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This volume presents a unique interdisciplinary approach, drawing on expertise in both the natural and social sciences. A primary goal is to present a scientific and socially integrated perspective on place-based community engagement, extreme weather, and health. Each year extreme weather is leading to natural disasters around the world and exerting huge social and health costs. The International Monetary Fund (2012) estimates that since 2010, 700 worldwide natural disasters have affected more than 450 million people around the globe. The best coping strategy for extreme weather and environmental change is a strong offense. Communities armed with a spatial understanding of their resources, risks, strengths, weaknesses, community capabilities, and social networks will have the best chance of reducing losses and achieving a better outcome when extreme weather and disaster strikes.
List of contents
Introduction.- Superstorm Sandy: a Game Changer?.- Extreme Weather: Politicsand Public Communication.- Dust Storms, Human Health and a Global Early WarningSystem.- Interdisciplinary Engagement of People and Place around Extreme Weather.- Engaging Communitiesto Assess the Health Effects of Extreme Weather in the Arctic.- Refining theProcess of Science Support for Communities around Extreme Weather Events andClimate Impacts.- Reducing Vulnerability to Extreme Heat throughInterdisciplinary Research and Stakeholder Engagement.- Sociospatial Modelingfor climate-based emergencies: Extreme Heat Vulnerability.- Drought and Health in the Context of Public Engagement.-Extreme Weather:Mental Health Challenges and Community Response Strategies.- ExtremeWinter: Weaving Weather and Climate into a Narrative through Laura IngallsWilder.- The Air We Breathe: How Extreme Weather Conditions Harm Us.- HumanResponse to and Consequences of the May 22, 2011, Joplin Tornado.- Approachesfor Building Community Resilienceto Extreme Heat.
About the author
Dr. Sheila Lakshmi Steinberg is a
Professor of Social and Environmental Sciences at Brandman University-Chapman
University System, Irvine, CA. The theme
throughout her research is examining people and their relationship to space and
place.
Steinberg’s research interests include
environmental sociology, research methods, social inequality, community,
geospatial research (GIS) and policy. Sheila has always been interested in the
weather and climate from living in so many different parts of the U.S.
Recently, she co-authored a book entitled GIS Research Methods: Incorporating Spatial Perspectives for Esri Press
and has also co-authored a chapter on this topic entitled
"Geospatial Analysis Technology and Social Science Research" in the Handbook
of Emergent Technologies, Sharlene Hesse-Biber, Editor, Oxford University
Press 2011. In 2006, she co-authored a book for Sage Publications
entitled, GIS for the Social Sciences: Investigating Space and Place. In
2013, she joined Brandman University where she now teaches courses related to
social and environmental sciences.
William A. Sprigg, Ph.D., Yale University is Research
Professor Emeritus, University of Arizona, the current and founding director of
the World Meteorological Organization’s Pan-America Center for airborne dust
forecasting in Barbados, and research associate of the Public Health Institute
in California. He is a member of the American Meteorological Society’s Board on
Environment & Health, the Chinese Academy of Sciences Committee for Digital
Earth Observations, and the Serbian Program of Basic Research, Environmental
Protection and Climate Change. Former positions include
Distinguished Professor at California’s Chapman University, Director, U.S.
National Research Council Board on Atmospheric Science and Climate, head of the
U.S. National Climate Program Office, and architect of the U.S. Climate
Program. He participated in the first Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change. Authoring a number of technical publications on climate and, most
recently, on his current research interests, airborne dust and human health,
Dr. Sprigg continues his interests in interdisciplinary research and science
policy.
Summary
This volume presents a unique interdisciplinary approach, drawing on expertise in both the natural and social sciences. A primary goal is to present a scientific and socially integrated perspective on place-based community engagement, extreme weather, and health. Each year extreme weather is leading to natural disasters around the world and exerting huge social and health costs. The International Monetary Fund (2012) estimates that since 2010, 700 worldwide natural disasters have affected more than 450 million people around the globe. The best coping strategy for extreme weather and environmental change is a strong offense. Communities armed with a spatial understanding of their resources, risks, strengths, weaknesses, community capabilities, and social networks will have the best chance of reducing losses and achieving a better outcome when extreme weather and disaster strikes.
