Publisher's Synopsis
It has been estimated that, as a result of natural disasters, during the 1970s and 1980s three million lives were lost worldwide, the number of disasters increased threefold, the economic losses per decade almost doubled and the insurance losses quadrupled. In the light of these figures, the United Nations proclaimed the 1990s as the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) with the major objective of reducing through concerted action the loss of life, property damage and social and economic disruption caused by natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, and storms. This book focuses on the British contribution to the decade, and is supplemented by papers from America, Asia, Europe and Africa, and addresses the following themes: vulnerability of communities, forecasting and warning, preparedness and protection, lessons learned in recovery and reconstruction, technology, knowledge transfer, and future options.
