Diaz Henry F., Murnane Richard J. (Ed.). Climate Extremes and Society

Cambridge University Press, 2008. - 384 p.The past few decades have brought extreme weather and climate events to the forefront of societal concerns. Ordinary citizens, industry, and governments are concerned about the apparent increase in the frequency of weather and climate events causing extreme, and in some instances, catastrophic, impacts.
Climate Extremes and Society focuses on the recent and potential future consequences of weather and climate extremes for different socioeconomic sectors. The book also examines actions that may enable society to better respond and adapt to climate variability, regardless of its source. It provides examples of the impact of climate and weather extremes on society – how these extremes have varied in the past, and how they might change in the future – and of the types of effort that will help society adapt to potential future changes in climate and weather extremes.
This review volume is divided into two sections: one examining the evidence for recent and projected changes in extremes of weather and climate events, and the other assessing the impacts of these events on society and on the insurance industry. Chapters examine a variety of climatic extremes using both the analysis of observational data and climate model simulations. Other chapters highlight recent innovative efforts to develop institutional mechanisms and incentives for integrating knowledge on extremes and their economic impacts.
The book will appeal to all scientists, engineers, and policymakers who have an interest in the effects of climate extremes on society.
DR HENRY F. DIAZ is a Research Meteorologist in the Earth System Research Laboratory at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He has worked on a variety of climate issues at NOAA over the past 15 years, particularly the impact of climatic variation on water resources of the western United States. He is recognized as an expert on the EI Nino – Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon and coedited EI Nino: Historical and Paleoclimatic Aspects of the Southern Oscillation, also published by Cambridge University Press (1992).
DR RICHARD MURNANE is the Program Manager for the Risk Prediction Initiative (RPI) and a Senior Research Scientist at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), where he leads RPI’s efforts to transform science into knowledge for assessing risk from natural hazards. Dr Murnane’s own research focuses on tropical cyclones, climate variability, and the global carbon cycle. Before joining the RPI and BIOS in 1997, Dr Murnane was on the research staff of Princeton University in the Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.