Social-Ecological-Technological Effects of Hurricane María on Puerto Rico
Planning for Resilience under Extreme Events
Buch in deiner Nähe kaufen
Beschreibung
This book deals with the immediate effects of, and response to, Hurricane María on the social, ecological, and technological systems (SETS) of Puerto Rico. The SETS approach to analyzing hurricane effects places into historical context the role of social and technological factors, and compares social and ecological resilience on the same temporal scales. Written from the perspective of a Puerto Rican scientist who experienced Maria's wrath first-hand, the book uses extensive empirical knowledge of the ecological effects of hurricanes on Caribbean forests and combines that knowledge with a detailed analysis of the effects of Hurricane María on the social and technological fabric of Puerto Rico.
The comparison suggests that the effects of extreme events are dictated not only by the strength of the physical event, but also by the conditions of affected SETS at the time when the event exerts influence over them. Moreover, SETS have historical legacies that influence howresilient they can be when affected by an extreme event. Therefore, preparation and response to extreme events require an integrated social, ecological, and technological effort, known as the SETS response. The SETS response requires an understanding of the energetics of extreme events and their effects on the economy, which in turn determines social and technological resilience. Hurricane María demonstrated that the social and technological systems of Puerto Rico were not adapted to dealing with extreme events, in contrast with the ecological systems, which were. Hurricane María’s effect on Puerto Rico can be used as an example from which valuable lessons emerge for making SETS more adaptable and resilient to extreme events.
Provides a holistic analysis of the effects of and the responses to an extreme event Describes the effects of a major hurricane on a tropical society and its forests Synthesizes information scattered in a wide array of sources to present the effects of hurricane events Demonstrates the relevance of political and economic decisions to the magnitude of effects imparted by a hurricane on society Connects social and political justice issues to biophysical principles of energetics
Autor*in
Ariel E. Lugo
Themen in »Social-Ecological-Technological Effects of Hurricane María on Puerto Rico«
Hurricane María Puerto Rico SETS perspective Socio-Ecological-Technological Systems (SETS) Puerto Rico power outage Puerto Rico hurricane recovery Caribbean hurricane recovery Impact of extreme events energetics of extreme events energy security urban geography and urbanism