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The Dynamics of Disaster
"If you are an amateur weather geek, disaster wonk, or budding student of earth sciences, you will want to read this book." —Seattle Times
In 2011, there were fourteen natural calamities that each destroyed over a billion dollars’ worth of property in the United States alone. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy ravaged the East Coast and major earthquakes struck in Italy, the Philippines, Iran, and Afghanistan. In the first half of 2013, the awful drumbeat continued—a monster supertornado struck Moore, Oklahoma; a powerful earthquake shook Sichuan, China; a cyclone ravaged Queensland, Australia; massive floods inundated Jakarta, Indonesia; and the largest wildfire ever engulfed a large part of Colorado.
Despite these events, we still behave as if natural disasters are outliers. Why else would we continue to build new communities near active volcanoes, on tectonically active faults, on flood plains, and in areas routinely lashed by vicious storms?
A famous historian once observed that "civilization exists by geologic consent, subject to change without notice." In the pages of this unique book, leading geologist Susan W. Kieffer provides a primer on most types of natural earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, landslides, hurricanes, cyclones, and tornadoes. By taking us behind the scenes of the underlying geology that causes them, she shows why natural disasters are more common than we realize, and that their impact on us will increase as our growing population crowds us into ever more vulnerable areas.
Kieffer describes how natural disasters result from "changes in state" in a geologic system, much as when water turns to steam. By understanding what causes these changes of state, we can begin to understand the dynamics of natural disasters.
In the book’s concluding chapter, Kieffer outlines how we might better prepare for, and in some cases prevent, future disasters. She also calls for the creation of an organization, something akin to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but focused on pending natural disasters.
In 2011, there were fourteen natural calamities that each destroyed over a billion dollars’ worth of property in the United States alone. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy ravaged the East Coast and major earthquakes struck in Italy, the Philippines, Iran, and Afghanistan. In the first half of 2013, the awful drumbeat continued—a monster supertornado struck Moore, Oklahoma; a powerful earthquake shook Sichuan, China; a cyclone ravaged Queensland, Australia; massive floods inundated Jakarta, Indonesia; and the largest wildfire ever engulfed a large part of Colorado.
Despite these events, we still behave as if natural disasters are outliers. Why else would we continue to build new communities near active volcanoes, on tectonically active faults, on flood plains, and in areas routinely lashed by vicious storms?
A famous historian once observed that "civilization exists by geologic consent, subject to change without notice." In the pages of this unique book, leading geologist Susan W. Kieffer provides a primer on most types of natural earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, landslides, hurricanes, cyclones, and tornadoes. By taking us behind the scenes of the underlying geology that causes them, she shows why natural disasters are more common than we realize, and that their impact on us will increase as our growing population crowds us into ever more vulnerable areas.
Kieffer describes how natural disasters result from "changes in state" in a geologic system, much as when water turns to steam. By understanding what causes these changes of state, we can begin to understand the dynamics of natural disasters.
In the book’s concluding chapter, Kieffer outlines how we might better prepare for, and in some cases prevent, future disasters. She also calls for the creation of an organization, something akin to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but focused on pending natural disasters.
337 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 18, 2013
29 people are currently reading
190 people want to read
About the author
Susan W. Kieffer
3 books5 followersSusan W. Kieffer is a professor emerita of geology at the University of Illinois and a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant. She is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Kieffer hosts a popular blog called Geology in Motion. She lives on Whidbey Island, Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 10, 2020
I loved this book.
This book should have a much higher overall rating. I suspect the low ratings are from people who are not interested in the fascinating science of how Earth works in such a dynamic way. (It could also have been that the section on rogue waves was way too long, but imo that should still earn a 4 star rating.)
