Measuring vulnerability to natural hazards : towards disaster resilient societies

“Climate change adaptation”, “building resilience” and “vulnerability and risk reduction” are noble words, but do we really know what is meant by these terms and how to assess their respective progress? This book seeks to address these questions. The world has recently experienced disasters of a magnitude rarely seen before: the cascading disaster in Japan, the earthquake in Haiti, and floods in Pakistan and Australia are a few prominent examples. These major disasters underline the fact that many communities and world regions are still vulnerable to extreme events and natural hazards. Additionally, creeping changes, such as sea level rise, are emerging pressures in the context of climate change. These changes are very likely to seriously affect livelihoods in many regions. The dynamic and complex interaction between vulnerable communities, and climate- and non-climate-related, sudden-onset and creeping hazards will most likely increase the risk of crises and disasters in the future. Following the popularity of the first edition, this volume has been completely revised and fully updated. This new edition includes the dimension of adaptation to climate change and new risks resulting from climate change. It combines practical examples from Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe with theoretical and conceptual frameworks. It is key reading for all those interested in improving risk reduction and adaptation strategies to extreme events and gradual changes in the context of climate change and natural hazards.