Issue 13
Page 8
Off the Bookshelf
Knowing Your Risk Profile
With the increasing vulnerability and exposure of communities to various types of hazards - both natural and man made, it is of great importance that the risks associated with these hazards be taken into account in the decision making process of the overall disaster management policy of such communities. The Community Risk Profile (CRP) tool was developed by UNEP to provide communities with a means of making a rough estimate of various types of risks they are exposed to, supporting the decision making process, especially as to whether or not further assessments are needed. While the CRP is not presented as a risk assessment tool, it provides users with a qualitative approach to characterise an expected level of risk and thus decide on the necessity for further assessment. It is also a tool that can be used to support awareness raising and capacity building activities. Assessing the Vulnerability of Local Communities to Disasters An Interactive Guide and Methodology. Community Risk Profile Tool Author: UNEP Number of Pages: 52 Year of Publication: 2008 PDF available at: http://www.unep.org/pdf/DTIE_PDFS/ DTIx1054xPA-CommunityRiskProfile.pdf
The Story of Plate Tectonics
In the early 1960s, the emergence of the theory of plate tectonics started a revolution in the earth sciences. Since then, scientists have verified and refined this theory, and now have a much better understanding of how our planet has been shaped by platetectonic processes. People benefit from, and are at the mercy of, the forces and consequences of plate tectonics. With little or no warning, an earthquake or volcanic eruption can unleash bursts of energy far more powerful than anything we can generate. While we have no control over plate-tectonic processes, we now have the knowledge to learn from them. This booklet, available online gives a brief introduction to the concept of plate tectonics and highlights some of the people and discoveries that advanced the development of the theory and traces its progress since its proposal. This Dynamic Earth Author: W. Jacquelyne Kious, Robert I. Tilling ISBN: 0-16-048220-8 Available on-line at : http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/dynamic.pdf Big Caribbean Wave
The Caribbean Sea region, is typically associated with hurricanes and is also prone to the hazard of tsunamis. The authors aim to present the overall existing tsunami hazard in the region by initially presenting an overview of all of the existing tsunami-causing factors found in the region: earthquakes, sub-aerial and submarine landslides, and submarine explosions. Field evidence of recent and pre-historic tsunami events is also presented along with a description of the tsunami hazard mitigation efforts being carried out locally and in collaboration with national and international programs. The book concludes with the presentation of related recent research results. Caribbean Tsunami Hazard ~ Aurelio Mercado-Irizarry (Editor), Philip L. F. Liu (Editor) Hardcover: 364 pages Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company (February 8, 2006) Language: English ISBN-10: 9812565353 ISBN-13: 978-9812565358