What I would have given to have had Kieffer for a geology professor. This book could have been aptly titled, "Geophysics for Dummies," only far more readable than the Dummies series. Kieffer's focus for most of the book was to describe how Earth goes about releasing its stored energy and what the consequences of those energy releases are for humanity. Each energy release causes a different geological phenomenon-- rocks rubbing against each other to generate and earthquake, hot lava and gas exploding through volcanoes, rogue waves in the ocean and similar waves in the atmosphere, or tsunamis.
Humans rely on the amounts of energy they get from the earth. The earth captures the sun's energy in it plants. Animals capture that energy by eating plants. Still other animals capture that diluted sun energy by eating animals who ate energy packed plants. We literally live off the energy provided by earth. More than the food we eat, the earth's core sends its energy from the hot core to the cool surface, keeping our wonderful planet spinning and alive. If it stopped producing the energy to spin, not only would it die, but everything atop it would die as well. So we humans surely love the energy Earth generates... unless it burps up too much energy. Then we see it as a disaster.
One of my favorite traits of an author is their ability to explain things to someone who has zero background in their field. I never mind if I already know something edit author tries to explain it in a simple way. If I’m not trying to learn the concept, my focus then shifts to the authors skill at explaining things in simple terms. This author is fantastic in this regard. When I was first learning about geophysics, I would have been so thankful to have someone like Kieffer explain it. She used such simple language to explain really complex concepts.
When discussing conservation of mass, momentum, or energy, she did so in ways that a middle schooler could understand. If you know anyone who is trying to understand conservation laws, I would definitely recommend this book to them. It is always great to read about conservation laws, but they seem to be mainly discussed in physics books that relate the laws to what is happening in the space that surrounds Earth. Kieffer solely focused on how conservation laws are at work under our feet. It felt magical.
Highlights:
- When Earth releases energy it results in a change of state. Changes in state are not always such a big deal to Earth, but a change of state in earth is a huge deal to the cities we humans have built. If you change the crust from solid rock to dust, that affects humans quite a bit.
Some energy spurts affect us more than others. Energy that moves plates can do a little bit of damage or a colossal amount of damage because plates can change and shift in different ways. Some plates just slide along one another and destroy only the area along those fault lines while other plates crash into each other, causing effects as dramatic as creating great mountains or deep valleys.
- (some Geo101) Thermal energy is the energy that drives the plates, which turns into the kinetic energy that moves the plates. Strain energy is potential energy in the form of mountain belts, Strain energy in the slow deformation of the plates. Strain builds up particularly near the margins. You can think of this like stretching a rubber band. The plates get stretched and then store that stretch energy (which is strain energy). Once the plate breaks, it releases that stored energy. (I remember being in love with this lesson in my geology class. I had a really great professor, but as wonderful as he was, I kept wishing I had had the chance to sit in Kieffer's classroom for this lecture. My boring summary doesn't do it justice. )
- Interestingly, the same amount of energy spewed from the earth can have very different outcomes for societies around the globe. Societies who have been able to secure money to study disasters and, most importantly, construct their buildings with built in protections have the advantage. Earthquakes with the same Richter scale measurement in an ill equipped society, one that could not afford to protect its structures, experience much more damage from the same amount of energy release from Earth.
For example, in Haiti there were not many protections in place for their societal structures. When an earthquake struck, underground water pipes broke. The devastation wasn’t just for one day. For years to come people suffered infections. In contrast, a similar earthquake occurred in Christ Church New Zealand, a society that had been able to put safety measures in place when building structures. Because of this, only two people died and destruction to their buildings was minimal. No one has lasting infections or severe loss of quality of life, like Haiti experienced when its water supply was compromised.
Another example of differing outcomes is how earthquakes in California and China can be so different. The plates in CA slide past each other but the plates in China are crashing *into* one another. When two plates strike head on, that is the kind situation that can cause mountains and valleys, depending on energy levels. Plates that merely scratch the side of each other create much less damage.
