Wicked Weather: Natural Disasters that Changed History

(Hardback)

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Looks at the most significant natural disasters in Earths history and considers whether we can prevent them from happening again.

Natural disasters occur on a regular basis throughout the world with severe events occurring every few years or less. However, some natural disasters are so severe that they change human historyor at least contribute to changing itby striking key locations and/or at key times to cause such drastic changes. Each disaster type impacts human settlements in different ways and can be local, affecting small countries or areas, or global, affecting the world. These disasters destabilized populations, the governments of provinces and countries, and drastically impact populations and the priorities of a nation in response to a natural disaster. In other words, they changed history.

In Wicked Weather, Alexander Gates explores these notable environmental disasters and their impacts, raising the question: What can we do to prevent this from happening again After an introduction on why certain disasters occur most often in specific areas, Gates covers historys most impactful volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, hurricanes/cyclones/typhoons, tornadoes, droughts, floods, and tsunamis. Each chapter investigates significant cases of each environmental disaster that shifted power in a region, caused wars, toppled governments, or changed policies and the way people approached life in these parts of the world. Gates also digs into the methods we now use to reduce or eliminate many threats, also including impressive case studies of overcoming very dangerous natural events. The technologies used in predicting and reducing the impacts of natural disasters are commonly restricted to wealthy countries, but other countries benefit from them as well. Current and developing hazard reduction technologies are discussed within or at the end of each chapter.

Gates also examines the field of disaster management and the agencies that handle it. This entails what can be done during, immediately after and well after a natural disaster and how society can respond and recover. The progression naturally depends on the type, location, and severity of the disaster. These progressions can lead to complete rebuilding of communities with safeguards to reduce the impact of the next disaster to complete abandonment of the location and every scenario between. Wicked Weather is a fascinating study of our worst disasters, a call to action as we face a dangerously changing climate, and a guide to limiting our susceptibility to the forces of nature.

Author Bio

Alexander Gates is a distinguished service professor and former vice chancellor at Rutgers University, Newark, NJ. He has been at Rutgers University for 37 years and served as chair of the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences for 20 of those years. Gates is a field geologist who has conducted research on structural geology and tectonics from Maine to Alabama and in Colorado on a variety of topics. He is the author of 9 books, including the forthcoming Reclaiming Our Planet: How Environmental History Can Help Solve the Climate Crisis, and 81 professional papers and has edited 11 professional volumes. Gates has appeared on four television documentaries by PBS and the Discovery Channel among others and is commonly interviewed on television, radio, and newspaper features. He has developed several geology displays for large museums that are visited by hundreds of thousands of people. Gates also developed the Highlands Environmental Research Institute and served as director for eight years.