ABSTRACT
From Char Jabbar to Wilkes-Barre, from the Usambara Hills to the south Australian plain, the world is a mosaic of situations in which human settlement creates both resources and hazards. When we look in detail at Mexico City or Manchester, it is the uniqueness of the interaction of natural event and human use in each place that dominates our understanding of the response to extreme events. When we step back, however, it is possible to discern a few common elements. Our observations of eighteen countries and scattered places within them point toward a theory of what happens when people generate hazard, and the need for theoretical understanding such as this is one of practical urgency. A bewildering array of environmental threats having catastrophic potential appears on the world scene with increasing frequency. As thoughtful people everywhere strive to comprehend the complex interaction between flood and food supply, or drought and the stability of governments, theory becomes not a luxury of the Academy, but a necessary aid to social action.
