Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecture

February 3, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Mānoa Campus, Crawford Hall Room 115, 2550 Campus Drive, UH Manoa

First, this talk reviews milestones in the history of engineering risk analysis and decision-making under deep uncertainty from the late 19th century through the 20th century. We focus especially on the linkages between climate predictability, extreme events and design criteria on the one hand, the evolution of the socio-cultural attitudes toward risk, and the introduction of cost-benefit analysis. Second, we discuss extreme events (extreme rainfall, flashfloods, floods, landslides and droughts) from a natural systems and from an anthropogenic systems perspective using examples from the United States, Southeast Asia, South America and Australia. Emphasis is placed on the distinction between extreme events and hazards, single and multiple hazards, cascading (functional) hazards (short time-scales of recovery), and system resetting hazards (long-time scales of recovery, change). Finally, we examine the challenges of quantitative risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis in the context of climate change and variability, and the role of models in developing and evaluating adaptation strategies and disaster mitigation response.


Event Sponsor
Urban and Regional Planning, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Dr James Campbell, (808) 971-8965, jamesrca@hawaii.edu

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