RISK-DISASTER-AND-INSURANCE

Models, theory, and empirical studies in wildfire hazard

A Social Vulnerability Index for Disaster Management Barry E. Flanagan, CDC/ATSDR Edward W. Gregory, CDC/ATSDR Elaine J. Hallisey, CDC/ATSDR Janet L. Heitgerd, CDC/NCHHSTP Brian Lewis, CDC/ATSDR Abstract Social vulnerability refers to the socioeconomic and demographic factors that affect the resilience of communities. Studies have shown that in disaster events the socially vulnerable are more likely to be adversely affected, i.e. they are less likely to recover and more likely to die. Effectively addressing social vulnerability decreases both human suffering and the economic loss related to providing social services and public assistance after a disaster. This paper describes the development of a social vulnerability index (SVI), from 15 census variables at the census tract level, for use in emergency management. It also examines the potential value of the SVI by exploring the impact of Hurricane Katrina on local populations. Recommended Citation Flanagan, Barry E.; Gregory, Edward W.; Hallisey, Elaine J.; Heitgerd, Janet L.; and Lewis, Brian (2011) "A Social Vulnerability Index for Disaster Management," Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management: Vol. 8 : Iss. 1, Article 3. DOI: 10.2202/1547-7355.1792 Available at: http://www.bepress.com/jhsem/vol8/iss1/3

RESPONSABILIDAD CIVIL EXTRACONTRACTUAL EN LA GESTIÓN DE RESIDUOS... 173Vniversitas. Bogotá (Colombia) N° 113: 173-206, enero-junio de 2007ISSN:0041-9060

Governing Disasters The Challenges of Emergency Risk Regulation Alberto Alemanno Edited by Alberto Alemanno, Jean Monnet Professor of EU Law and Risk Regulation, HEC Paris, France 2011 320 pp Hardback 978 0 85793 572 4 Hardback £75.00 on-line price £67.50 Qty This book is also available as an ebook  978 0 85793 573 1 from - www.EBSCOhost.com www.myilibrary www.ebooks.com www.ebookscorporation.com www.dawsonera.com www.ebrary.com/corp/ www.books.google.com/ebooks Description 'This comprehensive edited volume makes an important and much needed contribution to an increasingly important dimension of risk assessment and management, namely emergency risk regulation. Drawing upon the responses of government, businesses, and the public to the 2010 volcanic eruption in Iceland - which disrupted European air travel, it offers important lessons for policy-makers who are likely to confront similar unanticipated global risks. The recent nuclear power disaster in Japan makes this volume both timely and prescient.' - David Vogel, University of California, Berkeley, US Contents Contributors: A. Alemanno, N. Bernard, V. Brannigan, C.M. Briggs, M. Broberg, A. Burgess, G.G. Castellano, S. Chakraborty, A. Fioritto, F. Hansstein, L. Jachia, A. Jeunemaitre, C. Johnson, C. Lawless, F.B. López-Jurado, D. Macrae, M. Mazzocchi, V. Nikonov, M. Ragona, M. Simoncini, A.M. Viens Further information 'The challenges posed by risky decisions are well documented. These decisions become even more daunting when they must be made in a midst of a crisis. Using the European volcanic risk crisis as the principal case study, Alberto Alemanno and the other contributors to this thought provoking volume derive valuable lessons for how policy makers can cope with the attendant time pressures, uncertainties, coordination issues, and risk communication problems. Once the next emergency risk situation occurs, it may be too late to learn about how to respond. Governing Disasters should be re

