Environmental Disasters
Active Tectonics Research Group
Submitted by cmjones on May 7, 2007 - 1:41pm.Name:
Active Tectonics Research Group
Description:
Research focusing on problems relating to fault zone processes and crustal deformation. Our approach is interdisciplinary, integrating geodetic, geomorphic, geologic, and seismological observations along with theoretical modeling.
Ocean spray lubricates hurricane winds
Submitted by cmjones on April 5, 2007 - 10:58am.Picture:
Source:
UCB News CenterDate Posted:
Jul 25 2005Summary:
According to UC Berkeley mathematicians and their Russian colleague, turbulence at the boundary between wind and ocean should keep hurricane winds to a gentle breeze. Mathematical models of this interface, however, show that large drops of water thrown up by waves suppress the turbulence, allowing winds to build to tremendous speeds. Perhaps, they speculate, a fast decaying detergent poured on roiling seas could tame a hurricane.Read Full Article:
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/07/25_hurricanes.shtmlIn aftermath of tsunami, UC Berkeley team visits Thailand to open dialogue on impacts of tourism
Submitted by cmjones on April 5, 2007 - 10:56am.Picture:
Source:
UCB News CenterDate Posted:
Jul 26 2005Summary:
Seeking a silver lining in the destruction wrought by last December's tsunami, a team of UC Berkeley students and professors spent a month in Thailand this summer working with local counterparts to design a strategic plan for developing sustainable tourism in southern Thailand's Krabi province.Read Full Article:
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/07/26_thailand.shtmlStudy shows feasibility of early warning of damaging ground motion from earthquakes
Submitted by cmjones on April 5, 2007 - 10:22am.Picture:
Source:
UCB News CenterDate Posted:
Nov 9 2005Summary:
A Berkeley seismologist, Richard Allen, has discovered a way to provide advance warning — anywhere from a few seconds to tens of seconds — about impending ground shaking from an earthquake. While a few seconds may not sound like much, it's enough time for schoolchildren to dive under their desks; for gas and electric companies to shut down or isolate their systems; for phone companies to reroute traffic, airports to halt takeoffs and landings, and emergency providers to pinpoint probable trouble areas. Such actions can save lives and money.Read Full Article:
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2005/11/09_quakes.shtmlDisasters and the Law
Submitted by cmjones on March 14, 2007 - 1:20pm.Department:
Boalt
Course Number:
224.9
Course Title:
Disasters and the Law
Instructor:
Farber
Description:
Background readings will be
discussed in the early part of the semester, but the primary focus will be on
student research papers. The tentative plan is that the papers will be the
basis of a report surveying post-Katrina legal issues, which will be disseminated
on-line or otherwise. The issues cut across many fields of law, including
disaster planning and prevention, torts/compensation/, environmental, land
use planning, social justice, tax and insurance/reinsurance
Units:
3
Offered:
Spring
Course Type:
Graduate
Natural Hazards and Problems
Submitted by cmjones on March 9, 2007 - 1:30pm.Department:
GEOG
Course Number:
134
Course Title:
Natural Hazards and Problems
Description:
An ecological approach to the
study of interactions between the natural events and human use systems;
perceptions of and adaptations to natural hazards such as floods, droughts,
earthquakes, tornadoes, and volcanic eruptions
Units:
4
Course Type:
Undergraduate
The Ocean World
Submitted by cmjones on March 9, 2007 - 1:26pm.Department:
GEOG
Course Number:
C30
Course Title:
The Ocean World
Instructor:
Ingram
Description:
The ocean covers 71 percent of
the earth's surface, yet the ocean floor is less studied than the moon. This
almost unexplored landscape is made up of flat plains, deep trenches,
volcanic mountains, and huge ridges. In this dark abyss, life is supported by
a rain of nutrients from pelagic photosynthesis, and by chemosynthetic
bacteria near hot vents and fissures. The Ocean World class will cover ocean
environments, scientific exploration, and marine ecosystems. The course will
cover ocean currents, waves, marine habitats, coral reefs, hurricanes,
tsunamis, El Ninos, volcanic islands, coasts, and beaches, new frontiers in
ocean sciences, including the technologies used to monitor and probe the
ocean depths: including scuba, submersibles, and satellites
Units:
4
Course Type:
Undergraduate
Understanding Urban-Wildland Interface Fires
Submitted by cmjones on March 9, 2007 - 12:09pm.Department:
ESPM
Course Number:
181B
Course Title:
Understanding Urban-Wildland Interface Fires
Instructor:
Beall
Description:
Covers
the basics of how wildfires behave at the interface of homes and wildlands.
Included are the interactions between vegetation and structural fires, the
relationship of fires with different kinds of biomass, modeling fire behavior
given different development and vegetation scenarios, impacts on air quality,
and case studies from around the globe.
Units:
3
Course Type:
Undergraduate
Strong Motion Seismology
Submitted by cmjones on March 7, 2007 - 1:45pm.Department:
EPS
Course Number:
130
Course Title:
Strong Motion Seismology
Instructor:
Dreger
Description:
Generation of seismic waves.
Synthetic accelerograms. Instrumentation to measure strong ground motion.
Estimation of seismic motion at a site. Ground motion spectra. Influence of
soils and geologic structures. Seismic risk mapping.
Units:
3
Course Type:
Undergraduate
Seismology
Submitted by cmjones on March 7, 2007 - 1:41pm.Department:
EPS
Course Number:
121
Course Title:
Seismology
Description:
Elastic waves in the earth;
forward and inverse problems for the velocity distribution; refraction and
reflection methods of seismic exploration. Theory of the seismograph;
interpretation of seismograms; causes, effects, and distribution of
earthquakes; mechanics of earthquakes; earthquake hazard and risk.
Units:
4
Course Type:
Undergraduate
