Abstract

This chapter explores the connection between the general discourse on human–environment relations and the study of natural hazard. The late Gilbert White, one of the leading geographers of the twentieth century and a leader in environmental hazards research endeavored to bring the idea of hazard and natural disaster back into the realm of public discourse and not let technical expertise and management limit its study. According to Kenneth Hewitt, ignoring the study of natural disaster puts a gaping hole in the “fabric of productive and orderly human relations with the habitat.” The study of natural disasters presents two contrasting views: on the one hand, they are considered the source of destruction of landscapes and, on the other, they are welcomed as dramatic moments of landscape change and renewal.