           Volume 85    Issue One: November 2010   The French Revision of Prescription: A Model for Louisiana?, Benjamin West Janke & François-Xavier Licari (Lead Article)      The Rome II Regulation: A Comparative Perspective on Federalizing Choice of Law, Clay H. Kaminsky   Why the Beginning Should Be the End: The Argument for Exempting Post-Complaint Materials from Rule 26(b)(5)(A)'s Privilege-Log Requirement, Douglas C. Rennie   Essay: The Quran and the Constitution, L. Ali Khan   Book Review: Saving Civil Justice: Judging Civil Justice by Hazel Genn, Elizabeth G. Thornburg   Comment, Foolish Revenge or Shrewd Regulation? Financial Industry Tax Law Reforms Proposed in the Wake of the Financial Crisis, Richard T. Page    Comment, Breathing Life Into the "Dead Zone": Can the Federal Common Law of Nuisance Be Used to Control Nonpoint Source Water Pollution?, Endre Szalay        Issue Two: November 2010   "Sports Law": Implications for the Development of International, Comparative, and National Law and Global Dispute Resolution, Matthew J. Mitten & Hayden Opie (Lead Article)    A Uniform Framework for Patent Eligibility, Efthimios Parasidis    Tracing the Origins of "Fairly Traceable": The Black Hole of Private Climate Change Litigation, Mary Kathryn Nagle    Convergence in Contort, Melissa T. Lonegrass    Comment, Forum and Venue Selection Clauses in Seaman's Employment Contracts: Can Contractual Stipulations Be Used to Defeat a Seaman's Choice of Forum or Venue in a Jones Act Claim?, Jeremy Jones    Comment, The Downside of Success: How Increased Commercialism Could Cost the NCAA Its Biggest Antitrust Defense, Jeffrey J.R. Sundram      Issue Three: February 2011  Mixed Public-Private Speech and the Establishment Clause, Claudia E. Haupt   Clarity and Confusion: RICO's Recent Trips to the United States Supreme Court, Dr. Randy D. Gordon   Did You Ever Hear of the Napoleonic Code, Stella? A Mixed Jurisdi

Deep Trouble: Legal Ramifications of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill  This Issue will examine the wide range of legal and regulatory issues raised by the Deepwater Horizon disaster and resulting oil spill. Topics discussed will include marine pollution law, personal injury and death claims, the international legal implications of the spill, and issues related to corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. Contributing are Professors Robert Force, Martin Davies, and Joshua Force, Professor Craig Allen, John deGravelles, Esq., Neale deGravelles, Esq., Dave Sump, Esq., and Professors Miriam Cherry and Judd Sneirson. Dean David D. Meyer will provide an introduction.

Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Courtney Farrell 0 Resenhas ABDO, 2011 - 112 páginas Explains the causes behind the BP Deepwater Horizon Explosion and Oil Spill; the effect on workers, animals, and the environment; and what is being done to help the Gulf Coast recove

Symposium examines legal issues from BP oil spill Filed under Announcements, InsideUF (Campus), Top Stories on Thursday, September 9, 2010. GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Legal responses to the disaster caused by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill this summer are wide-ranging and varied, according to law professors from the University of Florida Levin College of Law who have been studying laws and policies that can determine liability for such environmental disasters. A symposium outlining the legal basis for responding to the oil spill will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16, in the Martin H. Levin Legal Advocacy Center at UF's Levin College of Law. The public is invited. Symposium participants include six UF law faculty members, one UF sociology faculty member and six UF law students who have studied the legal structures governing follow-up decisions in the aftermath of the spill along the Gulf Coast. The symposium will examine: 1. Florida laws governing oil spills, including a comparison of laws in other states affected by the spill, which are Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas; 2. Federal and admiralty laws relating to oil spills and recovery, including the Oil Pollution Act, which is the central authority on oil spills at the federal level; 3. Types of recovery that can include natural resource restoration, economic compensation for individuals, communities, and businesses, and punitive damages or fines; 4. The claims process established initially by BP and now administered by Kenneth Feinberg through the Gulf Coast Claims Facility; 5. Responses from commissions established by the State of Florida and by President Obama; and 6. Legislative actions that could assist oil spill victims. "We are in the initial stages of developing a legal framework for examining the law and policy issues that will be discussed throughout the region in the coming months and even years," said Jon Mills, who chairs UF law's Oil Spill Working Group and also serves on the univer

Environmental Liability and Redevelopment of Old Industrial Land Hilary Sigman Journal of Law and Economics Vol. 53, No. 2 (May 2010), pp. 289-306 (article consists of 18 pages) Published by: The University

The sustainability of megacities and the ecosystems they influence are critical for ensuring quality of life and environment throughout the world. This sustainability requires infrastructure systems that provide a good and equitable quality of life, and a balance between consumption, disposal, and environmental capacity. Megacities must be strengthened and prepared to resist all hazards that may threaten them. Megacities function as a mega-system made up of many independent subsystems that have been developed in silos. However, the operations of each system depend upon other subsystems within the mega-system, under both extreme and usual circumstances. Lifeline systems are the basic infrastructure that supports all other systems needed for a megacity to function properly. The resiliency of lifeline systems is critical to the sustainability of megacities. Future directions in lifeline systems require improved interactions between the interdependent systems and improved inter-agency coordination. Megacities are extremely vulnerable to risks from natural and man made hazards. Transformative research is needed to better understand how interdependent systems interact and to develop decision support tools that help to understand the performances of complex systems under normal and extreme events. Examples from the Los Angeles megacity region are presented to show the makeup of megacities and mega-systems, and to illustrate their vulnerabilities to extreme events. The simulated performance of water supply and distribution systems in Southern California during a great earthquake scenario are summarized to show how advanced decision support tools may be used for improving the functionality of critical infrastructure systems under normal and extreme circumstances. This study indicates that resilience can be enhanced through multi-system integration and the risks and vulnerabilities to hazards can be overcome through integration of existing infrastructure.