- One of my favorite chapters was about liquefaction, which is so amazing. Normally soil is strong and can support holding people or even very large buildings because the individual particles in soil come in contact with each other. But when the ground is disturbed in the water on the pressure. The pressure on the water is greater, the particles can no longer remain in contact and the soil cannot support any weight, like quicksand. It can’t hold buildings or telephone poles, or anything that we humans have built. Water sewer and gas lines get destroyed For hundreds of square miles. A Richter scale of 8.0 or more can damage 250 miles of pipeline. Liquefaction has often caused more destruction than the seismic waves.
Like water, melted rock has no strength. When rocks rub, they create heat that melts strong, solid rock. Just as you create heat when you rub your hands together on a cold day, when rocks rub together they generate a lot of heat. Rocks around the fault become warmer and warmer. If the heat generated exceeds the amount that can be carried away from the fault (thermodynamics baby!:), crushed material around the fault begins to melt. The melted material becomes so hot that it starts to digest itself. The rocks melts and that melt starts to digest some of the smaller crushed parts around the fault. This is a runaway process because it keeps digesting more and more of the smaller crushed rock around the fault. The rock remaining has to be so stiff or so much rock that the heated melted rock cannot digest it. This is the only way to stop this runaway process.
The reason melted rock turns black is that when rock melts, it releases its iron, which in turn releasing FE3, which is black.
- There were also wonderful discussions about weathering as well as how to think about budgets and how much money should be put into disaster prevention and aid.
Here is an example of some of the technical discussions you can find in the book:
The study of dynamics of disasters is a study In how changes of state And of regime take place, how the various forms of energy change over time, and how the rate at which these changes occur cause disasters. Technically changes Of state and regime. Are described by a set of parameters known as state variables and by equations that relate these quantities.
In mechanical systems, such as cars moving along a highway or planets orbiting the sun, typical state variables are Position and change of position, velocity.
Thermodynamics systems or systems in which temperatures change. In Thermo dynamics Systems, such as exploding tires or volcanic eruption‘s, typical state variables are temperature, pressure, internal energy, entropy, enthalpy, and volume. In the systems The relations among state variables are described by equations called equations of state and changes in the state variables are referred to as changes of state.
A familiar example might be the equations of state of a gas that relates the state variables of pressure, temperature, and volume.
And she went onto give a nice discussion about reservoirs and stocks.
This book should have a much higher overall rating. I suspect the low ratings are from people who are not interested in the fascinating science of how Earth works in such a dynamic way. (It could also have been that the section on rogue waves was way too long, but imo that should still earn a 4 star rating.)
What I would have given to have had Kieffer for a geology professor. This book could have been aptly titled, "Geophysics for Dummies," only far more readable than the Dummies series. Kieffer's focus for most of the book was to describe how Earth goes about releasing its stored energy and what the consequences of those energy releases are for humanity. Each energy release causes a different geological phenomenon-- rocks rubbing against each other to generate and earthquake, hot lava and gas exploding through volcanoes, rogue waves in the ocean and similar waves in the atmosphere, or tsunamis.
Humans rely on the amounts of energy they get from the earth. The earth captures the sun's energy in it plants. Animals capture that energy by eating plants. Still other animals capture that diluted sun energy by eating animals who ate energy packed plants. We literally live off the energy provided by earth. More than the food we eat, the earth's core sends its energy from the hot core to the cool surface, keeping our wonderful planet spinning and alive. If it stopped producing the energy to spin, not only would it die, but everything atop it would die as well. So we humans surely love the energy Earth generates... unless it burps up too much energy. Then we see it as a disaster.
One of my favorite traits of an author is their ability to explain things to someone who has zero background in their field. I never mind if I already know something edit author tries to explain it in a simple way. If I’m not trying to learn the concept, my focus then shifts to the authors skill at explaining things in simple terms. This author is fantastic in this regard. When I was first learning about geophysics, I would have been so thankful to have someone like Kieffer explain it. She used such simple language to explain really complex concepts.
