New episodes environmental history podcast: Disasters and history

The latest two editions of the Exploring Environmental History podcast are devoted to disasters and natural hazards in history. The guest on the first podcast is hydrologist David Archer, an expert on the history of floods in the northeast of England. He explores the great floods in the Tyne basin of the past 250 years and even beyond. In addition he discusses what historical sources are available for the reconstruction of past floods and how such information can be used for current flood risk management.

In the second episode, Greg Bankoff, professor of modern non-western history at the University of Hull explores how the persistent threat and reality of disasters shapes the history, social and cultural development of societies. He demonstrates that there is a close inter-relationship between human beings and the natural world in societies that face the persistent threat and reality of disasters, and how this influences a community’s social and cultural development. Appreciating that there are both cultures of disaster and cultures of coping in all societies fosters an understanding of natural disasters in terms of people’s vulnerabilities and their resilience to withstand them through strengthening existing capacities. The podcast concludes with the observation that the developed world can learn from the experiences of developing countries of how to cope with disasters on a low budget. This is something that could be important in a world facing increasing instability caused by climate and environmental change.

Both podcasts can be accessed at http://www.eh-resources.org/podcast/podcast.html