Stop, Thief! Thank You. Why so little looting in Japan? It's not just about honesty. By Christopher Beam

About the Deepwater Horizon Study Group   The Deepwater Horizon Study Group was formed by members of the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management (CCRM) in May 2010  in response to the explosion and fire at British Petroleum's Deepwater  Horizon well on April 20, 2010.  CCRM is a group of academic researchers and practitioners from diverse disciplines who attempt to share their knowledge of safety, organizational reliability and the mitigation of adverse human and natural events.   CCRM researchers have laudable expertise in engineering, law, the offshore petroleum industry, accident investigation, protection of sensitive environments, and in organizational management for dangerous environments.  Prompted by inquiries from industries, government agencies, the news media, and concerned individuals around the world regarding the causes and possible remediation of the oil spill at Deepwater Horizon, CCRM members organized the Deepwater Horizon Study Group (DHSG) to consider ways they might help to mitigate the effects of this incident.  DHSG is comprised of faculty members from the University of California and other institutions, accident investigators, petroleum engineers, social scientists, environmental advocates, and directors of research centers. DHSG members identified critical goals for the better understanding and prevention or mitigation of future accidents.  The first goal of DHSG is to capture facts and observations from workers, managers, witnesses, regulatory agencies, and other sources that may be lost if not gathered and preserved immediately.   An archive for this evidence will be established and accessible to interested researchers and investigators.  DHSG will produce its own in-progress reports and analyses of this incident from these data.  Finally, DHSG will attempt to disseminate the results of its inquiry and analysis to the public, to national and local governments, to industries that must operate in potentially dangerous environ

De todas estas etapas, los procesos de refinación y de petroquímica son generalmente los que más llaman la atención en su impacto al entorno natural, debido a la magnitud y variedad de sustancias que maneja en sus procesos industriales. Sin embargo hay que resaltar el hecho de que las plantas refinadoras y los complejos petroquímicos se convierten además en importantes polos de desarrollo industrial que transforman intensamente las actividades económicas regionales y ponen en marcha complejos procesos socioeconómicos que modifican la relación hombre - ambiente. Asimismo el efecto que desencadena sobre otras áreas económicas como el transporte, la industria automovilística y química, y la construcción, por mencionar algunas de las más relevantes, permite visualizar la importancia que esta industria tiene dentro de la estrategia nacional para el desarrollo sustentable.  

La responsabilidad extracontractual de la administracion del estado por falta de servicio y por el daño ambiental PDF Jorge Bermudez Soto

Oxford University Press US, 2008 - 600 páginas Environmental harm is commonly associated with companies that extract, consume, and pollute our shared natural resources. Rarely are the 'unseen polluters,' the financiers that sponsor and profit from eco-damaging corporations, placed at the forefront of the environmental debate. By focusing on these unseen polluters, Benjamin Richardson provides a comprehensive examination of socially responsible investment (SRI), and offers a guide to possible reform. Richardson proposes that greater regulatory supervision of SRI will help ensure that the financial sector prioritizes ethically-based investments. In Socially Responsible Investment Law, he suggests that new governmental reforms should encourage companies to participate in socially responsible investments by providing a better mix of standards and incentives for SRI through measures that include redefining the fiduciary responsibilities of institutional investors to incorporate environmental concerns. By doing so, Richardson posits that corporate financiers, including banks, hedge funds, and pension plans, will become more accountable to the goals of ensuring sustainable development.

Methods for risk assessment of transgenic plants: III, Ecological risks and prospects of transgenic plants, where do we go from here? : a dialogue between bio-tech industry and science Klaus Ammann 1 Resenha Birkhäuser, 1999 - 260 páginas The Berne Symposium invited leading scientists of risk assessment research with transgenic crops on an international level in order to enhance the discussion regulators and members of the biotech industry. The goal was to determine the status quo and also to make progress in times of a first global spread of transgenes in agrosystems about risk assessment. The dialogue between scientists, regulators and industry representatives also revealed some lacunes of risk assessment research, which will have to be filled in the future: We still lack longterm experience, for which we will have to collect data with scientific precision. The symposium concluded asking for a risk-oriented longterm monitoring system based on critical science and hard data. This volume presents the discussion sessions as well as the scientific contributions and thus mirrors the risk assessment debate, based not on exaggerated negative scenarios but on critical science and hard data.

