7th Edition
Environmental Hazards Assessing Risk and Reducing Disaster
The seventh edition of Environmental Hazards provides a much expanded and fully up-to-date overview of all the extreme environmental events that threaten people and what they value in the 21st century globally. It integrates cutting-edge materials to provide an interdisciplinary approach to environmental hazards and their management, illustrating how natural and human systems interact to place communities of all sizes, and at all stages of economic development, at risk. Part 1 defines basic concepts of hazard, risk, vulnerability and disaster and explores the evolution of hazards theory. Part 2 employs a consistent chapter structure to demonstrate how individual hazards occur, their impacts and how the risks can be assessed and managed.
This extensively revised edition includes:
- Fresh perspectives on the reliability of disaster data, disaster risk reduction, risk and disaster perception and communication, and new technologies available to assist with environmental hazard management
- The addition of several new environmental hazards including landslide and avalanches, cryospheric hazards, karst and subsidence hazards, and hazards of the Anthropocene
- More boxed sections with a focus on both generic issues and the lessons to be learned from a carefully selected range of up-to-date extreme events
- An annotated list of key resources, including further reading and relevant websites, for all chapters
- More colour diagrams and photographs, and more than 1,000 references to some of the most significant and recent published material
- New exercises to assist teaching in the classroom, or self-learning
This carefully structured and balanced textbook captures the complexity and dynamism of environmental hazards and is essential reading for students across many disciplines including geography, environmental science, environmental studies and natural resources.
Foreword by Mami Mizutori
Part One: The Nature of Hazard
Chapter 1 – Hazard in the Environment
Chapter 2 – Dimensions of Disaster
Chapter 3 – Vulnerability, Resilience, and Sustainability
Chapter 4 – Risk Assessment and Management
Chapter 5 – Disaster Risk Reduction
Part Two: The Experience and Reduction of Hazard
Chapter 6 – Earthquake hazards
Chapter 7 – Volcanic hazards
Chapter 8 – Tsunami hazards
Chapter 9 – Mass Movements
Chapter 10 – Storms
Chapter 11 – Floods
Chapter 12 – Drought
Chapter 13 – Extreme Temperatures
Chapter 14 – Wildfires
Chapter 15 – Epidemic Diseases
Part Three: Environmental Hazard and Risk in an Anthropocene
Chapter 16 – Anthropocene Changes
Chapter 17 – Industrial and Waste Hazards
Chapter 18 – Climate and Beyond
Chapter 19 – Using Environmental Hazards Knowledge for Action
Biography
Keith Smith was Emeritus Professor at the University of Stirling, UK.
Carina J. Fearnley is Professor in Science Communication and Warning Research at University College London in the Department of Science and Technology Studies.
Deborah Dixon is Professor of Geography in the School of Geographical & Earth Sciences at the University of Glasgow, UK.
Deanne K. Bird is Adjunct Research Fellow at the Monash University Disaster Resilience Initiative, Australia, and a Research Specialist with the Nordic Centre of Excellence on Resilience and Societal Security (NORDRESS), University of Iceland.
Ilan Kelman is Professor of Disasters and Health in the Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction and Institute for Global Health at the University College London, UK and Professor II at the University of Agder, Norway.
"The 7th edition of Environmental Hazards is like having coffee with an old friend - the coffee is just better. This timely update of this classic text brings to the fold the latest in hazard, risk, and disaster risk reduction. I believe this is, and remains, an essential text for students, academics, and policy makers alike."
Dewald van Niekerk, African Centre for Disaster Studies, North-West University, South Africa.
"This book provides a clear explanation of hazard and resilience typology in environmental science so that readers can completely understand the terminology and its usage. The updates of the current pandemic and "new" types of disasters are also covered, providing insights and connecting the events with the existing theory on disaster management and environmental issues. Highly recommended for undergraduates and graduates alike to have an excellent understanding on the subject on hazard, resiliency and environmental issues."
Elisabeth Rianawati, Director, Resilience Development Initiative (RDI).
"This book provides one of the most comprehensive compilations on the important topic of Environmental Hazards with cross cutting relations with disaster risk reduction. The book eloquently describes hazards, risks and its assessment and management. I find this book a great reference for the students, researchers and practitioners in the related field."
Professor Rajib Shaw, Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, Japan.
"This timely new edition of a now classic text forefronts the latest perspectives on hazards and disasters without losing sight of the salient history of ideas and interventions. It is a tremendous learning resource, and an invaluable reference for anyone interested in, or involved with, disaster risk reduction."
Clive Oppenheimer, Cambridge University, UK.
