De Anza College Disasters as Fundamentally Local Problems Discussion Overview
Physical Geography is all about how people interact with our natural world. The Big Ones by Dr. Lucy Jones is your book club book for this class, and it examines many of the natural disasters we will talk about over the course of the quarter. This is an opportunity to apply what you have learned in lectures, and examine how the atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere affect our lives.
Instructions
The reading for this discussion is: Chapters 8 & 9. Three postings are required. For full credit, your first posting must be made two or more days before the due date.
What to answer in your posting
“In 2006, Congress called the response to Katrina ‘a failure of government, a failure of initiative, a failure of leadership’…The American system of emergency management is based on the premise that all disasters are local.”(161)
These two chapters cover two massive disasters: the 2004 Indonesian earthquake and tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. Do you think that disasters are fundamentally local problems (as Grover Cleveland noted in response to the 1927 floods), or are disasters now global in reach? Support your opinion with evidence from the reading.
For full credit
A total of 3 posting required
Your initial posting must be two or more paragraphs or more in length (300-400 words) and include citations from the book club book (include page numbers)
Respond to at least 2 classmates directly engaging them by asking or responding to a question asked of you.