古来、神の御業や神々の所業と恐れられてきた、嵐、洪水、地震、津波、火山噴火は、地球の仕組みがもたらす自然現象であると理解されるようになり、災害研究においては経済・社会的要因との関連性が議論されてきました。しかし、人間活動がもたらした地球温暖化が暴風雨、洪水、熱波、山火事を増加させ、異常気象が急増する近年、関心は「災害を引き起こすハザードが完全に自然なものであると言えるか」に移行しています。本書では、時に危険な地球を見つめ直し、かつて自然現象と認識されてきた災害の原因と結果について、温暖化と不安定化し続ける気候のプリズムを通して考察します。(注:改訂に際し書名を Global Catastrophes から改称。)
New to this Edition:
In this Very Short Introduction Bill McGuire takes a fresh look at our sometimes perilous planet, and evaluates the causes and consequences of what used to be thought of as 'natural' hazards through the prism of planetary heating and the continuing destabilising of our climate.
Our world has always been a dangerous and deadly place, and storms, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic blasts have taken an enormous toll on lives and livelihoods throughout recorded history and before. In the past, such events were regarded first as acts of God, or gods, and later as simply a consequence of hazardous natural phenomena that are a normal part of how our planet works. In recent decades, however, this picture has changed. Relentless global heating, arising from the 2.4 trillion tonnes of carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere as a result of human activities, has completely altered the 'natural' hazard landscape. There has long been a debate about whether - due to the influence of societal and economic factors - there is such a thing as a truly natural disaster. Now, the debate has moved on to whether or not the hazards that cause them can any longer be described as entirely natural. Our damaged climate has driven an explosion of extreme weather, which has become ever more apparent in recent years via the super-charging of storms, floods, heatwaves and wildfires. The fingerprints of global heating can be detected even in individual events that would have been extremely unlikely to have happened, or even been impossible, in its absence. Meanwhile earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions continue to plague communities and take lives, while even here there are links with a changing climate that have the potential to magnify their occurrence and impacts.
Foreword
1:Hazardous Earth
2:Earthquakes and tsunamis
3:The volcanic menace
4:Storm force
5:Fire and flood
6:Existential threats and systemic shocks
Further Reading
Index
ISBN : 9780192874535
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