Environmental Disaster in the Gulf South - (Natural World of the Gulf South) by Cindy Ermus (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Hurricanes, floods, oil spills, disease, and disappearing wetlands are some of the many environmental disasters that impact the Gulf South. The contributors to Environmental Disaster in the Gulf South explore the threat, frequency, and management of this region's disasters from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Scholars from the fields of history, sociology, and anthropology examine the underlying causes of vulnerability to natural hazards in the coastal states while also suggesting ways to increase resilience.

Greg O'Brien considers the New Orleans flood of 1849; Andy Horowitz, the Galveston storm of 1900; and Christopher M. Church, the 1928 hurricane in Florida and the Caribbean. Urmi Engineer Willoughby delves into the turn-of-the-century yellow fever outbreaks in New Orleans and local attempts to eradicate them, while Abraham H. Gibson and Cindy Ermus discuss the human introduction of invasive species and their long-term impact on the region's ecosystem. Roberto E. Barrios looks at political-ecological susceptibility in New Orleans's Lower Ninth Ward, and Kevin Fox Gotham treats storm- and flood-defense infrastructures. In his afterword, Ted Steinberg ponders what the future holds when the capitalist state supports an unwinnable battle between land developers and nature.

These case studies offer new ways of understanding humans' interactions with the unique, and at times unforgiving, environment of the Gulf South. These lessons are particularly important as we cope with the effects of climate change and seek to build resilience and reduce vulnerability through enhanced awareness, adequate preparation, and efficient planning.

Review Quotes

Environmental Disaster in the Gulf South breaks fresh ground by taking a regional approach to the history of natural disasters, rather than focusing on a single location or event. By looking at the interplay of an 'unforgiving natural environment' and a 'history of political and social negligence' over time, the volume characterizes the history and culture of the Gulf South as a hazardscape and yields new insights into this story.--Uwe Lübken

Building up from cases dating back to the mid-nineteenth century, Environmental Disaster in the Gulf South . . . works diligently across anthropology, sociology, and history to deliver a highly readable and critical account. This collection . . . is a marker of the emerging disaster studies paradigm--thinking across disaster types and individual events towards the discovery of structural and cultural contexts and legacies.--Scott Gabriel Knowles

About the Author

Cindy Ermus, assistant professor of European history at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, specializes in the history of disaster, crisis (including revolution), and the environment in the eighteenth century. A native of South Florida, she has also published on the history, culture, and environment of the Gulf South.