When discussing conservation of mass, momentum, or energy, she did so in ways that a middle schooler could understand. If you know anyone who is trying to understand conservation laws, I would definitely recommend this book to them. It is always great to read about conservation laws, but they seem to be mainly discussed in physics books that relate the laws to what is happening in the space that surrounds Earth. Kieffer solely focused on how conservation laws are at work under our feet. It felt magical.
Highlights:
- When Earth releases energy it results in a change of state. Changes in state are not always such a big deal to Earth, but a change of state in earth is a huge deal to the cities we humans have built. If you change the crust from solid rock to dust, that affects humans quite a bit.
Some energy spurts affect us more than others. Energy that moves plates can do a little bit of damage or a colossal amount of damage because plates can change and shift in different ways. Some plates just slide along one another and destroy only the area along those fault lines while other plates crash into each other, causing effects as dramatic as creating great mountains or deep valleys.
- (some Geo101) Thermal energy is the energy that drives the plates, which turns into the kinetic energy that moves the plates. Strain energy is potential energy in the form of mountain belts, Strain energy in the slow deformation of the plates. Strain builds up particularly near the margins. You can think of this like stretching a rubber band. The plates get stretched and then store that stretch energy (which is strain energy). Once the plate breaks, it releases that stored energy. (I remember being in love with this lesson in my geology class. I had a really great professor, but as wonderful as he was, I kept wishing I had had the chance to sit in Kieffer's classroom for this lecture. My boring summary doesn't do it justice. )
- Interestingly, the same amount of energy spewed from the earth can have very different outcomes for societies around the globe. Societies who have been able to secure money to study disasters and, most importantly, construct their buildings with built in protections have the advantage. Earthquakes with the same Richter scale measurement in an ill equipped society, one that could not afford to protect its structures, experience much more damage from the same amount of energy release from Earth.
For example, in Haiti there were not many protections in place for their societal structures. When an earthquake struck, underground water pipes broke. The devastation wasn’t just for one day. For years to come people suffered infections. In contrast, a similar earthquake occurred in Christ Church New Zealand, a society that had been able to put safety measures in place when building structures. Because of this, only two people died and destruction to their buildings was minimal. No one has lasting infections or severe loss of quality of life, like Haiti experienced when its water supply was compromised.
Another example of differing outcomes is how earthquakes in California and China can be so different. The plates in CA slide past each other but the plates in China are crashing *into* one another. When two plates strike head on, that is the kind situation that can cause mountains and valleys, depending on energy levels. Plates that merely scratch the side of each other create much less damage.
- One of my favorite chapters was about liquefaction, which is so amazing. Normally soil is strong and can support holding people or even very large buildings because the individual particles in soil come in contact with each other. But when the ground is disturbed in the water on the pressure. The pressure on the water is greater, the particles can no longer remain in contact and the soil cannot support any weight, like quicksand. It can’t hold buildings or telephone poles, or anything that we humans have built. Water sewer and gas lines get destroyed For hundreds of square miles. A Richter scale of 8.0 or more can damage 250 miles of pipeline. Liquefaction has often caused more destruction than the seismic waves.
Like water, melted rock has no strength. When rocks rub, they create heat that melts strong, solid rock. Just as you create heat when you rub your hands together on a cold day, when rocks rub together they generate a lot of heat. Rocks around the fault become warmer and warmer. If the heat generated exceeds the amount that can be carried away from the fault (thermodynamics baby!:), crushed material around the fault begins to melt. The melted material becomes so hot that it starts to digest itself. The rocks melts and that melt starts to digest some of the smaller crushed parts around the fault. This is a runaway process because it keeps digesting more and more of the smaller crushed rock around the fault. The rock remaining has to be so stiff or so much rock that the heated melted rock cannot digest it. This is the only way to stop this runaway process.
The reason melted rock turns black is that when rock melts, it releases its iron, which in turn releasing FE3, which is black.
