About this item
What does Japan's 2011 nuclear accident have in common with the 2005 flooding of New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina? What does global warming have to do with Black Hawk Down, Mark Bowden's classic account of a military disaster in Somalia? What is the relation between coal and tuna? This thought-provoking book presents a compelling account of recent and historical disasters, both natural and human-caused, drawing out common themes and providing a holistic understanding of hazards, disasters, and mitigation. Based on his on-the-ground experience with several recent major disasters, Timothy Dixon explores the science, politics, and economics behind a variety of disasters and environmental issues, arguing that many of the worst effects are avoidable.
About the Author
Timothy H. Dixon is a professor in the School of Geosciences and Director of the Natural Hazards Network at the University of South Florida in Tampa. In his research, he uses satellite geodesy and remote sensing data to study earthquakes and volcanoes, coastal subsidence and flooding, ground water extraction, and glacier motion. He has worked as a commercial pilot and scientific diver, conducted research at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and was a professor at the University of Miami, where he co-founded the Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing (CSTARS) . Dixon was a Distinguished Lecturer for the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) in 2006-2007. He is also a fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) , the Geological Society of America (GSA) , and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) . He received a GSA Best Paper Award in 2006 and received GSA's Woollard Award in 2010 for excellence in Geophysics.
Laboratory web site: http://labs.cas.usf.edu/geodesy/
