Title: Asia's Hazardous Future? Natural Disasters and Societies in the 21st CenturySubmitted by:Greg Bankoff, Senior Lecturer in Southeast Asian History, University of Auckland, New ZealandScholars are rightly reticent about predicting the future. Yet while the actions of an individual may safely be left to the devices of a fortune-teller, the activities of nations can be predicted with a great deal more certainty and the effects of their decisions on the environment seemingly require no crystal-balls at all. Not, of course, that natural disasters occur with the same magnitude or frequency across the globe. Some societies are inherently more vulnerable than others simply on account of their geographical location, their topography or as a result of historically unprecedented processes of environmental change. This paper explores the relationship between natural disasters and societies in Eastern Asia. The region not only warrants an unparalleled reputation for socio-economic transformation over recent decades but has also earned a much less well-publicised record as a zone of meteorological and seismic instability. An impact, moreover, that is paradoxically as much due to its greater degrees of wealth as to its rising levels of poverty. 'Return to Abstracts menuCarol Burnett Phone: 61 - 3 - 9349 1899 Email: c.burnett@asialink.unimelb.edu.au
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