- There were also wonderful discussions about weathering as well as how to think about budgets and how much money should be put into disaster prevention and aid.
Here is an example of some of the technical discussions you can find in the book:
The study of dynamics of disasters is a study In how changes of state And of regime take place, how the various forms of energy change over time, and how the rate at which these changes occur cause disasters. Technically changes Of state and regime. Are described by a set of parameters known as state variables and by equations that relate these quantities.
In mechanical systems, such as cars moving along a highway or planets orbiting the sun, typical state variables are Position and change of position, velocity.
Thermodynamics systems or systems in which temperatures change. In Thermo dynamics Systems, such as exploding tires or volcanic eruption‘s, typical state variables are temperature, pressure, internal energy, entropy, enthalpy, and volume. In the systems The relations among state variables are described by equations called equations of state and changes in the state variables are referred to as changes of state.
A familiar example might be the equations of state of a gas that relates the state variables of pressure, temperature, and volume.
And she went onto give a nice discussion about reservoirs and stocks.
December 15, 2016
Gostei demais dessa leitura. A Susan Kieffer é uma geóloga de mão cheia, que passar por vários tipos de catástrofe e não só explica como acontecem, mas dá exemplos bem ilustrativos. Aprendi muita coisa nova, como raios ou o efeito de liquefação em terremotos, quando o solo expulsa a água durante um tremor (vale procurar por liquefaction earthquake ou earthquake light no youtube).
Ela também fala de deslizamentos, enchentes, tsunamis, vulcões, tempestades e até fenômenos menos discutidos como alguns tipos de ventos, jetstreams e ondas altas bizarras (não achei termo em português para rogue waves, preguiça de mudar de aba). Enfim, todo catálogo de curiosidades em torno de desastres, explicadas por alguém que realmente entende. Recomendo a qualquer público.
Ela também fala de deslizamentos, enchentes, tsunamis, vulcões, tempestades e até fenômenos menos discutidos como alguns tipos de ventos, jetstreams e ondas altas bizarras (não achei termo em português para rogue waves, preguiça de mudar de aba). Enfim, todo catálogo de curiosidades em torno de desastres, explicadas por alguém que realmente entende. Recomendo a qualquer público.
June 18, 2020
As a geologist, I truly enjoyed reading about the earth’s natural disasters in a more scientific/geologic way than one usually writes about them. Highly recommended for other scientists and people who enjoy a more in depth look at the earth’s processes.
May 27, 2022
کتاب فوق العاده ای برای مهندسین زمین شناسی یا کسانی که به این مجموعه و این رشته علاقه مند هستند. بحث حوادث زمین شناختی مثل آتشفشان ها زلزله ها و سونامی ها و جریان های هوایی و و و ... اینها همه موضوعات بحث سوزان کیفر هستن که خیلی خوب هم از پس توضیحات همشون براومد. حد اقل از نظر من خواننده، حد اقل در زمینه زلزله و لند اسلید(فروکش کردن زمین) دلیل کم کردن یک ستاره فقط بخاطر نقص خودم بود. به هرحال کتاب کتاب علمی هست و برای دامیز نیست که قرار باشه تمام توضیحات اصطلاحات ساده رو بیان بکنه، یکسری مواقع گیج میشدم و برای دانایی بیشتر یا فهمیدن کتاب مجبور بودم از اینترنت و مخصوصا یوتیوب کمک بگیرم تا تمثیل هاش رو بهتر متوجه بشم... به طور کلی این کتاب من رو به هدفم نرسوند اما دید های گسترده ای در زمینه ای که میخواستم ازش گرفتم ممنون سوزان
August 30, 2024
I read this to fulfill the 'read a book about the environment' square in my summer reading bingo.
