Contemporary movies and television programs often depict the world as we know it displaced, awash in ocean tides or broken into pieces by devastating earthquakes. The climate data coming through news outlets can seem to reinforce this fatalistic view, with earth warming records hitting new levels year after year. While it can seem like natural disasters are increasingly affecting our world, is there data to support this perception or is this view of events mediated by panicked activists and the media? This anthology explores key ideas and opinions regarding discussions about natural disasters, including subjects such as the frequency and severity of natural disasters, poor infrastructure, human activity, and the economic costs of natural disasters.

Over the last 30 years, 6,367 natural disasters killed more than 2 million people. A cumulative total of 5.1 billion individuals were affected, of which 182 million were left homeless.These same disasters caused US$1.4 trillion worth of damages. Data on natural disasters and their impact on populations and economies play an essential role in understanding the factors that increase human vulnerability and the importance of disaster preparedness, mitigation and prevention.

Natural disaster risk is emerging as an increasingly important constraint on economic development and poverty reduction. This paper first sets out the key stylized facts in the area-that the costs of disaster have been increasing, seem set to continue to increase, and bear especially heavily on the poorest. It then reviews the key economic issues at stake, focusing in particular on the actual and prospective roles of, and interaction between, market instruments and public interventions in dealing with disaster risk. Key sources of market failure include the difficulty of risk spreading and, perhaps even more fundamental, the Samaritan's dilemma: the underinvestment in protective measures associated with the rational expectation that others will provide support if disaster occurs. Innovations addressing each of these are discussed.

Natural Disasters theme in two volumes is a component of Encyclopedia of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. Natural hazards arise unexpectedly, without any discernible regularity, and leave an indelible trace in nature, sometimes for many decades to come. At present they are appreciably complicated by anthropogenic influence, lending them an adverse and often catastrophic character. The susceptibility of a society to the impact of natural disasters is conditioned by the natural environment, and the vulnerability of the society to such phenomena is historically associated with the type of the nature management. Natural disasters can be of geological and hydrometeorological origin; the specific group of such phenomena is presented by natural disasters in mountains. This volume deals with the natural disaster and covers several topics, with a myriad of issues of great relevance to our world such as: Geological Catastrophes; Climate-Related Hazards; Mountain Disasters and Snow Avalanches, which are then expanded into multiple subtopics, each as a chapter. These two volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College Students Educators, Professional Practitioners, Research Personnel and Policy Analysts, Managers, and Decision Makers, NGOs and GOs.

This book explores economic concepts related to disaster losses, describes mechanisms that determine the economic consequences of a disaster, and reviews methodologies for making decisions regarding risk management and adaptation. The author addresses the need for better understanding of the consequences of disasters and reviews and analyzes three scientific debates on linkage between disaster risk management and adaptation to climate change. The first involves the existence and magnitude of long-term economic impact of natural disasters on development. The second is the disagreement over whether any development is the proper solution to high vulnerability to disaster risk. The third debate involves the difficulty of drawing connections between natural disasters and climate change and the challenge in managing them through an integrated strategy. The introduction describes economic views of disaster, including direct and indirect costs, output and welfare losses, and use of econometric tools to measure losses. The next section defines disaster risk, delineates between “good” and “bad” risk-taking, and discusses a pathway to balanced growth. A section entitled “Trends in Hazards and the Role of Climate Change” sets scenarios for climate change analysis, discusses statistical and physical models for downscaling global climate scenarios to extreme event scenarios, and considers how to consider extremes of hot and cold, storms, wind, drought and flood. Another section analyzes case studies on hurricanes and the US coastline; sea-level rises and storm surge in Copenhagen; and heavy precipitation in Mumbai. A section on Methodologies for disaster risk management includes a study on cost-benefit analysis of coastal protections in New Orleans, and one on early-warning systems in developing countries. The next section outlines decision-making in disaster risk management, including robust decision-making, No-regret and No-risk strategies; and strategies that reduce time horizons for decision-making. Among the conclusions is the assertion that risk management policies must recognize the benefits of risk-taking and avoid suppressing it entirely. The main message is that a combination of disaster-risk-reduction, resilience-building and adaptation policies can yield large potential gains and synergies.

Since the turn of the millennium, more than one million people have been killed and 2.3 billion others have been directly affected by natural disasters around the world. In cases like the 2010 Haiti earthquake or the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, these disasters have time and time again wrecked large populations and national infrastructures. While recognizing that improved rescue, evacuation, and disease control are crucial to reducing the effects of natural disasters, in the final analysis, poverty remains the main risk factor determining the long-term impact of natural hazards. Furthermore, natural disasters have themselves a tremendous impact on the poorest of the poor, who are often ill-prepared to deal with natural hazards and for whom a hurricane, an earthquake, or a drought can mean a permanent submersion in poverty. The Economic Impacts of Natural Disasters focuses on these concerns for poverty and vulnerability. Written by a collection of esteemed scholars in disaster management and sustainable development, the report provides an overview of the general trends in natural disasters and their effects by focusing on a critical analysis of different methodologies used to assess the economic impact of natural disasters. Economic Impacts presents six national case studies (Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, Nicaragua, Japan and the Netherlands) and shows how household surveys and country-level macroeconomic data can analyze and quantify the economic impact of disasters. The researchers within Economic Impacts have created path-breaking work and have opened new avenues for thinking and debate to push forward the frontiers of knowledge on economics of natural disasters.

This book encompasses discussions between Kathryn Gow and Douglas Paton, both psychologists who have researched stress, burnout, trauma, and recovery in natural disasters. They suggest that few books have been written for health professionals, and persons directly involved with leading and managing emergency teams on what constitutes resilience in individuals and groups in communities, and how they differ in response and recovery. The outcome is a three part book with contributors from the field, research institutions, emergency service sectors, support agencies and the media. Its main purpose is to focus on the resilience of people and communities following NDs and to educate the sectors already involved in natural disasters.

This two-volume encyclopedia provides the science behind such heart-pumping geophysical hazards as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, cyclones, and floods, as well as authoritative entries on notable natural disasters around the world and the agencies that help those they impact. Natural Hazards and Disasters explores the sometimes harsh effects of nature on human life. The set discusses the physical science behind specific types of hazards and disasters (such as blizzards and tsunamis), their impact on our lives, how damage is mitigated or prevented, recovery and reconstruction, and the current research and technology used for managing or even eliminating the hazards. Written by experts in the field, the set also explores a variety of extreme events from around the world, including the 2010–2011 Christchurch Earthquakes (New Zealand), the 2017–2018 Thomas Fire (United States), and the 2018 Kerala Floods (India). Also covered are the world's major international and nonprofit aid agencies, like the Salvation Army and Oxfam, that assist disaster victims.