Debating Disaster Risk: Ethical Dilemmas in the Era of Climate Change
Navigating natural disasters and the associated risks is an issue that needs to be assessed to the greatest level of scrutiny, especially in the current era of climate change. Debating Disaster Risk helps to tackle some of the more nuanced conversations associated with these events, such as: what should a community do before and after a disaster has struck, should others from outside that community help, and how does the terminology we wrap all of these concepts in impact how we think and act?
With so many people of different backgrounds being impacted by worsening natural disasters around the word, it is increasingly important to have these conversations. As such, the authors have clearly tried to collect a wide range of expert voices to contribute to a global discussion held at a conference and reported on here.
Each chapter comprehensively highlights different debates—from the fragility of cities and power imbalances in the southern hemisphere to emergency and public responses, as well as enforcing government-level regulations—with an overview of the issues discussed, followed by in-depth rebuttals from experts. The only drawback is that most of the conversation is rather academic, with little to no first-hand accounts from people who are typically impacted by these events. However, this is in line with the book’s intended audience, those having these conversations and contributing to possible solutions, rather than the ones living with the consequences.
Debating Disaster Risk does assume prior knowledge of what natural disasters are and how they may impact a population, so is a useful step up from normal textbook discussions on the topic. Overall, the debates felt balanced, the conversation meaningful, and the quoted inputs from the online audience well picked.
Reviewed by Lily Hanlon
DETAILS
BY: Gonzalo Lizarralde et al (2025) Columbia University Press, 376 pp.
ISBN: 9780231209670
PRICE: £30, available from Geoscientist’s bookshop
