Natural Disasters [with Online Learning Center Access Code]

This book focuses on natural disasters: how the normal processes of the Earth concentrate their energies and deal heavy blows to humans and their structures. "Natural Disasters" is concerned with how the natural world operates and, in so doing, kills and maims humans and destroys their works.Throughout the book, certain themes are maintained:* energy sources underlying disasters* plate tectonics and climate change* Earth processes operating in rock, water, and atmosphere* significance of geologic time* complexities of multiple variables operating simultaneously* detailed and readable case histories.The text aims to explain important principles about the Earth and then develop further understanding through numerous case histories. The book includes recent happenings such as the Western United States wildfires during the summer 2000 and the Los Alamos prescribed burn, also occurring in 2000.