I really enjoyed Kieffer's lived experience and use of art and poetry in her examples. I have an increased appreciation of landslides, wind, and rouge waves. I wish the diagrams had been published better. The graphs were difficult to read. Despite the cozy explanations of the heat tranfer, Hadley and Ferrel cells, and the Coriolis effect, I still don't really understand El Nino/ la Nina. I also found the idea of a global CDC-PE, modeled after the international response to SARS idealistic and farfetched, but 2013 was a more optimistic time.
I really enjoyed Kieffer's lived experience and use of art and poetry in her examples. I have an increased appreciation of landslides, wind, and rouge waves. I wish the diagrams had been published better. The graphs were difficult to read. Despite the cozy explanations of the heat tranfer, Hadley and Ferrel cells, and the Coriolis effect, I still don't really understand El Nino/ la Nina. I also found the idea of a global CDC-PE, modeled after the international response to SARS idealistic and farfetched, but 2013 was a more optimistic time.
January 9, 2019
Kieffer's explanations of the how natural disasters occur is perfectly suited to the interested layperson. The section on rogue waves was worth the price of admission in that it explains something that always seemed kind of supernatural. If you have any interest at all in understanding our living planet and why it sometimes feels like it would be happy to be rid of us, this is the book for you.
May 31, 2021
It takes some deeper understanding of the subject to comprehend all that is being said in the book. Also, better presentation of the content would have helped in reader appreciation. Perhaps subsequent editions will make a difference?
August 2, 2018
Thoroughly researched, well-written, really found the section about El Nino and the air currents and hurricanes interesting.
March 24, 2019
This book only looks at natural disasters, spending lots of time discussing earthquakes, weather events, and 'rogue waves'.
July 5, 2020
Nice scientific review of the physics behind natural disasters.
June 20, 2022
Fabulous Book
A great book that opens your eyes to the natural disasters in the world around us. There are enough of them that we don’t have to create our own.
A great book that opens your eyes to the natural disasters in the world around us. There are enough of them that we don’t have to create our own.
November 19, 2014
Altered States:
We live on a restless planet. Every minute of every day, somewhere on Earth there are geological changes going on. Most of these changes are of a minor nature and go unnoticed by humans, but every now and then there's a major change, one that's sure to get our attention. A tsunami in the Indian Ocean threatens coastal communities, a volcano erupts in Iceland wrecking havoc on the environment and disrupting air travel, landslides of rock, mud, snow or ice radically altering the landscape, wiping out whole towns or even cities in an instant. Meteorology and Oceanography can play a hand in disasters with tornadoes, blizzards and hurricanes that do millions of dollars in damage and claim countless lives. To a certain extent humans can learn to live with these dangers by ignoring them or just turning a blind eye to the possibility of their eventual and inevitable reoccurrence. Historically, in spite of the danger, communities have sprung up around "sleeping" volcanos, in major flood plains and coastal locations that are often right at, or many feet below, sea level. Sometimes the rewards for living in these areas are substantial; rich soil for farming, access to maritime resources or other financially rewarding endeavors. But the risks of cataclysmic "acts of God" are always there, so it would behoove us all to know the inner workings of these events. In a layperson friendly way Kieffer takes the reader on a kind of "field trip" around the world and into the past to explain the what, when, why and how of various disasters. Biographies of famous volcanos like Mt St Helens, Pinatubo and Vesuvius will explain how a volcano can suddenly reawaken after decades or even centuries of sleep. Landslides are another life altering event that people tend to forget when years can pass between occurrences and the area in question is just right for human needs. We can also learn to live with earthquakes but how many people know about things like liquefaction of the ground that can happen nearly instantaneously. In "The Dynamics of Disaster" author Susan W Kieffer explains the nature of these events from a geologist point of view. With fast moving, informative text she clearly explains the dynamics of all these disasters and more. But even with our currant level of knowledge, predicting the next earthquake or hurricane can be a daunting task. Small changes at any point of the process can radically alter the outcome (sounds like Chaos Theory to me!). Case in point: the super volcano underneath Yellowstone: is it there or not, when will it happen? And we all know about the weather reports: will it rain or not? Will that hurricane in the eastern Atlantic impact the Gulf States or move up the East Coast or fizzle out? For me The Dynamics of Disaster was an exceptional read, giving us a new outlook on the world around us and the complex inner action of forces beyond our control that can often lead to disaster. Anyone interested in Earth Science and the inner workings of our restless planet should enjoy this book. I had no technical or formatting problems with this Kindle edition.
