Ilan Kelman - Disaster By Choice: How Our Actions Turn Natural Hazards into Catastrophes
4 ⭐
Genre: Non-Fiction, Environmental Studies, Academia
Pages: 352
Format: Hardback
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date Published: 1st May 2020
Book Blurb:
This can be both hard to accept, and hard to unravel. A complex of factors shape disasters. They arise from the political processes dictating where and what we build, and from social circumstances which create and perpetuate poverty and discrimination. 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 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. This attitude distracts us from the real causes of disasters: humanity's decisions, as societies and as individuals. It stops us accepting the real solutions to disasters: making better decisions.
This book explores stories of some of our worst disasters to show how we can and should act to stop people dying when nature unleashes its energies. The disaster is not the tornado, the volcanic eruption, or climate change, but the deaths and injuries, the loss of irreplaceable property, and the lack and even denial of support to affected people, so that a short-term interruption becomes a long-term recovery nightmare. But we can combat this, as Kelman shows, describing inspiring examples of effective human action that limits damage, such as managing flooding in Toronto and villages in Bangladesh, or wildfire in Colorado.
Throughout, his message is clear: there is no such thing as a natural disaster. The disaster lies in our inability to deal with the environment and with ourselves.
My Review:
I think for those who are
interested in different geological and geophysical hazards and want to learn
more, this book perfectly summarises it all. It uses very simple and
non-scientific language to explain why disasters are not natural and show real-life
examples. For me, this book lacked more depth, but that said, I have a degree
in geological hazards and read quite a lot about it all. Yet, if you are a
beginner and want to learn more, then I cannot recommend this book enough.
Ilan Kelman touches on reasons
why people are vulnerable to hazards and how it runs much deeper than just our
infrastructure and households. He looks into our history, cultures, traditions,
colonialism, economy and different social factors that all make us vulnerable in
one way or another. The author also discusses why hazards are natural but
disasters that they create are not. Resilience on societal and community levels
is also touched upon.
I really enjoyed the case studies
in this book, as they gave all the technical and theoretical visual/real-life
explanations and examples. I just wish this book gave more examples and case
studies, to show different ends of the spectrum.
Overall: Very accessible and easy-to-read
book, that uses very simple and non-academic language to explain the reality of
disasters and hazards that our society face. I recommend this book to someone
who is a beginner and wants to learn more about hazards and disasters.
About the Author:
Ilan Kelman, Professor of Disasters and Health, University College London, and Professor II, University of Agder Ilan Kelman is Professor of Disasters and Health at University College London, England and a Professor II at the University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway. His overall research interest is linking disasters and health, including the integration of climate change into disaster research and health research.
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/risk-disaster-reduction/people/dr-ilan-kelman
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