Offers a holistic overview to the complex field of environmental hazards, where the theory and practice meet, where science and sociology and many other disciplines come together, and also where academia, business, government, and NGOs sectors interact Comprehensive in its coverage of hazards: covering those of natural, human and technological origin. Uniform chapter structure in part II: hazard, mitigation and adaption promotes understanding. Text written in an accessible manner with a good level of illustrative material to stimulate the reader. In contrast to competing books the draws together material on the nature of hazards and integrates this with relevant literature on risk, vulnerability, resilience, complexity, and disaster risk reduction.