Peter T Bobrowsky – författare

Few subjects have caught the attention of the entire world as much as those dealing with natural hazards. The first decade of this new millennium provides a litany of tragic examples of various hazards that turned into disasters affecting millions of individuals around the globe. The human losses (some 225,000 people) associated with the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, the economic costs (approximately 200 billion USD) of the 2011 Tohoku Japan earthquake, tsunami and reactor event, and the collective social impacts of human tragedies experienced during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 all provide repetitive reminders that we humans are temporary guests occupying a very active and angry planet. Any examples may have been cited here to stress the point that natural events on Earth may, and often do, lead to disasters and catastrophes when humans place themselves into situations of high risk.

Few subjects share the true interdisciplinary dependency that characterizes the field of natural hazards. From geology and geophysics to engineering and emergency response to social psychology and economics, the study of natural hazards draws input from an impressive suite of unique and previously independent specializations. Natural hazards provide a common platform to reduce disciplinary boundaries and facilitate a beneficial synergy in the provision of timely and useful information and action on this critical subject matter.

As social norms change regarding the concept of acceptable risk and human migration leads to an explosion in the number of megacities, coastal over-crowding and unmanaged habitation in precarious environments such as mountainous slopes, the vulnerability of people and their susceptibility to natural hazards increases dramatically. Coupled with the concerns of changing climates, escalating recovery costs, a growing divergence between more developed and less developed countries, the subject of natural hazards remains on the forefront of issues that affect all people, nations, and environments all the time.

This treatise provides a compendium of critical, timely and very detailed information and essential facts regarding the basic attributes of natural hazards and concomitant disasters. The Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards effectively captures and integrates contributions from an international portfolio of almost 300 specialists whose range of expertise addresses over 330 topics pertinent to the field of natural hazards. Disciplinary barriers are overcome in this comprehensive treatment of the subject matter. Clear illustrations and numerous color images enhance the primary aim to communicate and educate. The inclusion of a series of unique “classic case study” events interspersed throughout the volume provides tangible examples linking concepts, issues, outcomes and solutions. These case studies illustrate different but notable recent, historic and prehistoric events that have shaped the world as we now know it. They provide excellent focal points linking the remaining terms in the volume to the primary field of study. This Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards will remain a standard reference of choice for many years.

This book is a part of ICL new book series “ICL Contribution to Landslide Disaster Risk Reduction” founded in 2019. Peer-reviewed papers submitted to the Fifth World Landslide Forum were published in six volumes of this book series. This book contains the followings:

•Four Forum lectures and one award paper

•Sendai Landslide Partnerships, Kyoto Landslide Commitment, and International Programme on Landslides.

•Landslide-induced tsunamis

•Landslides at UNESCO designates sites and contribution from WMO, FAO, and IRDR

•Education and Capacity Development for Risk Management and Risk Governance

Prof. Kyoji Sassa is the Founding President and the Secretary-General of International Consortium on Landslides (ICL). He has been the Editor-in-Chief of International Journal Landslides since its foundation in 2004.

Prof. Matjaž Mikoš is the Vice President of International Consortium on Landslides and Vice President of Slovenian Academyof Engineering. He is a Professor and Dean of Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Dr. Shinji Sassa is Head of Soil Dynamics Group and Research Director of International Research Center for Coastal Disasters, Port and Airport Research Institute, National Institute of Maritime, Port and Aviation Technology, Japan.

Prof. Peter Bobrowsky is the President of International Consortium on Landslides. He is a Senior Scientist of Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Canada.

Prof. Kaoru Takara is the Executive Director of International Consortium on Landslides. He is a Professor and Dean of Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies (GSAIS) in Human Survivability (Shishu-Kan), Kyoto University.

Dr. Khang Dang is the Secretary General of the Fifth World Landslide Forum. He also serves as the Research Promotion Officer of ICL and a Lecturer at the University of Science, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

This book is a part of ICL new book series “ICL Contribution to Landslide Disaster Risk Reduction” founded in 2019. Peer-reviewed papers submitted to the Fifth World Landslide Forum were published in six volumes of this book series. This book contains the followings:

•Keynotes

•Landslide detection, recognition and mapping

•Landslide susceptibility assessment and modelling

•Landslide size statistics and temporal modelling

•Data and information for landslide disaster mitigation

•Vulnerability to landslides of people, communities and the built environment

Dr. Fausto Guzzetti is General Director of Office III – Technical and Scientific Activities for Risk Forecasting and Prevention, Department of Civil Protection, Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers, on leave from the Italian National Research Council.

Prof. Snježana Mihalić Arbanas is a Full Professor of the Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering of theUniversity of Zagreb, Croatia. She is the Chair of ICL Network Committee.

