AGU AMA: Hi Reddit, I'm Dave Petley, author of The Landslide Blog and Vice-President (Research and Innovation) at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. I'm here to talk about the science and management of natural hazards and disasters. AMA!

Abstract

Hi Reddit! I’m Dave Petley, Vice-President (Research and Innovation) at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom. I also run the Landslide Blog, which sits on the website of the America Geophysical Union, the World’s largest earth science organisation. I have a strong interest in natural hazards and disasters. For 25 years I have been doing research into landslides, which collectively kill about 14,000 people per year worldwide on average. I’m interested in particular on how landslides occur and on the impacts that landslides have on society. I’ve worked all over the world, including in Europe, the US, Chile, Taiwan, China, Nepal, Pakistan and New Zealand. Landslides are often triggered by a larger event affecting a substantial area, such as a hurricane or an earthquake. As a result I have worked extensively on the anticipation of large disasters and on the management of their impact, as well as coping with the aftermath. For example, I have worked on the impact of typhoons in Taiwan and Hong Kong; on rainfall induced flood disasters in India and Nepal; and on the massive earthquakes in Taiwan in 1999, Pakistan in 2005, China in 2008 and Nepal in 2015. I was the co-author of one of the best-selling textbooks on the management of disasters. I will be back at 12 pm ET to answer you questions, ask me anything!