Author: Stan Cox<br />File Type: pdf<br />Weve always lived on a dangerous planet, but its disasters arent what they used to be. How the World Breaks gives us a breathtaking new view of crisis and recovery on the unstable landscapes of the Earths hazard zones. Father and son authors Stan and Paul Cox take us to the explosive fire fronts of overheated Australia, the future lost city of Miami, the fights over whether and how to fortify New York City in the wake of Sandy, the Indonesian mud volcano triggered by natural gas drilling, and other communities that are reimagining their lives after quakes, superstorms, tornadoes, and landslides. In the very decade when we should be rushing to heal the atmosphere and address the enormous inequalities of risk, a strange idea has taken hold of global disaster policy resilience. Its proponents say that threatened communities must simply learn the art of resilience, adapt to risk, and thereby survive. This doctrine obscures the human hand in creating disasters and requires the planets most beleaguered people to absorb the rush of floodwaters and the crush of landslides, freeing the world economy to go on undisturbed. The Coxes great contribution is to pull the disaster debate out of the realm of theory and into the muck and ash of the worlds broken places. There we learn that change is more than mere adaptation and life is more than mere survival. Ultimately, How the World Breaks reveals whyunless we address the social, ecological, and economic roots of disastermillions more people every year will find themselves spiraling into misery. It is essential reading for our time.**ReviewPraise for Losing Our Cool Stan was The Atlantics Readers Choice Brave Thinker One of the Mother Nature Network Top Ten Environmental Books of the Year This is an important book. The history of air-conditioning is really the history of the worlds energy and climate crises, and by narrowing the focus Stan Cox makes the big picture comprehensible. He also suggests remedieswhich are different from the ones favored by politicians, environmentalists, and appliance manufacturers, not least because they might actually work. David Owen, New Yorker staff writer and author of Green Metropolis This book is the go-to source for a better understanding of the complexity of pumping cold air into a warming climate. Maude Barlow Stan Cox, in his fascinating book Losing Our Cool, offers a long list of ways in which air conditioning has transformed the U.S. economy. Bradford Plumer, The Washington Post As Stan Cox details in his excellent new book, Losing Our Cool, air conditioning has been a major force in shaping western society. The National Stan Cox offers both some sobering facts and some interesting strategies for thinking through a big part of our energy dilemma. Bill McKibben Well-written, thoroughly researched, with a truly global focus, the book offers much for consumers, environmentalists, and policy makers to consider before powering up to cool down. Publishers Weekly About the Author Stan Cox is research coordinator at the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas, where he lives. His books include Losing Our Cool and Any Way You Slice It (both published by The New Press). Paul Cox is an anthropologist and a writer on development and disaster. He is based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and regularly conducts research in Central Africa.