Paola Reichenbach is a Senior Researcher of the Research Institute for Geo-Hydrological Protection, an institute of the Italian National Research Council (IRPI-CNR), Perugia, Italy.

Prof. Kyoji Sassa is the Founding President and the Secretary-General of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL). He has been the Editor-in-Chief of International Journal Landslides since its foundation in 2004.

Prof. Peter Bobrowsky is the President of the International Consortium on Landslides. He is a Senior Scientist of Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Canada.

Prof. Kaoru Takara is the Executive Director of the International Consortium on Landslides. He is a Professor and Dean of Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies (GSAIS) in Human Survivability (Shishu-Kan), Kyoto University.

This book is a part of ICL new book series “ICL Contribution to Landslide Disaster Risk Reduction” founded in 2019. Peer-reviewed papers submitted to the Fifth World Landslide Forum were published in six volumes of this book series. This book contains the followings:

Part I with topics is mainly about landslides and earthquakes; landslide dams and outburst floods; catastrophic large-scale landslides in mountainous regions.

Part II with topics is mainly about impact of climate change; loess landslides; mapping, monitoring and modeling of landslides; stabilization and mitigation; application of new technology in landslide studies.

Prof. Vít Vilímek is the vice-president of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) and a member of the evaluation committee, Editor-in-Chief of the university journal AUC Geographica and Associate Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Geoenvironmental Disasters. He is a Professor of Physical Geography at Charles University,Prague, Czech Republic.

Prof. Fawu Wang is the President of the International Consortium on Geo-disaster Reduction (ICGdR) and the Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Geoenvironmental Disasters. He is a Professor at the School of Civil Engineering, Tongji University, China.

Dr. Alexander Strom is a chief expert at the Geodynamics Research Center LLC, Moscow, Russia. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Chang’an University, Xi’an, China, Visiting Professor at SKLGP, Chengdu, China, and an alternative representative of the JSC “Hydroproject Institute” in ICL.

Prof. Kyoji Sassa is the Founding President and the Secretary-General of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL). He has been the Editor-in-Chief of International Journal Landslides since its foundation in 2004.

Prof. Peter Bobrowsky is the President of the International Consortium on Landslides. He is a Senior Scientist of Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Canada.

Prof. Kaoru Takarais the Executive Director of the International Consortium on Landslides. He is a Professor and Dean of Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies (GSAIS) in Human Survivability (Shishu-Kan), Kyoto University.

This book is a part of ICL new book series “ICL Contribution to Landslide Disaster Risk Reduction” founded in 2019. Peer-reviewed papers submitted to the Fifth World Landslide Forum were published in six volumes of this book series. This book contains the followings:

•Five keynote lectures

•Recent development in physical modeling of landslides

•Recent development in numerical modeling of landslides

•Recent development in soil and rock testing techniques, application and analysis methods

•Recent advancements in the methods of slope stability and deformation analyses

•Recent development in disaster risk assessment

Prof. Binod Tiwari is a Vice President of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL). He is the Associate Vice President for research and sponsored project and Professor of civil and environmental engineering at the California State University, Fullerton, California, USA.

Prof. Peter Bobrowsky is the President of the International Consortium on Landslides. He is a Senior Scientist of Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, Canada.

Prof. Kaoru Takara is the Executive Director of the International Consortium on Landslides. He is a Professor and Dean of Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies (GSAIS) in Human Survivability (Shishu-Kan), Kyoto University.

This volume addresses the multi-disciplinary topic of engineering geology and the environment, one of the fastest growing, most relevant and applied fields of research and study within the geosciences. It covers the fundamentals of geology and engineering where the two fields overlap and, in addition, highlights specialized topics that address principles, concepts and paradigms of the discipline, including operational terms, materials, tools, techniques and methods as well as processes, procedures and implications.

The Encyclopedia of Engineering Geology provides a ready source of reference for several fields of study and practice including civil engineers, geologists, physical geographers, architects, hazards specialists, hydrologists, geotechnicians, geophysicists, geomorphologists, planners, resource explorers, and many others. As a key library reference, this book is an essential technical source for undergraduate and graduate students in their research. Teachers/professors can rely on it as the final authority and the first source of reference on engineering geology related studies as it provides an exceptional resource to train and educate the next generation of practitioners.

In 1908 an atmospheric explosion in northern Siberia released energy equivalent to 15 Mton of TNT. Can a comparable or larger NEO affect us again? When the next NEO strikes Earth will it be large enough to destroy a city? Will the climate change significantly? Can archaeology and anthropology provide insights into the expected cultural responses with NEO interactions? Does society have a true grasp of the actual risks involved? Is the Great Depression a good model for the economic collapse that could follow a NEO catastrophe? This volume provides a necessary link between various disciplines and comet/asteroid impacts.