Overview
Throughout history, natural disasters have devastated mankind. In some cases, they have even altered the course of human history. With more than 500 entries, Natural Disasters, Revised Edition provides a comprehensive and international survey of these tragic occurrences.
Following a general introduction are chapters organized according to disaster type: including avalanches and landslides, hurricanes, earthquakes, icestorms and snowstorms, famines and droughts, tornadoes, floods, typhoons, plagues and epidemics, storms, cyclones, volcanic eruptions, and natural explosions. Each entry features basic facts about each disaster, background information, as well as its impact on mankind and the environment. Thrilling eyewitness accounts, helpful chronologies, and illustrations provide additional insight for readers.Sample entries include:· World AIDS epidemic· Hurricane Iniki, Hawaii (1992)· Typhoon Fred, China (1994)· Ebola virus, Zaire (1995)· Eruption of the Soufriere Hills volcano, Montserrat (1995-1997)· Avalanche, Mt. Everest (1996)· Cyclone, Bangladesh (1997)· Floods, India (1998)· Snowstorms, Austria (1999)· Drought, Somalia (1999)· Earthquake in India (2001).
Synopsis
Revised edition of a world survey of natural calamities that have ravaged mankind and sometimes altered the course of human history. In the 500-plus entries, Davis (Suffolk Community College) covers disaster types such as avalanches and landslides, earthquakes, famines and droughts, floods, plagues and epidemics, cyclones, hurricanes, icestorms and snowstorms, tornadoes, typhoons, storms, and volcanic eruptions and natural explosions. Each section begins with an alphabetical listing by country of the worst-recorded happenings within the disaster type, a chronology, and an introduction. The text provides the basic facts and insights into the background of the event, its ultimate impact, and eyewitness accounts. Includes 100 b&w photographs. Appropriate for students and the general reader. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Rosanne M. Cordell - Library Journal
This second edition of Davis's 2002 work provides nearly 500 entries on natural disasters, almost 50 of them new and others updated. It covers avalanches and landslides, earthquakes, famines and droughts, plagues and epidemics, cyclones, hurricanes, ice storms and snowstorms, tornadoes, and typhoons. It is organized by type of disaster, and each section includes a list of the disasters by geographical location, a chronology of these events, and an introduction to the type of disaster. Each entry begins with a short description of the disaster followed by a more in-depth recitation, the human toll and consequences, and the disaster's significance. Such entries span a few brief paragraphs to several pages, with most being under a page. The 80 scattered black-and-white photos are of poor quality, which might be understandable for the reproduction of some historic photos but not for recent ones. Even the 20 color photos appear overexposed. The writing can sometimes be quirky (e.g., one wonders why one billion is written as 1,000 million in the entry on avian flu?), but there is also frank discussion of political issues on such topics as the responses to the AIDS and SARS epidemics and Hurricane Katrina. The text is appropriately written for the target audience of middle and high school students, and the new entries on Katrina, Tropical Storm Erin, the Sumatran earthquake and subsequent tsunami, SARS, and the mudslide on the island of Leyte in the Philippines may be enough to justify purchasing this updated edition for libraries that found the first edition popular. Although information on various disasters is readily available on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's"Extreme Weather and Climate Events" or National Geographic's "Natural Disasters" web pages, the bibliography and list of web sites will be helpful research tools.
Editorials
Library Journal
This second edition of Davis's 2002 work provides nearly 500 entries on natural disasters, almost 50 of them new and others updated. It covers avalanches and landslides, earthquakes, famines and droughts, plagues and epidemics, cyclones, hurricanes, ice storms and snowstorms, tornadoes, and typhoons. It is organized by type of disaster, and each section includes a list of the disasters by geographical location, a chronology of these events, and an introduction to the type of disaster. Each entry begins with a short description of the disaster followed by a more in-depth recitation, the human toll and consequences, and the disaster's significance. Such entries span a few brief paragraphs to several pages, with most being under a page. The 80 scattered black-and-white photos are of poor quality, which might be understandable for the reproduction of some historic photos but not for recent ones. Even the 20 color photos appear overexposed. The writing can sometimes be quirky (e.g., one wonders why one billion is written as 1,000 million in the entry on avian flu?), but there is also frank discussion of political issues on such topics as the responses to the AIDS and SARS epidemics and Hurricane Katrina. The text is appropriately written for the target audience of middle and high school students, and the new entries on Katrina, Tropical Storm Erin, the Sumatran earthquake and subsequent tsunami, SARS, and the mudslide on the island of Leyte in the Philippines may be enough to justify purchasing this updated edition for libraries that found the first edition popular. Although information on various disasters is readily available on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's"Extreme Weather and Climate Events" or National Geographic's "Natural Disasters" web pages, the bibliography and list of web sites will be helpful research tools.
—Rosanne M. Cordell
School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up
The opinionated introduction to this update of the 2002 edition paves the way for the unstinting social commentary ("people situated near volcanoes ignore common sense and the warnings of experts") in these 500-plus articles. Chapters begin with thorough explanations of the phenomena and a chronological list of calamities, prehistory to 2007. They are arranged by disaster type and include "Avalanches and Landslides," "Earthquakes," "Famines and Droughts," "Plagues and Epidemics," "Hurricanes," "Icestorms and Snowstorms," and "Volcanic Eruptions and Natural Explosions." Within these divisions, arrangement is geographical and then chronological. Entries provide a synopsis of the disaster, and then proceed with a detailed history, including magnitude or strength (Richter scale measurements, etc.) death toll, property damage, and other effects, interspersed with numerous eyewitness accounts and quotes. New coverage includes entries on Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. Midwestern floods of 2007, and SARS. There are no cross-references. Also, there is no chapter on tsunamis, so the book lacks a comprehensive explanation of their creation. Instead, descriptions of the genesis and destructiveness of individual tsunamis, including the massive 2004 disaster, are scattered throughout the flood and earthquake sections. Black-and-white photographs accompany many of the entries, and there is an eight-page section of color photos. Both types are grainy. Though it covers only through 2006, Marlene Bradford and Robert S. Carmichael's Notable Natural Disasters (Salem, 2007) is a better option. It covers more disaster types, gives the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami its own entry, and discussesprevention more thoroughly.-Henrietta Thornton-Verma , School Library Journal