Introduction.- Extreme Weather and the World.- The Purpose of the Book.- The Power of "Interdisciplinary".- Superstorm Sandy: a Game Changer?.- Introduction.- New Jersey at a Glance.- Historic Mid-Atlantic Storms.- Tropical storms and hurricanes.- Nor'easter.- Historic storms.- Recent storms.- Sandy's Fury.- Genesis and early days.- New Jersey prepares.- New Jersey in the cross hairs.- Storm day: Monday morning.- Storm day: afternoon.- Storm day: evening landfall.- Sandy's Aftermath.- Lessons learned.- Seemingly slight differences can have major consequences.- Storm conditions do not change at a steady pace.- Storms stronger than Sandy are within the realm of possibility.- Do not fully rely on storms of the past to provide a look to the future.- Heed weather forecasts.- Regional infrastructure is too vulnerable in severe storm conditions.- Messaging needs improvement.- Do not rely solely on lessons from Sandy.- Conclusion - A Game Changer?.- Extreme Weather: Politics and Public Communication.- Introduction.- Blizzards Bring Cooperation.- The Interconnectedness of U.S. Government Agencies.- Politics and Extreme Weather: Historical Context.- New York City.- Chicago.- Denver.- Fort Worth.- Extreme Weather Campaign/Political Influences.- Tornadoes and Politics.- Contemporary Public Communication Methods: The Role of Social Media.- Public Communication Theories.- Knowledge Gap Theory.- Uses and Gratifications Theory.- Conclusion.- Best Practices for Extreme Weather Communication.- Dust Storms, Human Health and a Global Early Warning System.- Global Dust-Health Early Warning System (D-HEWS) - The Motive.- Meningitis.- Asthma.- Valley Fever.- Interviews with Valley Fever Sufferers.- Acquired Insights for a Valley Fever Early Warning System.- This Chapter's Focus on Airborne Dust and Human Health.- The Dust-Health Challenge.- Dust-Health Early Warning System - The Means.- Atmospheric Dust Modeling.- Model Forecast and Simulation Verification.- Satellite-based Remote Sensing.- Surface-Based Remote Sensing and In-Situ Observations.- Upward Looking Remote Sensing.- In-Situ Dust Measurements and Monitoring.- Global Partners in Public Health Applications: Dust-Health Early Warning System - The Opportunity.- A Conceptual Framework.- Global Dust Movement.- Regional and Local Dust Exposure.- Transdisciplinary Information Exchange (TIE).- Implementation.- Conclusions: Best Practices in Technology Transfer, Capacity Building, Training and Education.- Interdisciplinary Engagement of People and Place around Extreme Weather.- Introduction.- Extreme Weather and Changing Patterns.- Religious Leaders Note Environmental Changes.- Extreme Weather and Places.- Extreme Weather Community Health Model.- Description of Extreme Weather Community Health Model.- Model Flow.- Extreme Weather Interdisciplinary Community Engagement.- What is engagement?.- Why Interdisciplinary?.- Place.- Sociospatial Strategies for Place-Based Policy.- Understanding People Community/Culture.- How Context (Space or Proximity) Influences Outcome.- Knowledge about the Local Environment.- Geographies and Community Type.- Importance of community engagement.- Interdisciplinary Teaming for engagement.- Place-based Interdisciplinary Approaches for Extreme Weather Engagement.- Navigating local geographies.- Interaction, Establish Consistent & Ongoing Interaction.- Know your Culture/Community.- Understand General Population and Sub-populations.- Establish Trust.- Engage Using Interdisciplinary Teams with Different Sectors of the Community.- Create Two-way Place-Based Communication.- Choosing A Reasonable Plan for Stakeholders.- Conclusion.- Engaging Communities to Assess the Health Effects of Extreme Weather in the Arctic.- The Setting: The physical landscape.- Climate Change in Alaska: Observed and Expected Changes.- Rising Temperatures.- Warming Oceans.- Decreased Freshwater Ice and Snow Cover.- Thawing Permafrost.- Changes in Extremes.-
About the Author:

Dr. Sheila Lakshmi Steinberg is a Professor of Social and Environmental Sciences at Brandman University-Chapman University System, Irvine, CA. The theme throughout her research is examining people and their relationship to space and place. Steinberg's research interests include environmental sociology, research methods, social inequality, community, geospatial research (GIS) and policy. Sheila has always been interested in the weather and climate from living in so many different parts of the U.S. Recently, she co-authored a book entitled GIS Research Methods: Incorporating Spatial Perspectives for Esri Press and has also co-authored a chapter on this topic entitled "Geospatial Analysis Technology and Social Science Research" in the Handbook of Emergent Technologies, Sharlene Hesse-Biber, Editor, Oxford University Press 2011. In 2006, she co-authored a book for Sage Publications entitled, GIS for the Social Sciences: Investigating Space and Place. In 2013, she joined Brandman University where she now teaches courses related to social and environmental sciences.

William A. Sprigg, Ph.D., Yale University is Research Professor Emeritus, University of Arizona, the current and founding director of the World Meteorological Organization's Pan-America Center for airborne dust forecasting in Barbados, and research associate of the Public Health Institute in California. He is a member of the American Meteorological Society's Board on Environment & Health, the Chinese Academy of Sciences Committee for Digital Earth Observations, and the Serbian Program of Basic Research, Environmental Protection and Climate Change. Former positions include Distinguished Professor at California's Chapman University, Director, U.S. National Research Council Board on Atmospheric Science and Climate, head of the U.S. National Climate Program Office, and architect of the U.S. Climate Program. He participated in the first Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Authoring a number of technical publications on climate and, most recently, on his current research interests, airborne dust and human health, Dr. Sprigg continues his interests in interdisciplinary research and science policy.