Natural Hazards [Paperback]

Edward Bryant (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521537436 | ISBN-13: 978-0521537438 | Publication Date: February 21, 2005 | Edition: Updated

This updated new edition presents a comprehensive, inter-disciplinary analysis of the complete range of natural hazards. Edward Bryant describes and explains how hazards occur, examines prediction methods, considers recent and historical hazard events and explores the social impact of such disasters. Supported by over 180 maps, diagrams and photographs, this standard text is an invaluable guide for students and professionals in the field. First Edition Hb (1991): 0-521-37295-X First Edition Pb (1991): 0-521-37889-3

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...Professor Bryant's heroic compilation is an excellent guide." Scientific American

"...highly informative....A useful text and reference source." Choice

"This new edition is multidisciplinary, comprehensive, and clearly up-to-date, and it incorporates an abundance of recent literature concerning the problems brought on by climate change. Essential." CHOICE

"Natural Hazards is a valuable contribution to the U.N. International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. It will appeal to students, scientists, and disaster risk managers. It will also appeal to the general public interested in natural hazards." EOS-Transactions, Badaoui Rouhban

Book Description

Natural hazards afflict all corners of the Earth; often unexpected, seemingly unavoidable and frequently catastrophic in their impact. This revised edition is a comprehensive, inter-disciplinary treatment of the full range of natural hazards. Accessible, readable and well supported by over 180 maps, diagrams and photographs, it is a standard text for students and an invaluable guide for professionals in the field.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; Updated edition (February 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521537436
• ISBN-13: 978-0521537438
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #237,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Complete treatise on climatic and geological hazards, August 8, 2004

By 

Pieter van Gelder (Delft, NL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Natural Hazards (Paperback)

With this book Dr. Bryant (from Wollongong University, Aus) gives a complete overview on natural hazards, as well as its social impacts. Apart from how natural hazards occur, the author also presents (controversial) methods how to predict hazards from occurring again (on short and long term). Bryant starts his book with his successful forecasts of the Australian summer 88/89. He was then able to predict the start of heavy precipitation in Australia NSW starting on Nov 15, 1988 and ending on June 30, 1989. He claims that there is sound scientific evidence that cosmic / planetary links exist with the occurrence of earthquakes and floods. The 11-year sunspot cycle and the 18.6-year lunar cycle (caused by the moon's orbit fluctuation) are used to show a correlation with the ENSO index, occurrences of floods and droughts in North America, Northern China, Australia, Patagonia, amongst others. Very surprising he also shows that in some parts of the world (such as the Mediterranean) the sunspot frequency and the seismic activity are correlated, via fluctuations in the Earth's rotation (in the order of milliseconds). However, if earthquake occurrence is dominated by some force external to the Earth (as mentioned by the author), then one would expect clustering to be taking place at the same time worldwide, which is not supported by the data.

The book contains a lot of case studies with photographs, tables and figures of natural disasters. There is an abundance of references, which makes this book a very valuable work. The Dutch case study of coastal floods in 1953 is presented with a small mistake though. Not the dams fronting the old Zuiderzee were breached, but the dikes of the southern province of Zeeland were overtopped and slided because of extreme wind set up.