanish (with many Latin-American equivalents), French, and German. The encyclopedia also provides various interpretations of the terms at the planning, legal or technical level, which make its meaning more precise and its usage clearer.