NATURAL DISASTERS

• Main Author: Abbott, Patrick L.
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: Boston McGraw-Hill/Higher Education 2006
• Edition: 5th ed
• Subjects: Natural disasters
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.
• Item Description: Includes index
• Physical Description: xvii, 496 pages some colour illustrations , maps 28 cm
• ISBN: 0072826819; 0073040770

This book focuses on natural disasters: how the normal processes of the Earth concentrate their energies and deal heavy blows to humans and their structures. It largely ignores the numerous case histories describing human actions and r sultant environmental responses: these topics are left to the excellent textbooks on environmental geology. Nor does this book address resource extraction, uti lization, and disposal; these subjects are covered by fine textbooks on earth re sources, minerals, energy, soils, and water. This book is concerned with how the natural world operates and, in so doing, kills and maims humans and destroys their works. Throughout the book, certain themes are maintained: • Energy sources underlying disasters • Plate tectonics and climate change • Earth processes operating in rock, water, and atmosphere • Significance of geologic time • Complexities of multiple riables operating simultaneously • Detailed and readable case histories The text aims to explain important principles about the Earth and then develop fur ther understanding through numerous case histories. I hope that students will actu ally enjoy reading most of this book. The primary organization of the book is based on an energy theme. Chapter I leads off with data describing natural disasters and the human population. Chapter 2 examines the energy sources underlying disasters: (1) Earth's internal energy from its formative impacts and continuing decay of radioactive elements: (2) gravity: (3) external energy from the Sun: and (4) impacts with asteroids and comets.