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| Genre/Form: | Maps Cartes |
|---|---|
| Material Type: | Internet resource |
| Document Type: | Book, Internet Resource |
| All Authors / Contributors: |
Mark S Monmonier |
| ISBN: | 0226534294 9780226534299 0226534189 9780226534183 0226534197 9780226534190 |
| OCLC Number: | 35331226 |
| Description: | xiv, 363 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm. |
| Contents: | 1. Map scale, danger zones, and safe places -- 2. Shaky preparations -- 3. Lavas and other strangers -- 4. Uncertain shores -- 5. Death tracks -- 6. Floodplains, by definition -- 7. Subterranean poisons -- 8. Ill winds -- 9. Short-lived daughters and ELF fields -- 10. Nuclear nightmares -- 11. Imagining vulnerability -- 12. Crimescapes -- 13. John Snow's legacy -- 14. Emerging cartographies of danger. |
| Responsibility: | Mark Monmonier. |
| More information: |
Abstract:
No place is perfectly safe, but some places are more dangerous than others. Whether we live on a floodplain or in "Tornado Alley," near a nuclear facility or in a neighborhood poorly lit at night, we all coexist uneasily with natural and man-made hazards. As Mark Monmonier shows in this entertaining and immensely informative book, maps can tell us a lot about where we can anticipate certain hazards, but they can also be dangerously misleading. California, for example, takes earthquakes seriously, with a comprehensive program of seismic mapping, whereas Washington has been comparatively lax about earthquakes in Puget Sound. But as the Northridge earthquake in January 1994 demonstrated all too clearly to Californians, even reliable seismic-hazard maps can deceive anyone who misinterprets "known faultlines" as the only places vulnerable to earthquakes. Important as it is to predict and prepare for catastrophic natural hazards, more subtle and persistent phenomena such as pollution and crime also pose serious dangers that we have to cope with on a daily basis. Hazard-Zone maps highlight these more insidious hazards and raise awareness about them among planners, local officials, and the public. With the help of many maps illustrating examples from all corners of the United States, Monmonier demonstrates how hazard mapping reflects not just scientific understanding of hazards but also perceptions of risk and how risk can be reduced. Whether you live on a fault line or a coastline, near a toxic waste dump or a nuclear generating plant, you ignore at your own peril this book's plain-language advice on geographic hazards and how to avoid them.
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Related Subjects:(10)
- Natural disasters -- Maps.
- Hazardous geographic environments -- Maps.
- Catastrophes naturelles -- Cartes.
- Milieux géographiques dangereux -- Cartes.
- Catastrophes naturelles.
- Milieux géographiques dangereux.
- Natuurrampen.
- Cartografie.
- Catastrophes naturelles -- Évaluation du risque.
- Environnement -- Évaluation du risque -- Cartes.
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- Books read in 2007(57 items)
by Libwen updated 2007-11-08