Last Ranger
November 5, 2013
This was a pretty good introduction to various natural disasters, ranging from landslides, earthquakes, volcanoes, rogue waves, tornadoes, hurricanes, and droughts/floods. there isn't a chapter on wildfires (which can be a symptom of droughts/high winds), it is mentioned. Diseases are briefly discussed, but also do not have a chapter, but is a disease a 'natural disaster'? I suppose you could make an argument for it... Anyhoo, I did learn a bit, the landslide triggered by a farmer scooping/piling up soil near a body of water on gentle slope of land was eye-opening!
You do not need any advanced mathematics nor science degree to enjoy this book, it is written for the layman. Her use of common experiences when attempting to relay scientific concepts I thought were effective, such as the tea kettle steam, body parts in the ocean (when describing la nina/el nino), watching leaves blowing in the wind, chimney smoke going sideways instead of up, etc. Her description of how Hurricane Irene formed was quite good.
She also tries to stay out of the climate change debate, other than to explain how difficult it is to say disaster x is directly attributed to climate change. Natural disasters can be caused by complex phenomena which makes it difficult to make that link from a scientific perspective.
Her concluding chapter was good, although I think it could have been a little more beefed up. Basically, the idea was, now we know a bit more about disasters and their causes, what are we going to do about it? Her CDC-PE I think could have been a little more strong, but still, at least she presented it which I thought was good. Her warning about the prosecution/conviction of scientists for the L'Aquila earthquake is sobering.
My only gripe is some of the pictures of before/after aren't really taken from the same perspective. One landslide before/after also had a shift in perspective, a before seemed to have been taken from a helicopter or plane, the other from the ground at a different angle, making it difficult to tell if the differences were from the event, or the change in perspective. A similar before/after Joplin tornado photo, where the before was zoomed in, the after zoomed out again makes it difficult to see what changed.
All in all, a highly recommended book!
You do not need any advanced mathematics nor science degree to enjoy this book, it is written for the layman. Her use of common experiences when attempting to relay scientific concepts I thought were effective, such as the tea kettle steam, body parts in the ocean (when describing la nina/el nino), watching leaves blowing in the wind, chimney smoke going sideways instead of up, etc. Her description of how Hurricane Irene formed was quite good.
She also tries to stay out of the climate change debate, other than to explain how difficult it is to say disaster x is directly attributed to climate change. Natural disasters can be caused by complex phenomena which makes it difficult to make that link from a scientific perspective.
Her concluding chapter was good, although I think it could have been a little more beefed up. Basically, the idea was, now we know a bit more about disasters and their causes, what are we going to do about it? Her CDC-PE I think could have been a little more strong, but still, at least she presented it which I thought was good. Her warning about the prosecution/conviction of scientists for the L'Aquila earthquake is sobering.
My only gripe is some of the pictures of before/after aren't really taken from the same perspective. One landslide before/after also had a shift in perspective, a before seemed to have been taken from a helicopter or plane, the other from the ground at a different angle, making it difficult to tell if the differences were from the event, or the change in perspective. A similar before/after Joplin tornado photo, where the before was zoomed in, the after zoomed out again makes it difficult to see what changed.
All in all, a highly recommended book!
