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Climatic hazards

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Climatology

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Science ((EESS))

The study of climatic hazards is a good example of the practical importance of environmental climatology. This review of climatic hazards not only outlines the great variety of such events and their impacts, but also illustrates the present interests of and future challenges for the climatologist.

Nature and Variety of the Threats

Climatic hazards are agents of disaster in terms of what they may do to human settlements or to the environment. Potentially hazardous atmospheric phenomena include tropical cyclones, thunderstorms, tornadoes, drought, rain, hail, snow, lightning, fog, wind, temperature extremes, air pollution, and climatic change.

Identification of hazardous events is not always easy, although certain criteria are usually present. They include property damage; economic loss, such as loss of income or a halt in production; major disruption of social services, including communications failures; excessive strain on essential services such as police, fire, hospital, and public...

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Authors
  1. Jack E. Hobbs
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© 1987 Van Nostrand Reinhold

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Hobbs, J.E. (1987). Climatic hazards . In: Climatology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30749-4_42

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30749-4_42

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-87933-009-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-30749-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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