Surviving Armageddon : solutions for a threatened planet / Bill McGuire.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McGuire, Bill, 1954-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Natural disasters--Prevention.

Natural disasters.

Natural disaster warning systems.

Physical Description:

x, 238 pages : illustrations, map ; 21 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2005.

Summary:

The Asian tsunami of Christmas 2004 killed a third of a million people and shattered the lives of many more. The ruthless indifference of the forces of nature to our fragile existence on the surface of the planet could not have been more shockingly demonstrated, nor the sheer scale of their power more tragically displayed.

Massive earthquakes and super-eruptions, collision with vast boulders from space, the insidious, potentially catastrophic dangers of global warming: what can mere humans do against these large-scale natural hazards, which have devastated life on Earth in the past and could do so again? Are there real alternatives to simply accepting our doom?

Bill McGuire believes there are. Following on from A Guide to The End of the World, in which he presented a frightening vision of the global hazards that face us, in Surviving Armageddon he guides us through the major threats, assessing the solutions that have been proposed, from the reasonable to the bizarre. There really are ways in which we can, perhaps not prevent, but limit the damage caused by future disasters, he concludes.

As a volcanologist, McGuire has experienced at first hand the dangers of volcanic eruptions, and he was deeply involved in the scientific analysis of the Asian tsunami. In this lively narrative, he combines the science behind global natural hazards with enthralling accounts of his own experiences and narrow escapes while working in some of the most dangerous parts of the world. He gives us a down-to-Earth view of how we might (just) avert Armageddon, and live to tell the tale.

Contents:

1 The Heebie Gee-Gees: Setting the Scene 11

2 Defending the Earth 66

3 Tackling the Tectonic Threat 104

4 Walking the Climate Change Tightrope 158

Epilogue: Doom or Bloom? 208.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (page 215) and index.

ISBN:

0192805711

OCLC:

58555490