The Economic Impacts of Natural Disasters


Book Description

This work combines research and empirical evidence on the economic costs of disasters with theoretical approaches. It provides new insights on how to assess and manage the costs and impacts of disaster prevention, mitigation, recovery and adaption, and much more.




Earthquakes


Book Description

An earthquake is a natural disaster that causes damage world-wide. Not only earthquakes of high magnitude, but also those of small magnitude that strike unprepared regions can cause economic and social consequences, and many casualties. Unlike other natural disasters, the exact time of an earthquake cannot be estimated; scientists can only predict the timeline and magnitude based on the history of earthquakes in a region. Even though current technology cannot predict the precise time, location or magnitude, public awareness about the estimations allows both individuals and government to be ready for their devastating effects. This book begins by discussing how public awareness about the effects of earthquakes and how to prepare for a possible earthquake which can potentially save lives. The book then continues with topics that include seismic PRA; seismic safety assessments of existing buildings; psychiatric reactions of individuals to earthquakes; possible relation between an intense earthquake and the voltage signal generated by atmospheric ionic currents and/or sudden change of the electric field in the air; and others.










A Safer Future


Book Description

Initial priorities for U.S. participation in the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, declared by the United Nations, are contained in this volume. It focuses on seven issues: hazard and risk assessment; awareness and education; mitigation; preparedness for emergency response; recovery and reconstruction; prediction and warning; learning from disasters; and U.S. participation internationally. The committee presents its philosophy of calls for broad public and private participation to reduce the toll of disasters.




Modeling Spatial and Economic Impacts of Disasters


Book Description

This book brings together a collection of innovative papers on strategies for analyzing the spatial and economic impacts of disasters. Natural and human-induced disasters pose several challenges for conventional modeling. For example, disasters entail complex linkages between the natural, built, and socio-economic environments. They often create chaos and economic disequilibrium, and can also cause unexpected long-term, structural changes. Dynamic interactions among agents and behavioral adjustments in a disaster become complicated. The papers in this volume make notable progress in tackling these challenges through refinements of conventional methods, as well as new modeling frameworks and multidisciplinary, integrative strategies. The papers also provide case study applications that afford new insights on disaster processes and loss reduction strategies.




Economics Of Natural Disasters


Book Description

Unlike existing books on the topic that cover more on non-economic aspects of natural disasters, this book covers economic aspects of natural disasters viz damage assessment, risk management and resilience. The book contains several case studies and covers some of the major natural disasters in different countries, most notably the recent Nepal earthquake, tsunami in Fukushima, the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, floods in Thailand, the typhoon Haiyan, and the eruptions of Mount Merapi. It also suggests avenues for better public policies to tackle economics of natural disasters.




Encyclopedia of Earthquake Engineering


Book Description

The Encyclopedia of Earthquake Engineering is designed to be the authoritative and comprehensive reference covering all major aspects of the science of earthquake engineering, specifically focusing on the interaction between earthquakes and infrastructure. The encyclopedia comprises approximately 300 contributions. Since earthquake engineering deals with the interaction between earthquake disturbances and the built infrastructure, the emphasis is on basic design processes important to both non-specialists and engineers so that readers become suitably well informed without needing to deal with the details of specialist understanding. The encyclopedia’s content provides technically-inclined and informed readers about the ways in which earthquakes can affect our infrastructure and how engineers would go about designing against, mitigating and remediating these effects. The coverage ranges from buildings, foundations, underground construction, lifelines and bridges, roads, embankments and slopes. The encyclopedia also aims to provide cross-disciplinary and cross-domain information to domain-experts. This is the first single reference encyclopedia of this breadth and scope that brings together the science, engineering and technological aspects of earthquakes and structures.




The Impacts of Natural Disasters


Book Description

We in the United States have almost come to accept natural disasters as part of our nation's social fabric. News of property damage, economic and social disruption, and injuries follow earthquakes, fires, floods and hurricanes. Surprisingly, however, the total losses that follow these natural disasters are not consistently calculated. We have no formal system in either the public or private sector for compiling this information. The National Academies recommends what types of data should be assembled and tracked.




Economic Effects of Natural Disasters


Book Description

Economic Effects of Natural Disasters explores how natural disasters affect sources of economic growth and development. Using theoretical econometrics and real-world data, and drawing on advances in climate change economics, the book shows scholars and researchers how to use various research methods and techniques to investigate and respond to natural disasters. No other book presents empirical frameworks for the evaluation of the quality of macroeconomic research practice with a focus on climate change and natural disasters. Because many of these subjects are so large, different regions of the world use different approaches, hence this resource presents tailored economic applications and evidence. - Connects economic theories and empirical work in climate change to natural disaster research - Shows how advances in climate change and natural disaster research can be implemented in micro- and macroeconomic simulation models - Addresses structural changes in countries afflicted by climate change and natural disasters