Natural Disasters and Adaptation to Climate Change

Eighteen case studies of worldwide natural disasters are used to inform actual climate change adaptation practice for researchers and decision makers.

Sarah Boulter (Edited by), Jean Palutikof (Edited by), David John Karoly (Edited by), Daniela Guitart (Edited by)

9781108445979, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 1 March 2018

288 pages, 60 b/w illus. 14 tables
25.4 x 17.8 x 1.5 cm, 0.57 kg

This volume presents eighteen case studies of natural disasters from Australia, Europe, North America and developing countries. By comparing the impacts, it seeks to identify what moves people to adapt, which adaptive activities succeed and which fail, and the underlying reasons, and the factors that determine when adaptation is required and when simply bearing the impact may be the more appropriate response. Much has been written about the theory of adaptation and high-level, especially international, policy responses to climate change. This book aims to inform actual adaptation practice - what works, what does not, and why. It explores some of the lessons we can learn from past disasters and the adaptation that takes place after the event in preparation for the next. This volume will be especially useful for researchers and decision makers in policy and government concerned with climate change adaptation, emergency management, disaster risk reduction, environmental policy and planning.

Part I. Case Studies from North America: 1. Introduction Jean Palutikof, David John Karoly, Sarah Boulter and Daniela Guitart
2. Climate change and disaster risk management: challenges and opportunities Madeleine C. Thomson
3. Hurricane Katrina and the city of New Orleans Andrew W. Garcia
4. A brief history of flooding and flood control measures along the Mississippi river basin, USA Timothy M. Kusky
5. The 2003 and 2007 wildfires in southern California Jon E. Keeley, Alexandra D. Syphard and C. J. Fotheringham
6. Adapting to extreme heat events: thirty years of lessons learned from the Kansas City, Missouri, extreme heat program David M. Mills and William D. Snook
Part II. Case Studies from Australia: 7. Drought and water in the Murray-Darling Basin: from disaster policy to adaptation Linda C. Botterill and Stephen Dovers
8. After 'Black Saturday': adapting to bushfires in a changing climate Joshua Whittaker, John Handmer and David John Karoly
9. Cyclone Tracy and the road to improving wind resistant design Matthew Mason, Katharine Haynes and George Walker
10. Adaptation and resilience in two flood prone Queensland communities David King, Armando Apan, Diane Keogh and Melanie Thomas
Part III. Case Studies from Europe: 11. The most costly natural hazard in Europe: windstorms Uwe Ulbrich, Gregor C. Leckebusch and Markus G. Donat
12. The 2003 heat wave: impacts, public health adaptation, and response in France Mathilde Pascal, Alain Le Tertre and Karine Laaidi
13. Lessons from river floods in central Europe, 1997–2010 Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz
14. Lessons learned from the North Sea flooding disaster in the Netherlands, 1953 Pier Vellinga and Jeroen Aerts
Part IV. Case Studies from the Developing World: 15. Adapting to drought in the West African Sahel Simon P. J. Batterbury and Michael J. Mortimore
16. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami: Sri Lankan experience Sam S. L. Hettiarachchi and W. Priyan S. Dias
17. Recovery efforts: the case of the 2007 cyclone Sidr in Bangladesh Bimal K. Paul and Munshi K. Rahman
18. Coffee, disasters, and social-ecological resilience in Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico Hallie Eakin, Helda Morales, Edwin Castellanos, Gustavo Cruz-Bello and Juan F. Barrera
19. Responding to floods in the Nile Basin: a case study of the 1997/98 floods in the Upper White Nile Marisa C. Goulden and Declan Conway
20. Floods in the Yangtze river basin, China Zbigniew W. Kundzewicz, Jiang Tong and Su Buda
Part V. Synthesis Chapters: 21. Disasters and development Jessica Ayers, Saleemul Huq and Sarah Boulter
22. What next? Climate change as a game-changer for policy and practice Karen O'Brien and Thomas E. Downing
23. Barriers and limits to adaptation: cautionary notes Jon Barnett, Colette Mortreux and W. Neil Adger
24. Lessons learned for adaptation to climate change S. Boulter, J. Palutikof and D. Karoly
25. Afterword: floods, storms, fire, and pestilence - disaster risk in Australia during 2010/11 D. Karoly and S. Boulter.

Subject Areas: Environmental management [RNF], The environment [RN], Earth sciences, geography, environment, planning [R]