The Atlas of Natural Disasters

Rating:
Summary: Bait and Switch - An intellectual virus
Review: What seems like an objective scientific book aimed to inform children of the forces of nature and their effects on the human environment was hijacked on the last 19 pages as a diatribe against industrialization. The title of the book is "The Atlas of Natural Disasters" turned out to be neither an atlas nor solely focused on Natural Disasters. While the lack of comprehensive mapping of these hazards may be forgivable, the deviation from the subject matter seemed intended to slip an extreme environmental message past parents and directly to the young audience. The cover lists avalanches, earthquakes, floods & storms, hurricanes (which seem to fit in the previous category by my reckoning) , wildfires and volcanic eruptions. What was omitted was the section on "Unnatural Disasters" which described environmental degradation and other "human induced", "planet killing" activities. These activities were defended poorly with sketchy, non referenced, science and in some cases absolute deceit.

My favorite was the image of Santiago, Chile which "showed" the effects of poor air quality with no explanation of what the image was, in fact, showing. I guess we are expected to believe this since it is satellite imagery that this must be proof. While I have spent time in Santiago and am aware that the air quality can be quite poor, I am also experienced at interpreting imagery and know that the image presented is at best inconclusive.

Shame on this author, editors and publishers for putting indoctrination and profits ahead of principled science. This seems like a perfectly designed vehicle for directing an extreme environmental message past parents and into the minds of young impressionable readers. However, judging from its location on the discount rack, it seems they were not able to fool sufficient numbers to make the ruse work. I would recommend that, unless you share the pessimistic views of the author, you either avoid this book entirely or remove the last 19 pages which will instantly upgrade it from a farce to a tolerable gloss over of natural hazards.