Catastrophe [[electronic resource] ] : risk and response / / Richard A. Posner

• Autore: Posner Richard A
• Pubblicazione: Oxford ; ; New York, : Oxford University Pres, 2004
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (333 p.)
• Disciplina: 363.34
• Soggetto topico: Emergency management; Disasters; Risk assessment; Technological innovations - Moral and ethical aspects
• Note generali: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: What are catastrophic risks, and how catastrophic are they? -- Why so little is being done about the catastrophic risks -- How to evaluate the catastrophic risks and the possible responses to them -- How to reduce the catastrophic risks.
• Sommario/riassunto: Catastrophic risks are much greater than is commonly appreciated. Collision with an asteroid, runaway global warming, voraciously replicating nanomachines, a pandemic of gene-spliced smallpox launched by bioterrorists, and a world-ending accident in a high-energy particle accelerator, are among the possible extinction events that are sufficiently likely to warrant careful study. How should we respond to events that, for a variety of psychological and cultural reasons, we find it hard to wrap our minds around? Posner argues that realism about science and scientists, innovative applications of cost-benefit analysis, a scientifically literate legal profession, unprecedented international cooperation, and a pragmatic attitude toward civil liberties are among the keys to coping effectively with the catastrophic risks.
• Titolo autorizzato: Catastrophe
• ISBN: 0-19-756244-2; 0-19-988438-2; 0-19-530647-3; 1-280-42838-4; 0-19-534639-4; 1-60256-541-4
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Record Nr.: 9910783680003321
• Lo trovi qui: Univ. Federico II
• Serie: Oxford scholarship online.