Forming part of the series published to mark the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, Drought is an important contribution to research on hazards and disasters worldwide. Drought is the most complex of all natural hazards. Resulting in serious economic, social and environmental costs and losses in both developed and developing countries, drought has severely affected most countries in recent years, and on multiple occasions in many cases. Drought risks are escalating in response to many factors, including the increasing and shifting population that leads to expanding pressure...

Published to mark the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, Floods is the third volume in a series of major works on hazards and disasters world-wide. Bringing together leading researchers world-wide, each volume in the series spans the breadth of disaster-prone regions and the spectrum of themes at the core of current research. Each volume is introduced and collated by specialist editors renowned in the field. Floods occur in most parts of the world, and range from being welcomed annual occurrences which replenish nutrients in the soils, to, at the opposite end of the scale,...