CARTOGRAPHIES OF DANGER.
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CARTOGRAPHIES OF DANGER.
ABSTRACT
No place is completely safe, although some are riskier than others. Whether we live on a floodplain or in “Tornado Alley,” near a nuclear site or in a poorly lit neighbourhood at night, we all coexist uncomfortably with natural and manmade threats.
As Mark Monmonier demonstrates in this fun and extremely useful book, maps can tell us a lot about where we should expect particular hazards, but they can also be fatally false.
California, for example, takes earthquakes seriously, with a sophisticated seismic mapping program, but Washington has taken a more relaxed approach to earthquakes around Puget Sound.
However, as the Northridge earthquake in January 1994 proved all too clearly to Californians, even trustworthy seismic-hazard maps can mislead anyone who believes that “known fault-lines” are the only sites prone to earthquakes.
As important as it is to anticipate and prepare for catastrophic natural disasters, more subtle and persistent phenomena such as pollution and criminality represent severe threats that we must deal with on a daily basis.
Hazard-zone maps highlight the more subtle hazards and raise awareness of them among planners, local leaders, and the general public.
Monmonier explains, using numerous maps from all throughout the United States, how hazard mapping reflects not just scientific awareness of dangers, but also perceptions of risk and how risk might be decreased.
Whether you live on a faultline or a coastline, near a toxic waste dump or an EMF-generating power line, you ignore this book’s plain-language guidance on geographic risks and how to avoid them at your own risk.
“No one should buy a house, rent an apartment, or even drink the local water without first reading this interesting geographical alarm on the hazards that lurk in our daily lives. Who hasn’t wondered where it is safe to live? Cartographies of Danger gives a solution.”H. J. de Blij of NBC News.
“Even if you’re not interested in maps, you’re probably interested in hazards. And this book is one of the best resources I’ve encountered for learning about them in an interesting and instructive way.”—John Casti of New Scientist.
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