For my book review, I read “Planning for Coastal Resilience” by Timothy Beatley. In his book Beatley focuses on the hot topic of climate change and decodes what this change in our planet will have on our coastal towns and cities. He emphasizes the importance of acceptance of global warming in regard to planning by stating that 50% of the population lives in coastal areas. The reason for this is because coastal towns seem as desirable and have become the mega cities of the world due to their economic importance. The United States is heavily involved in the global supply chain and thus the mega ports that our nation has created are very important to our country’s economic stability and growth. Port operations on reliant on the safe and timely usage of the water on which they lie. Beately acknowledges this fact and states that in order to maintain this well oiled-economic system, it is essential that we beef up our ports and costal cities.

In his book, he emphasizes the importance of costal resilience and the for officials to begin to think of costal design in the terms of long term design. It is essential that we look at the design of our ports and make plans to develop ports and cities that will withstand the rising sea levels that one with global warming. Beatley recognizes that in the past, resilienc has not come to midn when discussisng ports and coastal cites. It is only with the introduction of rising sea levels that this topic has become so important and even crucial.

As I stated above, Beatley emphasizes that the solution to global warming on costal cities is resilience. Resilience and action planning is the key to avoiding devastation and economic downfall for our country. Though it is easy to speak of resilience, it is much more difficult to put this into action. Beatley goes a step further and illustrates what this looks like in practice by going through five case studies f U.S. costal cities and the “resilience profiles” of six North American communities. In this book he analyzes these communities and suggests where to improve upon in order to increase resilience in their community. These real world examples help to fully conceptualize the measures that need to be put in place by costal communities in order to survive and continue to thrive during the changing global climate.

For me, his book was somewhat of a wakeup call. Having been born and raised in Florida, almost all of our major cities lie on the cast, and for good reason. The coast not only proves a fun, community to live in but it also provides work. Tampa in specific has a major port which has huge contribution to our country’s economy. I had not considered the ports vulnerability in the past until reading this book. When you look at daily port operations and then imagine rising sea levels, it is easy to understand Beatley’s concern. All of the daily operation that make the port so successful would be heavily effected by rising sea levels. If you can imagine this issue amplified and effecting every port in the nation, it creates major concern.

His issue is only further amplified when you consider all of the costal cities’ that will be heavily effected by the rising sea levels. Wit so much of our nation’s population living in costal areas, it is concerning and even hard to fully conceptualize the issues that will arise in the future once rising sea levels become more prevalent. This issue will effect houses, businesses and even the wildlife that live near the coast. Shockingly, it seems that everyday more and more homes ad businesses are being built on the coast without taking he rising sea level into consideration. Some may not believe it is occurring util they see it with their own eyes!

The impact that rising sea levels will have on emergency management will be huge. In an industry that focuses primarily on isolated incidents and events, it will be difficult to combat a long term, permeant event. New measures and procedures will need to be put in place in order for emergency management to be effective during rising sea levels. This issue will only be emphasized during hurricanes (which will also become ore prevalent due to global warming). It will make disaster response difficult unless agencies focus on the effects that global warming and rising sea levels will have long term in their communities. It is essential that we begin to focus on this issue and begin to prepare our communities and ports before it is too late.

Reference:

Beatley, T. (2012).
Planning for Coastal Resilience Best Practices for Calamitous Times. Washington Dc Island Press Ann Arbor, Michigan Proquest.

The book I chose to read was 500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars by Kurt Eichenwald. The book focused on the initial response to the terror attacks on September 11th, 2001. He discussed and reported the Bush Administration’s military response and the aftermath of that response. Before starting this book, I was very concerned about the subject matter. I served nearly five years combined in Afghanistan and Iraq between 2005-2017. I was concerned about the additional questions that may be raised about my service. Fortunately, the book focused on the failures and poor response of national leaders, not on the justification for sending so many Americans to a conflict. I won’t speak for the rest of the military, but when I enlisted in 2003, I was not joining to fight in Iraq because there were allegedly weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. I joined and decided to stay in the Army because I felt the people of Iraq and Afghanistan deserved to live free from tyrannical regimes. This notion has kept me fueled and has justified my service for the last 20 years. The book did not contradict these feelings, which I am very grateful for. One of the most interesting portions of the book is the descriptions of the Guantanamo Bay prisoner interrogation techniques. The administration was advised on the efficacy of practices of torture and other methods used there. Despite warnings from experts on the efficacy and effects of the methods being employed, they were largely ignored. I found this interesting because it is not necessarily the humanitarian aversion to torture and “cruel” techniques used, it was the effectiveness and their results that were criticized. I think this attacks the belief that terrorists’ and terror suspects’ treatment was justified because of the nature of their mission and the atrocities committed by terror organizations. The author describes the dismissal of experts when he quotes the Assistant Attorney General’s response to procedural criticism. He reports the reaction from the Assistant Attorney General to a federal judge upholding the rights of detainees “I don’t think this one guy, this one judge, this outlier should, because of the luck of the draw, be allowed to dictate how American detention policies can work” (Eichenwald, K., 2012). The narrative paints a picture of how you feel about torture and its legal nature, it is just not effective. The subject matter of this book answers the first question almost immediately. I think the questions raised by the book are related to two different aspects of the national crisis: 1. How does the government respond to future terror events/threats to the Homeland? and 2. how does the public respond? Have we learned from our past to better respond in the future to national security threats? The other question that is asked is what impact will it (the book) have on emergency management and homeland security? The events of 9/11 created the Department of Homeland Security and the organization of Emergency Management as we know it today. After 9/11, DHS was created and FEMA was organized underneath its administrative umbrella. I think the effects of the events described in the aftermath of 9/11 can have multiple effects on society. To understand the two effects, you have to be willing to identify the different types of thinking in current society. I think it is broken down into three groups. Those who are willing to listen to the opinions of others and adjust their stance if convicted, those who will rail against the opinions of others regardless of the convincing nature of the argument, and those who fall in between. I think this book can affect those willing to listen and adjust their opinion and those who fall in between. The population that is angry and unwilling to listen to the other side is most likely not affected by a book like this. The other two categories can be heavily affected by this book. I think the author’s ability to present facts in an unbiased style can make these two groups in society adjust their future decision-making practices. The author ensures the reader understands a factual timeline of events while delivering sometimes shocking statements that describe the depths of mismanagement of the response to 9/11. I think the professional implications of the book and its lessons are more obvious when describing my military profession. I think the points of the book can and have affected how the military is used in response to crises. In regards to my future profession in hospital administration (hopefully), I think it is a broad lesson learned on how anyone reacts to a crisis. The measured response that is in the best interest of everyone is a practical lesson for any profession.

Eichenwald, K. (2012). 500 days: secrets and lies in the terror wars. 1st Touchstone hardcover ed. New York, Touchstone.