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This is an excellent little book that crystallises ideas about the influence and impact of human actions on natural catastrophes into a thoughtful and informative narrative, concluding - and rightly so - that there is no such thing as a natural disaster. I am typing this review in the aftermath of property-damaging floods in the UK and life-taking wildfires in Australia, and during the Covid-19 pandemic. He explores the science – and ethics – of genetic engineering and its potential to create ‘designer babies’.
A thin, invisible layer of air surrounds the Earth, sustaining all known life on the planet and creating the unique climates and weather patterns that make each part of the world different. We put ourselves in harm’s way; we fail to take measures which we know would prevent disasters, no matter what the environment does.Floods, fires and viruses are just three of a panoply of natural hazards that includes earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and many others. Geoscientist is the Fellowship magazine of the Geological Society: with news about science, people, the Society, features, reviews, opinion, letters and forthcoming events. The enigmas Professor Michael Dine discusses are like landmarks on a fantastic journey to the edge of the universe. In this provocative book, Ilan Kelman argues that the true disaster is not caused by natural phenomena, but by human choices which leave people unprepared and at terrible risk.
This Way to the Universe’ is a celebration of the astounding, ongoing scientific investigations that have revealed the nature of reality at its smallest, at its largest, and at the scale of our daily lives.
They develop from the social preference to blame nature for the damage wrought, when in fact events such as earthquakes and storms are entirely commonplace environmental processes. One day later a wildfire lit up the forest in the Cold Springs Fire, which killed numerous animals, forced 2000 people to evacuate, and destroyed eight homes. From a couples’ meet-cute to businesspeople who’ve turned misfires into multi-million dollar ideas, Christian reveals the secrets behind the hidden force that rules the universe – serendipity. Taking us from the everyday numbers that govern our health and wellbeing to the statistics used to wield enormous power and influence, ‘The Number Bias’ counsels us to think more wisely.
Japan’s 2011 earthquake and tsunami continue to provide many post-disaster mental health and wellbeing lessons to be implemented for prevention. We feel the need to fight natural forces, to reclaim what we assume is ours, and to protect ourselves from what we perceive to be wrath from outside our communities. Life is full of the unexpected: chance encounters, changing plans, delayed journeys and other mishaps. Disaster by Choice really brings the examples and recommendations down to our daily lives and practices to make them more impactful. Science recounts a different story, however: disasters are not the consequence of natural causes; they are the consequence of human choices and decisions.
Two scientific papers describe the mental health and coping mechanisms of youth experiencing the disaster of a flood in Germany.
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