Genetically modified pest-protected plants: science and regulation National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Genetically Modified Pest-Protected Plants 1 Resenha National Academies Press, 2000 - 263 páginas Farmers praise them, European consumers fear them, and Americans are growing uneasy about them -- transgenic crops have emerged as a contentious issue at the crossroads of health, agriculture, environment, and international trade. This timely book explores the risks and benefits of crops that are genetically modified for pest resistance, the urgency of establishing an appropriate regulatory framework for these products, and the importance of public understanding of the issues. The committee critically reviews federal policies toward transgenic products, the 1986 coordinated framework among the key federal agencies in the field, and rules proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency for regulation of plant pesticides. Case studies explore the commercial production and oversight of transgenic crops, including "Bt" crops, the most widely used transgenic pest-protected plants. Clearing up misconceptions and offering clear guidance, this book will be immediately important to anyone concerned about the transgenic issue.

Asbestos was once known as the 'magic mineral' because of its ability to withstand flames. Yet since the 1970s, it has become a notorious and feared 'killer dust' that is responsible for thousands of deaths and an epidemic that will continue for many years

In the early twentieth century, asbestos had a reputation as a lifesaver. In 1960, however, it became known that even relatively brief exposure to asbestos can cause mesothelioma, a virulent and lethal cancer. Yet the bulk of the world's asbestos was mined after 1960. Asbestos usage in many countries continued unabated. This is the first global history of how the asbestos industry and its allies in government, insurance, and medicine defended the product throughout the twentieth century. It explains how mining and manufacture could continue despite overwhelming medical evidence as to the risks. The argument advanced in this book is that asbestos has proved so enduring because the industry was able to mount a successful defense strategy for the mineral--a strategy that still operates in some parts of the world. This defence involved the shaping of the public debate by censoring, and sometimes corrupting, scientific research, nurturing scientific uncertainty, and using allies in government, insurance, and medicine. The book also discusses the problems of asbestos in the environment, compensating victims, and the continued use of asbestos in the developing world. Its global focus shows how asbestos can be seen as a model for many occupational diseases--indeed for a whole range of hazards produced by industrial societies. The book is based on a wealth of documentary material gained from legal discovery, supplemented by evidence from the authors' visits and researches in the US, the UK, Canada, Kazakhstan, Zimbabwe, Australia, Swaziland, and South Africa.

Amiante, un scandale improbable: sociologie d'un problème public Emmanuel Henry 0 Resenhas Presses universitaires de Rennes, 2007 - 308 páginas La vie d'un ouvrier vaut-elle moins que celle d'un étudiant du cinquième arrondissement de Paris ? Voici la question qui pourrait résumer les problèmes posés par l'amiante depuis le milieu des années 1970. Aujourd'hui, analystes et commentateurs s'accordent à définir l'amiante comme un scandale de santé publique. Pourtant, un regard rétrospectif montre que dix ou quinze ans auparavant les mêmes acteurs s'accommodaient assez bien d'un problème perçu comme relevant principalement du domaine professionnel. Cette acceptation est d'ailleurs toujours pleinement d'actualité vis-à-vis de l'ensemble des autres cancers professionnels. Cet ouvrage montre que c'est lorsque le risque lié à l'amiante a été redéfini comme un risque environnemental menaçant l'ensemble de la population que l'intérêt à son égard a pu être considérablement élargi. Il décrypte les mécanismes et raisons de ce processus, en expliquant pourquoi les cancers liés à l'amiante n'auraient pas pu être constitués en problème majeur de santé publique s'ils étaient restés principalement définis comme des cancers professionnels.Au-delà des interrogations sur le cas même de l'amiante, ce livre fournit des clés d'analyse originales pour comprendre les processus de publicisation des problèmes. En proposant une sociologie des problèmes publics, il invite à réexaminer certains lieux communs des débats relatifs à la médiatisation ou à l'espace public, notamment ceux liés au " pouvoir " des journalistes et des médias ou à la place des victimes dans l'espace public, en replaçant ces questions dans une perspective de sociologie politique du pouvoir et de la domination.