Real Life Disasters (SCPL)

"In Disasterology, Dr. Montano, a disaster researcher, brings readers with her on an eye-opening journey through some of our worst disasters, helping readers make sense of what really happened from a emergency management perspective. She explains why we aren't doing enough to prevent or prepare for disasters, the critical role of media, and how our approach to recovery was not designed to serve marginalized communities. Now that climate change is...

Narrates the struggles of the overmatched rangers against the implacable fire of August, 1910, and Teddy Roosevelt's pioneering conservation efforts that helped turn public opinion permanently in favor of the forests, though it changed the mission of the forest service with consequences felt in the fires of today.

This "riveting" companion to the PBS documentary "clarifies our understanding of the 'worst manmade ecological disaster in American history'" (Booklist).
In this riveting chronicle, Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns capture the profound drama of the American Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Terrifying photographs of mile-high dust storms, along with firsthand accounts by more than two dozen eyewitnesses, bring to life this heart-wrenching catastrophe,...

A journalist and forest-fire expert shares his experiences in some of the world's most dangerous and remote regions to explore the rising phenomenon of large-scale fires, the damage they cause, and how they are being battled by elite firefighters.

Bay Area-based reporters for The Guardian, Alastair Gee and Dani Anguiano, relate the story of the worst American wildfire in a century, weaving together a portrait of the remarkable California community of 27,000 souls, destroyed wholesale in a fire that left 86 dead, while offering a bigger-picture exploration of the science of wildfires in a time of dramatic climate change. Alastair Gee is a seasoned science/nature writer based in San Francisco...

"The oceans cover 71% of the planet and pose a myriad of hazards to everyone from blue-water sailors to the casual beachcomber. From rip currents to rogue waves, the possibilities for some water-borne calamity seem endless, but in most cases a deadly outcome can be avoided or at least mitigated by having a better understanding of the risks involved. This book presents cautionary tales of the most dangerous aspects of oceans encounters, including hazardous...

"Seismic City argues that the disaster of 1906 must be understood as part of the ordinary relationship between the city and its natural surroundings. Despite its short-term drama and immediate impact on people's lives, the 1906 earthquake and fire did not transform the history of San Francisco. Instead, San Franciscans rapidly incorporated the crisis into pre-existing debates about urban ecology, urban development, and social relations in the city....

Weaving together heart-wrenching stories with immersive reporting and dramatic storytelling, a gripping account of a weather event in April 2011 that saw a record 358 tornadoes rip through 21 states in three days shows how things that tear our world apart also reveal what holds us together.

"The Katrina disaster was not a weather event of summer 2005. It was a disaster a century in the making, a product of lessons learned from previous floods, corporate and government decision making, and the political economy of the United States at large. New Orleans's history is America's history, and Katrina represents America's possible future"--