“Forecasting and early waing of natural hazards has been in the news over the last several years, particularly in Japan (earthquake and tsunami early waing and forecasting after the March 2011 magnitude 9 Easte Japan earthquake), Chile (tsunami waing after the February 2010 magnitude 8.8 earthquake and tsunami off the coast of Chile) and the United States (after a series of toadoes in the Central and easte United States and the startup of the development of a earthquake early waing system for Califoia, Oregon and Washington). The two volume set Extreme Environmental Events and Complexity in Forecasting and Early Waing Selected Entries from the Encyclopedia of Complexity and Systems Science is a professional level reference that provides a basic background on climate change, earthquake forecasting and early waing, tsunami forecasting and waing and volcanic hazard forecasting and waing. It also contains a number of papers on highly technical issues such as the location and modeling of earthquakes and tsunamis and the modeling of volcanic tremors. The set covers topics from economic impact of climate change to use of earthquake early waing in Italy and Japan. Each paper in the set contains a glossary that allows the reader to easily follow what the authors are trying to convey without getting distracted by terms that may have different meanings or uses in different disciplines.
“I found that the set was a great introduction to the subject matter but was somewhat unbalanced in the selection of papers. I did not find any papers on the economic, agricultural or human health impacts of volcanic eruptions, tsunamis or earthquakes. A few papers covering such topics like what was covered for climate change would have been most welcome. Overall, the setExtreme Environmental Events and Complexity in Forecasting and Early Waing Selected Entries from the Encyclopedia of Complexity and Systems Science would be a welcome addition to any university library.”– Robert Anderson, Alfred E. Alquist Seismic Safety Commission, Sacramento, CA, USA, May 2012
Extreme Environmental Events is an authoritative single source for understanding and applying the basic tenets of complexity and systems theory, as well as the tools and measures for analyzing complex systems, to the prediction, monitoring, and evaluation of major natural phenomena affecting life on earth. These phenomena are often highly destructive, and include earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, climate change,, and weather. Early waing, damage, and the immediate response of human populations to these phenomena are also covered from the point of view of complexity and nonlinear systems. In 61 authoritative, state-of-the art articles, world experts in each field apply such tools and concepts as fractals, cellular automata, solitons game theory, network theory, and statistical physics to an understanding of these complex geophysical phenomena.
About the Author
Dr. Meyers has more than 20 patents and 50 technical papers in the fields of photochemistry, pollution control, inorganic reactions, organic reactions, luminescence phenomena and polymers. He has published in primary literature jouals including Science and the Joual of the American Chemical Society, and is listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World. Dr Meyers’ scientific achievements have been reviewed in feature articles in the popular press in publications such as The New York Times Science Supplement and The Wall Street Joual as well as more specialized publications such as Chemical Engineering and Coal Age. A public service film was produced by the Environmental Protection Agency of Dr. Meyers’ chemical desulfurization invention for air pollution control.
