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Physical and Environmental Geography Commons™
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Full-Text Articles in Physical and Environmental Geography
Unnatural Disasters: Rethinking The Distinction Between Natural And Man-Made Catastrophe, Michael D. Cooper, Esq.
Unnatural Disasters: Rethinking The Distinction Between Natural And Man-Made Catastrophe, Michael D. Cooper, Esq.
Michael D. Cooper, Esq.
The distinction between “natural” and “man-made” disaster has grown increasingly difficult to defend. Our current conception conflates extreme natural events with the notion of disaster—an exclusively human construct. We define our cultural perception of “natural” disaster through three “man-made” constructs. First, our values alone characterize the scope and scale of loss. Second, our volition exacerbates otherwise benign natural hazards, exposes us to otherwise avoidable hazards, and, through technology, generates new and otherwise non-existent hazards. Finally, when natural hazards do unleash their destructive powers, pre-existing socio-economic inequalities manifest as vulnerabilities that ultimately determine both absolute and relative social outcomes and impacts. …
Land Use And Land Cover Dynamics Under Climate Change In Urbanizing Intermountain West: A Case Study From Cache County, Utah, Enjie Li
Enjie Li
Climate change is tightly linked with urbanization. Urban development with increasing greenhouse gas emission worsens climate change, while climate change in turn influence hydroclimate and ecosystem functions, and indirectly affect urban systems. The Intermountain West is experiencing rapid urban growth, climate change interacting with urbanization poses new challenges to the Intermountain West. Urban planning needs to adapt to these new changes and constrains, and to develop new tools and plans to effectively respond to climate changes. An urban growth model SLEUTH is applied to predict the future urban growth and land use dynamics in the Intermountain west, using Cache County …