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Full-Text Articles in Disaster Law
Introductory Essay: Catastrophe Thinking, Fast And Slow, Todd A. Wildermuth
Introductory Essay: Catastrophe Thinking, Fast And Slow, Todd A. Wildermuth
Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy
We know far more about certain catastrophic risks than we have been willing to do anything serious about. This was not always the case, of course. There was a time when we could have plausibly said we had no real knowledge of a problem and therefore no possible obligation to do anything different. For climate change, the nuances of the date can be endlessly debated; the possible window puts Americans knowing somewhere between 1896, with transatlantic arrival of scientific findings from Sweden, and no later than James Hansen’s testimony before Congress in 1988. For the threats posed by a Cascadia …
Insurance Against Catastrophe: Government Simulation Of Insurance Markets For Catastrophic Events, Véronique Bruggeman, Michael Faure, Tobias Heldt
Insurance Against Catastrophe: Government Simulation Of Insurance Markets For Catastrophic Events, Véronique Bruggeman, Michael Faure, Tobias Heldt
Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy
As a result of climate change, technological development, and other variables, natural and technological catastrophes have increased dramatically. Moreover, due to infrastructural issues, such as building in floodplains, damages resulting from catastrophes have increased as well. The massive earthquake and tsunami that occurred in Japan on March 11, 2011 are still fresh in people's memories, providing sobering illustrations of the extensive reach of such catastrophes. After a catastrophe, which is defined for the purposes of this Article as an accident with large losses in either the number of victims or the amount of property damage, governments often intervene in the …
Invest To Withstand The Test Of Time: Capital Planning For High-Impact Earthquakes, Jan Whittington
Invest To Withstand The Test Of Time: Capital Planning For High-Impact Earthquakes, Jan Whittington
Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy
Can people expect buildings and infrastructure to last, keeping their occupants sheltered from the elements, free to go about their business? The professionals who design facilities—as well as the taxpayers and entrepreneurs who fund them—make this assumption, but is this a safe assumption to make? Contemplate the effect of one extreme event—a magnitude 9.0 earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone of the Pacific coast—and it is easy to realize that this is not a safe assumption. Though seismic technology can be used to fortify structures against extreme events and land use plans can keep development out of harm’s way, the …
The Nature Of Extreme Natural Risks In The Natural Environment, Denis Binder
The Nature Of Extreme Natural Risks In The Natural Environment, Denis Binder
Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy
This paper suggests a paradigm change to recognize the uncontrollable risks of extreme natural hazards. All areas of the country face extreme geological and meteorological risks. This paper discusses the historic American approach to the natural environment, the underlying nature of extreme natural hazards in Washington State, California, and the New Orleans-Mississippi River, and proposals to address these hazards. It also lays out two historic limitations on action: the Fifth Amendment and human nature.