December 15, 2015
This is an excellent book about the changes of state in the earth and atmosphere and the impact that those changes have on humans. The topics discuss in the book include earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, volcanoes, rogue waves, and weather/climate events. The author clearly defines the terms that she uses, accurately explains the scientific principles behind the changes of state, and logically connects the consequences of policy on the outcomes of natural disasters. She also outlines an ambitious (and perhaps politically impossible) approach that we (the entire human population) could take to help mitigate the impact that natural disasters have on human suffering and on economies. We can't prevent most natural disasters, but we can certainly make good policy decisions that can reduce the damage that disasters have on us.
The author is an emeritus professor of geology who really understand the topics that she discuss and does an excellent job of making those concepts understandable to the non-expert. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the topic and anyone who might be asked to make decisions about public policy regarding disaster mitigation. So somebody please send a copy of this book to every member of congress.
The author is an emeritus professor of geology who really understand the topics that she discuss and does an excellent job of making those concepts understandable to the non-expert. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the topic and anyone who might be asked to make decisions about public policy regarding disaster mitigation. So somebody please send a copy of this book to every member of congress.
August 17, 2016
Natural disasters, in all their forms, are covered. The language is at a layman's level, even though it was is written by an expert in the field.
The most interesting part of this, for me, was the chapter on rogue waves. It turns out that the atmosphere has three major circulation systems: Hadley cells, Ferrel cells, and Polar cells. These move air basically on the north/south longitudinal directions, which become northeast/southwest due to Coriolis acceleration. Essentially, in each cell, air moves along the surface of the earth goes vertical at the boundaries between cells, comes over the top and drops back to earth again. The Hadley and Ferrell cells meet at about 30 degrees north latitude, also 30 degrees south, and this is where rogue waves most commonly occur.
This book also explained the jet streams in great detail, with how they have such a huge influence on weather systems. The connections were explained between El Nino, La Nina, jet stream positions, cold vs. warm air flows, hurricanes and tornados. A very interesting book!
The most interesting part of this, for me, was the chapter on rogue waves. It turns out that the atmosphere has three major circulation systems: Hadley cells, Ferrel cells, and Polar cells. These move air basically on the north/south longitudinal directions, which become northeast/southwest due to Coriolis acceleration. Essentially, in each cell, air moves along the surface of the earth goes vertical at the boundaries between cells, comes over the top and drops back to earth again. The Hadley and Ferrell cells meet at about 30 degrees north latitude, also 30 degrees south, and this is where rogue waves most commonly occur.
This book also explained the jet streams in great detail, with how they have such a huge influence on weather systems. The connections were explained between El Nino, La Nina, jet stream positions, cold vs. warm air flows, hurricanes and tornados. A very interesting book!
January 18, 2014
I think the author tried to cover too much in the pages she allotted. Much of the writing was telling the reader what she would cover next and I found that rather annoying. That said, this book is a great introduction to natural disasters and how they affect the population of Earth. She uses lots of good examples that are fairly current (with the exception of things like the Mount St Helens eruption which is still very important to volcano science even though it happened more than 20 years ago) and asks a lot of hard important questions. Her model for a CDC-PE at the end is an interesting thought experiment. It's definitely worth a read.
May 6, 2014
Excellent book for any non-scientist who wants to understand the dynamic interplay of variables that bring about natural disasters. The author reveals stories about her life in the field while teaching the reader about waves and tsunamis, earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions. The author has a vast knowledge about these subjects and is able to write about them in everyday language for the typical non-geologist reader. Recommend.
August 25, 2016
I had high hopes for [The Dynamics of Disaster] since I love learning about how disasters impact our world. Although [Susan W. Kieffer] obviously knows her content and is passionate about it all the technical reading turned out to be a bit dry. I imagine the author would be a wonderful person to take a class from or work with the human wit does not transfer well to scientific information in text form.
That being said I would love to work with her on her CDC-PE idea.
That being said I would love to work with her on her CDC-PE idea.
March 8, 2014
Highly informative. I am thankful to have not experience any of these kinds of disasters. The book could be made better with color figures. Better yet, make this into a documentary film.
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