Weather correspondent Philip Eden has written a fascinating book, balancing just the right amount of science with illustrations and practical language. He asks and answers some difficult questions that must be discussed. Disaster books traditionally feed on hype, sensationalism and bad science. Eden manages to redress the balance. What then is the place of weather disasters in our climate? Are they freaks or a necessary part of the whole? How rare are meteorological event does it take to cause chaos in our day-to-day lives? Are we becoming more at risk and less capable of dealing with them? Or do we just complain more? These days we try and mitigate the effects of different hazards, by acquiring personal and property protection - individually, personally and politically. So what is the role of local and central government, the insurance industry, the media and the public? And how do we actually measure disaster? By rarity, insurance cost, death toll, recovery times etc? Can we merge all these so we can compare -say- the 1976 drought with the 1891 blizzard? Can we rank disasters? 15,000 died in the European heatwave of August 2003. Is this the shape of things to come?
What will happen if the Gulf Stream/North Atlantic Drift stops flowing? Here are just a few of Philip Eden's topics in a book which will be riveting to readers.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
Title mention in 'Financial Times-Life and Arts', Stephen Care, November 2008 Mention -Book News, February 2009 A useful read for any weather enthusiast, even those who are not directly linked to the United Kingdom. -- Weatherwise This book reminds us that very few meteorological surprises merit the cliche "unprecedented" ... As [Eden's] "chronology of disaster" from 1901-2008 makes clear, almost every year is extreme in one way. -- Christopher Hirst, The Independent "This book utilizes numerous case studies to examine weather-related disasters - including floods, droughts, and snowstorms - in Britain. It addresses questions such as: Are we becoming more at risk and less capable of dealing with weather disasters? How rare a meteorological event does it take to cause chaos in our day-to-day lives? When these disasters hit, what is the role of the local media, and the public? And how do we actually measure disasters - by rarity, insurance cost, death toll, recovery times, or something else?" --Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, May 2009 A very interesting documentation of weather disasters in the United Kingdom, an inspiring, thought-provoking read ... can be highly recommended both for specialists and the public. -- Meterologische Zeitschrift
Sprache
Verlagsort
Produkt-Hinweis
Broschur/Paperback
Klebebindung
Illustrationen
Maße
Höhe: 213 mm
Breite: 137 mm
Dicke: 28 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-1-4411-4591-8 (9781441145918)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Philip Eden is the weather correspondent of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph and appears regularly on radio and television. He is also Vice President of the Royal Meteorological Society and Director of the Chilterns Observatory Trust.
Foreword; PART 1; 1. Setting the scene; 2. Coping with the hazard; 3. The nature of the hazard; 4. Snowstorms - two case studies; 5. Fog and smog - two case studies; 6. Summer floods - two case studies; 7. Destructive gales - two case studies; 8. Droughts - two case studies; 9. Compare and Contrast; 10....and the next disaster please; PART 2; A chronology of disaster: severe weather events in the UK from 1901 to 2008; Index.
