Thisbook examines the dangers and the patterns of adaptation that emerge throughexposure to risk on a daily basis. By addressing the influence of environmental factors in Indian OceanWorld history, the collection reaches across the boundaries of the natural andsocial sciences, presenting case-studies that deal with a diverse range ofnatural hazards - fire in Madagascar, drought in India, cyclones and typhoons inOman, Australia and the Philippines, climatic variability, storms and flood inVietnam and the Philippines, and volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamisin Indonesia. These chapters, written by leading international historians,respond to a growing need to understand the ways in which natural hazards shapesocial, economic and political development of the Indian Ocean World, a regionof the globe that is highly susceptible to the impacts of seismic activity,extreme weather, and climate change.
